After studying the Book of Esther inductively and governmentally, timely lessons for American Christians become obvious. Those lessons and insights are submitted here for prayerful consideration.
At first glance it may appear Mordecai created problems for the Jews by supposedly having no valid reason for refusing to bow to Haman (Esther 3:2), which caused Haman to seek a decree to destroy the Jews. However, in Esther 3:10 and 9:10, we learn that “Haman, was the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, an enemy of the Jews.” Mordecai was obviously a well-informed Jew and acted on the knowledge he had. Being informed and acting judiciously is a lesson for Christians today.
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
Notice too, in the first part of the book of Esther, the government was not protecting the good (the Jews), but decreed their destruction because of Haman. Yet, it was Haman who was protected (Esther 3). Obviously, this is not God’s purpose for civil government given in Romans 13, but in chapter 8 of Esther, the civil government allowed the Jews to defend themselves and ordered the execution of Haman and his family; thereby, protecting the good and punishing the evil.
The change in government came not, of course, because the Jews had the opportunity to vote for people who would represent them in their government. Rather, God had providentially positioned Esther and Mordecai in places of influence within their civil government where they were vocal and active even at the threat of death. Mordecai had wisely warned Esther in 4:14, “For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
This is timely advice for today. We the (Christian) People in America, are here for such a time as this. We have been given the privilege of voting for those who represent God in our government. Sadly, far too many Christians have remained silent at election time, much less run for office. So, we’ve given tacit consent to “We the Ungodly” to govern our nation any way they want!
Thankfully, because those two godly Jews, Esther and Mordecai, did not believe politics and religion do not mix, now represented God and their fellow Jews in government, so the Jewish nation was saved from annihilation.. If they had not brought God into “politics,” what would have happened to the Jewish nation through which Jesus would come and bring us salvation? Doesn’t this story of Esther show again how important it is to have Godly representatives in civil government?
Here is a summary of timely lessons for American Christians from the Book of Esther:
- The need for Godly influence in civil government,
- The need for representatives* of God’s people in the civil realm,
- The need to stay knowledgeable of government rulers and laws,
- The need for we the Christian people to stay active and vocal in governing affairs,
- The need to stay informed of enemies of God, His Law and His people, Christians and Jews.
- *Strong’s Concordance gives one definition of “image” from the Hebrew word in Genesis 1:26 as “representative.”
For Christians to remain uninformed, unequipped, and uninvolved in the civil sphere is for the “salt” to become “saltless.” By ignorance of governing issues, by apathy and by silence of the governed, (for whatever reason), we WILL be trampled underfoot more and more. Silent Christians become silenced Christians as warned in Matthew 5:13. (Compare to Esther 4:14 above.)
A closing thought: Is there any possibility signers of the Declaration of Independence (52 of the 56 signers were active members of their church) had in mind Esther’s comment, “If I perish, I perish“ (Esther 4:16), when by their signatures they “pledged their lives, their fortunes” (which many lost) and “their sacred honor” (which none lost)?
