Esther 4, verses 7-9. Esther 4, verses 7-9. And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him and of the sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the Jews to destroy them. She gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to show it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make requests before him for her people. And Hadda came and told Esther the words of Mordecai. Through Mordecai's persistence and faithfulness The Queen, Esther now, has become aware that there is a very large cause for concern. Her initial thoughts that it might involve the death of perhaps a member of the family or maybe a close friend, that fear has been dispelled now by Mordecai's actions. She now knows that there is more and we have reason to believe that she has very good reason to think that it affects the whole people of the Jews. Now I want you to consider that when Esther first heard from her maids in Chamberlain's, the eunuchs, that Mordecai was outside the gate in sackcloth and ashes We're told that she was gripped with fear. We're told that she was exceedingly grieved, is the way it's translated. But that being gripped with fear, that grieving, is being gripped with the fear of a woman in childbirth, in the travail of childbirth. And though her initial thoughts probably embraced the notion of a death, which had already occurred, and that only of a single person, the truth is a sense of foreboding was not past, but future. And it involved either the destruction of the whole nation of her people, or perhaps, as we're going to see, actually the birth of a nation over again, the rebirth of a nation. So we see that her fear, though it was misdirected because she didn't understand the source of Mordecai's actions, her fear was legitimate. Moreover, her fear, which in the Hebrew is likened to that of the fear of a woman in travail heading for childbirth, I think hints at her instinctive recognition that she now, as queen, shall have some major role to play in the deliverance, not of a child, but of a nation, as I intimated. And thus Esther's grief, though it's very great, is neither excessive nor is it unwarranted. She's not grieving in vain. She's not grieving to no purpose. She's grieving because she is sensible that there is some great event that is underway and she's probably sensible that this is happening at least in part when she reflects upon the fact that as a lowly Jewish orphan girl she now finds herself the queen of the Persian Empire. That in and of itself probably was a hint Now, we should also note here that Esther was quick to respond to the news of Mordecai's grief. Immediately, what did she do? She sent him a change of clothing, which in Persian culture, as I explained before, it would be needed by one who is set apart for the task of mourning for a recently deceased person. Now, as I also noted, when she did this, She took a big risk. She risked disclosing the closeness of her relation to Mordecai, and in doing that, declaring that she was Jewish. So she's risking disclosing her relation in both her inner court and beyond. However, we see the boldness of her love for Mordecai in that. And we also begin to get a sense of her unquestioning commitment and concern for the one who had been her surrogate father when her parents had died. Remember Mordecai had taken her in and raised her up. Now here then is a picture of proper filial response to the grief of her father. Nevertheless, in all of this, we have to note that her exuberance in this is checked by Mordecai's wisdom and discretion at that moment. One thing he did by not taking the garments was he actually avoided revealing any more than she had hinted. So if you weren't really paying attention, You weren't going to get the full picture because that connection was not closed on his end. Sort of like somebody, you think you recognize someone on the street, but they don't acknowledge you back. Someone who sees that far off might think for a moment that you know that person, but when they see the other person's reaction, then they assume that maybe you made a mistake. So Mordecai very deftly lets her out of this dilemma that she's created by sending these clothes. Now, Mordecai has his own reasons, as we know, sending back those clothes. He wants to convey something. But Esther's motive for sending a change of clothes may have been from a desire, not just a filial respect, but from a desire really to to get an understanding of what was going on. And so she perhaps desired to get him re-entry to the palace. But remember, dressed in the manner of a mourner, Mordecai was considered unclean by the Persians and he would have been excluded from the king's court. He couldn't come in. Of course, with a simple exchange of garments, that problem could have been taken away. Mordecai would have been able to come into that area where he could resume communication via the Chamberlains, at least. One thing that his refusal signaled to Esther was that the matter was much more serious, as I mentioned last time, and that it involved in some sense not just one person but probably the future of the Jewish people. And thus the communications then would involve very