Esther: Living by Faith, No Matter the Consequences

"For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Esther 4:14

This morning we turn out attention to the book of Esther. By the sovereignty and grace of God, I found myself having a little bit of extra time on my hands this morning, so I decided to go ahead and read the entire book all at once. Actually, I listened to it as I read it through the Youversion Bible app. I'd give it a shot sometime. It actually took less time to read because I was able to concentrate more (I think the whole book only took me about 25 minutes to get through).

Nevertheless, Esther is our topic for this morning. Now, the plot of the book is rather long, so I'm only going to give a brief summary (but you should read it for yourself!). In short, the ancient King Ahasuerus, in the time of the end of Israel's exile, wrote an edict that all of the Jews in the land be killed on a certain day and time. he wrote this edict because of Haman, one of his officials, who was mad at the Jewish people as a whole because one of them, namely Mordecai, did not bow down to him or give him the homage that he thought he deserved. By the sovereign hand of God, this Mordecai guy was the uncle of Esther (the main character of the book), who (by the sovereign hand of God) was made queen over the entire nation. In the climax of the book, Mordecai tells Esther than she should go into the king's throne room and ask that the king's edict be reversed so that all of her people (the Jews) might be saved. Esther originally hesitates, since it was illegal for someone to enter the king's throneroom without being called into it (she could be put to death!). But, acting in great faith, she listens to her uncle Mordecai and goes into the throne room of the king. The king shows favor upon her, and (long story short), the Jewish people are saved.

Once again, that is a very simple summary of a very complicated plot, but it's enough to show us our point for this morning: The Book of Esther teaches us that all of God's people are called to live by faith, no matter the consequences. At the climax of this book, Esther is faced with a decision: will she go into the king's room, risking her life, yet possibly saving her entire people? Or will she cower in fear and let her people die? Amidst her hee-hawing and decision-making, Mordecai offers up to her these words of encouragement:

"For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Esther 4:14

Mordecai's point here is clear, and rather convicting: God doesn't need you. In his encouragement to Esther, Mordecai said very clearly that is was no problem for God to raise up another human to deliver the Jews from destruction. At the get-go, this doesn't seem very encouraging, but Mordecai's point was this: Esther could either choose to walk in disobedience and not be a part of God's great rescue plan, or she could perish. Those were her only two options, as laid out by Mordecai. In short, Esther could either live by faith or die. Yet, as Mordecai says to Esther, "who knows whether [she had] come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"

In response to Mordecai's counsel, Esther takes a leap of faith. "I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish" (Esther 4:16). Notice Esther's faith here: there was no promise of deliverance. There was a very, very good chance that she could walk into the throne room of the king and be killed. Unlike David when he fought Goliath, Esther had no promise of deliverance, yet she still obeyed. And by the sovereign hand of God, her obedience was rewarded to her, and all of the Jewish people were delivered. What a great, great act of faith.

In response to Esther's life of faith, we find one giant application, which I've already mentioned: God's people are called to live by faith, no matter the consequences. Now, before you zone out, let me make this clear: the probability that you will be in Esther's situation, or anything like it anytime soon, is very, very slim. Yet, let us consider: how do we build up the character that Esther had, so that when we are in Esther's spot we may make the right decision? Let me turn you to a quote by Daniel Coats (US Senator from Indiana):

Character cannot be summoned at the moment of crisis if it has been squandered by years of compromise and rationalization. The only testing ground for the heroic is the mundane. The only preparation for that one profound decision which can change a life, or even a nation, is those hundreds of half-conscious, self defining, seemingly insignificant decisions made in private. Habit is the daily battleground of character.

"Habit is the daily battleground of character." In other words, you'll never be able to make the right decisions later if you don't make the right decisions now. For us, living by faith, no matter the consequences might look like doing our homework. It might look like being a mom. It might look like trusting the Lord when things are difficult. Heck, it might look relying on the LORD in quarantine after you had contact with someone with COVID! Nevertheless, let my point be made clear: the only way we will be ready to make Esther-like decisions of faith later is if we make average-like decisions of faith now. Eventually, those decisions will reward you, but unless you have a well of deep character dug up, you will not be able to draw from its depths.

Is this life of faith not ultimately what Jesus Christ our Lord modeled for us? In the wilderness, he was tempted for forty days, yet without sin. Throughout his ministry, he was persecuted greatly, yet he continued to walk in faith. And on that hill at Calvary, he did not reject his father nor complain about the obedience that was asked of him, but continued to live by faith, no matter the consequences. Let us do the same today.