Ester 3
Ray Stedman · Citado em PreceptAustin
Ester 3
Stedman quips... What a strange thing to interject here! This casting of lots to determine a lucky day on which to do something was a common practice in oriental kingdoms. It was similar to the practice today of shooting dice in order to determine an appropriate, propitious day. This account does not mean that for a whole year they shook dice in front of Haman. It means that every cast they made stood for a different day. They would cast the dice out and name the cast for a certain day of the calendar year. If it was a propitious number then that day was a lucky day. Thus they went through three hundred and sixty-five casts before this man -- a whole year's time before they found a lucky day, and when they found it, it was in the twelfth month which is the month of Adar. This is nothing but the rankest superstition! All superstition is a form of fear, and fear is the enemy of faith. Fear is the opposite of faith. Superstition, then, is a sign of distrust of God. Why is it that whenever we acknowledge that our business has been good, or our health has been good, we like to knock on wood? We really do it to frighten away the jealous spirits which we think may take our prosperity away. We distrust the gods. It's strange, isn't it, how many Christians resort to these superstitious practices? They smile and joke when they do them, but down underneath there is a lingering suspicion that they had better do them or they might bring bad luck. This is simply fear of the jealousy of God. The tempter has planted in our hearts the feeling that God is not really interested in our welfare, that we must take care of all things ourselves. We have begun to distrust the goodness of God. (The Struggle for Power) God is behind the scenes ("seen") and controls the scenes He is behind! Pur, that is the lot, was cast before Haman from day to day - God is clearly in control of these human events! There is no chance involved in the casting of the lot. There are no accidents! "What is chance to man, is the appointment of God" (Scott) Swindoll... When your life is driven by superstition, you come up with some ridiculous ideas and decisions. Stupid things. Sometimes, demonic things! Solomon records that... The lot is cast into the lap, but (term of contrast) its every decision (how many?) is from the LORD. Comment: God is sovereign over the roll of every pair of dice ever rolled! Man call it "good luck" but it is really "God look" so to speak. Casting lots was a method often used to reveal God’s purposes in a matter (Joshua 14:1-2 1Sa 14:38-43 1Chr 25:8-31 Jonah 1:7 Acts 1:26). The High-Priest may have carried lots in his sacred vest, along with the Urim and Thummim (Ex 28:30). In short, there is no such thing as random chance or sheer luck. God is in control! (Related Resources: Charles Bridges Comments on Proverbs 16:33; Charles Simeon's Sermon on Proverbs 16:33 God is the Disposer of All Events; All Contingencies Under the Direction of God's Providence- R. South; Grounds and Limitations of Human Responsibility- W. Peabody; God's Providences Even in Trifles - W. S. Simpson; The Lord's Disposing - T. L Culyer) John George wrote that the "Doctrine of Divine providence is full of consolation. All must be right when God controls and reigns over all."
Ester 3
Stedman summarizes and applies Haman's approach to the king... He suggests that the people of Mordecai are really a threat to the king's liberty, and that if he will remove them and trust Haman, Haman will make him rich. Has Haman been talking to you recently? Has he, for instance, suggested that keeping your temper and giving a soft answer to those around you never really gets you anywhere, especially where you work? -- that it is the fellows who tell everyone off who get the promotions? The ones who are willing to stand up for their rights and not let anyone walk over them, these are the men who get the advances! Has he whispered to you that honesty is not really the best policy, at least when it comes to filling out your income tax? After all, what the government doesn't know won't hurt them, and you can save a lot of money by just a few shortcuts. Has he suggested to you young people that you can't get good grades in school unless you do like everyone does and cheat a little bit, that it is the ones who are not too holy to fudge a bit that can pull down the grades? Has he suggested that love is all right for sentimentalists, but the only way to really defend the faith and the American way of life is to picket those who don't agree with you, and hound them out of town? Has he suggested that good manners and courteous words are needed for business and for strangers, but at home you can let your hair down and say what you like, especially to your wife and kids -- they will respect you all the more for it? Has he been talking to you? Does it sound pretty good? Does it sound like it will work, especially when he can show you from your horoscope that