sensitive information that could jeopardize both Mordecai and Esther. So if he were simply to come into the courtyard, he's still not going to be in the house of the women where Esther is. And it may be that there would have been several Chamberlains or several eunuchs that might have carried communications back and forth between the two. But you see, he wouldn't know who among them was the most trustworthy. And yet, the one who was most trustworthy among them is the one that they needed to use as a channel of communication. So by remaining aloof from the court, what one thing Mordecai is doing is he's going to force Esther, when she does send a chamberlain, a eunuch, to choose to send her most trusted chamberlain. You're not going to send your least trusted or someone of doubtful trust status when they're going to be going outside of the king's court and into the city and meet up with Mordecai. You want someone you can trust. And so finally, we note that Esther does summon her most trusted eunuch or chamberlain, and he's named Hathak. Now, whether his name signifies, if you remember last time I mentioned his name could mean a couple of things, whether it signifies he's the chamberlain who's designated to be the courier right, the one who is actually allowed to go out, which is probably the case. Or perhaps it simply notes his veracity, because remember it means verily. What is clear, the fact that she chooses him, his character is unquestioned by the Queen. And it's unquestioned especially in this situation. Now we need to be reminded of the danger that is here when the text tells us Haddock had been appointed by the king for Esther. You know, our natural reaction would be to ask, is his first loyalty then going to be to him or to her? Particularly if he perceives that there's some plot afoot. Now, as we will see, her trust is not at all misplaced. Her choice of Haddock is confirmed in his reliability. And in this, we see that Esther had a wisdom about her domestic affairs. She is, in fact, very much aware of what's going on in the house of the women in the Queen's in the queen's part of the palace. She is in charge and she knows who can and who cannot be trusted. So in verse 7, And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and of the sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the Jews to destroy them. Mordecai told him. That is, remember, Hattak had gone out. Mordecai told Hattak. As noted previously, the text is silent as to what Hattak told Mordecai. However, judging from his trustworthiness, He undoubtedly related Esther's concerns to know what and why was happening to the Jews. We read here that Mordecai told Havok. Now this is his response to hearing Esther's concerns. This word has a very wide connotation in Hebrew of telling or relating something so that it comes before another very prominently and meaningfully. I've mentioned this before. This word is a word that's used several times in the book of Esther. It'll be used again just in the passage we're looking at today. Without the first, The information would remain obscured by other information, if it's not prominent. So that which is meant to be conveyed must be brought to the fore. But without the second, without it being meaningful, the information would remain obscure in another way. It would lack any significance to the hearer. You might hear something very prominently, but if it doesn't mean something to you, even if I bring it to your attention, it really isn't going to mean much to you. It's not going to have much of an impact. If I give you some piece of information out of context, probably is not going to be very memorable, other than there was this weird situation when someone walked up to me and said something to me that made no sense. So he needs to get it before him to gain his attention, but it also has to be meaningful. And so Mordecai is going to be concerned to transmit his information to Hathak with that necessary explanation that's going to make it notable, memorable, and meaningful. He needs this information to be understood by the courier to be something not only to be repeated, but something to be repeated in such a way that it will convey its proper gravity. Now this information that he gives him consists, we're going to see, of two parts. First, he alludes to his own role in the rise of this calamity. And then second, he raises the issue of the role of Haman, who we understand from his malice sought to destroy all the Jews. Now in this division, we also are going to see a contrast between Mordecai's motives and Haman's motives. So it's Mordecai versus Haman. By placing it in that light, we're also being invited to see this as part of that larger contest that we see going on again and again throughout the Bible between the people of God, the seed of the woman, remember deliverance is going to come through Esther, a woman, and the heathen, the seed of the serpent, who reject the priesthood of God's appointing in grace, Christ, and they seek to to retain to themselves a priesthood of nature. That's what these pagan priests were. Remember, I talked about this some time ago. Haman is probably a priest belonging to the priest of the cult