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Guest (Male): Welcome to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We're so glad you've tuned in today. At Connect with Skip, our mission is to help people know God more deeply through clear verse-by-verse Bible teaching that brings biblical truth to everyday life. And when you sign up for Pastor Skip's free weekly devotional, you'll receive biblical encouragement, ministry updates, and advance information about upcoming resources, all delivered right to your inbox. Signing up is quick, easy, and completely free. Visit connectwithskip.com today. That's connectwithskip.com. Now, let's dive into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig.

Skip Heitzig: You need to know that Persian kings kind of lived in la-la land. They lived in an artificial paradise, a walled paradise, carefully kept. They were sheltered from the realities, the harsh realities of life. They were to be pampered; they were to enjoy life; no bad news was to reach their ears if possible.

I'm going to jog your memory a little bit. Back in Nehemiah chapter 2, Nehemiah was serving a different Persian king and one day he shows up for work and the king notices that he is sad and the king brings it up. Nehemiah is terrified because he said, "I had never before been sad in the king's presence." It wasn't allowed.

So if you're in mourning, wearing sackcloth, you are certainly not allowed to come into the gate. So he can't just pop in and say, "Esther, cousin, we got a problem." He can't go in. He is publicly mourning; he's grieving even though he works at the palace. He doesn't have access to the king, doesn't have access even to his cousin, Queen Esther.

So he gets a guy by the name of Hathach. I'm just telling you this because you're about to read his name. Hathach is a go-between, an emissary, probably a eunuch that worked in the palace. And Mordecai is going to give him a message, and he's going to give that message to Queen Esther. Then Queen Esther is going to give a reply back to Hathach who will take it to Mordecai. Mordecai will then—you see how it goes? They're going to use somebody as a go-between.

But they're going to communicate and essentially this takes us to scene three, and that is the speech that is given by Mordecai. Scene three is a strategic opportunity. It's the speech that saved the nation. So this is what happens without reading all of this: Mordecai sends a copy of the death edict to Esther. Look at what the king just put into law. He sends a copy of the edict, tells her what's going on, and says, "Please go to the king and make supplication. Plead with the king to change his decision."

Verse 10 of chapter 4, we begin there: Then Esther spoke to Hathach and gave him a command for Mordecai. So she's replying back. "All the king's servants," she says, "All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that any man or woman who goes into the inner court to the king who has not been called, he has but one law: put all to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter."

The scepter was the symbol of authority for a king, and an outstretched scepter means you are accepted into my presence that he may live. But notice she says, "Yet I myself have not been called to go into the king these 30 days." So they told Mordecai Esther's words. Mordecai told them to answer Esther. It was a very short speech, but look at it.

"Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king's palace any more than all the other Jews. 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?"

That is a speech for the history books. That is the pivotal moment of the entire book of Esther. It's a rallying call. It's the watershed moment; it's the turning point. This is like Patrick Henry's 1775 speech, "Give me liberty or give me death," or Ronald Reagan at the Brandenburg Gate, or Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, or Churchill.

I mentioned Winston Churchill at the beginning. I'm going to go back to that. In 1940, Winston Churchill entered a meeting with his war cabinet, addressed them and the parliament. France had just fallen to the Nazis; England was next. It was England's darkest hour. He knew it; they knew it.

But he said in his speech these words: "Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.'" Darkest hour, finest hour. It's either one or the other. In our darkest hour, this could be our finest hour.

This is Mordecai saying to Esther, "Esther, this could be your finest hour. This could be the whole reason you are where you are. Sweetheart, you're not here by accident; you're here by appointment—divine appointment." But she brings up a problem. She goes, "I can't just waltz into the courtroom. 'Honey, let me talk about something.'" She knew Persian protocol.

She knew that the king is so protected that unless he invites you in, asks you to come, or initiates a conversation, you could lose your head. And she mentions something here. Look at the end of verse 11: "Yet I myself have not been called to go into the king these 30 days." I haven't seen him for a month.

I don't know why. It doesn't tell us why. I don't know if she thinks, "I'm ugly now," or whatever. "Am I chopped liver?" But I haven't seen him for a month. For me to come in is so risky. Now she's also thinking of the fact that the previous queen was excommunicated from her position simply because she didn't come when he called. If she comes in when he didn't call, same thing could happen. By the way, there were probably people in the court who were hoping that Queen Esther would go because they were loyalists to the previous queen. All that intrigue must have been happening.

Okay, I want you to look again at verses 13 and 14 because that really is the heart, in my opinion, the heart of the entire book of Esther and the speech that he gives. Mordecai told them to answer Esther: "Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king's palace any more than all the other Jews." Stop there. Mordecai reminds his cousin of three important truths.

Truth number one: Your position will not guarantee your protection. Just because you're queen, you're still a Jew. And Haman will not rest until every last Jew is dead. So your position will not guarantee your protection. Second truth: Your silence won't prevent our deliverance. Look at the next phrase: "For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place."

