Esther 4:1-8 — Mourning… Faithfully?
READ THIS: Esther 4:1-8
1 When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly. 2 But he went only as far as the king’s gate, because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. 3 In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
4 When Esther’s eunuchs and female attendants came and told her about Mordecai, she was in great distress. She sent clothes for him to put on instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. 5 Then Esther summoned Hathak, one of the king’s eunuchs assigned to attend her, and ordered him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why. 6 So Hathak went out to Mordecai in the open square of the city in front of the king’s gate.
7 Mordecai told him everything that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury for the destruction of the Jews. 8 He also gave him a copy of the text of the edict for their annihilation, which had been published in Susa, to show to Esther and explain it to her, and he told him to instruct her to go into the king’s presence to beg for mercy and plead with him for her people.
WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?
This is one of the heaviest and saddest moments in the book of Esther. When Mordecai hears the news of the edict declaring that the Jewish people will all be killed, all he could do in the moment was mourn. We see him going out into the city, wearing a sackcloth instead of his normal clothing and put ashes over his head. The Jewish people did this as well, and they all began to fast, weep, and cry out. This may all seem crazy to us, because we certainly mourn in different ways today, but there was actually a lot of symbolism and deeper meaning behind their actions!
The practice of mourning was done during this time to outwardly show what someone was feeling internally. Mordecai and the Jewish people were at an incredibly low moment, and they likely felt immense grief. BUT, this practice was also done as a public sign of humility towards God! Even though Mordecai and the others were at their lowest moment, the fact that they mourned this way shows that they fully trusted God had a plan even in the midst of their mourning. We see the hope that Mordecai has in God’s plan because he refuses to give up! At the end of these verses, we see him reach out to Esther as the Jewish peoples’ last hope to avoid death.
THINK ABOUT IT:
1. Once again, it’s easy to see that even in all of this, God still hasn’t been mentioned by name in the book of Esther… Where do you see God in the midst of this passage? Think about this… who are the Jewish people likely crying out to?
2. It can be easy for us to think that being faithful looks like never getting upset with God’s plan… ever! How does Mordecai show that we can be faithful and sorrowful at times?
TRY THIS:
Check out this awesome article from GotQuestions about the process of mourning! Then, think about ways that you can practice being faithful to God in the midst of your own sorrows!
SONG OF THE WEEK:
Listen to the song of the week and think about the mixed emotions Esther, Mordecai, and the Jewish people could have been feeling as they heard the news of the edict!
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