of fire. This has probably been handed down in his family from generation to generation. It's probably a pre-Zoroastrian Persian religion. that is involved here. It's one of these proto-Zoroastrian religions in Persia. Now, in addition to those two parts, Mordecai is going to do one other thing. He's going to provide Hathak with some tangible evidence of the plot against the Jews now unfolding in the Persian Empire. So he's going to say, look, here's what's going on. Here's my part in it. representing the people of God. Here's Haman's part. He represents the seed of the serpent. And by the way, I'm not just making this up. Here's proof. Finally, once he does that, he's going to make his own request of Esther. A request, the success of which is going to determine whether or not the Jewish nation survives in this Persian diaspora. You know, the diaspora when they're scattered. That's what's happened. So we're told, and Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him. That is, unto Mordecai. So here is the first part of the content of Mordecai's information. So Mordecai starts at the beginning of this whole affair and he begins with an explanation that is meant to tell how to... This is how I'm involved. This is how I became involved. In fact, I'm really, in a sense, at the center of this. So what is he going to tell him? He's probably going to tell him this story about Haman. Haman had been elevated to a seat above all the princes of the court. But why had he been elevated? You see, that's where Mordecai actually came in before that, too. Because if you remember, it's Mordecai who is involved with unveiling that plot by Bigfen and Teresh. that plot against the king, which probably led to the creation of a central post within the court so that Hasuerus could make sure that this kind of political intrigue in his inner court didn't happen again. He wanted one guy to be responsible to make sure that that wasn't going to happen, and that's very likely why Haman is advanced to such dignity. Now, with Haman advanced to such civil dignity, Mordecai is going to relate not only what, but why, as Esther commanded Hathak to discover from him. So, as Haman traversed the court, remember, the minions of the king were wont to bow slavishly before him, doing some sort of homage. And they're not doing that for no reason. They are required by law, the commandment of the king, to do this. Now it may well be, as the rabbis have asserted, there were some kind of religious overtones to this reverencing which they did, especially if we consider the implied priestly lineage of Haman. But this is what Haman did, and Mordecai knew why he did it. There was this insatiable hostility toward the true religion. And Mordecai knew why. Because Mordecai was at the center of that hostility. Right? Remember, what did Mordecai do and why? Well, he would tell Hathor that when all this began with Haman, he tried to ignore the whole affair. So while the court sycophants are bowing and groveling before Haman at the command of the king, he stood apart, refusing to offer such slavish devotion to a representative of a Persian pagan religion. Mordecai would not and Mordecai could not bow without betraying his faith in the true God. The reason why, and we discussed this, he was a Jew. He's a member of that covenanted people of God that made him a covenanter. And he had to dissent from the foolishness of the political spectacle around him because it was godless and immoral. That's who Mordecai is and that's why he's doing what he's doing. But what did that do? What did that cause? Well, it caused an animosity. So proud, remember, so proud was Haman. He didn't even look down on the groveling masses long enough to take notice that Mordecai was refusing to bow, by the way. It was actually those with their faces pressed to the ground every time Haman went by who first took notice of Mordecai. And that contest began as a very quiet conversation between those who sat in the king's court On the one hand, all the court sycophants, they want to know why. Why don't you, Mordecai, why don't you bow down when Haman goes by? After all, the king commanded us to bow down. And this line of inquiry continued for some time, and as they pressed for an answer, the only answer that Mordecai would give them is simply this. He was a Jew. Like when people say, why don't you vote? And you say, I'm a Covenanter. And then they say, what? What's that? That's what Mordecai is doing to them. He says, I'm a Jew. If you really want to know, I'm a Jew. And you need to find out what that means. They saw a rebellion. They saw resistance, they saw disrespect, they saw lack of civic duty, and all of that, where Mordecai saw all of this as an issue of maintaining the true faith in the public square. For them, it was a matter of Persian civility. For Mordecai, all that's going on is actually a struggle, a very profound struggle between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. See, they saw it in terms purely temporal, but he saw it in terms of profound spiritual depth. And so when they finally bring this up, and they finally eventually decide to make Haman aware of what they view as brewing