Text by Krisha Saliendra
Read:
s
Esther 2:20b (NASB)
…for Esther did what Mordecai told her just as she had when under his care.
Reflect:
The book of Esther is known for its famous verse from Queen Esther herself, “and if I perish, I perish” (4:16). This courageous statement has been an inspiration for many Christian women. But where did Esther’s courage come from?
Esther was a Jew living among the exiles in Persia. She was raised by her older cousin, Mordecai. After King Ahasuerus deposed Queen Vashti and gathered beautiful young virgins, Esther was chosen to be the next queen. Because of the plot to destroy all the Jews, Mordecai commanded Esther to “go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people.” (4:8) Esther knew that going to the king without being called is against the law and will lead to her death if it displeased the king (4:11), but she also knew that this battle was not hers alone, neither the Jews, but God’s. (2 Chronicles 20:15). So, Esther called for a three-day fast before she went to the king unafraid (4:16), and she found favor in his eyes.
Obedience, defined as compliance with an order, request, or law, was clearly shown in Esther’s life as a young maiden and as a queen. She submitted to Mordecai ever since she was young and even when she was already the queen. She respected Persian law as a citizen and as a queen. She did not complain when she was taken into the king’s palace and even when she, as the queen, was not called to come to the king for thirty days (4:11). She followed Mordecai’s request to ask for a favor from the king even though she knew it would cost her her life. She knew that God could save the Jews with or without her, but she obeyed nonetheless.
Esther’s courage is anchored to her submission to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to a God who is always present even in a foreign land, to the sovereign God whose providence saves and strengthens them. And her obedience was used by God to redeem His people.
Respond:
The Scripture tells us to have this attitude, which was also in Christ Jesus, who humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death (Philippians 2:5,8) – a kind of death that saved mankind.
Who knows where God will use you? As one of my favorite hymns says, “trust and obey for there’s no other way to be happy with Jesus but to trust and obey,” Esther’s obedience is a call for us to just trust and obey God amid this evil world.
Growing up in Sunday School is the reason why Krisha decided to become a teacher. She has been teaching in Sunday School since she was 12 and six years ago, God allowed her to teach in a Christian school in Taguig. Her heart goes out for the young generation, that their ways will be made pure by the Word of God (Psalm 119:9), just as God has preserved her through His Word.
AUTHOR: Krisha Saliendra