Esther - Chapters 8-10

well we're exploring the book of Esther and we're going to take three chapters tonight the last was just a couple of verses long so don't get weak of the knees here but this is the this is the clean up you know last time was the big drama where Haman gets his due but Haman was degraded just when he thought he had reached the goal of his ambition now Haman of course you know and in traditional Jewish terms whenever you know his name you're supposed to supposed to have a noisemaker and stamp your feet and hiss and all that stuff we won't do that here it'll mess up the recording but Haman was characterized by boundless pride boundless ambition and boundless cruelty and he perished on the very stake that he had erected 75 feet like right here for his enemy Mordecai so that's that was last week the mills of God grind slowly at they grind exceedingly small though with patience he stands waiting with exactness grinds he all famous poem sort of describes all thing it's interesting to see how a retribution continually shows its face throughout the scripture and Pharaoh drowned the Jewish babies and Moses was born Pharaoh perished in the Red Sea the dogs licked the blood of a hab in Samaria just as it was prophet prophesied Herod who was eaten of worms upon his throne that they get to get their due Psalm 37 sorry verse 34 wait on the Lord keep his way and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land when he the wicked are cut off thou shalt see it I have seen the wicked in great power and spreading himself like a green bay tree yet he passed away and lo he was not yeah I saw him but he could not be found they marked the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace but the transgressors shall be destroyed together the end of the wicked shall be cut off but the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord he is their strength in the time of trouble the Lord shall help them and deliver them he shall deliver them from the wicked and save them because they trust in him a very dramatic summary that's occurs many times the scripture but probably none so dramatically as we've witnessed through this book of Esther but there's a worse enemy than Haman that's plotted against the children of men a worse fate than massacre awaits those who fall in the snare of the foe and God warns us to flee from the wrath to come so that's really what we're dealing with here well little did Esther dream of the opportunity that would open to her but the hour came for her and she succeeded and my thought here is that here in this audience there are people are going to be confronted with a similar opportunity in the not-too-distant future so these things are not just academic colorful passages that we enjoy the drama of they have lessons that will be applicable to many of us in this room we neither sin for such a time as this we are here and so there's remaining challenges before us here in Esther though the table has not been turned the Jews were still left with the major problem Haman had been dealt with the king's edict to eradicate them was still in the fact so you remember that a Persian decree even bound the king that decreed it he couldn't say face that's what that predominates the whole lion's den thing in in the Daniel chapter 6 so Persian degree there still would be great slaughter of many innocent people because of the wicked actions of the now dead man so he's yes payments put away but that decree is still operative it's now the third month of the year and there were nine months to go before that day that was chosen by drawing lots earlier when the Jews could be legally slain so the predicament remains the irreversibility of Persian edicts many innocent people were still under the sentence of death because of Haman there were about 15 million Jews among the estimated 100 million people in the Empire don't think of just Persia this is the Persian Empire you know - from 8th from cush or 8th you all the way to India the known world and big deal here and it includes of course the Jews that had returned to build the temple if that decree was allowed to go on it would wipe out the Jews it would wipe out the Messiah it would wipe out the temple it's of this a big deal here so we're gonna jump in with that background into chapter 8 verse 1 the bloody reckoning after 8 verse 1 on the on that day did the king a hazardous give the house of Haman the Jews enemy unto Esther the Queen and Mordecai came before the King for Esther had told what he was unto her so he's disclosed now her Jewish background and of course the King is indebted Mordecai for lots of reasons he saved his life among other things so as us knew that both Esther and Mordecai were Jews but now he's going to learn that he's related to them they're cousins by marriage Mordecai is interestingly enough and so him was considered a criminal and his property was st to the crown and the king gave it to Esther either as a sign of favor and compensation for the alarm and suffering Haman caused her in the case big win here big win and the king took off his ring which he had taken from Haman and gave it unto Mordecai and Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman boy the irony here did he hit the guy that was going to kill him he now has his whole estate and Haman gets impaled on the very post that he had erected for Mordecai the irony here is astonishing so the King's ring of course had been given him to authorize the edict against the Jews in the first place now Mordecai had he couldn't eradicate the previous order but what they can do is create a another opportunity so same Haman's office of course it had vacated and Mordecai acceded