rebellion, it's no surprise that Haman, who is himself a very religious man, that he understands something. And of course, for good measure, they inform Haman that Mordecai was a Jew, which is a way of saying he's not. He doesn't believe what you believe. It's a different religion. Now, the reaction of Haman might have surprised the courtiers. because we're told that he was filled with wrath, particularly when he saw that Mordecai did not do him reverence, when it finally dawned on him, when it came to his attention. Because again, for Haman, this battle was also seen as one between contending religions. Haman's concern was less disobedience to the king, I think, than it was a disrespect done toward himself and through him toward the Persian religion. And this, then, I think is why Haman leaves instinctively from Mordecai to the whole Jewish population. I don't think there's any real good explanation other than that as to why he makes this move from Mordecai to all Jews. But he understands it's a religious battle. He understood it's a contest between worldviews which are inherently religious. And it was then that Mordecai functioned as a catalyst in this battle of faiths where the Jews are now placed in harm's way. See, that's Mordecai's point in bringing up what happened to him, how this happened. So there's Mordecai's part in all of this and then he moves on. All this that had happened unto him and of the sum of money that Haman had promised. Well, now Mordecai Mordecai is indicating that his motives transcend the natural interest of man. By saying this, he's indicating that he's looking to a higher good, that which is professed in and by the true religion. On the other hand, Haman, who is now the archenemy of the Jews, shows himself to have been motivated by an irrational malice arising from his own pagan religious views. Now in telling the story of the money offered, what is Mordecai going to tell as well? He's going to have to recount that there was a casting of lots as Haman sought divine guidance in the destruction of his enemies. And here we're to note, I think, we're reminded at least, of the heathenish notion of providence. The heathens believe in providence, but for them it's a blind fate. across which Haman is casting lots so that fate would determine the best day to order the destruction of his enemies. Having cast the lots, Haman had said an amount of money. That is, Haman had made a verbal promise of a certain amount of money. Why is that important? I think what is going on here is we see Haman saying something akin to making a vow. to deliver up a sum of money based upon his faith in the direction he believed had been revealed by the law." So I've noted that Mordecai was, as one of the people of God, a covenanter, one who was under covenant obligations and who had embraced those covenant obligations come what may. He had actively embraced those obligations. Haman was then himself, in a sense, a covenanter too. But his covenant was pagan, and as is apparent from the next clause, it was in league with the heathen state of the Persian kingdom. So the sum of money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries. Haman's ransom is fit for the king. Fit for a king and fit for the king, or at least that's what he thinks. He's openly offering money to the king, a price for a people, a ransom, to be deposited into the treasuries of the royal house, the house of the king. Now with these words, what Mordecai is doing is tightening his argument that Haman is malicious beyond measure. However, Mordecai must have also related that the king, Hasuerus, had refused to receive that money. So yes, the pagan priest, Haman, he's in league or covenant with the king, but the king himself was moved to this action, not by the money, but by his own hatred or malice. Now that's important. If you had been moved by the money, you would have to come up with a greater sum of money. If he's moved by hatred or malice, the only thing that's gonna move that is love. Now since Mordecai demonstrates some knowledge of this transaction between Haman and Ahasuerus, it must have been either known to others, one or more of whom would have related it to him, or it was made known to him by God. If it was the latter, of course, it would only confirm his status as a prophet, but his information, as we'll see, is spot on. It's just very accurate and reliable. the sum of money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the Jews. This malice, the contest, was between the empire of the beast. Remember in the book of Daniel, the Persian empire was part of the four kingdoms prophesied in Nebuchadnezzar's vision, his dream, I should say. And the people of God, the Jews, are on the other side of this empire. So the contest is, again, between the empire of the beast and the people of God, the Jews. which is, as I said, a contest between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. Both the heathen religion, represented by Haman, and the heathen state, represented by the person of the king, have combined here to make war against the Church and people of God. This is a war against the Church rooted in false religion. Powered by statecraft and bound