SCRIPTURE: Esther 4:1-17

SHOW NOTES: As you turn the page to chapter four in the book of Esther, you quickly recognize a pivotal point in this story. Haman has initiated a plan to exact his revenge – not just on Mordecai but a plan that will bring destruction to every Jew in the empire. Mordecai learns of the decree that has been written, signed, and sent to every province and his immediate reaction is to tear his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourn with a loud and bitter cry.

In fact, there was great mourning among the Jews. Across the empire, the Jewish people were fasting and weeping and lamenting. Mordecai sent word by Hathach the eunuch to Queen Esther saying, “Command her to go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people.” 

The Queen’s reply, “All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live.”

Mordecai sends this message back to Esther, “For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

SONG: "Let God" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQpPyMTG25Y