The book of Esther is the story of an acute crisis in the experience of God's people. It reveals, as do many other stories of the Bible, that God is with His people under all conditions. When a great leader for Israel was required the Lord provided one, usually from some obscure source.
In this study let us notice several things—the presence of God with His children; the character of the crisis into which they were thrown; the leader who rose to lead them through the crisis; and what there was in Mordecai to bring him to greatness in that leadership.
You are well acquainted with the story told in the book of Esther. In the fifth verse of the. second chapter a captive Jew, whose name was Mordecai, is brought to our view. The record is:
"Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, . . . who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away."
It would be hard to find a more difficult and discouraging set of circumstances than those which surrounded Mordecai, a captive in exile from his native land, and in servitude to the king of Persia. He was there by no right of birth, by no influence of heritage, by no claim of citizenship. From the lowly place where we first find him in this story he rose to be next to the king ; and while giving able rulership to the empire, he gave wonderful leadership to his captive people. He was feared by the most powerful of the princes and nobles, and held in love and complete confidence by his brethren. What were the qualities of character that enabled him to offer great leadership through such unpromising conditions as those described in this book?
ACCEPTED RESPONSIBILITY.—First, Mordecai was a man who felt for others in misfortune, felt for them tenderly and sympathetically. He took his cousin into his home to be his daughter, and he did that so sincerely and so completely that no daughter could have had a more devoted father. Mordecai, out of a kind and unselfish heart, was willing to accept responsibility. That must be so always with leadership in the Christian church.
I would earnestly suggest that all the great leadership of God's people in the past has been given by men and women who felt keenly for those under their care. Christian leadership must be prompted by kindliness of heart and sympathetic understanding, else the result will be lost.
After the deposition of Queen Vashti, Esther, who was fair and beautiful, was taken to the king's palace. This seemed to the family of Mordecai to be a calamity, but there was nothing that they could do to prevent it. Mordecai carried a great burden of anxiety. So we read in verse eleven : "Mordecai walked 'every day before the court of the women's house, to know how Esther did, and what should become of her." This was not every day for a week or a month but for a whole year. He was concerned.
MAN OF PRAYER.—Nothing is said directly of prayer, but the whole story shows him to be a praying man. When his people were faced with irretrievable disaster, he put on sackcloth with ashes, and took the garments of a mourner, and with tears "went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry." Mordecai's voice reached heaven, and brought help. In the course of events certain of the king's chamberlains sought to kill King Ahasuerus.
"The thing was known to Mordecai, who told it unto Esther the queen ; and Esther certified the king thereof in Mordecai's name. And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found out ; therefore they were both hanged on a tree : and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king." Esther 2:22, 23.
LOYALTY.—Thus we see Mordecai revealed as a very loyal man. A leader of the church of Christ who is disloyal to his God, his cause, or his people is wholly unfitted to lead, whatever other qualifications he may have. You can imagine that, under the circumstances, Mordecai imperiled his existence by his loyalty to the king. But he thus preserved the king's life, and saved the empire from rebellion.
The third chapter relates the promotion of Haman by King Ahasuerus above all the princes. Then by command of the king all the servants which were in the king's gate were required to bow down and reverence Haman. The last sentence in verse two states: "Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence." When Haman saw this he was full of wrath. In bitter anger Haman plotted not only the death of Mordecai but, knowing that Mordecai was a Jew, the utter extinction of all the Jews throughout the empire. In due time, with deception and bribery, the king was induced to consent to the writing of a decree to destroy the Jews, and it was written and sealed with his ring. When all this was done great perplexity settled over the city of Shushan.
TRUE TO CONSCIENCE.—It was not long before Mordecai's mourning and humiliation reached Esther's ears, and one of the king's chamberlains was employed by the queen to communicate with Mordecai. Thus a discussion of the situation was carried on which led that noble young queen to take her life in her hand and go before the king. She found favor with the king. In all this both Mordecai and Esther revealed that they were capable of great personal sacrifice for their cause and their people, and ready to meet the crisis with courage. Those qualities must still be found in strong leadership of God's people.
The sixth chapter relates how Mordecai was honored by the king. On the very night when Haman had completed a gallows on which to hang Mordecai, the king found himself unable to sleep. This led to the king's decision to honor the man who had saved his life.
HUMBLENESS.—Mordecai accepted the honor conferred on him by the king, but when it was ended he turned of his own volition from the glory and the pageantry of the occasion back to his place of humble service, and once again became a servant at the king's gate. Mordecai was sincerely humble. That, too, belongs to great leadership. We remain humble only by keeping close to God, by seeking His face continually, by having preserved in our hearts the purpose to continue in the way of His leading, and by honoring Him with our service.
Reading the seventh chapter, we find that from deep humiliation at the part he was forced to take in honoring Mordecai, Haman went directly to the banquet of Queen Esther, and from there to the gallows on which he had planned to hang Mordecai. In the eighth chapter we read of Mordecai's exaltation to high office and of his writing in the king's name to provinces, princes, and nobles, thus restraining the hand of destruction from the Jews.
A MAN OF ACTION.—This all reveals Mordecai as a man of action. The crisis called for action. From a humble place he had been called suddenly to use all the authority of the king, but there was no hesitance on his part. There is little place for fumbling leadership in God's work, and in times of crisis it is a positive menace. There will always be times in our work when the moment calls for firm decision and prompt action. These belong to successful leadership. They do not cancel the qualities of kindliness, sympathy, mercy, and tenderness; but they keep a movement orderly and strong when order and strength are needed to meet a crisis. A man of God can be firm and decisive without being ruthless and merciless.
GREATNESS.—In the ninth chapter of the book we find that Mordecai had ascended all the heights and waxed greater and greater. The qualities that we have examined in him sum up to greatness in his leadership of the Persian Empire. It is at this point that many successful men fail. They do well until success is attained, but are incapable of preserving their balance at the pinnacle. Is that how it was with Mordecai? The closing chapter of this book is very brief. It contains only three verses, but they present a pleasing picture of Mordecai in his greatness. The last verse reads thus:
"Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed."
Great, yet humble, retaining all those qualities in himself that had brought him to greatness, he is revealed here in two striking relationships—in the empire, authoritative, next to the king ; in the hearts of his own people, accepted as a revered leader, as an unfailing, unselfish brother, seeking not self-aggrandizement but the prosperity and peace of his people. To the princes, nobles, and officers of the empire he was a man to be feared. To the captive flock of God he was an anxious-hearted father, a tender shepherd. God grant us in this remnant church to possess a leadership like that of Mordecai of old.