If you do nothing about this, God is still going to do something. The reason he said that is—it tells me this is a very strong statement of faith—he believed in the Abrahamic Covenant. "I'll bless those who bless you, I'll curse those who curse you." God would say, "I'm going to preserve the Jewish people because I have plans to do something through them and with them."

So for him to say, "You may do nothing but God is going to do something," that's that second point: your silence won't prevent our deliverance. Just a personal note on that: you may never get around to surrendering your life to be used by God for whatever reason. You're busy; you've got a job; you've got a schedule.

You never really get around to getting involved in some kind of ministry work, some kind of way to contribute to the kingdom of God. It could be your schedule, it could be that you've just grown apathetic, it could be that you tried that in the past but the group you were with or church you were with failed to meet your expectations, you've turned bitter, you're done. "I'm going to show up, I'll listen, but I'm done."

Here's what you need to know: God will do His work with you or without you. You'll just lose out on the opportunity to be a part of it. He's going to do it. He'll just use somebody else who will say, "Here I am, send me," while you're over in the corner twiddling your thumbs going, "I'm not going to get involved." He'll do His work. His kingdom will go on. "I will build my church." But He could use you. He could use you.

So your position won't guarantee your protection, your silence won't prevent our deliverance. Here's the third truth that he reminds her of: Your prominence is God's providence. Your prominence as queen of this nation is providential. Your prominence is God's providence.

Esther, have you ever wondered why God would allow you, a Jewish girl, to be part of a pagan harem? You're about to find out why. God allowed this to happen for a specific reason. All things work together for good to those who love God and are the called according to His purpose. So if you're looking for a purpose to be on the throne, to be queen of the nation, this is it. I've told you many times, the two most significant days of your life: number one, the day you were born; number two, the day you discover what you're born for. When you enter into purpose, this is a significant day.

Guest (Male): This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. Your support helps reach people every day with biblical truth that brings hope, encouragement, and direction for real life. And this month, we'd love to thank you with a special collection of resources designed to help you grow stronger in your faith.

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Skip Heitzig: Many Christians want to spend more time in God's Word, but they're not always sure where to start. That's why I wrote Soaring Above It All, a one-year devotional that helps you understand the big picture of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation through clear, engaging daily readings. Whether you're new to Scripture or have studied it for years, this devotional will help deepen your understanding of God's Word. Pre-order your copy today wherever books are sold.

Now, here's more from Pastor Skip. A lot of Christians are just going, "I don't know, I hate my job. I don't know why I'm in sales, I hate what I do. Why would God let me be here?" Hold that thought. Maybe it will graduate you to another job, or it might be that you'll find your purpose in that horrible place for such a time as this.

I'm reminded of Joseph, sold as a slave by his brothers into Egypt, suffered at the hands of Potiphar and Potiphar's wife, and was thrown in Pharaoh's prison but elevated to become prime minister. His brothers find out Joseph is the prime minister, second in charge of the earth. Now they're thinking, "He knows that we're his brothers; he's going to kill us." And that classic phrase in Genesis 50: "But as for me," Joseph says to them, "you meant evil against me; God meant it for good in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive." Esther is going to save many people alive because of the speech that inspired it.

By the way, I haven't even gotten to this part yet: did you know the name of God is not mentioned even once in the book of Esther? There's no mention of God, which has absolutely aggravated some Bible commentators. In fact, Martin Luther said that he wished the book of Esther had never been written.

How can you have a book of the Bible that doesn't even mention God? To me, that's the beauty of the book. God isn't always overt; He's not always miraculous; He's not always audible. He's oftentimes, most often, in the shadows—in the shadows. Jesus said the kingdom of God does not come by outward observation.

It's a word you need to know called providence. You've heard the term providence? You know what it literally means? It's two words put together: pro and video. Video is to see; pro means before. It means literally to see beforehand. God sees all things beforehand, so He takes ordinary events and arranges ordinary events to affect an extraordinary outcome. That's providence. That's providence.

Vashti was the queen, and Esther is the next queen who happens to be a Jew. Now we know why she's in place. Ruth—remember the story of Ruth? She comes to Bethlehem and she needs a job. It just happened that Boaz was hiring. I just happened to go to a potluck one night and meet a girl named Lenya.

I just happened to also at the same time have a friend who said, "I'm moving to Albuquerque," and I'm thinking, "Okay." So I went and asked her to marry me and told him we'd like to come with you. Looking back, it was providence—providence.

So we have three scenes: a national tragedy, scene two, unexpected anxiety, and scene three, a strategic opportunity. Now we come to the final scene, scene four, and that is an inspired bravery. Let's see what she does with this information. Verse 15: Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, "Go, gather all the Jews who are present in Shushan, and fast for me; neither eat nor drink."

Now it doesn't say they prayed and fasted, but if you knew you were going to die on a certain day, I'm going to guess you're going to pray and fast. "Neither eat nor drink for three days, day or night. My maids and I will fast likewise. And so I will go to the king, which is," notice this, "which is against the law. And if I perish, I perish."