to his high offices Vizier in constant attendance to the king so big deal and again now the tables were the tables are turned against Haman even after his death because mark I now had the power that Haman previously aspired to and it pained Haman who hoped to con skate the Jews property now his own property removed and given to of all people Esther and Mordecai God says many places them that honor me I will honor and leave they did as Esther spanked again before the king and fell down at his feet me sought him with the tears to put away the mischief of Haman the agate and his device that he had devised against the Jews so that again that that edict was still in effect and it had something that had to be done so she appears to the king a second time obviously not in the peril she experienced or the risk she had the previous time but she does appear to him without an invitation which is a subject to death and this time she begged to put an end to the evil plan which was in effect because of Haman the King held out the golden scepter toward Esther which in other words keeps her from being killed and so Esther arose and stood before the king so you knew how to manage your husband that's a very s no mean accomplishment in the woman's life right I'll leave that there I won't go any further okay and said if it please the king and if I have found favor in his sight and the thing is seem right before the King and I'd be pleasing in his eyes let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman no see ascribes the edict to Haman which is there's some politics going on here devised by him in the son of Hadassah the aggregate which he wrote to destroy the Jews which are in all the king's provinces this is the second Proclamation see her request very simple she wanted a second decree to be sent up that would override the first decree and she very clever describes the first decree to Haman so she's trying to see what she's trying to do a skirt around the the the she can't she wants to avoid a royal recant that's not that's a that's forbidden so strangely a simple reversing was not permissible under Persian law there's a way of losses part of this Eastern loss of faith thing going here for how can I endure to see the evil that shall come into my people and how shall I endure to see the destruction of my kindred my people seized he's openly identifying herself with the Jewish nation here and so my faith my kindred my people in my kindred and the King has ever said unto Esther of the Queen and to Mordecai the Jew behold I have given this to the house of Haman and they and him they have hanged upon the gallows because he laid his hand upon the Jews she noted that they had the power and resources that previously belonged to Amon therefore they should use that power to their advantage is really the implication here Hammond's decree cannot be revoked but a second one could supersede it that's the idea here so he continues right he also for the Jews as at like of you in the King's name and Cena with a king's ring for the writing which is written in the King's name and sealed with the King's ring may no man reverse see Xerxes even gave Mordecai the authority to write the decree any way he wanted and Stampler the Kings authority by using a signet ring so that's that's a blank check in effect then where the Kings scribes called at that time in the third month that is the month of Sipan on the three and twentieth day thereof three and twentieth day that's interesting we're going to encounter 24 coming up here a little bit anyway and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded unto the Jews so this decree was sent out in the somewhere in mid-june time period 474 BC and citement by the way is another ways Babylonian names it's even thought by the Jews associated with a moon god sin Simon is linguistically linked to sin sinners was the name of the Babylonian name for the moon God that's in Babylon in Arabia it was Allah al Ilah later becomes a law but anyway the numerical architecture here always fascinates me see this was a little over two months after Haman's decree the Jews had over eight months now to prepare themselves for the conflict up to the 13th day of the 12th month that's what came up by the throwing a lot earlier the date that Haman had chosen by the dice if you will the 23rd is interesting the decree was sent out on the 24th 24 seems to be the number of the church in Revelation 4 4 five and nineteen and there's also the the interval of the church age is in the text from Genesis to Revelation twenty four times interestingly enough and so it's also interesting that the months of Sipan of course that's the month that acts two takes place where the church is born the Feast of Pentecost the Feast of cheveux continuing and to the lieutenant's and the deputies and the rulers of the provinces which are from India to Ethiopia and a hundred and twenty seven provinces remember that we learned that in the early chapters of this book 127 provinces that Xerxes ruled over on to every province according to the writing their oven on to every people after their language and to the Jews according to their writing and according to the language huge job putting out needed because there are literally hundreds of languages to be translated and recorded no copiers and then on horseback with a Pony Express kind of thing who was distributed across the Ray bian desert up the afraid ease and Tigris Rivers down to India some even in Africa all way down D Theo Pia and he wrote the King's a had a has verses name and seal it with King's ring and sent the letters by posts on horseback and riders on mules camels and young dromedaries now as is the