Badge Of Honor

Badge of Honor

From the Book of Esther

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15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”

And we will skip down to to where she is speaking to the king:

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3 Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request. 4 For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated.

The Word of God for the people of God, thanks be to God.

Today’s sermon title is Badge of Honor. You will better understand the title as we go. For now, I want us to concentrate on two important aspects of today’s scripture.

Esther, though the Jews were in danger and she had not been identified as Jewish, proclaimed herself as Jewish, and embraced it,

and she was able to find peace in facing whatever might come her way as a result of being identified as a child of the One and Only God, as a member of His chosen people.

Though Haman had marked her people for destruction, thus as a people not even worthy of life, as below the value of all others in that nation, Esther willingly took on that designation as a Jew in solidarity with the family of God. She, as a queen, the beloved wife of the king, wore that badge with honor.

And, by the grace of God, she was able to stand with the people of God, proclaim her allegiance to their plight, and overcome her own concerns for her personal risk because God gave her the peace to do so.

For those not familiar with the story of Esther, Esther was brought to the palace of the king because of her beauty when he sought a new queen. She had been raised by an uncle and had been dutiful to him and obedient. When she entered the castle, her uncle asked her not to reveal that she was Jewish, so she never mentioned it.

At one point, her uncle had uncovered a plot to kill the king. Esther relayed the information to the king. An investigation was held and found to be accurate. Esther’s uncle, Mordecai, was credited with saving the king’s life, but he was not honored for doing so at the time.

The king had a very powerful confidant and advisor, Haman. Because Mordecai, bound only to worship God, would not show Haman the deference and worship he desired, Haman hated him. Not desiring to single Mordecai out for death ONLY, Haman spoke ill of the Jewish people as a whole and recommended the king have them all killed. The king permitted Haman to create and proclaim a decree. And we read in Esther:

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12 Then on the thirteenth day of the first month the royal secretaries were summoned. They wrote out in the script of each province and in the language of each people all Haman’s orders to the king’s satraps, the governors of the various provinces and the nobles of the various peoples. These were written in the name of King Xerxes himself and sealed with his own ring. 13 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 children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods. 14 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.

Mordecai was devastated for the people of God. He began to wear sackcloth and cover himself in ashes in his pain. When word made it to Esther that her uncle was in such a state, she sent someone to him to find out what was going on. She had not been informed of the decree.

Mordecai sent word back to her of the decree and asked for her to go to the king on behalf of the people to ask that they be spared. She sends word back to Mordecai that if she goes tot he king without being called by him, she risks death.

Then, we read:

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12 When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, 13 he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”