Fingerprints of God: In Trying Times

Do not respond in fright or flight out of fear, but rather fight in faith and fasting against because only God can grant us favor with men.

Esther 4 - ¹ When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry. ² He went up to the entrance of the king's gate, for no one was allowed to enter the king's gate clothed in sackcloth. ³ And in every province, wherever the king's command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes.

⁴ When Esther's young women and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was deeply distressed. She sent garments to clothe Mordecai, so that he might take off his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. ⁵ Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king's eunuchs, who had been appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was. ⁶ Hathach went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king's gate, ⁷ and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king's treasuries for the destruction of the Jews. ⁸ Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her and command her to go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people. ⁹ And Hathach went and told Esther what Mordecai had said. ¹⁰ Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to go to Mordecai and say, ¹¹ “All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.”

¹² And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. ¹³ Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. ¹⁴ 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?” ¹⁵ Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, ¹⁶ “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.” ¹⁷ Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.

Have you ever noticed that sometimes crises come in waves and seem to last forever? I am talking about trying times when you haven't even recovered from the shock of one crisis and another one hits you. If you want to know how to respond to crises in trying times that seem unending, then Esther 4, is exactly what you need.

The problem is that, in trying times, people respond in one of three ways: they either turn to flight, fright, or fight.

• In flight, they flee from the situation because of fear.

• In fright, they freeze because they feel paralyzed with fear.

• In fight, they confront crises.

In 2 Timothy 1:7, the Bible teaches that, “...God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control…” People need to know in trying times, we are called to fight in faith without fear.

In Esther 3, God’s people faced crises on an unprecedented scale. Esther 3:13-15 says how the superpower of the time issued a death warrant for Jews, with a command to kill Jewish men, women, and children in the Persian Empire and claim their possessions and properties— something that the persecuted church in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East continues to face today. Esther 4 was a record of the response of God’s people in trying times so that we may learn how to respond in our trying times that seem endless.

The big idea is, in trying times, we are called to fight in faith and not respond in fright or flight in fear by depending on the depth and strength of our faith in trying times. Esther 4 offers three indicators to assess the depth and strength of our faith to fight in trying times: if we respond with fasting when facing fierce foes, with fortitude when facing ferocious fanatics, and with faith when facing frequent fears. Let’s study God’s Word as we look at these indicators to assess the depth and strength of our faith to fight and not respond in fright or flight in fear in trying times.

We Respond With Fasting When Facing Fierce Foes (Esther 4:1-3)

These foes can be people, positions, and powers or situations. We see that Esther’s first response is to fast. We see that in Esther 4:1 which reads, “When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and he cried out with a loud and bitter cry.” In the Book of Esther, up to this point, there has not been any mention of God, faith, prayer, or Jewish laws other than what Haman said in Esther 3:8 that “their laws are different from those of every other people.”

However, Esther 4 opens with one of the bold images of mourning, grief over sin, repentance in times of national disasters, and humility in the Old Testament, symbolized by sackcloth and ashes.

Sackcloth was a coarse fabric made from black goat’s hair and was really uncomfortable to wear. Ashes were often from burned material, but sometimes people in the Bible also put the dust from the ground on their heads, expressing finiteness.

• In Genesis 37:4, when Jacob heard that Joseph was dead, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and mourned.

• In 2 Samuel 3:31, when David learned of the death of Abner, he and his people tore their clothes and put on sackcloth and mourned.

• In Esther 4:2-3, Mordecai and the Jewish community did the same, “² He went up to the entrance of the king's gate, for no one was allowed to enter the king's gate clothed in sackcloth. ³ And in every province, wherever the king's command and his decree reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting and weeping and lamenting, and many of them lay in sackcloth and ashes.”

Regardless of their geographical location, they fasted and mourned with sackcloth and ashes. It was a national repentance for Jews everywhere. National repentance is a foreign concept in our individualistic culture, but not in societies based on collectivism.

The idea of national repentance is best illustrated in the story of the people of Nineveh. When Jonah declared God’s judgment on them, they responded with great humility and repentance. Jonah 3:5-7 reads: “⁵ And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. ⁶ The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. ⁷ And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water…””

They committed to national mourning, repentance, prayer, and fasting. Their fierce foe was not a man, but God. You could flee from man, but not from God. So, the Ninevites, believing in God’s benevolence, mercy, grace, and forgiveness, responded with mourning, sackcloth, and fasting. Their animals even fasted, and Jonah 3:8 says they even put sackcloth on their animals.

Mordecai and Jews everywhere realized though they faced a fierce foe, Haman, unless God allowed, their foes would not prevail. So, they humbled themselves privately and publicly. Too often, in trying times, we try to put a strong front before others, even before our church family. That is the world’s way and not the Word’s way. God’s Word tells us to be fully exposed before Him and each other, showing humility.

Application

In trying times, when facing fierce foes, whether people, powers, or positions, show depth and strength of your faith in the love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness of God, and respond with fasting because only God can subdue our foes. David, in Psalm 30:11, says, “[God] you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy.”

We Respond With Fortitude When Facing Ferocious Fanatics (Esther 4:4-11)

In trying times, fortitude is the virtue of being able to endure crises wave after wave, which involves our mental and emotional strength. For believers, this strength comes from the depth and strength of faith in God’s promises. In Esther 4:4-11, Mordecai challenges Esther, the Queen of the Persian Empire, to face ferocious fanatics on the throne with fortitude. It reads, “^4a When Esther's young women and her eunuchs came and told her, the queen was deeply distressed.”