case with previous decree this one too is dispatched they had an incredible network to get this word out and the whole empire from India to cush was written the right language for each province now the young dromedaries the the the original in the Hebrew here is neither mules or camels here in dromedaries a better translation has been suggested the writers and coursers of royal stud the offspring of thoroughbreds so we're so what you're seeing there in your English is a translators Liberty if that the Hirota this the father of history and also zenith on speak of horses alone employed bike carrying the the Persian dispatches so whatever will move on we're in the King granted the Jews which were in every city to gather themselves together and to stand for their life to destroy to slay and to cause to perish all the power of the people the province that should both little ones and women and to take the spoil of them for prey for a prey take the spoil the Jews could they had they could under this take away the property of their enemies just as Monica I had taken away the property of Haman that was the authority we'll get at that in a minute on one day in all the provinces of king of hazardous namely upon the 13th day of the 12th month which is the month of Adar the eita gave the Jews the right to protect themselves and the right to annihilate and plunder any group that fought against them this is through the whole Empire not just souza not just the capital J Brand media makes an interesting mark I like this is the Jew has attended the funeral of every one of the nations that tried to exterminate him and sort of says it all in the copy of the writing for a commandment to be given and every province was published unto all people and that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies avenge here we go avenge vengeance these all from the Latin root vinda care which has the same root as vindicate part of what we're going to address here self-control that's just the opposite of vindication typically a contrary concept where there's no self control we have damaged testimony and personal difficulties Hebrews 12 details that emotional instability disability unholiness can't see God troubles Duvall many immorality lost rewards all echo through those passages without self-control we are defenseless proverbs 25 repeatedly practice obedience persevere through your failures that's the goal here well it raises an issue here the difference between retribution and retaliation are those synonyms no they're not in fact they're antithetical that's not quite the same thing as opposites but it comes close is there a seeming contradiction these are very distinct words retribution is a basis of life all through the scripture it means they deserve punishment return for evil done or sin or sometimes good retaliate that literally in Latin means to pay back to pay back a wrong or injury returned like for like usually to return evil for evil did it sound very similar don't they well let's see if we can unravel this little retaliation is one thing retribution something quite different retaliation is always negative retribution is sometimes positive present circumstances retaliation is personal retribution is impersonal retaliation is amoral tribution moral retaliation punitive retribution consequential you're reaping what you sow in effect retaliation is usually angry retribution is dispassionate ooh these are starting a little different now aren't they retaliation is bitter retribution as judicious retaliation is vindictive retribution is just there's a difference retaliation is wrathful retribution is self-controlled retaliation is human retribution is godlike it's interesting how we've seen retribution echo through the book of Esther in so many ways that's quite different than retaliation moving on verse 14 so the posts that rode upon mules and camels went out being hastened and pressed on by the Kings commandment and the decree was given that xuxa and the palace and Mordecai went out from the presence of the king and royal apparel of blue and white and with a Great crown of gold and with a garment of fine linen and purple and the City of Shushan rejoiced and was glad these colors echoing from that first chapter you may recall the Persian royal colors if you will and the King added his emblems to embellish Mordecai standing as few things been added here but previously under Haman's edict the city of Susa had been bewildered now they're rejoicing enjoy celebration and of course the Jews were elated but the Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor and in every province and in every city whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came the Jews had joy and gladness a feast and a good day and many of the people of the land became Jews for the fear of the Jews fell upon them so they found peace resting upon what the word of the king that's what we should do to inland huh it's ensuring that even a city or a nation can exhibit a character of its own the Jews rise to power caused many Gentiles become Jewish proselytes God's good hand was then becoming obvious to the world at large through all this devoutly to be wish'd isn't it no longer were these events being viewed simply as happenstance people were now beginning to realize that God the God of the Jews was protecting them it's interesting how invisible God was he's so invisible you don't find his name in the book unless you know how to look for it and we'll come to that next of Accession now it was the Jew stir and yet they would have to fight to retain what was Thursday would had to take part actively in their own deliverance this is a profound principle of faith we see