Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to go to Mordecai and say,
Esther sits inside a palace that knows nothing of the panic outside. She can reach Mordecai only through a servant who carries words back and forth. Her reply is not a refusal. She names the one obstacle between her people and their only hope: the door to the king is shut.
A queen who can only send messages
Esther acts in this crisis only through a messenger. She lived shut away from the news of the empire.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinEsther, in the secluded part of the palace, knew nothing of the great edict that had gone out. Her maids and attendants, whom she may have used to keep in touch with her uncle, then told her that Mordecai was missing from inside the gate. He was sitting outside in a most pitiful state, weeping and wailing… She therefore sent Hathach, one of the king's court officials and her personal attendant, to Mordecai to find out the cause of his mourning.
Mordecai chose his words to Esther with care.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinHe did not say "for this people" but "for her people." This made Esther's Jewish origin known to Hathach.
The reply: a closed door and a slender hope
What Esther sends back is the law of the Persian court. One writer draws out how thin her hope is.
H. L. RossierIf Esther appears before Ahasuerus without an invitation, she faces death. He has neglected her for thirty days. One feeble resource is left: the king may be pleased to hold out the golden sceptre to her. So the only way of escape is the grace of the one clothed with sovereign authority. But can Esther count on this grace? Not at all: everything depends on the king's good pleasure. Can one count on the good pleasure of a man who has just, with a single word, wiped an entire people off the face of the earth?
Speaking from her circumstances
Esther answers by describing the danger in front of her. One writer finds no fault in her for it.
J. G. BellettShe sees difficulty, and feels dangers; and for a time she speaks from her circumstances. There is nothing wrong in this. She tells Mordecai of the risk she would run if she went into the royal presence uninvited. Again I say, there is nothing wrong in speaking this way, though there may be weakness. But Mordecai counsels her as the stronger one. In the cause of God and His people, he stands above both his circumstances and his own affections.
Rescue does not come the moment the danger appears.
William KellyIt is striking to see how the furnace may be heated seven times before the rescue comes. Esther fully realises that her life was at stake in the charge her cousin laid on her. Mordecai, however, is only the bolder in his demand, and the strength of his faith is as plain as that of Abraham.
A God who is never named and never absent
The book of Esther never names God.
William KellyMordecai tears his clothes and puts on sackcloth. He goes into the middle of the city and cries with a loud and bitter cry (Esther 4:1). God's name is not written and does not appear. Even so, God's ears heard.
That hidden work runs on two levels at once.
J. G. BellettThe hand and the Spirit of God work together so wonderfully in the story of Israel, as we find it in the Psalms and in the Prophets. His hand shapes their circumstances; the Spirit shapes their mind.
The sceptre held out
The sceptre Esther dreads becomes a picture of welcome.
Arno Clemens GaebeleinThe golden sceptre speaks of divine righteousness, power and grace. That sceptre is held out to all who come to God in the blessed and worthy Name of Christ. We can come with confidence to the throne of grace, receiving mercy and finding grace to help in time of need.
Summary
- Shut in. Esther lives shut away from the news, and answers Mordecai only through a servant. Mordecai's careful wording, "her people," tells that servant she is a Jew.
- Shut out. Her reply names the real problem. Entering the inner court uninvited means death, and the king has not called for her in thirty days.
- One hope. The only escape is the sceptre — that is, the free goodwill of the one on the throne, which no one can command.
- Honest weakness. Esther speaks out of her circumstances, and no writer faults her for it. Mordecai's stronger faith then steadies her.
- Hidden hand. God's name never appears in the story. Yet He hears the cry, shapes the events, and holds out the sceptre — and He still holds it out to all who come in the name of Christ.