The Hebrew word here for “distressed” is chuwl, which in other places in the Bible, is trembling when celebration turns into terror. Previous chapters tell us that Esther became the Queen in the seventh year of King Ahasuerus’s reign and the decree to kill Jewish men, women, and children was issued in the twelfth year of his reign. So, for three years, Queen Esther, previously an orphan, has been living a carefree life with all the finest things the world can offer.

Now suddenly, she is told her adopted father, Uncle Mordecai, is out there in sackcloth and ashes. Her celebration turned into terror. Esther 4 continues, “^4b She sent garments to clothe Mordecai, so that he might take off his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. ⁵ Then Esther called for Hathach, one of the king's eunuchs, who had been appointed to attend her, and ordered him to go to Mordecai to learn what this was and why it was. This means she was completely unaware of the crises of her people. ⁶ Hathach went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king's gate, ⁷ and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king's treasuries for the destruction of the Jews. ⁸ Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her and command her to go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people. He believed she would do what he would command her, so the verse says Mordecai commanded her. But look what happened next, ⁹ And Hathach went and told Esther what Mordecai had said. ¹⁰ Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to go to Mordecai and say, ¹¹ “All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.”

Esther is no longer a little girl; she is the Queen of the most powerful man in the world, and essentially, she has the confidence to say no and state the obvious that everyone knew. She reminded Mordecai of the laws of the Persians and Medes, and how she cannot face a ferocious fanatic like King Ahasuerus unless she is being called.

We have already seen his fanaticism for the laws of the Persians and Medes when he disposed of Queen Vashti. History also tells us that to cross his massive army from East to West to invade Greece, Ahasuerus ordered a bridge to be built from a narrow strait in present-day Turkey into Greece. When the bridge was completed, before his armies could cross, a strong storm destroyed it. It angered Ahasuerus, and to punish the sea, he ordered it to be whipped 300 times with chains, then pierced with red-hot irons and handcuffed by tossing handcuffs in the water.

Mordecai knew what kind of man the king was, but he responded with fortitude, and he wanted Esther to do the same.

Application

Sometimes we need to remind each other that when facing ferocious fanatics, whether religious or otherwise obsessed with power, pride, position, and egos, don’t let the obvious hold you back from doing what is necessary. Respond with fortitude, the ability to endure suffering with courage, which involves our mental and emotional strength.

We Respond With Faith When Facing Frequent Fears (Esther 4:12-17)

Fear is the enemy of faith, and only faith can combat fear, enabling us to fight and not respond in fright or flight in trying times. We see Mordecai's faith in action as he calls Esther to act in faith, in Esther 4:12-14, “¹² And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. ¹³ Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. ¹⁴ 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?””

It seems that Mordecai’s prophetic words had a deep impact on Esther. As a result, she calls others to fast in faith, continuing in Ester 4:15-17, “¹⁵ Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, ¹⁶ “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.” ¹⁷ Mordecai then went away and did everything as Esther had ordered him.”

Notice the change in leadership from Mordecai ordering and Esther following to Esther ordering and Mordecai following.

Esther 4 starts and ends with fasting because fasting was a common method to denounce the power of the world and declare the power of God. Moses fasted for 40 days, Jesus fasted for 40 days, yet we have lost the practice of the discipline of fasting. Many in the East continue to fast as they face crises. For believers in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, fasting is not an option. They have to fast to hold on to faith. Growing up in Pakistan, I saw my dad fast for three days and also for 21 days. Every year, our whole family fasted for 40 days.

Application

Put your faith in God and fast in times of crisis, especially if you are frequently facing fears.

 

Closing Thought

I want you to imagine the queen fasting for three days and nights in faith for God's favor before the king. Imagine how it must have inspired faith in other people. Her faith was not in fasting but in God, who, if He wanted, could change the heart of the king, but if He chose not to, then that was completely okay with Esther, too. That shows the depth and strength of her faith. No longer was she going to respond in fright or flight, but was to fight in faith.

Action Steps

Esther 4:14 says, “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?” 

• Mordecai’s faith was not in Esther but in God, so he started with fasting. Don’t put your faith in people in positions with power, but in the One Who puts them in those positions and gives them the power.

• Mordecai knew that even if Esther failed to act in faith, God would never fail His people. Have faith that in trying times, God’s people may fail you, but God will never fail His people.

• Mordecai’s prophetic voice to act in faith is not only for Esther it is for all God’s people in all generations. Just as Esther a destitute, an orphan who had nothing to offer was brought to the kingdom by God’s providence to act in faith to save others; we too were once spiritual destitute, orphans and nothing to offer brought to the Kingdom of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit and not any works of our own, to act in faith to save others. Don’t be complacent or comfortable with your security of salvation; take action in faith to save others both spiritually and physically. Spiritually speaking, between 70,000 and 158,000 people die every day without knowing Jesus. We are saved with a purpose and for a purpose, and that purpose is to glorify God by bringing others to the Kingdom of God through the preaching and sharing the Gospel of His Son Jesus.

Appeal

In trying times, do not respond in fright or flight out of fear, but rather fight in faith and fasting against foes, whether people, powers, or positions. When you face crises, wave after wave, fast for favor from God, because only He can grant us favor with men.

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