this is the day to throw your weight around? (The Struggle for Power) Esther 3:10 Then the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews.: HAMAN'S RABID ANTI-SEMITISM His signet ring - The king's signet right would serve as his personal identification mark with was engraved on the face of the ring and which were used to seal documents ensuring they were indeed royal writings. The signet ring would often be pressed into wet clay that was allowed to dry on a scroll, thus sealing and authenticating the contents. The imprint of the king’s signet ring is tantamount to his signature on a document, even as a U.S. President might sign a law passed by Congress. The enemy of the Jews - This word tsarar/sarar (see below) is used in Esther 3:10, 8:1, 9:10, 9:24, and every time refers to Haman as the enemy or adversary of the Jews. Haman's antipathy was not so much directed at the individual Jew Mordecai, but at all Jews. Haman was the prototypical anti-Semite! Enemy (06887) (tsarar/sarar) is a verb which means to tie up, to bind up, to be distressed, to be afflicted or in distress, to be in pangs of birth. It refers to an adversary or enemy as in the present passage. Tsarar/sarar - There are 25 uses in the NAS (Note the 4 uses in Esther) - Ex 23:22; Num 10:9; 25:17f; 33:55; Esther 3:10; 8:1; 9:10, 24; Ps 6:7; 7:4, 6; 8:2; 10:5; 23:5; 31:11; 42:10; 69:19; 74:4, 23; 129:1f; 143:12; Isa 11:13; Amos 5:12 Mattoon draws some interesting parallels between Haman and the future and greatest enemy of Israel, the Anti-Christ... 1. Appointed to Office—The man of sin will take control peacefully. 2. Authority was from the king—The Anti-Christ will be given power from the king of Hell, Satan. (Revelation 13:2, 4) 3. Attempts to exterminate the Jews—The Anti-Christ in the middle of the Tribulation will persecute the Jews. 4. Adoration was commanded—The Anti-Christ will compel worship and reverence of himself. 5. The Addition of his name—Haman the Wicked ("the Enemy") = 666 (Revelation 13:18) 6. The Annihilation of God's enemies—The Anti-Christ like Haman will be destroyed. The Jews have attended the funerals of every enemy that tried to exterminate them. Haman is no exception Esther 3:11 The king said to Haman, "The silver is yours, and the people also, to do with them as you please.": HCSB Then the king told Haman, "The money and people are given to you to do with as you see fit." NIV reads... "Keep the money," the king said to Haman, "and do with the people as you please. NET The king replied to Haman, "Keep your money, and do with those people whatever you wish." Note the order - silver before people, an insight into this wicked king's heart that he would think of money before human lives. Edict Issued to Destroy All Jews Esther 3:12 Then the king's scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and it was written just as Haman commanded to the king's satraps, to the governors who were over each province and to the princes of each people, each province according to its script, each people according to its language, being written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king's signet ring.: Then - Note how this time phrase marks a sequence or progression. Haman's evil planning is now beginning to take shape. The king's scribes - Scribes were a class of scholars, akin to professional secretaries, who had the ability to read and write. The first month - This is the same "first month" as in Esther 3:7, the month of Nisan. Now that Haman has the king's approval and signet ring, he proceeds to issue the edict. This extermination edict however will not actually be enforced until almost 12 months later, the month of Adar. This will give the Jews (specifically Mordecai) time to come up with a way around this irrevocable law! Do you see God's had behind the seen?! The thirteenth day of the first month (April 17, 474 BC, day before Passover - cf Ex 12:5-6, Ex 12:11) - The first month is the Jewish month of Nisan (April). We know that God is providentially in control of all the events in Esther (as well as our lives!) and therefore this specific date cannot be a mere coincidence. So what is the point, you say? Note that the edict to kill all the Jews was issued on Nisan 13 (even though it would not be carried out for 12 months - Esther 3:13). The "edict" to save all Jews was issued by God on Nisan 14. God's promise ("edict") is to be commemorated on Nisan 14, which marks the day God ordained that the death of one Lamb would deliver from eternal death all Jews and all mankind, specifically all that place their faith in the substitutionary sacrifice of the Passover Lamb (Compare Jn 1:29, 1Cor 5:7, Rev 5:6). Esther 3:13 Letters were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces to destroy, to kill and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to seize their possessions as plunder.: THE HAND OF PROVIDENCE ON THE DATE OF JEWISH DESTRUCTION The thirteenth day of the twelfth month (March 7, 473BC) - In Adar (found only