When the virgins were assembled a second time, Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate. But Esther had kept secret her family background and nationality just as Mordecai had told her to do, for she continued to follow Mordecai’s instructions as she had done when he was bringing her up. During the time Mordecai was sitting at the king’s gate, Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s officers who guarded the doorway, became angry and conspired to assassinate King Xerxes. But Mordecai found out about the plot and told Queen Esther, who in turn reported it to the king, giving credit to Mordecai. And when the report was investigated and found to be true, the two officials were impaled on poles. All this was recorded in the book of the annals in the presence of the king.

–Parallel verses:
‭‭I Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭13‬-‭17‬
Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.

There have been times in my life when revenge or “payback” opportunities seemed to present themselves right in front of me. One such time (over 10 years ago) was when a manager tried to give my largest account in insurance, one that paid our firm over $400,000, to another producer in a different office. It was unethical and so wrong. I found out from my client that he was being introduced to another office. It was so hard to see this, as this account represented years of hard work. It felt like I was getting stabbed in the back. A few years later, I met this man socially and found that in my heart, I still had anger towards him. I felt like calling him out, exhorting my leverage for revenge. But instead, I prayed for forgiveness — for God to help me forgive this man who never apologized.

The fruit of revenge promises to taste good, but ends up in a spiritual stomachache. Mordecai and Esther must have realized this truth. The king had dominated them, taken Esther as his wife (without Mordecai’s permission), though she was much younger, and in many ways, degraded her value initially to only her looks. And so this opportunity presented itself. Mordecai could have conspired with these leaders wanting the king’s death and sought revenge and/or some benefit. But instead, he recognized that God’s hand was in this situation. God appointed the leaders they were under and allowed them to serve for his purposes, though they might have evil actions or plans at times.

So why should we submit to rulers we don’t approve of? It is to honor the Lord … we do it for His sake. Peter tells us in doing so, we will also “silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.”

Mordecai was a known Jew. He was a hero who spoiled the assassination attempt on the king. And likely out of prejudice, he was not even recognized for his service at all by the king. But God saw his good works and, as we shall see, honored them later.

What issue with those ruling over me do I need to lay at the cross of Christ and surrender to God’s just judgments today? How can I honor leaders who I don’t always agree with or worse still, do wrong to me?

Lord, it is only by your powerful unconditional love that I can forgive those who have injured me and honor evil leaders. Teach me this deeper love more completely, that I may reflect your light and glory in a broken and sin-confused world!