together by a common malice and agreement Some of money he made a promise to pay to the king's treasuries for the Jews to destroy them It's a destroyer to cause to perish the Hebrew verb is intensive it's in the PL and And it suggests, I believe, that Haman, together with the king, have set upon a course designed to bring the people of God to disaster, even to total obliteration. This is going to shatter them as a people. Not just shatter them as to disperse them, but to shatter them as to their existence. Now in making this central to his presentation, Mordecai indicates that he thinks this attempt by Haman to buy the Jews will arouse in Esther a stiff resistance, and that will be useful to move her to action. Now the reason I think he understands this is going to get her attention, this idea of a ransom for the people, is because the spectacle of the people of God being sold into something actually worse than slavery, destruction, that's an image no pious Jew could stand to contemplate. They were familiar with the idea that for their sin, God had sold them into slavery. But here, for their sin, Haman is going to sell them and the king But Haman in particular is going to sell them into destruction, utter destruction. Now the inhumanity, let alone the impiety of the wicked, here is shocking. Remember what Solomon says in Proverbs 12.10, A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. But here it's clear that Israel is not even regarded as an animal. They must be left, in other words, to suffer the tender mercies of wicked Haman. And it's cruel. It's cruel. So in verse 8. Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to show it unto Esther. and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king to make supplication unto him, and to make requests before him for her people. Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them." In other words, now Mordecai is saying, I've made this tremendous claim. And such claims demand some sort of proof, don't they? After all, here's Mordecai talking to Haddock, and Mordecai has just indicted Haman with what he said. One of the king's top counselors. And it didn't stop there. The king himself is also involved in this plot to commit what we now would call genocide. Is it possible that all of this is only a matter of hearsay? Now should Haddock return with such a tale, the fact is he might find himself exposed to some very horrible punishment as a co-conspirator against the king. If he just takes us back to Esther and someone else discovers this, it may not even be true and he might find himself caught in this co-conspiracy. Remember what happened to Big Ten and Teresh, they were executed. So is he going to accept all of this on the word of some disheveled Jew standing outside the king's gate? I mean, think about it. Mordecai is standing there in sackcloth and ashes. From a Persian point of view, perhaps not the most credible person. It's true this Jew is somehow connected to the Queen, but these words may well have seemed to him to be, as the Bible says, an idle tale. So for this reason I believe it is that Mordecai now produces a copy of the writing of the decree. Now the Hebrew word used here is the same as is used earlier when they write these decrees and I suspect it is suggesting that what he is turning over to him is perhaps even one of the very copies that have been written out and remember they were certified to be sent out throughout the kingdom by courier. Now Hathak, himself a courier, is going to carry the same dispatch. that Mordecai would have had one of these copies itself suggest that he had a number of high-level connections throughout the empire, one of whom, having received a copy, was able to get it to him. The importance of this, and I think the reason for suspecting it is a genuine copy, is this copy would bear the royal seal and carry the royal decree, which is summarized in those words, to destroy them. The point is, Mordecai's not just spreading a rumor, he's relating what was decreed to happen. Everyone outside of Shushan knew. Remember, it's inside the palace that they don't know. It's kind of bizarre at one level that couriers are taking this decree all over the empire, and now Esther's private courier is going to bring it back to Shushan the palace. Mordecai is giving him proof And he's given it haddock enough background information To set that whole decree in context So he gave him the copy of this writing of the decree given at Shushan to destroy them to show it on to Esther and And I think there is some irony here in the words which immediately proceed, that was given at Shushan to destroy them. Because Hatik must now take this copy back into the palace to the queen, who is unaware of the plight that has befallen her people. So copies had been dispersed everywhere to make known this decree, and yet somehow, knowledge had been kept from the house of the women in Shushan. and perhaps more. Esther would now know, however, what had been decreed from Shushan and how it would impact the future of her people, the Jews. So he gave him a copy of the writing of the decree to show it on to Esther and to declare it unto her. As mentioned, Hatak would also carry