As God’s people, we are sometimes confronted with situations like Mordecai’s. The law required everyone to pay homage to Haman. It is one thing to respect government officials, but it is another to revere a man as if he were God. When Mordecai refused, the king’s servants wondered what would happen. Their curiosity was not about Haman’s reaction; certainly they expected him to be angry. Instead, they wondered “whether Mordecai’s words would stand.” How resolute would he be?

We notice that they clearly knew the reason for Mordecai’s behavior. Mordecai had told them he was a Jew, which means they understood that his disobedience was entirely due to his relationship with his God. And Mordecai’s words did stand, even when Haman’s wrath intensified. He was not simply provoking a confrontation. The king’s law directly opposed God’s law, and therefore Mordecai disobeyed.

This principle is significant. Even today we are not permitted to disobey laws we simply do not like, even if they affect Christian behavior. Later, when Mordecai wore sackcloth in his distress, he respected the regulation that no one in sackcloth could enter the king’s gate (Est. 4:2). He did not resist that law by claiming that it hindered the expression of his faith.

Our resistance is limited to cases that directly oppose God’s honor, His moral laws, or some Christian imperative such as speaking the name of Jesus (Acts 5:28). But if we are led by the Spirit—and not by the flesh—to disobey a law solely because we are Christians, then God Himself will use our testimony for His good.