What a great answer. She's willing to risk it all. Remember, Esther is in a pampered environment, and she has been taught that she should focus on herself and her beauty. She took all these beauty treatments before she could even see the king to begin with. But because of Mordecai's words, that short little speech, it inspires in her a kind of a bravery where she's willing to lay her life down.

"If I perish, I perish. If I die, I die. I'm going to go into the palace. It's against the law. That sentry might tackle me; that spearman might thrust me through. But if I die, I die." It's a good way to live—not carelessly, but knowing the truth: you are going to die, actually. But before that happens, what are you going to do until you die?

So she goes for it, and she's thinking, "This is going to be my finest hour." Esther believed it's better to die for a conviction than to live with a compromise. I've told you before that during the Civil War, at the height of the war when Lincoln was most burdened by what was happening in his country, it was a Sunday morning and President Lincoln walked from the White House with his aides to church.

He listened to a sermon and felt that the sermon was good. His aides asked him, "Did you think it was a good sermon?" Lincoln was polite. "I think the preacher had many fine points, I thought it was very logically put, I thought it was," you know, all the boxes were checked. So they said, "So you think it was a good sermon?" He turned to his aide and very candidly said, "No. I think the preacher failed because he did not ask of us something great."

Lincoln wanted to be inspired to be asked to do something great. Mordecai is asking Esther, "Do something great, would you? Do something great. Stop spending your life, start investing your life." Now here's a closing thought. I began with this, and I want to circle back. Who do you inspire? I know my English teacher would say, "No, Skip, it's whom do you inspire." Okay, whom do you inspire?

Be an inspiration to somebody. Take the energy that you would normally spend on yourself and use it to motivate someone else. Joyce Landorf called these people—great title—she called them balcony people. We all need balcony people: people who cheer you on from the balcony, people who encourage you, and people who inspire you to do great things.

You say, "Inspiration to do what?" To make their life count for something. I'm going to say something that's going to sound almost too good to be true, but I want you to hear it. You could be the catalyst that ignites the next spiritual movement. I didn't say you have to start the movement; you could be the catalyst that sparks the movement.

Somebody sparked every great past spiritual movement in history: the prayers of a grandmother, the prayers of a few, the words of one to another. You could be the catalyst that ignites a movement. You could be the person that brings change to one life or several lives. Never underestimate the power of one person igniting the fire in another person.

Barnabas did that for Saul of Tarsus. Saul became Paul the Apostle. He did that for Timothy. Paul told Timothy to do that for others. I'm going to close by describing to you a chain of events that will just wrap this up nicely. In 1855, there was a guy named Edward Kimball. He lived in Illinois. Edward Kimball was a Sunday school teacher, a volunteer position.

In his class were several young men. One of them he had the opportunity of leading to Christ. That 17-year-old boy was a young shoe salesman by the name of Dwight Lyman Moody. D. L. Moody came to faith in Christ because of Edward Kimball's steadfast encouragement and testimony.

That was 1855. D. L. Moody gets saved, he becomes a pastor and an evangelist, and he started the Moody Church in Chicago. D. L. Moody one day is speaking and a young man came forward afterwards who needed counsel and encouragement by the name of Wilbur Chapman. D. L. Moody encouraged Chapman. Chapman eventually joins Moody's team as an evangelist.

Wilbur Chapman decides to hire an ex-professional baseball player who had just become a Christian to join his team and get discipled. His name was Billy Sunday. Billy Sunday became a very noted evangelist. Billy Sunday went to Charlotte, North Carolina and spoke to a group of Christian businessmen to encourage them to sponsor a series of crusades that could come through their town under the ministry of Mordecai Ham.

They stepped up to the plate and funded it. Mordecai Ham came to Charlotte, North Carolina and gave a series of meetings. One night at one of the altar calls, a young, tall, lanky man walked forward by the name of Billy Graham. And then to put a bow on it, in 1973, a young man was listening to Billy Graham on television named Skip Heitzig. And that was the speech that saved my life. You're part of that chain.

A speech that saved a nation. The inspiration that motivated the action of a young lady to say, "If I perish, I perish, I'm going to go for it." The world is yet to see what God can do through one person totally dedicated to Him. And it was young Moody who said, "By God's grace, I will be that man." Be that man, be that woman, and inspire someone else.

Guest (Male): We're so glad you joined us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before you go, here's a reminder: when you give $30 or more this month, we'll send you Biblical Wisdom for Everyday Living as our thanks. This special collection of four lifestyle booklets from Pastor Skip Heitzig offers biblical encouragement for prayer, joy, forgiveness, and standing firm when life feels uncertain. Your support helps keep this Bible teaching ministry reaching people around the world with the life-changing truth of God's Word. Give today at connectwithskip.com/offer or call 800-922-1888. See you next time.