the background information to her which he would tell her, to declare it unto her. This is the same word that was used earlier. This idea of explaining, he would explain to her what Mordecai had to him. So Esther is not only going to know what but why, and having been raised by Mordecai, and this is also I think important here, She's going to understand what all of this means. It's going to be meaningful for her, particularly because she's going to understand this idea of a contest between the parties to be both ancient and deadly. This contest between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. She's also going to understand this is a battle between true religion and false religion. which is unfolding supernaturally as well as temporally. She's going to be aware of that. Hadak may not get that point, but when he tells her, she will understand that, because she was raised by Mordecai. That's quite notable, I think, that Mordecai doesn't here hesitate to command Esther, although she's now a queen. As we shall see, she's not offended even in the slightest that he's doing this. Because although she's now a queen, she had been brought up in such a way by Mordecai. He'd been to her instead of a father. She'd been raised in the faith and so she remains poised toward what we should understand to be a proper filial obedience toward him. And what this shows us is both the dignity of Mordecai and the virtue of Esther balanced one against the other. This is a symbiotic relationship. that will prove to be, humanly speaking, one of the keys of the ultimate triumphing of the people of God. And it's an indication that it's a very happy providence when family relations are made to serve the interest of the Kingdom of God on earth. It's families It's in families that children learn or do not learn the lessons of obedience that they're going to carry with them and make them useful to the church. It's in families that they learn or do not learn the lessons of loyalty that will be necessary to create that cohesion. Just as filial obedience will make Esther more easily compliant in obeying God, who now speaks to her through Mordecai the prophet, filial loyalty grounds her obedience in a love that is oriented toward another rather than merely towards self. You see, that's the problem. If you think that you can have this apart from that, it won't happen. She's never going to accomplish what she needs to accomplish without that dimension. It's her love for Mordecai that orients her own focus outside of herself. She's not self-centered, she's other-centered. And that's what happens when there's proper filial obedience. That's what happens. force parents to become other-centered. And conversely, filial obedience teaches children to be other-centered. And that's become very useful here in this case with Esther. Mordecai is given commandment that Esther go in unto the king. Now I want to suggest, had this been any other relation, his command would not have been so taxing. But as becomes apparent in this chapter, this is much easier for him to command than for her to obey. It's true, Esther is the queen. But in the Persian scheme of things, this only makes her first among unequals. And that unequality of relationship will make that approaching of the king a very tricky thing to do. Remember, we saw this in one of the coming verses we read, where she says, look, I haven't been asked to come before him in the last 30 days. Yes, she's queen, but she's first among unequals. No one is equal with the king. There is nothing there that is going to be easy about this. at least humanly speaking. So he charges her that she should go unto the king to make supplication unto him. Now here's the substance of what Mordecai commanded Esther to do when she went to the king. The root of the verb translated make supplication is a word which means to feel sympathy or to have pity. The particular verbal form in Hebrew is normally reflexive in meaning, which means it has reference to the person acting. In this form, this verb means to implore favor or compassion. And so I think that the idea of using this here is it's supposed that it has a sense of making oneself pitiable in some fashion so that it's going to elicit the pity or compassion of another. We'll draw that out of another. Now, until this time, Esther had done nothing, nor had she said anything that would have made her the object of the king's compassion. She is the great object of his delight. He showered her with many gifts befitting his royal status as king. But we have no indication that he's detected anything in her worthy of pitier compassion. In fact, had she presented herself such when she was in that contest to become queen, If she had done that, it's very likely that she would not have won. In fact, I would say it's highly unlikely she would have won the affection of the Hajimaris because, remember, no one could even approach the court dressed in sackcloth. The court is not a place which is going to deal with the harsh realities of life. His court is shielded from that sad and unpleasant side of life. So if there's anything about her that would have elicited pity or compassion, that would have