Esther · chapter 4 of 10
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Esther 4 shows the mourning of Mordecai and the Jews when they learn of the decree of extermination. Mordecai asks Esther to plead with the king, and she replies that appearing without being summoned could cost her life. Mordecai tells her that she may have come to the throne for such a time as this, and Esther asks for a three-day fast and resolves to go to the king, even if she perishes.
After Haman's decree in chapter 3, the story moves from the court to the heart of the people. Esther 4 is the turning point of the book: until now Esther has been an obedient and quiet queen, and in this chapter she must decide whether to act. Here we find the most famous line of the book, Mordecai's question about the moment for which Esther came to the throne.
When Mordecai learns all that has been done, he tears his clothes, puts on sackcloth and ashes and goes through the city crying out bitterly. He comes as far as the king's gate, but no one may enter wearing sackcloth. In every province where the decree arrives there is great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and lamenting, and many lie in sackcloth and ashes.
Esther's maids and eunuchs tell her what is happening, and she is deeply distressed. She sends clothes to Mordecai, but he will not accept them. Then she calls Hathach, one of the king's eunuchs, to find out what is going on. Mordecai tells him everything, including the amount of silver Haman promised, and gives him a copy of the decree to show Esther and to urge her to go to the king to plead for her people.
Esther answers that anyone who enters the inner court without being summoned must die unless the king extends the golden scepter, and that she has not been called for thirty days. Mordecai replies that she should not think she will escape because she is in the palace, that if she keeps silent relief will come from another place but she and her father's house will perish, and he asks who knows whether she came to the kingdom for a time like this. Esther asks the Jews of Susa to fast for three days, night and day, and says she and her maids will do the same. Then she will go to the king, though it is against the law, and she says that if she perishes, she perishes. Mordecai does all she commanded.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Mordecai tears his clothes, puts on sackcloth and ashes and cries out bitterly in the middle of the city. His public mourning is the first cry of the people before the sentence of death.
Esther explains that anyone who goes to the king unsummoned must die unless the king extends the golden scepter, and that the king has not called her for a month. It shows that being queen does not give her freedom: her position is fragile and her intercession will cost much.
Mordecai tells her that if she is silent relief will come from another place, but she and her family will perish; and he asks whether she may have come to the kingdom for such a time as this. It joins personal responsibility with trust that God will care for his people.
Esther asks for a three-day fast and resolves to go to the king, though it is against the law, saying that if she perishes, she perishes. It is an act of courage that grows out of prayer and a fast shared with her people.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: He tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes and cried out bitterly through the city. — Esther 4:1
Answer: Hathach, one of the king's eunuchs who attended her. — Esther 4:5
Answer: To go to the king, plead with him and intercede for her people. — Esther 4:8
Answer: She would have to die unless the king held out the golden scepter to her. — Esther 4:11
Answer: Whether she had come to the kingdom precisely for a time like this. — Esther 4:14
Answer: To fast for her for three days, night and day, without eating or drinking. — Esther 4:16
Esther 4 teaches that God calls his people to act in the place and moment where they are. Esther held a position she had not sought and had to decide whether to use it or hide. In a small group you can ask what influence, role or opportunity God has placed in our hands and for whom we might use it, even if it costs us something.
It also shows that courage is prepared in community. Before going to the king, Esther asks others to fast and pray with her. Facing a big challenge, we should not face it alone: seeking brothers and sisters who will pray and walk with us is part of wisdom. And although the book does not mention God, the fast points to a people crying out to him.
Esther 4 ends with Mordecai carrying out what Esther asked and the queen resolved to appear without being summoned. Esther 5 will show what happens when she enters the inner court after three days of fasting.
It is Mordecai's question, suggesting that Esther's position as queen may not have been an accident but part of God's care for his people. It is not a promise that everything will turn out well, but a call to take the responsibility that goes with an opportunity.
The text says Esther asked for a three-day fast without mentioning prayer. In the Bible fasting usually accompanies pleading with God, so many readers understand that the people were crying out to the Lord even though the narrator does not say so in words.
According to Esther, there was a law that punished with death anyone who went to the inner court unsummoned, unless the king held out the golden scepter. That explains Esther's fear and the risk of her decision.