“Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces with the order to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and little children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. A copy of the text of the edict was to be issued as law in every province and made known to the people of every nationality so they would be ready for that day.” – Esther 3:13-14It’s hard for me to even comprehend the making of such a decree. While certainly it was another time, a barbaric one for sure, my mind simply cannot absorb such destruction. But it can absorb a lesson or two.
When our actions involve our authority over other people, it’s almost impossible for us to understand the impact it may have on that person. We can easily move on with our regular lives thinking all is well. The old saying “Out of sight. Out of mind.” certainly can ring true, at least for us. All the while leaving others more devastated than we ever imagined.
Not too long ago I went through a season of conviction in areas of my neglect of others. Mostly related to my leadership deficiencies and how I handled tough decisions with those under my authority. I'm not proud of it, but what I realized is that I failed to carry the burden that was due in understanding the gravity of the situation for the other person. And while the “what” may have been right, the “how” often fell short. The reality is that not dealing with the “messiness” of leadership is easier, especially when the “what” seems right. When we can justify our end actions we can easily reason away any means.
So I made some phone calls and had some conversations to try and make right what I felt I had done wrong. And here’s what I found: the wound of neglect was far greater than I imagined. And the apologies came with great victory… for both of us.
So the lessons for me are these:
• Whenever we see something in scripture that seems so terrible that we can’t relate with it, look deeper into the root of that action, and see if there’s something we can relate to.
• While to us the end (the what) might seem justified, make sure the means (the how) is justified as well. “Way” is God’s expertise.
• Just because we’ve moved on, doesn’t mean we’ve moved forward.
• It’s never too late to try and turn a “done wrong” into a “done right”. It might not be received, but an honest attempt is a Christ-like effort.
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March 6, 2009 – Esther 3 – Bowing down
ReplyDeleteV2 All the royal officials at the king's gate knelt down and paid honor to Haman, for the king had commanded this concerning him. But Mordecai would not kneel down or pay him honor.
Why did Mordecai refuse to bow down? We know the result of Mordecai’s decision. We know that God ultimately uses Mordecai’s action to bring Himself glory, but why did Mordecai refuse to bow before Haman?
In researching opinions on this rebellious activity, I find four reasons that various scholars think he refused to bow:
A religious confrontation - probably the most popular approach to this issue. The theory is that Haman wove an image of an idol on his clothes so that anyone who bowed to him was bowing to his god. According to this approach, Haman was religiously motivated and the struggle between Mordecai and Haman was of a religious nature.
Haman thought he was a god- in this theory Haman fancied himself a god. Haman reinforced this belief by ordering all to bow to him as they would bow to God. Haman, according to this understanding, resembles Mao Tse Tung, the chairman of Communist China in the mid-twentieth century. Mao had pictures of him hung throughout China and all its citizens were expected to bow to him.
A personal struggle- a small minority criticizes Mordecai for his actions and believes that he erred in his refusal to bow to Haman. According to this approach, Mordecai recklessly endangered the entire Jewish people because of personal pride. Unfortunately, this happens all too often in a variety of situations.
In support of Nationalism – Another group of scholars thinks that Mordecai had to set a precedent of resisting the surrounding culture. Had he not resisted Haman’s order the Jewish people would have been destroyed by assimilation. Hence, Mordecai refusal to bow to Haman in reality saved Persian Jewry of his time. He also set a powerful precedent for all generations about resisting excessive acculturation to the lifestyles and ideologies of the surrounding culture.
Regardless of the reason, can you just imagine the reaction of some of Mordecai’s Jewish kinsmen? “What a mess you’ve gotten us into, now, Mordecai! If you’d just get off your moral high horse and bow down, the whole nation of Israel would be saved. What’s more important – your righteousness or our nation’s safety?”
Good question? Do I compromise what’s right for what’s easy? Do I go against what God says, for what human beings are saying is better? Well, the good news is that, despite the very real threat to his life, Mordecai sticks with God, but at the same time he shows godly wisdom. He calls on his niece, Esther, the queen, to intercede on the Jewish people’s behalf and talk to the king.
It is hard to live a godly life in this world today. But if we are serious about following God’s plan for our life then that’s exactly what must be done. When faced with the question of “Will you bow down?” Maybe the question to ask ourself is “Whose plan for my life is being furthered by this decision?
I walked away with we must be very careful who we take advice from. The king got some bad advice from someone who was only looking out for himself. We need to take time and talk to God and make sure we are right with Him before we do anything major in our lives. This is the part I struggle with. My first reaction in a situation is to do the first thing that comes to mind. Waiting and listening are NOT my gifts. - Michael
ReplyDeleteMichael, I agree with you. Seems to be a common thread through Esther. If you haven't already, you might check out my post from Esther 1. We're thinking along the same lines.
ReplyDeleteThe lots they cast in the first month dictated that in the twelfth month, they would destroy Israel. Meanwhile all of Israel would have been celebrating the Passover while Haman was plotting their demise. Haman the Agagite. Some poking around in the commentaries reveals that “Agagite” likely refers to Agag, King of the Amalekites.
ReplyDeleteAbout 500 years previous, in 1Sam 15, Saul is given orders from God to completely destroy the Amalekites. But, he disobeys and keeps the king alive and all the livestock - “everything that was good.” He only destroys what is despised and weak. This disobedience is the beginning of the end for old Saul. Cut to our story and the Benjamite Mordecai is continuing in the battle of the Benjamite Saul.
What all this says to me is that it is not enough to say “woops, sorry” for my sin. I must actively destroy it. Because as we’ve seen over and over in scripture - here included, sin always comes back to (excuse the indelicacy) bite us in the butt!