in Ezra 6:15 and Esther 3:7, 13; 8:12; 9:1, 15, 17, 19, 21) the edict was to be carried out, 12 months after the edict had been distributed throughout the Persian kingdom. This is evidence of the providential hand of God allowing the Jews time to prepare for this day. Henry Morris in the excellent resource, Defender's Study Bible, observes that... Exactly eleven months earlier, on the day before the Passover, this command had been given (compare Exodus 12:6), thus giving the Jews adequate time to prepare their defense. The date for Haman's intended genocide had been set by the casting of lots. God, however, determines how the lot will fall (Proverbs 16:33), and He ordained that the date would be almost a year away. This day was adopted later by the Jews as the date for their annual feast of Purim (meaning "lots") (Esther 9:26-32). (Defender's Study Bible) To seize their possessions as plunder - Why this detail? What might it suggest in context? Given that many of the Jews in exile had fared rather well, they would have sufficient valuables to allow Haman to accumulate the largess of 10,000 talents of silver. This is what Hitler did in World War II and it was Haman's modus operandi which would motivate the people to attack the Jews. Everything Haman was doing God hated (Pr 6:16-19)
Ester 3
Stedman comments that here we see... The king is quite confident that he has taken a wise step. He's deluded. He's deceived. He thinks he is acting in his own interest. He's grateful to Haman for his obvious concern for his welfare. So, he invites him in to celebrate with a glass of wine or two. But, outside in the city, there's nothing but confusion and perplexity. No one knows what to do. This strange edict has thrown them into confusion. Have you ever had a drinking session with yourself to congratulate yourself for the clever way you solved a problem in your life? You've had to cut the corners a bit and maybe you've had to tell off a few people along the way, but you got what you wanted. It is a pretty good feeling, isn't it? (Read the full exposition in which Stedman applies this last section to our lives - The Struggle for Power) ESTHER 4 Esther 4:1 When Mordecai learned all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city and wailed loudly and bitterly.: Ashes: Es 4:3 Jos 7:6 2Sa 13:19 Job 2:8 Job 42:6 Isa 58:5 Eze 27:30 Da 9:3 Jon 3:6 Mt 11:21) Wailed: Ge 27:34 Isa 15:4 22:4 Eze 21:6 27:31 Mic 1:8 Zep 1:14 Rev 18:17-19) A C Gaebelein's outline... 1. The great lamentations of the Jews (Esther 4:1-3) 2. Esther’s discovery (Esther 4:4-9) 3. Esther’s helplessness (Esther 4:10-12) 4. Mordecai’s answer (Esther 4:13-14) 5. Esther’s decision (Esther 4:15-17) Pastor Chuck Swindoll entitles Esther 4... Thinking and Saying What’s Right—Regardless When Mordecai learned all that had been done - The dastardly deal sealed and the death decree sent! Death to all Jews decreed by royal irreversible edict! Why was Mordecai so distraught? Clearly he realized that he was the primary reason Haman had hatched this evil plan! This entire scenario is just one of many specific examples highlighting the truth of God's declaration to Satan in the Garden of Eden immediately after Adam sinned and died... And I (God) will put enmity between you (Satan) and the woman (Eve), and between your seed (offspring) and her seed (the Messiah - cf Gal 3:16); He (Messiah) shall bruise you on the head, and you (Satan) shall bruise him on the heel (As occurred in Crucifixion).” (Genesis 3:15) Swindoll writes that... People express their sorrow and mourn in different ways. In our Western culture, our expression of grief is often restrained. When President John Kennedy was assassinated, his young widow wore a dark veil as her expression of mourning, hiding her tears behind it. Often, in our culture, people sob quietly, or compassionately hug those who are grieving. In the East, however, sorrow has always been expressed visibly and vocally. We have all seen pictures of great mobs as they push a casket overhead through the crowd while screaming and crying out. They cry out verses from their sacred word and they claw at the casket. They wail! And they mourn! That’s what Mordecai does here. He holds nothing back. His grief knows no bounds. In sackcloth and ashes he stumbles toward the gate of the palace. Paul Ferguson comments... One writer observed, "Esther could be compared to a chess game. God and Satan (as invisible players) moved real kings, queens, and nobles (Ed: This analogy breaks down when one considers that Satan's every move must be approved by God!). When Satan put Haman into place, it was as if he announced "Check." God then positioned Esther and Mordecai in order to put Satan into Checkmate! Ever since the fall of man (Ge 3:1-19), Satan has attempted to spiritually sever God's relationship with His human creation and disrupt God's covenant promises with Israel. For example, Christ's line through the tribe of Judah had been murderously reduced to Joash alone, who