Mordecai's Advancement and Ours

Esther 10:1-3

    1 And King Ahasuerus imposed tribute on the land and on the islands of the sea. 2 Now all the acts of his power and his might, and the account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? 3 For Mordecai the Jew was second to King Ahasuerus, and was great among the Jews and well received by the multitude of his brethren, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his countrymen.

Mordecai's Advancement is summarized along with the Persian king, Ahasuerus at the end of the book of Esther.  The king did powerful things, yes, but the humble Jew Mordecai is mentioned in the same breath.  His greatness is accounted in part to the king promoting him, yet the reality is God’s lot of providence cast him in the position to move Esther to become an influencer to the king for his and her people.  Together, they were used for such a time as that for deliverance of God’s people from annihilation by their old enemy, Haman.  Together they were cast as extensions of God’s hand of providence and grace, and this ending lets us know how Mordecai was second only to the king by that grace, and how he was great among his fellow Jews as well.  He used his position and influence well, looking out for the Jews and keeping good and peaceful relations with all posterity.  We learn how God’s providence and sovereign grace keep His people from destruction, symbolic of eternal salvation, and how God acts through common people uncommonly to put them in positions to be used to work out His predestined providence.  He shapes history and watches over all who are His, both Jew and Gentile, for His glory and our good.  The spiritual Purim of grace is God’s lot cast from before time for all He calls to Himself through the eternal gospel of Jesus the Christ (Revelation 14:6, 2 Timothy 1:9, Titus 1:2).  He uses each of us for the time given along the way, equipping with spiritual gifts and wisdom from His word such as this to encourage and correct us to that end.  He is in absolute sovereign control and command of all history and each one in it.  Mordecai's advancement is but a prelude to heavenly rewards of grace accompanied by our acts driven by faith in His enabling strength and wisdom according to His word (1 Corinthians 3:8, 14, 1 Corinthians 9:25, Colossians 3:24, Revelation 22:12, 2 Timothy 4:8), Philippians 1:6, 2:12-13).