6. Goodness
| That night the king could not sleep; so he ordered the book of the chronicles, the record of his reign, to be brought in and read to him. It was found recorded there that Mordecai had exposed Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's officers who guarded the doorway, who had conspired to assassinate King Xerxes. (Esther6:1-2) |
In this country we know about how dangerous it can be to be a whistleblower... It can cost you your life.
Mordecai was a Jewish immigrant in a foreign land.
He courageously blew the whistle on the the king's officers who had conspired to assassinate the king. We can only assume that the two were not alone. Mordecai could have faced backlash against him and his family. In the political and civic circles he seemed to move in, he could have been ostracized as the "meddling Jew".
It took courage and integrity to do the right thing, but this seems to be what Mordecai was about. He was a devout and good man who took orphaned Esther on as his own child and grieved and mourned when his nation was in danger.
When Esther was fearful to do the right thing - it was Mordecai who put her on the right track by saying: "You were born for such a time as this!"
And, as evidence that his goodness is passed on to the next generation, his adoptive daughter Esther resolves to stand up for her nation and declares that she is willing to do it, even if it costs her life.
This is goodness and it is the Holy Spirit who fills us with this kind of resolve!
