Who was Mordecai? Esther 2:5-6 Now there was in the citadel of Susa a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, named Mordecai son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, 6 who had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon… Mordecai was an Israelite of the tribe of Benjamin. We are told that he was in the palace or citadel of Susa, though his exact responsibility there is never made clear. He is referred to in verse 5 as the “son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish”. “Son of” did not necessarily mean an immediate descendant in Hebrew genealogies. Sometimes it linked names that were generations apart. In this case, the names of Shimei (2 Samuel 16:5-14) and Kish (1 Samuel 9:1) established Mordecai’s kinship with the tribe and family of King Saul. This is significant to the conflict between Mordecai and Haman. Mordecai was a descendant of the exiles that had been carried off by Babylon. Though some of the exiles had returned to Judah by this time many had chosen to remain in Persia (formerly Babylon). These were mostly hard-working people who had followed the advice in Jeremiah 29 and made lives for themselves in the new land. Mordecai had remained in Susa (the capital) and apparently had a good position; he was a faithful Hebrew but he was also loyal to the Persian king. In Esther 2 we see what type of man Mordecai was.
Esther 2:7 tells us that Mordecai had a young cousin by the name of Hadassah, also know by her Persian name, Esther. She was an orphan and Mordecai took her in as his own daughter and raised her. This shows us the type of person that Mordecai was. He was willing to make the effort to care for a relative in time of need. 1 Timothy 5:8 tells us that Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. If people today would recognize their God-given responsibility to care for needy relatives, as Mordecai had done, the world would be a better place.
We see another admirable quality of Mordecai in Esther 2:21-23. Mordecai saved the king’s life by revealing a plot against him by two of the king’s officials. This is another great example of God’s providence. Mordecai just happened to be in the right place at the right time. He learned of the plot and then revealed it to Esther, who by this time had become queen. She in turn warned the king, giving Mordecai credit as her source of information. The accusation was investigated and determined to be true. The men were executed and the king’s life was spared. This was all recorded in the book of the annals in the presence of the king. It is not just enough to be in the right place at the right time, the important thing is what you do with that opportunity. Mordecai made the most of the opportunity that God’s providence placed him in. This event also reveals the admirable character of Mordecai. He didn’t try and leverage the information to promote himself, he went privately to Esther and simply did the next right thing and all of this would help to establish his credibility later on which would help to save his people. So we can see that Mordecai was a man of integrity. He was consistent and uncompromising in his moral and ethical principles.
This coming Sunday we will begin a short series on the book of Esther. This week’s lesson will focus on the courage and integrity of Mordecai. As we can see from Esther chapter 2, Mordecai had integrity and in Esther chapter 3 we will see that integrity combined with his courage.