Father by Choice
Esther 4:9-17
Today is Father’s Day Sunday.
Usually I choose characters from the Bible where they present a biblical view of
becoming a father. Today’s choice is different. I chose a person perhaps you
did not hear about. His name is Mordecai,
a father by choice.
One of my favorite books in
the Bible is the book of Esther. It is the time when the Israelites left
The book of Esther is a great
story illustrating how God works with us. When God promises to take care of us,
He keeps His promise. Therefore, although we can learn from Mordecai and
Esther, let us not lose our focus from God, who is the main character of the
book.
King Xerxes was a strong king. He was king over 127 different
provinces, from India to Ethiopia. This king loved giving
parties. The story starts with banquets. One hundred and eighty days- a
part lasting six months?!
Wow, some people don’t have
any work to do!
At the end of this part, the
king decides to have another party for seven days. And in the middle of
this seven day party he decides to invite the queen Vashti. Now the
queen is apparently tired of these parties and she refuses to come. This means
trouble. She was removed from her office; she was no more the queen. So the
word went around that the king was looking for a new queen. Esther was a candidate. She, a simple
Jewish girl, was chosen. And she became the new queen.
1- In this story, we find
important characters. Let me concentrate on Mordecai. Mordecai, whose occupation we don’t
know, decided to be a father for Easter.
Fatherhood is not just being
a biologically related. Fatherhood is much more than that. To be a father is a decision.
I cannot forget my years at the
Fatherhood is more than a
biological relationship. We don’t know how Mordecai raised Esther, but by
reading about Esther’s life and her relationship with her uncle one can see how
Mordecai’s spiritual guidance was essential in Esther’s life. Fathers need to
have time to be the spiritual leaders of the house.
This could mean leading the
family to prayer time; this means guiding the family to have quiet time; this
means to have biblical priorities in the house… and more.
Everyday fathers are driving
from work to home. While we are driving from work, we need to look forward
to see our family. This means we are going home to finish the day as the father
of the house. It is a mental concentration and decision. I know we are
tired, and we sometimes think we have done our role as bread providers. Yet
without spiritual guidance, the financial income is useless.
Mordecai hears near the gates
of the court about a coup d’etat over the king. Two names Bigthana
and Teresh were behind this plot to overthrow the king. Mordecai informs
Esther. She informs the king and the plan fails. The king asks the writers of
the court to write down all these events.
Later we will see how
important this writings were.
Another character comes into
the story. His name was Haman. This man was an arrogant, egocentric man who
became the second in command over
Haman demands that every man
in
2 We find a “Godly”
character in Mordecai. He stayed true
to the principle of worshiping only, and ONLY God, Jehovah. He
was ready to lose everything but not give up his principle.
We find Mordecai’s commitment
in Esther, too. At the end of the story, one can find how bold she was in her
faith in God.
When Mordecai finds about
Haman’s plot, he goes fasting and praying. He then shares this with Esther. Mordecai
explains that she was chosen to be the queen for such a time. Esther could
refuse her father’s request. I think Esther finds that she has an important
role in this event- a very difficult role that could be costly. She needs to
inform the king. Usually one cannot see the king without being invited. She
takes the risk. But before going to king, she asks that all the Israelites pray
and fast for three days.
I don’t know how Mordecai
felt asking his daughter to do this dangerous job. It is crisis time. Mordecai and
his daughter were prepared for crisis time. Their only trust was God.
Both Mordecai and Esther knew that they had promises from God to protect them.
They did not do anything without prayer and fasting.
Let me ask you fathers?
Do you prepare your
children to face crises?
Do your children know that
you are a man of God and you face crises by going to God?
Do your children know that
you are man of prayer?
Do you know fathers that one
day you need allow your little “Esther”s to go to the world? Do you prepare
them to go to the world?
3- Esther was ready on the
third day.
We read, “On the third
day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s
palace, in front of the king’s hall.” (Esther 5:1)
She was wearing the king’s favorite
clothes. She was smelling good. She was prepared to see the king. She just stood
in the doorway and that was enough to grab the attention of the king. Men,
if we were the ones going to king, we would go directly and talk. But learn
from women, they knew how to prepare the atmosphere. However, above all these
human strategies, I see God’s hand. The king asked the queen to come in and ask
for anything- even half of the kingdom.
Esther asked for a lunch. The
king ordered for a little banquet and invited Haman. When they had lunch, the
king asked Esther she wanted. She asked for another party the next day. These
people love to party!
Haman was invited again. He
was so happy that things were going as he had planned. His wife and friends
encouraged him to take action specially against Mordecai. So he ordered to build
a gallows 75 feet high to hang Mordecai the next day.
The king Xerxes could not
sleep. Something was bothering him. He asked the court to bring the records of
the court. What a boring thing to read! He heard the story of the two men,
Bigthana and Teresh who had plotted to kill the king. He heard that Mordecai
was the man who rescued the kingdom. Who was Mordecai? He asked if they thanked
this man. The response was negative.
Now it was almost morning when
Haman arrived and the king asked Haman, “How can I honor someone who has
extreme loyalty to my kingdom?”
Haman thought the king is
going to honor him. “Well, you could let him wear your robe, wear the crown
that you have, you could let him walk in the streets of
The king agreed, and ordered
all these honors to be done to Mordecai. Can you see the face of Haman? In the evening,
he went to the banquet very upset. Queen Esther added, “There is man who is
evil that wants to destroy my people.” Her finger pointed to Haman. Guess what,
Haman was hanged on that 75 feet gallows.
Let us come to conclusions:
A- We need to see God’s provision on people who
trust Him and obey His commandments. Mordecai learned to trust God. He
taught it to his daughter. God is in control even though the circumstances can
show a different way. We all have “Haman’s” in our lives. God is stronger than
those obstacles. In his life on earth, Jesus obeyed his Father. His
relationship with God the Father is a wonderful example of how we can learn to
obey God.
B- To be a father
means is to have biblical principles that can be costly.
C- To be a father is a choice, which means to give
time to God and in response to give time to your family.
D- We can learn from Esther too. She learned to obey her father.
She obeyed twice. The simple Jewish girl became the Queen of Persia. That was
for a reason. She learned to be brave in facing the new circumstances. We the
children of our families, let us learn to trust and obey our fathers.
Amen