The Rise of Mordecai ~ blog

It doesn't get any better than Haman being forced to walk Mordecai through the streets, proclaiming, ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!’ Can you imagine the utter humiliation Haman walked in that day? That is our God. Pride goes before destruction, and He delights in lifting up His own children right in the face of evil.

I have often wondered if the rise of Mordecai was really about Esther. If you asked me, I would have to say no. Mordecai is predestined and no less there for such a time as this than Esther was. With God's perfect timing, Mordecai, a man known but also hidden, I believe, as an intercessor, would rise in the most unusual way and in front of all the peoples. Those who loved the Jews and those who hated them watched as he cried out at the King's gate and all the way to his rise to second only to the King.

Did Mordecai just happen to be there? No, again. One of my favorite scriptures is found in the book of Acts.

Acts 17:26 NKJV

And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,

You aren't just living in your city randomly, beloved; God knows exactly where you are and has a plan to use you there, so always be ready. Not only was Mordecai in the right place at the right time, but he also wasn't even Esther's father. Her real name was Hadassah, and her parents had died, so Mordecai took her into his home to raise her.

Esther 2:7 NKJV

And Mordecai had brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter, for she had neither father nor mother. The young woman was lovely and beautiful. When her father and mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter.

He truly loved Esther, and I believe he was sitting at the King's gate to intercede and hoping to get a glimpse of her. She had truly become like a daughter to him, but the secrecy of not telling King Xerxes her real name so as not to expose that she was of Jewish descent left him unable to be close to her or really be a part of her life once she was taken away from their home long ago. Mordecai was using wisdom, and I believe protecting her.

Matthew 10:16b NKJV

Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.

While sitting at the King's gate, he overhears a conversation between two of the King's officers. They were conspiring to assassinate King Xerxes. Mordecai tells Esther, and she reports it to the King, giving credit to Mordecai. The report was investigated and found to be true, and the two officers were killed. Everything was recorded in the sight of the King in the book of annals.

EVIL RETURNS...

Evil does not simply depart or move on, beloved. Mordecai is a true watchman, and now King Xerxes has brought Haman the Agagite into an elevated position in his kingdom. Mordecai, however, sees through it all, and I believe he remembered. Remembered what, you might ask. He knew the scriptures that had either been read to him or read by him, and the fact that Haman was an Agagite was disturbing from the start. He knew full well that this choice made by the king was not good for him or for the Jews.

In 1 Samuel, we are told that Saul spared King Agag, who was an Amalekite, but God had sent him and his army to destroy them all, including their flocks and herds. Saul we know rebels saying that he was in fear of the men with him rather than fearing God and Samuel the Prophet comes to see Saul, rebukes him in front of all who were with him for his rebellion, takes matters into his own hands and kills Agag himself and then tells Saul that because of what he'd done the kingdom had been torn away from him that day and that God had chosen another better than he (enter David) to be King.

VENGEANCE ON THE MIND...

Mordecai knew full well that vengeance was on the mind of Haman, and how right he was, because all it took was Mordecai not being willing to bow down to him to bring it all to the surface. Obviously Mordecai was not a man against the King. If he had been, he could have simply stayed silent when he overheard the plot to kill Xerxes. No, there was much more to Mordecai and why day after day the Royal officials asked not why he wouldn't bow to Haman but why he was disobeying the King's command.

This, in fact, is much how our world is today. Like our officials, the wrong questions are being asked. Why did they never ask why he refused to bow to Haman? They hadn't seen him do that with anyone else, but for some reason in their eyes Mordecai was disobeying the King. 

Haman, of course, is enraged, and because of self-exaltation, pride, and arrogance, most likely would have been whoever it was, but God has placed Mordecai, a man of faith and integrity, at the gate right where He needed him. At this point, Haman still knows nothing about Esther or who her people were. Honestly, he probably didn't care. All eyes were on himself, but he finds out who Mordecai's people are, and rather than just deal with what he sees as disrespectful, dishonoring, and imprisoning or killing Mordecai, he looked for a way to destroy all of Mordecai's people. This wasn't just about one Jew; it was about them all. Vengeance truly was on his mind.

Have you ever heard the saying 'the devil overplayed his hand'? That is truly what happened in Mordecai and Esther's day.

IT'S NOT A LOVE STORY...

I think many read the book of Esther as a love story. They see the sweetness of the King choosing Esther out of a great number of other women, and they fall for the romance, but can we just for a minute remember that Xerxes chose to send Vashti away and had his men go into the towns and abduct young virgin women so that they could be trained to either be his wife or be forced to be a concubine? If it is a love story at all, it is found between God and His people, and we must in this time see this clearly, or we will fall to fear rather than faith as we hear daily of the plots, plants, and schemes against us. 

Haman cooks up a story that the King will believe and even tells him that he will give him 10,000 talents into the treasury. Yes, you read that right. Haman offers to pay King Xerxes for these atrocities just as those at the top of the Seven Mountains of Influence have done to you and me. All that you see happening today that has been hidden until God started exposing it is about money. Power, influence, and control are all secondary to the love of money. The money, however, wasn't an issue for the King. He had it all and more, but my point is Hama tried to buy him off. Xerxes tells him to keep his money but do whatever you'd like to the people. Xerxes is not a man in a love story but is readily behind the destruction and complete annihilation of the Jews.

