Young & Old (A few notes on age in Esther)

The book of Esther gives an amazing amount of detail regarding time. We're told that in the third year of King Xerxes he held his great feast (1:3). We're told about the duration of the feast via an exact time (180 days in 1:4) and the "after party" feast that was held for the Citadel of Susa (1:5). We are told the exact day when Xerxes makes his foolish command to Vashti (1:10 on the seventh day of the Citadel feast). We are given precise timing of the purification and beautification rituals for the virgins set aside for the king's hunt for a queen (2:12). We are told about the precise month and year of Xerxes reign during which Esther became queen (In the 10th month in the 7th year of Xerxes' reign 2:16-18). The plot of Haman is recorded as having begun in rather lengthy detail (in the 1st month of the 12th year of Xerxes' reign 3:7). The day set aside for the empire wide genocide of the Jews is given with extreme specificity (3:13). The book gives several other referent points for dates and times in addition to the above examples. 

I think it is safe to say at this point, that the book of Esther has taken great care to relate dates and times. As we dive into Esther 4 this week we must make some observations regarding Mordecai and Esther's age in this pivotal chapter in the book. 

Mordecai was old enough to raise his cousin when we first were introduced to him in 2:5. Esther was young enough that she needed care (2:7).  Mordecai shows his leadership, and authority over Esther by charging her to keep her heritage a secret (2:10). In nearly every interaction up until chapter 4 Mordecai seems to know what's best, or at least, he provides a direction for Esther. When Mordecai hears of Haman's plot to destroy all the Jews his reaction is one that catches Esther's attention:

4:1 When Mordecai learned of all that had been done, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the city, wailing loudly and bitterly. 2 But he went only as far as the king’s gate, because no one clothed in sackcloth was allowed to enter it. 3 In every province to which the edict and order of the king came, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. Many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

4 When Esther’s eunuchs and female attendants came and told her about Mordecai, she was in great distress. She sent clothes for him to put on instead of his sackcloth, but he would not accept them. 5 Then Esther summoned Hathak, one of the king’s eunuchs assigned to attend her, and ordered him to find out what was troubling Mordecai and why. (Esther 4:1-5)

The duo of Mordecai and Esther are no longer in close connection by the time Haman's plot is hatched. Esther would have been queen for at least 5 years by this point (this is established by comparing 2:16 and 3:7). While she is not "old" by any stretch, she does have a few years of experience surviving and remaining in her position as queen. Her life is no longer one parented and guided by Mordecai, but rather she comes and goes at the pleasure of Xerxes. Mordecai has to make this big scene to get Esther's attention and relay the genocidal laws which her husband (Xerxes) has enacted. 

Mordecai had raised Esther, yet she now was outside of his house and far above his social status. Mordecai had some means of getting a hold of Esther (as we learned about with Mordecai reporting the assassination plot in 2:19-22) and now was using every sort of lament ritual at his disposal. The story reaffirms that Mordecai has nearly no status, no connection which could allow him to enter the king's gate. Any ability he would have had to gain access into the king's palace was now being actively thrown by the wayside as Mordecai put on sackcloth (No one was allowed in the kings palace with sackcloth according to 4:2). He must have been an absolutely destitute picture of a person. 

Contrast Mordecai's weeping, wailing, and sackcloth, with Esther. She was in the palace, and had been for a few years now. She was no longer living the life of an adopted daughter, she was a chosen trophy queen. For all the reasons Mordecai would have been excluded from entering the palace, Esther was inside. While Mordecai in his lament was a picture of death, sadness, and tragedy, Esther was a gorgeous source of pleasure for the king. Esther chapter 4 paints a very vivid picture of just how different the circumstances were for Mordecai and Esther. 

Mordecai was older, and of lower social status, Esther was younger, and had risen to a position of great influence in the empire. Despite their differences, God would use them both. God used them in tandem. God sought to bring about his protection and provision for his people through an older man, and a younger woman. God was pleased to use the lowly of birth (Esther and Mordecai) to triumph over the haughty in lineage (Haman, son of the royal line of Amalek). 

I'm betting you are somewhere on the spectrum between Mordecai and Esther as pictured in Esther 4. You are not the queen of a vast, global empire like Esther was, nor are you of such a lowly position as Mordecai. Yet God was pleased to go to work in, through, and for, old Mordecai and young Esther. Had Mordecai never gotten a message to Esther, the rest of the book would have played out very differently. God was at work, even in the lament of Mordecai to get the attention of Esther. Had Esther not taken seriously the words of Mordecai to influence Xerxes, the rest of the book would have played out very differently. God was at work, even in the influence of Esther to persuade Xerxes. 

Whether you are older than a dinosaur, or were born yesterday, whether you are of high status, or a nobody, God is pleased to work in you, through you, and for you for his good pleasure and purposes.