was rescued and preserved (2Chr 22:10,11, 12). Later, Herod slaughtered the infants of Bethlehem, thinking Christ was among them (Mt 2:16). Satan tempted Christ to denounce God and worship him (Mt 4:9). Peter, at Satan s insistence, tried to block Christ s journey to Calvary (Mt 16:22). Finally, Satan entered into Judas who then betrayed Christ to the Jews and Romans (Luke 22:3-6). While God was not mentioned in Esther, He was everywhere apparent as the One who opposed and foiled Satan's diabolical schemes by providential intervention." In Esther, all of God's unconditional covenant promises to Abraham (Ge 17:1-8) and to David (2Sa 7:8-16) were jeopardized. However, God s love for Israel is nowhere more apparent than in this dramatic rescue of His people from pending elimination. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep (Ps. 121:4). OUTWARD EXPRESSIONS OF INTENSE INNER GRIEF He tore his clothes - The external was a picture of internal mourning or grief. Surely Mordecai realized that it was his disobedience which had resulted in the horrible royal edict to exterminate his Jewish countrymen. As an aside, this edict would include all the Jews, even those who had returned with Ezra to Jerusalem . When Jacob learned that he had lost Joseph, he "tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days." (Gen 37:34). Sackcloth and ashes (Ge 37:34; Jer 49:3; Da 9:3; Joel 1:13; Jonah 3:6) - This is a sign of grief or mourning. Mattoon has an interesting thought regarding the ashes writing that "This was a symbol of humility and acknowledged that we come from the dust of the earth." In Ge 18:27 Abraham's statement that he was but "dust and ashes" was a declaration of his recognition of his humble in the presence of the Lord. Job's had a similar sense of humiliation in Job 42:5-6 ("I repent in dust and ashes" cf Job 30:19) upon not just hearing but now seeing the Lord. Sackcloth (08242) (saq) can refer to a sack with the component material of poor quality dark goat or camel hair--coarse, rough, and thick. Used as a dramatic way to demonstrate mourning and despair. Sackcloth was a symbol of mourning (especially for the dead), 1 Kin. 20:31, 32; Job 16:15; Isa. 15:3; Jer. 4:8; 6:26; 49:3; Lam. 2:10; Ezek. 7:18; Dan. 9:3; Joel 1:8. See Dictionary Entries for Sackcloth Saq - 46v in OT - Gen 37:34; 42:25, 27, 35; Lev 11:32; Josh 9:4; 2 Sam 3:31; 21:10; 1 Kgs 20:31f; 21:27; 2 Kgs 6:30; 19:1f; 1 Chr 21:16; Neh 9:1; Esth 4:1ff; Job 16:15; Ps 30:11; 35:13; 69:11; Isa 3:24; 15:3; 20:2; 22:12; 37:1f; 50:3; 58:5; Jer 4:8; 6:26; 48:37; 49:3; Lam 2:10; Ezek 7:18; 27:31; Dan 9:3; Joel 1:8, 13; Amos 8:10; Jonah 3:5f, 8 See Multiple Dictionary Entries on Ashes Naves has this note on ashes... A symbol of mourning, 2 Sam. 13:19; Esther 4:1, 3. Sitting in, Job 2:8; Isa. 58:5; Jer. 6:26; Ezek. 27:30; Jonah 3:6; Luke 10:13. Repenting in, Job 42:6; Dan. 9:3; Jonah 3:6; Matt. 11:2 1; Luke 10:13. ISBE entry on ashes... Among the ancient Hebrews #and other Orientals, to sprinkle with or sit in ashes was a mark or token of grief, humiliation, or penitence. Ashes on the head was one of the ordinary signs of mourning for the dead, as when "Tamar put ashes on her head .... and went on crying" (2 Sam 13:19 the King James Version), and of national humiliation, as when the children of Israel were assembled under Nehemiah "with fasting, and with sackcloth, and earth (ashes) upon them" (Neh 9:1), and when the people of Nineveh repented in sackcloth and ashes at the preaching of Jonah (Jon 3:5,6; compare 1 Macc 3:47). The afflicted or penitent often sat in ashes (compare Job 2:8; 42:6: "I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes"), or even wallowed in ashes, as Jeremiah exhorted sinning Israel to do: "O daughter of my people .... wallow thyself in ashes" (Jer 6:26), or as Ezekiel in his lamentation for Tyre pictures her mariners as doing, crying bitterly and `casting up dust upon their heads' and `wallowing themselves in the ashes' (in their weeping for her whose head was lifted up and become corrupted because of her beauty), "in bitterness of soul with bitter mourning" (Ezek 27:30,31). However, these and various other modes of expressing grief, repentance, and humiliation among the Hebrews, such as rending the garments, tearing the hair and the like, were not of Divine appointment, but were simply the natural outbursts of the impassioned oriental temperament, and are still customary among eastern peoples. Figurative: The term "ashes" is often used to signify worthlessness, insignificance or evanescence (Gen 18:27; Job 30:19). "Proverbs of ashes," for instance, in Job 13:12, is Job's equivalent, says one writer, for our modern "rot." Wailed loudly and bitterly - Literally "cried—a cry loud and bitter." While prayer is reported in other Scriptures as accompanying these traditional forms of mourning (Ezra 10:1; Neh 1:4; Dan 9:3) the Esther narrative fails to mention prayers of the Jews. Western peoples tend to keep emotions under wraps so