Esther 11 - Obedience

The subject of obedience comes up several times in the book of Esther. We first see that Vashti was disobedient to her husband’s order to come show her beauty to all the men. As a result of that she was deposed as queen, was divorced, and caused an order to be issued by the king that was proclaimed throughout all the kingdom so that all women would respect their husbands (1:20).

In chapter three we see Haman introduced as an Agagite. Agagite is another word for Amalekite. We are introduced to the Amalekites in Ex. 17 when Moses battled them. It is a famous story because Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of a hill during the battle and as long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites won the battle, but whenever he lowered his hands the Amalekites prevailed. Aaron and Hur helped him hold up his hands and the Israelites won. God then vowed that He would completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under Heaven.

God chose to do that when Saul was king of Israel. In I Samuel 15 He told Saul to “attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys”. Saul disobeyed by deciding to spare the king, Agag, and also spared the best of the sheep and cattle”. Because of Saul’s disobedience, the Agagites are now causing the Jews trouble.

In Esther 3:3 we noticed that Mordecai disobeyed the king’s command to bow before Haman. Mordecai refused to do this because God was the only one to whom He should bow down. It wasn’t a matter of showing respect, but of worshiping. The Bible tells us we should respect and pray for our government leaders and should be obedient to the laws unless those laws cause us to violate God’s Word. His Word tells us that we should have no other Gods and that is what Haman was trying to accomplish.

We discussed earlier the consequences of Queen Vashti’s disobedience. That instance shows us that there can be consequences for doing what is right. Saul’s action of disobedience to God was wrong and we see the results of that disobedience. Mordecai was right and God honored that decision. As you have read the book of Esther you realize that Mordecai had been obedient to the other laws of the land and actually alerted the king of a threat on his life. At the end of the book we see that Mordecai is honored by the king.

We have also discussed how Esther was obedient to Mordecai’s request to go to the king to expose the danger to her people. From these instances we can learn that it is best to obey our elders and others in authority. As you are tempted not to do that, remember the consequences can be bad for you. Obedience to God is of primary importance in our lives.