This plot, plan, and scheme is turned into a law in every province. Mordecai then hears of this and tears his clothes, puts on sackcloth and ashes, and sits at the gate wailing. Esther's servants tell her what he is doing, so she just sends him new clothing, not knowing anything that her husband, the King, is doing. I love Esther 4:4, which says, he would not accept them.

This is important even for us today because far too many are easily swayed or distracted and even pulled away from intercession, which is exactly what Mordecai was doing. Did he know at this time how his prayer would be answered? Could he have known when Esther was taken that 5 years later she might have to stand before her husband the King begging for the lives of her people? No, but God knew. Just as God had Jael ready in Deborah's day. Just as God had the ark built for only Noah and his family in his day. Just as God knew Joseph's brothers would turn on him and send him to Egypt, God had already planned to take Joseph from the pit to the palace. God knew.

The most famous quote from the book of Esther isn't even spoken by her but actually by Mordecai, which says...

Esther 4:12-14 NKJV

“Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

A FORSHADOWING...

Enter God. He is always faithful, and so chapter 6 tells of how King Xerxes could not sleep, so he gets up in the middle of the night and orders the book of the chronicles (annals) read to him, and it just so happens that he hears of how Mordecai saved his life by turning in the two offices who were plotting against him. He asks if Mordecai had ever been honored for doing this and is told no, he hadn't. Xerxes wants to change that, and it's just like God to help. Why? Because Proverbs 16:18 says Pride goes before destruction. God plans to knock Haman down a few pegs, so Haman is forced to humiliate himself in front of all the people of the city...

Esther 6:11 NKJV

So Haman took the robe and the horse, arrayed Mordecai and led him on horseback through the city square, and proclaimed before him, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!”

And if that wasn't proof enough that Haman's fall was coming, his own wife, who plotted with him (depending on what version you read) to set up the gallows right away, now stands against him.

Esther 6:13b NKJV

“If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him but will surely fall before him.”

What we are facing today, beloved, is exactly the same. Except there are countless Xerxes and even more Hamans who are after God's children around the world, not just in one city.

Several banquets later, Esther finally reveals the truth to her husband and points directly at Haman, saying, This vile Haman is our enemy. Xerxes is told about the gallows that were built by Haman's house, and he says do to Haman what he had planned for Mordecai.

THE RISE OF MORDECAI...

God will always turn things around for His children. He is an ever-present help in our time of need, and learning that God allows things to get very dark before He brings the sun (Son) up is important to any Christians walk. Esther is given Haman's estate, which she gives to Mordecai, and Xerxes reclaimed his signet ring from Haman and presents it to Mordecai.

The story is not yet over, though. The evil decree to kill all the Jews had been signed into law, so Xerxes tells Esther and Mordecai to write out a new decree as they saw fit and seal it with his ring. It was Mordecai who wrote out all the orders for the Jewish people. He sealed it with King Xerxes' signet ring, and it was delivered to all 127 provinces. This is what was written.

Esther 8:11 NKJV

By these letters the king permitted the Jews who were in every city to gather together and protect their lives—to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province that would assault them, both little children and women, and to plunder their possessions,

Mordecai went from sackcloth and ashes to wearing a royal garment and a large crown of gold and a purple robe of fine linen.

Esther 9:1-4 NKJV

Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month of Adar, on the thirteenth day, the time came for the king’s command and his decree to be executed. On the day that the enemies of the Jews had hoped to overpower them, the opposite occurred, in that the Jews themselves overpowered those who hated them. 2 The Jews gathered together in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Xerxes to lay hands on those who sought their harm. And no one could withstand them, because fear of them fell upon all people. 3 And all the officials of the provinces, the satraps, the governors, and all those doing the king’s work, helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them. 4 For Mordecai was great in the king’s palace, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces; for this man Mordecai became increasingly prominent.

MORDECAI MORE POWERFUL...

This is where we get Purim, and the scriptures do tell us that all the Jews and their descendants for all generations should celebrate because of what God did to save His people. Did God do this alone? No, Mordecai and others partnered with Him in prayer and fasting to call this evil down. God turned everything around, and because of Mordecai's heart, God raised him higher than he could have ever imagined.

Esther 10:3 NKJV

For Mordecai the Jew was second to King Ahasuerus, and was great among the Jews and well received by the multitude of his brethren, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his countrymen.

And I will leave you with this beloved. We are even now living in days of Noah, of Lot, and Moses, and David, and yes, even Esther and Mordecai. We will be provided for, protected, and raised up as our Father does something so amazing and out of this world that once it is over, His children will be celebrating, and the evil will be facing consequences they never imagined they'd see or experience. Pray for them because their time is up, but as all the prophetic voices are saying, if people go missing, don't look for them. There is a reason for it, and God wants to give you life and that more abundantly. 

Sheryl York 🕊️

America Reimagined