Title The story of sackcloth (4:4-6)
Contents The story of the linen (4:4-6)
Esther wanted to know the story of Mordecai wearing sackcloth and all the Jews wearing sackcloth. = It can be seen that clothes are worn according to the time and situation. / We must come out with a feeling of putting on sackcloth before God, facing injustice and sorrow.
* Describes the process by which Haman's plot to annihilate the Jews is transmitted to Esther through Mordecai. = Let's see how it was transmitted.
1. Linen clothes symbolizing grief (verse 4)
* The fact that Mordecai howled in ashes and sackcloth was known to Esther through the court maids and eunuchs. / At this, Esther was sad because she could not understand why Mordecai was acting like that. = Esther was really concerned about Mordecai.
* Esther sent regular clothes to remove Mordecai's sackcloth, but Mordecai refused. / This is not to reject Esther's filial piety, but to show the importance of Mordecai's problem. = Here, the figure of Mordecai who puts the affairs of the nation first and the affairs of the individual second appears.
(Jeremiah 4:8) “Because of this, put on sackcloth and mourn, for the fierce wrath of the LORD has not yet turned from you.”
(Jeremiah 31:15) “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and weeping, says the LORD, for Rachel weeps for her son, and she refuses to be comforted because she is childless. 16 Thus saith the LORD. ”
2. The king’s eunuch ‘Hadak’ was sent to Mordecai (verse 5).
* He sends Hathak to Mordecai to serve as the king's eunuch. = This means that even though ‘Hadak’ knows his background, he trusts him.
* 'Hadak', a faithful servant = As such, 'Hadak', who is faithful to his master, is used as a tool for the work of salvation to deliver the people of Israel, and his name is left behind as a person who remains in the Bible. Serving as a faithful messenger.
(Genesis 39:1) “Joseph was brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar the Egyptian, the captain of Pharaoh’s servants, bought him from the hand of the Ishmaelites who had brought him there.”
3. Meeting of ‘Hadak’ and ‘Mordecai’ (verse 6)
* In order to inform the dangers of Mordecai's people, he met Esther and his efforts to find a way to save the nation came to pass through an encounter with Hadak.
* There must be an effort to share mourning with each other for the sake of the community in the church.
(Philippians 2:4) “Let each one take care of his own business, but also take care of the business of others, so that my joy may be full.”