disqualified. Furthermore, when she entered the court of the king, we really have no reason to think there was any reason for pity or compassion. except maybe the fact that she'd been orphaned, a situation, however, which was really not that uncommon at the time. So to charge her that she should go in unto the king to make supplication unto him and to make request before him for her people. So in addition to making herself the object of Ahasuerus' pity or compassion, she's commanded by Mordecai to make request before him. Now this can mean to make a demand or set a requirement before him. The word used actually can also connote the idea of discovering. And that nuance, I think, becomes important when we consider the last Hebrew word, which is translated here. It's one word, but it's translated here, for her people. The rabbis take note that Mordecai commanded her to make requests for her people rather than simply saying for the Jews or for the Jewish people. And they suggested by calling them her people, Mordecai is actually telling her to discover or reveal to the king her connection. In other words, discover to him her people. Make that discovery. Now's the time, in other words, to make known her lineage. She hasn't made that known hitherto. Now why do this at such a time when danger stands before the Jews? When it was safe, she was commanded by Mordecai not to reveal her lineage. But now she's commanded to reveal it to him. And I think that in this we can see that Mordecai really is one of those who knew the times and the seasons and what should be done. In other words, he really was a prophet of God. Because his instructions regarding concealing and revealing her identity, I would suggest, seem counterintuitive. And yet it's precisely now that revealing her identity is also the best way to make her the object of the king's pity. And this is a way to find out if his love for her is greater than his hatred for the Jews. Of course, this isn't a given. because he's already turned down a vast sum of money offered by Haman for the destruction. And we know now from that that his love of money was clearly not greater than his hatred for the Jews. The result of this revelation, however, that Mordecai gives her to now reveal is going to have to await its actual issue. Finally, in v. 9, Haddok came and told Esther the words of Mordecai. Haddock returned again in obedience both to the command of the Queen and also to Mordecai. And in this what we see is Haddock really is, as his name suggests, a courier or even a chief courier, but more importantly, verity. He is true. He is an amen to what Esther has done and now to what Mordecai has said and done. Like Noah's dove, Haddock goes out from the house of Esther and now he returns again. But unlike the dove, he's not returning with an olive leaf. Haddock came and told Esther. Again, the verb here means he didn't really relate facts, but the idea is he spent the time and gave enough information to supply all the details necessary to make it memorable and meaningful. And he is in a position to give context to Esther. Mordecai has given him what he needed. So his job in returning is to convey the fullness of the threat and also the immediacy of the danger to the Jewish people, including the Queen. Now I'm not sure yet that Hadak is clearly aware that the Queen is Jewish, but that will come in. People will become aware of that very shortly. Hadak came and told Esther the words of Mordecai, the words of things and matters. The Hebrew word is somewhat ambiguous, but it's the words of Mordecai primarily. that have provided most of the information, which he declares to Esther. But of course, Haddock actually talked with Mordecai, and so he's in a position not only to relate what Mordecai said, but he can also tell her about the depth of the passion, the seriousness of his countenance, the nature of their meeting. He can add details that are going to help her understand And he would need to add anything that might increase the significance of the words and decree which he carried to the Queen. Because the future of the Jews hangs upon what comes of all of this. Now here, Haddock in returning to the Queen continues to demonstrate his devotion to her. He really is a devoted servant, devoted chamberlain. She's chosen well. But more importantly, by his returning, I think he shows that he trusts her. He trusts her because given the nature of the report he's carrying, as I noted earlier, he could have become an indicted co-conspirator against the king, if the correspondence between Mordecai and Esther were to go awry. If it came out, if it became public in some uncontrolled way, it could wreak havoc on Mordecai, Esther, and now on Hathak, because he is not going to expose all that he's been told to anyone but Esther. He's very careful on this. I think Actually, we see a very admirable trait in Hatak. Think about it. As unpleasant a thing as it is to be the bearer of bad tidings, it actually is often quite useful. You know, it's not a good thing if the doctor lies to you. They need to tell you the truth even if it's not good. There are a lot of things in life like that. If people don't give you the information. Had