Esther 4:4

New International Version

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.

For Meditation

The decree got sealed in the various languages of the kingdom and dispatched by the couriers to all the provinces and their nobles. The two men — Haman and Xerxes—sat down to drink to their nefarious act. Soon, Jewish blood would flow in all the streets and homes wherever they lived in the Kingdom of Persia. However, everything that had taken place in the palace broke one man.

Mordecai tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went about mourning and wailing (Esther 4:1-). His people faced extermination on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month. Nothing mattered to him but the lives of his people—God’s people.

The eunuchs and female attendants told Queen Esther about Mordecai. They knew their connection and knew she would care. The reaction of the queen was interesting and classically worldly. The news distressed her, but for what? 

She sent Mordecai some royal clothing for a changeover from those sackcloths into proper attire. What is wrong with him—dressing so shamefully and walking around all the places? Has he forgotten how it reflects on her image? But did she get it?

Did Esther understand the enormity of the situation—did she grasp what was at stake and how evil had risen against God’s people? Did she get the enormity of the current situation? It was an ancient warfare playing out in the citadel of Susa, but what did Esther know? 

How about us?

Do we get it? Do we understand the progression of events around us in these last days—so much going on, but do we get their spiritual implications as children of God?

• Executive orders from presidential palaces.
• Acts of Parliament.
• United Nations mandates.
• School boards and their actions concerning sexuality and others.
• Simple acts of charity and benevolence to poorer nations.
• New inventions—scientific and technological innovations. 
• Current trends in the fashion capitals of the world.
• The mundane things in our lives.

Do we get what is going on in these things and their implications for the end times? Or are we just concerned about what is nice-looking and tolerable—about political and social correctness? Do we, as children of God, get it right?

The men from Issachar got it right and did the right thing by joining the others to enthrone David as the king of Israel (1 Chronicles 12:32).

May we be like them by seeking to understand the times we are living in and know what we, as Christians, should do, as Esther would soon learn.