Bible Commentaries
Esther 4

Verses 1-17

Esther 4:1-17 The Jews Respond to the Royal Decree In Esther 4:1-17 the Jews led by Mordecai respond to the royal decree by calling a fast and asking Queen Esther to plead mercy with the king. The nations of Israel and Judah had been utterly destroyed by their enemies in the past, and all of their people were now in captivity for the sins of their people. The Jews could no longer trust in their Jewish heritage for God’s favour, for this had not delivered them in the past centuries. The Jews in exile now understood that they were now utterly dependent upon God’s mercy and grace to deliver them. Esther approaches the king of Persian in like manner, asking for his undeserved favour delivering her people.

Esther 4:14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

Esther 4:14 Comments - If we do not witness, God will cut us off and raise up another in our place to speak His Gospel of peace in order to deliver His people (James 4:17).

James 4:17, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”

Esther 4:13-14 “and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Comments - We can see within this statement made my Mordecai Esther’s divine commission. We often find a divine commission at the beginning of the story of God’ servants in the Scriptures. We see in the book of Genesis that Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob each received their commissions at the beginning of their genealogies, which divide the book of Genesis into major divisions. We also see how Moses received his divine commission near the beginning of his story found within Exodus to Deuteronomy. Joshua received his commission in the first few verses of the book of Joshua. Also, we see that Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel each received a divine commission at the beginning of their ministries. The book of Ezra opens with a divine call to rebuild the Temple and the book of Nehemiah begins with a call to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, which callings Ezra and Nehemiah answered. In the New Testament, we find Paul the apostle receiving his divine commission in Acts 9:1-22 at the beginning of the lengthy section on Paul’s life and ministry.

Each of these divine callings can be found within God’s original commission to Adam in the story of Creation to be fruitful and multiply. For these men were called to bring the about the multiplication of godly seeds. The patriarchs were called to multiply and produce a nation of righteousness. Moses was called to bring Israel out of bondage, but missed his calling to bring them into the Promised Land. Joshua was called to bring them in to the land. Esther was called to preserve the seed of Israel, as was Noah, while Ezra and Nehemiah were called to bring them back into the Promised Land. All of the judges, the kings and the prophets were called to call the children of Israel out of sin and bondage and into obedience and prosperity. They were all called to bring God’s children out of bondage and destruction and into God’s blessings and multiplication. The stories in the Old Testament show us that some of these men fulfilled their divine commission while others either fell short through disobedience or were too wicked to hear their calling from God.