Haddock feared to deliver Mordecai's message? Or had he simply tried to make it seem better than it was? Had he tried to put the happy face? You know people say, let's try to put a happy face on that. is some things you can't really put a happy face on without deeply diminishing the meaning and significance. If he had done those things, he would have failed as a faithful and trusted courier. Because he knew what Esther wanted. She wanted to know what and why. He knew what Mordecai had told him. He knew how serious it was. He knew somewhat of the depth of the plot and the dilemma. So for him to have remained silent once he knew what Mordecai had told him, that would have actually made him a co-conspirator in the proposed genocide. So the fact that he trusts Esther and he's going back to her shows us that Haddock at least has a working conscience. We don't know that he is a believer, but we know that he has a sense of right and wrong. If he had remained silent, he would have strengthened the hand of evil and his silence might have cost tens of thousands of lives. Now it's true also that very often men treat those who bring evil news as if they're enemies. That's why so many reject the faithful preaching and teaching of the scriptures because that requires declaring judgments against sinful men. And that's why they refuse to believe that sin is so bad. They don't want to think about that. That's why so many are turned aside from the truth. And ultimately why so many are hardened against the gospel itself. The word gospel means good news, but their inability to receive the bad news places a great obstacle in their receiving the good news. Because the good news doesn't make a whole lot of sense without the bad news. Christ will only be valued where he's perceived to be the friend of sinners, not an enabler to keep sinning. And it's refusal to hear bad news, which is why faithful teachers in the church are treated as enemies by the world and by the worldlings in the church. Consider as well, Mordecai, Just as in chapter 2 his sources had been accurate in unveiling the plot of Teresh and Big Than against the throne, they continue to remain accurate in this case as well. I alluded to this earlier. He knows not only the most public aspect of the plot, the decree, but he's actually somehow aware of all the political machinations within the palace. And Mordecai, to his credit, has taken care not to misrepresent the facts of the case, even with respect to the enemies of God. He's treated Haman with fairness. And throughout, he will treat Haman with fairness. He will actually treat Haman with a manner of civil uprightness. Now, the king won't. We'll see that later. But Mordecai always does. Mordecai is unfailingly just in his treatment of Haman, in contrast to Haman's treatment of the Jews. It makes no sense to want to destroy all the Jews because of one Jew who doesn't bow down. So why does Mordecai do this? Because Mordecai is a servant of God. And he knew we serve a God of truth. So truth is demanded at every level of his conduct. And especially as a prophet, it's important that everyone from the king, to the eunuch, to the Jews who are scattered throughout the kingdom, everyone could trust in his word. Had he been a spreader of false accusations, a gossip, or a tailbearer, he could not have been trusted to be an instrument of conveying eternal truth. However, clearly his word is determinative and even Hattic, even Hattic, a Persian eunuch, is constrained to acknowledge it is true. That's the power of being truthful. I just want to observe in conclusion that Mordecai is standing before the gate of an earthly king and he's debarred from entering because he wears sackcloth. And yet on earth, sackcloth is actually the proper attire of prophets and those who would humble themselves before God. You know, it's wrong that earthly kingdoms so often wish to insulate themselves from the condition of common men. and the sad and the unpleasant aspects of life. It's true that no man shall enter heaven's court in sackcloth. In order to enter heaven's court, you're going to don the wedding garment and you have to be invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And there, there will be no more tears and God will wipe away all of our tears and do away with all of our sadness. But it doesn't belong to men to try to usurp that privilege of heaven here on earth. That kind of attitude by those who govern is utopian. And man's history is littered with the debris fields of such godless dreamers that they would try to exclude the suffering and the sadness of mankind from their government. When men don't honor God, however, they are most forward to seek to accrue that honor to themselves. And that's what I believe Ahasuerus is doing there. So let us then humble ourselves before God, especially when we consider the cast-down condition of His church at this time. It's appropriate for us to wear sackcloth today, knowing that in glory we will shed our mourning clothes. For then God will make good on His promise we find in Isaiah 61.3, To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called the trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. Amen.