STAND STRONG

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

After these events, King Xerxes honored Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles. All the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor.

Then the royal officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s command?” Day after day they spoke to him but he refused to comply. Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai’s behavior would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew.

When Haman saw that Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor, he was enraged. Yet having learned who Mordecai’s people were, he scorned the idea of killing only Mordecai. Instead Haman looked for a way to destroy all Mordecai’s people, the Jews, throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes.

Esther 3:1-6

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever been faced with a matter that would make you compromise your faith?

I think we all have faced matters that would try (and too often succeed) to get us out of our element and behaving in a way contrary to the Lord’s commands and expectations. There is a litany of temptations that we go up against in any one lifetime. It’s little wonder that we read in Ephesians, Chapter 6, about the importance of wearing God’s full armor as we go into battle with Satan each and every day.

Looking at our scripture from Esther, we find Mordecai facing a threat that sought to have him compromise his values.

You’ll recall that Mordecai had helped thwart an assassination plot against King Xerxes by overhearing the plot and then revealing it to the king via his beloved Esther, the selected now queen of Xerxes. It was after the execution of the treasonous officers, Bigthana and Teresh, that King Xerxes chose to honor “Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him and giving him a seat of honor higher than that of all the other nobles.” Such was the level of Haman’s authority that “all the royal officials at the king’s gate knelt down and paid honor” to him by the king’s command. And all did, except for Mordecai who scripture tells us “would not kneel down or pay him honor.”

Now of note in the Book of Esther is that God is not mentioned by name even once by the author, but we should not feel that this is because God wasn’t moving or present or even professed. The only thing we read about what Mordecai told the king’s royal officials was that he was a Jew. But I find it hard to believe that such a God-fearing, obedient servant such as Mordecai would have not proclaimed the word of God as the reason for his non-compliance. Quite to the contrary, I can almost hear him proclaiming His Lord at every question levied.

The royal officials, day after day: “Why do you disobey the king’s command?”

Mordecai, day after day, refusing to comply (quoting Exodus 20:3-6): “It is written, ‘You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.’”

Mordecai stood strong, not on his principles but on the principles of God Almighty…no matter the threat…no matter the pressure…no matter the temptation. Everyone else might have bowed down but Mordecai would stand for his Lord, no matter what.

And so the officials, unable to get Mordecai to obey the king’s commands, went and made report to Haman, hoping that Haman would understand why Mordecai would not bow down because he was a Jew and had different beliefs and principles.

Would Haman have mercy?

Hardly…for we read where Haman became enraged and wasn’t going to be satisfied with just executing Mordecai but rather had intentions to wipe out all the Jews in the kingdom of King Xerxes.

On the surface, it would appear that Mordecai’s stubbornness put all his people at risk. Maybe some would say he should have compromised in this instance. There was simply too many other lives at stake to do otherwise. But these thoughts would be nothing but lies contrived by the evil one to breed disobedient actions. We get into trouble most when we think we can reason out the ways of life. Our reasoning leads us down the road of compromise as we talk ourselves into doing, saying and thinking things that are not of God. Satan is great at getting us off our game.

But thanks be to God for Mordecai and his blessed example of standing strong in the midst of challenge and adversity. God is not done in this matter as we will see. He has been moving since the first verse of this book and will soon amaze us with the intricate details of a perfect plan to save His beloved people with Esther and Mordecai being his two main players. I have to think that neither of them knew what God was doing at the time. His plan isarely seen in full while in progress. This is why we need to remain obedient at all times during our life’s circumstances. For we never know when God is using us as active players in His almighty works.

Maybe He is doing that in your life today. My advice…and God’s expectation…is for you to stand strong on His holy word and principles, modeling the blessed example set by Mordecai so many years ago.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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