God's Glory Church

Who knows whether it is not at such a time as this that you have attained royal dignity?

Who can I turn to now for help? Who can stop the war and is it even possible to do it? Who has the last word in what is happening today? There is an interesting book in the Bible that contains many analogies to what we see today. This is the book of Esther. In it, we read about the beginning of a miracle in the history of the people of Israel, but this was not visible at all at the beginning:

“…then in response, Mordecai ordered the following words to be delivered to Esther: Do not think that you, one of all the Jews, will be saved in the royal palace! After all, if you remain silent at such a time, then salvation and help for the Jews will come from another place, and you and your father’s family will perish. Besides, who knows whether it is not for such a time as this that you have achieved royal dignity?!

Go, gather all the Jews who are in Susa, and proclaim a fast for me – for three days do not eat or drink, neither night nor day; I, too, with my maids, will fast in the same way, after which I will go to the king, although this is also contrary to the law. So if I must die, I will die!” (ESTHER 4:13-14, 16 CUV)

What did you pay attention to in this small fragment? I see that with any problem we are always looking for a person who can help us solve this problem. If we have a toothache, we go to the dentist, if we have a leaky faucet, we call a plumber. And if it is a matter of life and death, then who do you turn to? When it comes to our health, we turn to doctors, but in this story it was a matter of life and death for the entire nation of Israel. It seemed, who can help in such a situation? But it only seemed that way, in fact, Mordechai needed acquaintances. His adopted daughter Esther was married not to anyone, but to King Ahasuerus himself. What else is needed – talk with her, arrange for her to order a word from her husband and have the necessary decree in your pocket. But not everything was so simple, and this is exactly what we read about in this short text.

The first problem was that it had been a month since the husband stopped paying attention to his wife. Not only did he not communicate with her much, she did not see him at all for a month, despite the fact that they lived in the same palace. No matter what you think, it says something, and if it didn’t even lead to a divorce, then probably one of the many royal concubines was able to capture the king’s heart and he completely forgot about his wife. If you think that this looks somehow unnatural, then remember the fate of Esther’s predecessor, Queen Vashta.

What to do here? These thoughts were running through Esther’s head, but there was no answer to them. To go to the king without an invitation is to violate the established law and fall completely into disfavor, and this is another problem. Not to go is to betray your named father Mordechai and leave your people to die.

And it was here that Esther remembered something. She remembered not only that she is the king’s wife and, in fact, the queen, but that she is the daughter of the Heavenly King who has no reception hours and who can give a way out where there is none at first glance. What did Esther decide to do? Before going to talk to the king, she offers to pray for 3 days. To pray herself and also asks Mordecai for the prayer of consent. That he would support her in fasting and also the entire Israeli people. It was this decision that became decisive in this story. God, who has the last word, intervened and overturned the sentence against His people. But neither Esther nor Mordechai knew anything about it at that moment. They simply began to pray and slowly a miracle came to the prayer.

And so, the question that Mordecai asked Esther in these verses is relevant for us today:

“Who knows if it was not for such a time as this that you achieved royal dignity?!”
Who knows if this is not why you are in church today? Who knows if this is not why you are a son or daughter of the Heavenly King today? Who knows…?