to speak, but in the ancient near east it was common to dramatically demonstrate one’s grief. Mordecai was clearly demonstrating his grief. As someone has said "“All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” Mordecai could not remain quiet with human lives at stake. And it was indeed the news of Mordecai's dramatic public display of mourning and grief which somehow was transmitted to Queen Esther. The Greek Septuagint (eboa phone megale) is translated "cry out with a great sound" where the imperfect tense pictures Mordecai as repeating this act over and over - can't you just picture this dramatic scene in the middle of the city! The Greek word for "cry" is boao which can mean shout or cry out and which is used to describe the roar of a lion! It is interesting that in the Lxx, boao is used to describe one crying out in need, as from a sense of being oppressed (Jdg 10:10), over innocent blood (Ge 4:10), of workers (Dt 24:15). So although one simply cannot be dogmatic, this word as used in other contexts, at least suggests the possibility that Mordecai may have been crying out in need to God. It should also be noted that these types of emotional reactions were well known among the Persians, Herodotus reporting that they tore their clothes, wailed loudly, and wept bitterly on hearing of Xerxes’ defeat at Salamis. Thus Herodotus writes... When the first message came to Susa, saying that Xerxes had taken Athens, it gave such delight to the Persians who were left at home that they strewed all the roads with myrtle boughs and burnt incense and gave themselves up to sacrificial feasts and jollity. The second, however, coming on the heels of the first, so confounded them that they all tore their tunics, and cried and lamented without ceasing, holding Mardonius to blame; it was not so much in grief for their ships that they did this as because they feared for Xerxes himself. (Herodotus, The Histories 8.99). The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge has this note... Mordecai gave every demonstration of the most poignant grief. Nor did he hide this from the city; and the Greek (Septuagint adds words not found in Hebrew text) says that he uttered these words aloud: [Airetai ethnos meden edikekos,] "A people is going to be destroyed who have done no evil." When the prophet Jonah announced impending destruction on Nineveh, the Assyrian king and his people expressed many of the same reactions as Mordecai and the Jews.... Then Jonah began to go through the city one day's walk; and he cried out and said, "Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown." (Ed: Notice that there was a delay just as the 12 month delay in the Book of Esther) 5 Then the people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. 6 When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat on the ashes. 7 And he issued a proclamation and it said, "In Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat or drink water. (City Wide Fast) 8 "But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth; and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands. (Ed: An excellent definition of genuine belief - the fruit of repentance is manifested by a changed life) 9 "Who knows (cf Esther 4:14b), God may turn and relent, and withdraw His burning anger so that we shall not perish (cf Esther 4:14)?" 10 When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them (Ed: God saw the evidence of genuine repentance which testified in turn that their faith was saving faith!). And He did not do it (What? = Jonah 3:4). (Jonah 4:4-10) Esther 4:2 He went as far as the king's gate, for no one was to enter the king's gate clothed in sackcloth.: No one was to enter the king's gate clothed in sackcloth - Neh 2:1–2 reminds us that anyone who entered the king's presence was expected to have a cheerful countenance. How sad that oriental kings had to be hidden from the reality of the real world of suffering, even if it is only superficially. Esther 4:3 In each and every province where the command and decree of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing; and many lay on sackcloth and ashes.: The NET Note writes that... Although prayer is not specifically mentioned here, it is highly unlikely that appeals to God for help were not a part of this reaction to devastating news. As elsewhere in the book of Esther, the writer seems deliberately to keep religious actions in the background. There was great mourning among the Jews - From India to Ethiopia there was mourning, fasting, weeping and wailing among what is estimated to have been 15 million Jews. Swindoll asks "Have you noticed how suffering brings people together? Have you watched how people respond to disasters?...Hardship forces us to grab hands with one another and pull up closer together. Suffering never ruined a nation! Hardship doesn’t fracture families. Affluence does! But not suffering. Not hardship. It pushes everybody to the same level with the same goal: survival. And so we’re