it in Joshua chapter 1 this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth but thou shalt meditate therein day and night that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous and then thou shalt have good success in other words the front end is a preamble not a guarantee you still have to make your way prosperous so they had wrought two sleeves prayers for the Jews it was Esther's interceding at the throne that saved the people of Israel from slaughter when Israel sinned Moses met God on the mountain and interceded for them in Exodus 32 he was even willing for God to blot him out of the book of life if that's what it took to rescue a nation that's a gutsy prayer Moses Paul did the same thing centuries later Paul that he's willing to be accursed from Christ if it would hell save unbelieving Israel Wow I love you guys but I don't think I love you that much I'm not Carmel Elijah prayed for the disobedient Israel in a similar vein in the palace nehemiah prayed for the jews in jerusalem near my one as our a wept and prayed and asked God to help his a sinful people it's what God would have you do Daniel humbled someone fast and prayed that he might understand what God's plan was for Israel I have set Watchmen upon thy walls o Jerusalem which shall never hold a peace the day or night deed that make mention of the Lord keep not silence and give him no rest till he established until he make jerusalem a praise in the earth out of Isaiah 62 just a few verses following the mandate Christ quotes when he opens his ministry in Nazareth pray for the Peace of Jerusalem they shall prosper who love that's a amendment an imperative out of the psalm psalm 122:6 and we have a similar one in the lord's prayer thy kingdom come what are we talking about something up in heaven no the kingdom from heaven on the earth important to understand that so chapter 9 the feast of Purim now we get this is all get embodied in a celebration here now in the 12th month that is the month of data or the 13th day of the same when the Kings commandment has decreed drew near to be put in the execution in the day that the enemies of the Jews hope to have power over them though it was turned to the contrary that the Jews had ruled over them that hated them so the appointed day of battle came tables are now turned the Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the promises of the king of hazards to lay hand on such as sought their hurt that no man could withstand them for the fear of them fell upon all the people hmm so they their adversaries trembled and all the rulers of the provinces and the lieutenant's and the deputies the office of the King helped the Jews because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them interesting interesting even the government authorities joining people attack the Jews may have seen this an opportunity to get rich at someone else's expense however since they had no backing from others they were in a cause which they could not win for Mordecai was great in the king's house and his fame went out throughout all the provinces for this man Mordecai waxed greater and greater only by God's intervention of course work I was down a position of authority the very throne that had once condemned the Jews now protects them the very throne of God protects us today that's the parallel that you need to reflect on and if you have any doubts about that go to Romans 8:31 and read it to the end of that chapter put a tab on your Bible that's one of the most encouraging reads you can't get through those verses feeling low it nails it like nothing else can thus the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword and the slaughter and destruction and did what they would unto those that hated them and in Shushan the palace the Jews slew and destroyed five hundred men that's on the day of battle of course they in the Citadel itself the susan's they killed five hundred men plus ten sons of Haman here there's that here is the list of their names harsh Anitha Delfin as petha Bharatha Adalia arid fa par Mazda RSI and arid I and Aziza I'm sure that's not the way they're properly pronounced but I'll let you do better on your own the ten sons of Haman the sons and that have enough of the enemy of the Jews smooth a but on the spoil laid not they on the spoil laid they not their hand these ten names I'm going to deal with in the session after next so we're going to be for that for right now these ten guys attend sons of salmon we'll explore the significance of these names on another occasion where we can focus on it but the execution of these 10 Saints complete after the utter it completed the utter destruction of it I'm I like which that goes all the way back to Genesis as finally ties it off something that saw the king was told to do back then and didn't in the text even scriptures these 10 names are arranged on the page to look like a gallows on the feast of Purim the synagogue reader reads these 10 names all in one breath because the sons of Haman all died together a very Jewish condition again will defer exploring these names until another session because I can't do it all in one breath okay on that day the number of those that were slain and xuxa and the palace was brought before the king the King said to the Queen the Jews of slain and destroyed five hundred men and xuxa in the palace and the ten sons of Haman what have they done in the rest of the Kings provinces now what is thy petition and it shall be granted thee Oh what is that request further and it shall be done that's pretty cool then said Esther if it please the King let it be granted to the Jews which our intrusion to do tomorrow also according to this day's