Remember, authority is authority whether we like it or not, but it is not God!

Scripture Read: Esther 3:1-2 After these events King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him and established his authority over all the princes who were with him. ² All the king’s servants who were at the king’s gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman; for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage.

Application:  This is one of those passages that should cause us to stop and think and most likely leave us with a Duet 29:29 situation. Was Mordecai right to do what he did or not. Several things must be considered here. What does the word homage mean?

Homage - חָוָה (ḥā∙wā(h)): bow down, prostrate oneself, i.e., take a stance of bowing low in an act. of respect or honor, but not necessarily worship of deity; bow in worship, prostrate oneself, i.e., make a low stance as a sign of honor, worship, and homage of deity, with an associative meaning of allegiance to that deity (Ex 4:31)^[1]

It is clear that this word has to have context to really be understood. It can mean just showing honor all the way to bowing in worship. If the Kings command was that all were just to show Haman honor, then Mordecai is not honoring what God has taught throughout His Word. We are to “show honor to whom honor is due”. Romans 13:7 The scriptures are full of examples of this. If this was what was expected from the King then all should obey, for God placed this King over them. However, if the homage paid here to Haman is in the form of worship, Mordecai would be obligated to God not to bow and show homage to a mere man. We are not told which one this was, although most believe that it was about worship and that is why Mordecai refused. The context of this book and Mordecai’s character would support this conclusion. But we must leave it in the unknown category because the Word is silent. Even so Lord, we have two great applications here. First, do we honor all that we should, even if we do not like them personally? Do we pray for our leaders even though we may think they are wrong or immoral? How we respond to those placed in authority over us states a lot about our submission to You. Second, have we honored other people or things over You? We don’t have to bow to a statue to commit idolatry! We must make sure that You alone hold Lordship in our life. Open our eyes to look honestly at ourselves Lord.

 * Meditation Questions: Do I pray for the leader of my country? Even if I dislike that leader do I talk about them with respect? When I disagree with someone over me in authority, including in ministry, how do I treat them? Have I compromised my stand for Christ because of a person or a circumstance? What does that say?

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^[1] Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament) (electronic ed.). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.