not surprised to find these Jews weeping and wailing and fasting together." Harry Ironside... They believed the word of Ahasuerus. The proclamation was sealed with the royal signet. They knew they were under sentence of death, and their hearts were filled with grief and anguish. In this, how like the condition of awakened sinners! All unsaved men are under a far worse condemnation than that which darkened the sky of every Jew in the Persian dominions. Fasting (See Entry "Fasting" or Here) - The first mention is in Jdg 20:26 in the context of sin by the sons of Israel (who also wept). Eugene Merrill notes that... Fasting is nowhere commanded in the Torah and, in fact, is never attested earlier than the time of the judges of Israel (cf. Judges 20:26). The fact that Jesus and the disciples sanctioned it by their own example (Mt 4:2; Acts 13:2-3), however, is sufficient justification for its practice in biblical times and, in fact, in modern times as well. (Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology) Whitcomb has this note on Fasting in the Ancient Near East... In Mesopotamia, fasting was a part of mourning rituals. It was a public display of one’s grief which stood in stark contrast to celebration (Scurlock, “Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Mesopotamian Thought,” 1886). In the ancient Near East, fasting held social significance similar to feasting. Both could create or renew a social bond and displayed an individual’s or group’s current state. While feasting was often a public display of wealth and success, fasting was a display of humility and grief (Pollock, “Feasts, Funerals and Fast Food in Early Mesopotamian States,” 21–22). Fasting in the Bible - Fasting is absent from the Pentateuch, but appears throughout the rest of the Old Testament and Inter-testamental Literature. In the New Testament, it occurs primarily in the Gospels. Fasting is frequently performed along with other practices of mourning, lamentation, or penitence. At times, it also functions apotropaically—as a preventative measure—prior to engaging in dangerous activity, such as a journey or battle. It parallels the practice of prayer; the two are often conjoined. In the Old Testament and Inter-testamental books, fasting is a means of humbling oneself before God. The motive for such humbling may include confession, repentance, or petition. The act of abstention and the physical practices which accompany it indicate submission. (Lexham Bible Dictionary) Paul Ferguson has an interested note on the "national" camaraderie generated by the news of imminent extermination... We see part of God s great providential plan unfolding. The exiles are not so consumed with materialism now. Suffering has a way of bringing people together whereas materialism tends to drive them apart. This is true even amongst the people of God. Esther 4:4 Then Esther's maidens and her eunuchs came and told her, and the queen writhed in great anguish. And she sent garments to clothe Mordecai that he might remove his sackcloth from him, but he did not accept them.: Told her - The NET adds "about Mordecai's behavior" which reflects the context but is not in the original Hebrew. The point is that she was isolated from her Jewish community. Esther's maidens and her eunuchs (See Esther 4:5, 9, 12, 13, 15) - Esther clearly trusted in them and willingly used them to relay information both to and from Mordecai. The queen was so isolated from general affairs in her harem that she knew nothing of the decree that had electrified the city. The queen writhed in great anguish - Why? Because Mordecai was her step father and reports of his great mourning were very disturbing to her. She however does still not know why as shown in the next passage. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai - Why? This would as a way of offering comfort to him for whatever has happened to her step father. Apparently it was the custom of Persians to send new garments to near relatives who were mourning over the death of loved ones. Perhaps, Esther assumed someone had died, but that is speculation. But he did not accept them - Here we see that Mordecai's refusal is tantamount to saying that it was not about the outer, but about the inner (see Ironside below). His refusal indeed was another "small" providential provision of Jehovah. Why do I say that? Because had Mordecai accepted the clothing, Esther may not have sent her trusted servant Hathach. Had the eunuch returned with a report that Mordecai accepted the new wardrobe, Esther may have been content to let the matter rest. And as secluded as she was from the outside world, she might not have discovered Haman's evil plot. Instead, Mordecai's refusal prompted Esther to seek further communication, which was vital in a day when they could not simply send a text message! We must keep the gravity of the context in mind lest we miss the import of these "small details!" The fate of an entire people, the Jews, lay in the balance! Harry