No Fear in Death

Day 49: Mordecai
Esther 3:1-15, 5:9-6:14, 10:1-3

- in sort of a continuation of yesterday's selection on Esther, these verses highlight her uncle Mordecai.
- Haman was made king Xerxes' right hand man and was given a lot of power and wealth over the kingdom of Persia. All were required to kneel before him out of respect when he passed by. But Mordecai refused because he worshipped God and God alone.
- so Haman sought to not only kill Mordecai but to get rid of all the Jews.
- after getting the king to agree that the Jews did not obey the laws of the king and deserved to be destroyed, Haman set out to build a 75 ft high gallows to hang Mordecai at the advice of his wife.
- one night, the king was having trouble sleeping so he had one of his servants read to him about the chronicles of his reign. They came across the part where Mordecai uncovered an assassination plot and he was not given any reward. So the king orders Haman to dress Mordecai up in the kings robes and lead him through the streets saying "This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!"
- after the Jews are delivered, Mordecai was made second in power to king Xerxes and was held in high esteem by many of his fellow Jews because of his concern for the welfare of the Jews.

I think Mordecai, like his niece, showed tremendous courage under fire. He knew that Haman had the power to have him killed and he still refused to kneel before him. Mordecai was willing to risk his life in order to be set apart for God and that's how we need to act in this world too.