decree and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows see when G King asked what she wanted she wanted the Jews to begin an additional day here in the palace they weren't finished there to carry out today and rooting out the ones that were trying to destroy them in Haman's 10 and also Haman's got specific instructions for and when they say gallows let me remind you that's the translational presumption we have reasonably they were impaled the Persians invented the crucifixion that was then adopted subsequently by the Greeks and the Romans on the second day the Jews killed an additional three hundred men king commanded Tsar to be done then the decree was given at Shushan and they hanged Heyman's ten sons a lot of people asked why did they want to impale the already dead bodies of Haman's ten sons this is not an unusual practice in the ancient Middle East it was a visual warning to others not to commit the same crime as the punished ones and several times in the scripture emphasized curse it is every one that hangeth on a tree that was idiomatically very relevant for the Jews that were Jews and gathered themselves together of the fourteenth day and also the month of Adar and slew 300 minutes Shushan but on the pray they laid not their hand Herodotus the Greek historian records that a hazardous or Xerxes if you will return home after his defeat with the Greek campaign about 480 BC and that his wife a mistress that's the Greek term for his wife and we're assuming obviously as Esther was a cold and vindictive queen I can imagine why that would be her you know her public image he's a pretty rough rough deal here a mistress is the Greek term and it's a little confusing because the mistress was the name assigned to Vashti who was the mother of our exact cities Longy Maz but she gets displaced Esther made Queen so Esther becomes her it could be becomes his stepmother if you will but he becomes apparently very influenced by her and that's why artaxerxes Longy Manas is the one that gives nehemiah the permission to rebuild the city of Jerusalem that triggers the 70 week prophecy of Daniel so that ties it all together for you but the other Jews that were in the king's provinces gather themselves together and stood for their lives and had rest from their enemies and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand and they laid not their hands on the prey three times in the record a state of the Jews didn't take the spoil they'd say they they took lives to protect themselves but they didn't as treat the the prize if you will it was taking a spoil from the enemy that King Saul lost his kingdom and so the Jews didn't want to repeat that mistake apparently so the opportunity for the nation was the privilege of defending themselves they could accept or reject it as they chose in the outlying promises seventy five thousand individuals were killed by the Jews in one day but there as well as souza they did not take any plunder from the victims continuing on the 13th day of the month of Adar on the fourteenth day of the same rested they and made it a day of feasting and glad in the but the Jews that were a shoe shot assemble together in the 13th day thereof and on the fourteenth day thereof and on the fifteenth day of the same they rested and made it a day of feasting and gladness and that day of feasting is celebrated to this day as the feast of Purim he's going to get with you therefore the Jews of the villages that dwelt in the unwalled towns made the fourteenth day of the month adar a day of gladness and feasting and a good day and of sending portions to one another but seeing Susan in the capital the fighting lasted for two days for that reason Jews and Susan celebrated on the fifteenth day of the twelfth month after the slaughters of 13 14th where the Jews and the villages celebrate on the 14th after the slaughter on the 13th so this anyway the feast of Purim is established it's not established under Mosaic law so you make a distinct from the feasts of Moses which are seven and don't confuse two others the feast of Hanukkah which is mentioned in the New Testament John chapter 10 verse 22 and also the feasts of Purim that we're dealing with here so there's little reason to believe that this is a divinely instituted ritual like the seven feast it's not in the same category as the point okay it was commanded by Mordecai and by Esther as simply a time of grateful remembrance of the deliverance this she tells it was some years before it became a universal season of festivity among the Jews and many more laps before a distinctively religious character was given to it originally it was just time of celebrating their victory but it gets more formalized as time goes on on the morning of the 14th day of the month the Jews again go to the synagogue where Esther story is read again and the congregation engages in prayer the story about Moses and the Amalekites is also read that's the Nexus 17 doing all that then after the settlements go home to a festive holiday meal with gifts and special foods and celebrating contains on the next day they also send gifts and food to the poor and needy so that everybody can rejoice together that's Purim very noisy celebrating time for them it's tragic in a way that it's degenerated to the present time to a season of godless merrymaking and it's more patriotic than devotional in this character and the tradition is the living faith of the Dead and traditionalism is the dead faith of the living George Santayana says it another way those who do not remember the past are condemned to relive it that's the Hegel says it another way history teaches us that teaches man learns nothing from history anyway