Morally Questionable Characters in Biblical Narratives

The Old Testament is filled with history detailing the intriguing lives of a great many people. Yet the scriptures are not a weird amalgamation of historical imagination. The scriptures are the detailed, purposeful revelation of God's work in our world for his glory. When we read about people in the Bible, their ups and downs, we aren't reading an interesting biography, we're reading the unfolding mystery of God manifested in the lives of imperfect people. 

"A Word on Grace"

Time and time again the narratives of the Bible point to the failure of heroes, and the necessity for God's direct provision and protection for his people. This isn't some minor point, note, anecdote, or tidbit. God's people have always needed God's provision and protection. In the book of Esther, some have posited that Esther and Mordecai are heroes of faith, in some ways this is true, but in many ways it is not. The hero of Esther is the same hero as in Exodus, 1 & 2 Samuel, and throughout all of time and space. God himself is the hero of his people who brings about all things for his purposes and plan. 

It is God's undeserved favor that he includes, in his heroic work, his people. We sometimes call this expression grace. God's favor given without merit or claim. Through broken, awful people, some who were murderers (Moses), adulterers (David), corrupt leaders (Eli), clients of witches (king Saul), persecutors (Saul of Tarsus), God works to accomplish his purposes. God has only ever once used a perfect person for his purposes. Every other time God has included people in his work, it's been with imperfect people. 

"Gray heroes" 

Throughout the week I’ve written a bit comparing Mordecai and Esther to King Xerxes. And, when you compare Mordecai and Esther to Xerxes, they come out as rather glowing figures. Xerxes is so far lost that Mordecai and Esther seem to be wise and knowledgeable. While Esther and Mordecai shine against the comparative backdrop of Xerxes character, they are simply found lacking when other comparisons are made. 

Joseph - When Joseph found himself sold into slavery in Egypt, working in Potiphar’s (a political official) house, he was approached by Potiphar’s wife. She attempted to seduce him, and this was not a one off occurrence. This was a regular occurrence. We read in Genesis 39:6-10

6 So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, 7 and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!” 8 But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. 9 No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” 10 And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. 11 One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside. 12 She caught him by his cloak and said, “Come to bed with me!” But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.

Joseph is described as “well built” and “handsome”. A parallel in many ways to Esther and her beauty. Yet Joseph, rather than commit adultery, fled from temptation, fought against temptation. Esther, seemingly, wholeheartedly gives herself to the cause of becoming queen. She studies under Hegei, observes, and learns what she must do, and what she must not do, to please the king during her one night “try it before you buy it” with king Xerxes. 

Moses Parents - Mordecai is also guilty of not looking back to the history of God’s people, looking back to God’s Word for direction. When the time comes for the next “Queen of Persia” contest, Mordecai doesn’t seem to make any attempts to stop Esther from becoming a part of this event. Whether that means Mordecai had to sign up Esther, or she was taken by some means, either way, what is glaringly absent is an awareness of Moses’ parents actions. In Exodus 2:1-4 we read:

2 Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, 2 and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. 3 But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. 4 His sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him.

Couldn’t Mordecai have hidden Esther? Disguised Esther? We might say, well, he wasn’t willing to lie or deceive, but he instructed Esther to keep her history, her people, her lineage a secret! He didn’t have any problem lying about Esther’s family backstory. Now we might say that by encouraging Esther to lie about her background, Mordecai was in some way hiding Esther. If this was his way of hiding Esther, he certainly didn’t save her from entry into the contest, or from her own attempts to win the contest! 

Neither Mordecai nor Esther make attempts to return to the promised land (Which is what Ruth’s mother Naomi did after her husband and sons died in Moab). We are not told whether Mordecai or Esther make an effort to read or study God’s Word, which was the hallmark of the returning exile’s during the rebuilding of the temple under Ezra’s leadership, and the rebuilding of Jerusalem under Nehemiah’s leadership. As we have noted last week, there is an overt absence of God's name anywhere in the book of Esther. We don’t see Esther or Mordecai introduced as people of faith depending on listening to the voice of God like Samuel serving under Eli the Priest, or Isaiah the prophet entering the Lord’s presence through a vision. We don’t see Mordecai or Esther pleading for God to deliver them from their current plight like the ancient Israelites of Exodus 1 who cried out to God and God heard their pleas for help. We are almost provoked to say that in Persia, the people of God are also devoid of any relationship, devotion, knowledge, or faith of the One True God. The picture is a bleak one. A godless place, a godless people, a godless king, a godless way of life, and Abraham’s own descendants from the tribe of Benjamin also are seemingly godless. 

We are left once again with an irreconcilable fork in the road. Do we believe that things just happen by coincidence, luck, or fortune? Or do we believe that God is at work even when we don’t see him, even when we don’t recognize it. Do we believe that in the most godless of places God still rules? 

In the midst of this bleak picture, as Christians we must recognize and heap mountains of faith into the truth that God is still sovereign. Even in the darkest of moments, God still presides. Even in the absence of a faithful relationship with God, God is still large and in charge, working out his sovereign goodness. God's goodness isn't dependent on our faithfulness. Thank God for that!

We are also left with a new question, what do we do with morally compromised heroes in the Bible? I would posit the following suggestions:

1) Look for ways in which the heroes of the Bible are Christ-like. Heroes are only true heroes of faith as they follow Christ. Paul wasn't a hero as he persecuted the church in Acts 7-8. He became a hero when he bent the knee to Christ and obeyed Christ's command.

2) Learn from the failures of biblical heroes. Sometimes we are tempted to gloss over the depressing "let downs" of biblical heroes. Don't ignore these moments, seek to understand where they went wrong and learn from reading rather than "walking in their footsteps"!

3) Take comfort that God has been delighted to include in his work sinful people. You and I both fit into the category of sinful people. That means we are eligible for God's work. We sometimes will be "walking in their footsteps" having fallen into temptation and sin. Look for ways in which God redeemed and used stumbling heroes.

4) Heroes aren't really the point of the Bible - God's revelation is the point of the Bible. If you ever come across a "hero" who simply isn't very heroic, don't worry, the true hero of the Bible isn't that lackluster hero. The true hero is God himself in his work of redemption through his perfect Son Jesus the Christ.