Mordecai's Loyalty To God - Esther 3:2

Mordecai's Loyalty To God - Esther 3:2

Esther 3:2 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. (NIV)

Esther 3:2 And all the king's servants, that were in the king's gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence. (KJV)

I. Mordecai Will Never Kneel Down

II. Mordecai Will Never Pay Honor

Mordecai is the cousin of Hadassah or Esther who came from Benjamin's tribe carried from Jerusalem to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar, he adopted his little cousin: Esther for she's already an orphan.

Esther 2:5 Now there was a Jew from the tribe of Benjamin named Mordecai. Mordecai was the son of Jair, and Jair was the son of Shimei, and Shimei was the son of Kish. Mordecai was in the capital city, Susa.

Esther 2:6 Mordecai had been carried into captivity from Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He was with the group that was taken into captivity with King Jehoiachin of Judah.

Esther 2:7 Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah. She didn't have a father or a mother, so Mordecai took care of her. Mordecai had adopted her as his own daughter when her father and mother died. Hadassah was also called Esther. She had a very pretty face and a good figure.

Mordecai only did his kneeling and paying honor to God alone. He knows and respected the Ten Commandments of God.

Exodus 20:5 Don't worship or serve idols of any kind, because I, the LORD, am your God. I hate my people worshiping other gods. People who sin against me become my enemies, and I will punish them. And I will punish their children, their grandchildren, and even their great-grandchildren.

What is the implication of King Ahasuerus command? To kneel down and pay honor to Haman. In the King James version hebrew version for bowed and reverenced are kara (bowed) and shachah (reverenced) respectively. Kara means to bend the knee, to sink, to prostrate, cast down, fall, kneeling, sink while Shachah means to prostrate, make to stoop, worship, the very word used in

Exodus 20:5 - Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

So in this "little" situation, eventhough it's the command of the king to kneel and bow down to Haman for he is royalty and most probably higher in rank compared to Mordecai, Mordecai will not have bow, kneel or reverence Haman for it will mean idolatry for him.

I. Mordecai Will Never Kneel Down

Mordecai will never kneel down to anyone other than God. It's a fearful thing to disobey the king's command on those days, it will mean death, but still he hold on to God's command.

Exodus 20:5 Don't worship or serve idols of any kind, because I, the LORD, am your God. I hate my people worshiping other gods. People who sin against me become my enemies, and I will punish them. And I will punish their children, their grandchildren, and even their great-grandchildren.

Psalms 95:6 Come, let us bow down and worship him! Let us kneel before the LORD who made us.

Isn't this what the devil wanted from the Lord Jesus Christ?

Matthew 4:9 The devil said, "If you will bow down and worship me, I will give you all these things." (ERV)

The very thing that Peter rebuked Cornelius about?

Acts 10:25 When Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him. He fell down at Peter's feet and worshiped him.

Acts 10:26 But Peter told him to get up. Peter said, "Stand up! I am only a man like you."

Of which, angels also don't receives worship from man.

Revelations 19:10 Then I bowed down before the angel's feet to worship him. But the angel said to me, "Don't worship me! I am a servant like you and your brothers and sisters who have the truth of Jesus. So worship God! Because the truth of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

Revelations 22:8 I am John. I am the one who heard and saw these things. After I heard and saw them, I bowed down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me.

Yes, there are kings that will throw us into fire if we don't worship them.

Daniel 3:21 So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were tied up and thrown into the hot furnace. They were wearing their robes, pants, cloth caps, and other clothes.

Daniel 3:22 The king was very angry when he gave the command, so the soldiers quickly made the furnace very hot. The fire was so hot that the flames killed the strong soldiers. They were killed when they went close to the fire to throw in Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.