remove not the ancient landmine here's something I want to highlight just use as an excuse here in a number of places through the scripture you'll see an admonition removed not the ancient landmark which thy fathers have set talk to any rabbi and he'll explain to you that doesn't have just that's not limited to property lines they have an admonition here do not disturb the you know the the the pillars of the past if you will and do not remove the ancient landmark that's talking about all kinds of traditions they have a high regard for traditions you tamper with them at your own peril but proverbs also says don't deal with those that metal with change that would be an interesting campaign slogan these days wouldn't it moving on and Mordecai wrote these things and sent letters in to all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the King I has risk both high and far both 9 far excuse me and establish this among them that they should keep the 14th day of the month adar the fifteenth day of the same yearly so and it's from this first by the way since he wrote things that many assume that Mordecai was probably the author of this book that may or may not be so as the days were in the Jews rested from the enemies the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy and from mourning into a good day that they should make them days of feasting and joy and of sending portions one to another and gifts to the poor so the to day is a two-day feast and celebrating God's working to protect his people from extinction and so Mordecai then has this set up as an annual affair and also to honor the poor and the Jews undertook to do so as they had begun and as Mordecai had written unto them because Haman the son of Hamor Daha and the hag of gite the enemy of all the Jews had devised against the Jews to destroyed them and had cast poor that's a ancient Persian word for a lot like a dice that is a lot a lot consume them and to destroy them that's how he set the date way back at the beginning and that's what nails this he in it that that date you know the scripture tells us in problem 16 verse 33 that the lot is in the lap of the Lord and that date came out to be at the end of the year that gave the Jews even after all the other business they had eight months to prepare for that coming challenge and when Esther came before the king he commanded he commanded by the letters that his wicked device which he devised against the Jews should return upon his own end and that he and his son should be hanged on the gallows wherefore they called these days Purim after the name poor therefore for all the words of this letter and event which they had seen concerning this matter and which had come unto them feasts is called Purim of course because of the lot it's a it's the plural of poor a lot if you will which determine the time to extinction the Jews are deigned and took upon them and upon their seed upon all such as joined themselves under them so as it should not fail that they would keep these two days according to their writing and according to their point in time every year and that these nations be remembered and kept throughout every generation every family every province in every city and that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews nor the memorial of them perish from their seat and Esther the Queen the daughter of Abbey Hill and Mordecai the Jew wrote with all authority to confirm this second letter of Purim so she joined Mordecai and sending the second letter perhaps some of the Jews the provinces didn't want to change from the original day of celebration that was necessary for both the Queen Prime Minister to issue the second letter keep them all together pretty straightforward and he sent letters on to all the Jews into the hundred and twenty-seven provinces of the kingdom of a hazardous with words of peace and truth to confirm these days of Purim in their times appointed according to his Mordecai the Jew and Esther the Queen had and joined them and as they had decreed for themselves and for their seed the matters of the fasting and their crying and the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim and it was written in the book so a copy of her letter is also included in the Royal archives and we another chapter to go but it's only three verses relax and the king has laid tribute upon the land and upon the Isles of the sea comes back to a speculation about that in a minute and all the acts of his power and of his might and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai where under the king advanced him are they not written in the book of The Chronicles of the kings of media and Persia and an addendum will add to their study is the whole issue of who are the Magi it's incidental to the study so I didn't include it in the study but I'll append it to the study because media and Persia it was a coalition Cyrus was half and half half mean half per F person and he combined the Empire to make the medo-persian Empire but the Medes had a hereditary priesthood from which we get the term magistrate they were king they were priests and king makers they had a pre they had a priesthood role but they also had the authority to appoint the next king and that's that's that the Magi Daniel was put in he was not a Meade but there is put him in charge that really offended the existing priesthood they contrived this into this lion's den episode but the net of it is Daniel apparently had established a cabal within them to preserve a prophecy that ends up being the Magi that visit Christ's birth there's a whole background there that will take as a separate little side study later media and Persia by the way the Midrash which is a common Jewish commentary states that a hazardous 127 provinces consisted of 100 provinces on the mainland and 27 on the islands that's very colorful it may or may not be true but I want to be aware of it the Hebrew sage Villa Galan points out that geometrical numerical value of the taxes the word taxes is 100 and the numerical value of isles is 27 and from this the rabbi's conclude that 27 the provinces were Islands and the others were mainland but you need to understand this kind of ideas sometimes a legitimate sometimes they're quite imaginary so for Mordecai the Jew was mixed under the King hazardous and greet among the Jews it accepted of the multitudes brethren seeking the wealth of his people and speaking peace to all his seed and it may be may have been Mordecai who engineered a new system of tribute as a substitute for a war and plunder as a source for kingdom wealth all the way through what's coloring this we just as in the early chapters are the various wars and Persia is not doing very well sending half a million men and bringing back five thousand from a lost war it's not fun and they do that over over again and they keep messing around but Alexander a couple of centuries from now Alexander is going to take the alter history but the person in medo-persian history was studded with Jewish Nobles by when you study their history to discover theirs their prominent Jewish people in very key positions all through their history in their ministers counselors in in the in Cyrus's Empire and so if some of the kings themselves may have been of Jewish blood its strength interestingly enough these final passages regard as evidence that the book of Esther the Megillah was written and published in the early days of the great assembly when Persia was still powerful and all the Jews were still its subjects that's where this was published that would be before Nehemiah in the book in the times of s of Ezra roughly it's after near mine your Bible but it really it predates most of Nehemiah now remember too that king of hazards was the fading glory of the world he has now gone as records of perished Zarek's with all his impulsiveness is really rendered the dust of history essentially notice that God left never left himself without representatives in the courts of he's eaten empires Joseph in Egypt Daniel in Babylon Mordecai in Persia what about us interesting question remember too that the church is not the kingdom key thing as we get into all these things and also the end of Christian death sensation is not the end of the world we are an episode we are a parenthesis and it's quickly coming to an end not the world but our role in it and there are other periods to follow including that period when the Jewish nation will once more be the principal vehicle for God's program that's what Paul in this definitive statement of Christian doctrine to call the book of Romans hammers away for three chapters Romans 9 10 and 11 Israel past present and future we need to understand that it's tragic that that is being challenged the Davidic covenant one of the four unconditional covenants is being challenged the Abraham coming challenged by the world in general the Lamb covenant challenged by Islam the Davidic covenant challenged by the church most organized churches have no grasp that the Millennium is the fulfillment the Davidic covenant that's all tied together and tied together in the New Testament by the way so the book of Esther is filled with irony with ways in which the events turned out unexpectedly in favor of God many people have the belief that it was written by alfred hitchcock i can't disprove that right now but all right Queen Vashti a persian was deposed so that Esther a Jewish could become Queen and save her people Haman once exalted was brought low and Mordecai and the Jews once hated were exalted and honored a decree which would have wiped out the Jews was overruled by one which led to the destruction of nearly seventy six thousand enemies of the Jews so no wonder Purim is a celebrated yearly with such rejoicing to help the Jews remember that God is in control and that people should faithfully worship and serve their great God that's really was it okay say gee we finished the book the only tenth chapter of none ten chapters so those of you that want to just cut and run no problem but next Tuesday we're going to have another session and I'm going to ask you a question where does the name of God appear in the book of Esther Luther wanted it out of the Bible because he couldn't find the name of God in there well he wasn't Jewish we're going to introduce you to micro codes there are macro codes and micro codes we're going to talk about micro codes next time I'm going to introduce you to five acrostics four of those five are in the Talmud so no secret about these things but there's not widely known five across six I'm going to show you we're also going to discover three equidistant letter sequences a very peculiar kind of code one that's much abused much a lot of nonsense is written in this area most people writing it and have no background in cryptography but we're going to take and give you a little tutorial and what they're all about and we're going to examine actually more than three we're going to look at three that deal with the name of God and one little surprise a dear friend of mine a rabbi in San Antonio called my attention to this with great mischief and it turns out he's right and we'll take a look at that one also so that's next time let's stand for a close word of Prayer

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Length: 42min 57sec (2577 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 27 2020