Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I correct your prayer for attention to the book of Esther and chapter
10. Reading for our text, verse 3,
the last verse of that book. Esther chapter 10 and verse 3. For Mordecai the Jew was next
unto King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted
of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people,
and speaking peace to all his seed. Esther chapter 10 and verse
3. In preaching the Word, we seek
to preach Christ Jesus. When we come to a verse like
this, you might think, well, where is the Lord there? This
is all about Mordecai. But in the Word of God, there
are those types and types in the persons of leaders and those
who have been in position amongst the people of God that are beautiful
times given by God of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Mordecai is one of those. We think of others, like Moses,
a prophet shall the Lord thy God raise up unto you, like unto
me, him shall you hear. We think of Joseph, All of these
are types. We must always remember that
a type doesn't follow through in every part of their lives. It doesn't mean to say because
Mordecai is a type as described in this verse and in those things
that he did, that he is a type in every aspect of the account
that is here. The same with Joseph. But it
is, as we get little glimpses, the fullness is in the Lord Jesus
Christ. We think of the two kingdoms,
David's kingdom and Solomon's kingdom. Again, David, a type
of Christ, Solomon, a type of Christ, David, a man of war,
Solomon, a man of peace. And we have in two separate characters,
but joined in our Lord Jesus Christ. The kings of Israel were
never permitted to be prophets or to offer sacrifices. Saul acted very foolishly when
he forced himself and offered the sacrifice instead of waiting
for Samuel. But in the Lord Jesus Christ,
those two offices of king and of prophet, he is our prophet,
priest, and king. They all meet in one person. So when we look at one person,
one aspect, one king perhaps of David, and we see a type of
Christ, we don't see everything about him, but we see part. And it's as we see the Lord through
the lattice of the word that we are to be drawn to him and
to drawn to what he is for us. And this verse here, describing
Mordecai, is a beautiful description of our Lord. I want to think firstly of Mordecai,
what he was to the Jews here in this context. This comes at the end of this
account But we read of him very early on and in his relationship
to Esther herself. Esther, who was his cousin and
who he looked after. We are told in chapter two that
there was in Shushan, the palace, a certain Jew whose name was
Mordecai. the son of Jair, the son of Shimei,
the son of Kish, a Benjamite, who had been carried away from
Jerusalem with the captivity, which had been carried away with
Jeconiah, king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon,
had carried away. And he was the one that brought
up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter. She had
no father nor mother. Now, if this was referring to
Mordecai being carried away, that would make him probably
about 130 years of age. But I believe in the order as
it's put here, the chain, it was his great grandfather that
was carried away. And that would then make it more
of a right time that would bring Esther to not be that old, be
the age that she was, of a young virgin for the king. We think of the range of years
with this account here. It is after, of course, the Jews
have been brought back of their 70 years captivity. It is 38
years after the temple had been rebuilt, but there was going
to be another 35 years before Nehemiah would come and rebuild
the walls of Jerusalem. So that's roughly where we find
the book of Esther. And here we have then introduced
to us Mordecai. And what is very evident, and
those of you who are familiar with this book, with this account,
where Mordecai is at the king's gate, Haman, the Jew's enemy,
has been exalted next to the king, and Mordecai cannot bow
down to him. And Haman, in vengeance against
him, seeks to destroy all the Jews and deceitfully gets a letter
from the king, sealed with the king's seal, to affect that. But here is Mordecai, even before
The enemy was evidenced. Even before those letters of
destruction were sent forth, there is Mordecai. He is there. And it's him that later is able
to speak to Esther and say to her, when she is the king's wife,
when she is married to him, who knoweth that thou art come to
the kingdom for such a time as this? He is the one. that the Lord had chosen, though,
to be replacing Haman, to be the one next to the king. And
that from this, what was to be a curse and of such sorrow to
the Jews would turn out, as we read, to such joy to the Jews. And that joy was through the
letters that were sent out. We didn't read the chapter, chapter
nine, where they actually had the battle with their enemies,
but we read even before that day came, even when there still
was the sentence of death against them, but there was a counter
decree from the king that they could stand up and fight, they
rejoice, they were pleased. Why? Because they had the king
on their side. You might say, why didn't the
king just disannul that commandment? Why didn't he just say that was
done wrongly, will take away the sentence of death. Well,
the decrees of the Persians, they could not be altered. Daniel
in the lion's den, that was the same thing. Darius, he couldn't
change his own decree and say that it was a mistake and bring
Daniel out. He had to go into the lion's
den and then be preserved by the Lord's angel and then brought
out again. with the decree here that could
not be changed and dear friends a sentence of death against us
as sinners that which the Lord signed in the day that thou eatest
thereof thou shalt surely die that must stand that cannot be
disannulled it cannot be taken away we all must die we are dead
in sin and we must die physically but there is a counter a counter-decree,
the decree of the Gospel, and it is in the Lord Jesus Christ,
and it is signed equally, authority, that the people of God can stand
against Satan. You think of the words, resist
the devil and he shall flee from you. He will not permit you to
be tempted above that which you are able, but will with the temptation,
make a way of escape that ye may be able to bear it. The accuser
of the brethren is cast down. Satan, the seed of the woman,
shall bruise the serpent's head, and he shall bruise his heel.
That which the Lord Jesus Christ has done, and the tidings of
the gospel, the message of the gospel, when we read this, I
don't know whether you noticed this, those letters were going
out into all the provinces and according to all the languages
of those provinces. And you cannot but think of the
gospel to every nation, kindred and tongue, and in the language
of those people. And like it was on the day of
Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was given, they heard everyone
speak in their own language. And we have then the whole situation,
really, as a type of the gospel and the gospel provisions delivering
from wrath, delivering from death, and giving life. And this then
gave rise to, and it's one of the reasons why this is in the
holy word of God to explain the Purim, the Feast of Purim, is
also without the Lord intervening here, then the Lord's people
would have been destroyed. and how vital it was that there
be the continuing line. But in it, though we don't hear
of God throughout it, we hear of His work right the way through
it. If there is ever a book that
God is known by the judgment that He executeth, it is this
book. If there is ever a book where
it is known that God is seen by His works and by that which
He does, so that we could say, the thing proceedeth from the
Lord, for this is the Lord's doing and is marvellous in our
eyes. It's the same God that turned
Balaam's curse into a blessing. It's the same God that takes
away the sentence of death and gives the words of life to his
dear people. And so, right from the beginning,
we find Mordecai is featuring but at the end we find him in
this position right next to the king and what a wonderful thing
that must have been for the Jews to have a man like that to have
one of their own brethren and you think of this type of our
Lord Moses says Prophet, shall the Lord thy God rise up unto
you, like unto me, of thy brethren, of our bone and of our flesh.
Born a Jew, our Lord Jesus was, and so was Mordecai the Jew. And these things that are said
of Mordecai, that must have been a wonderful thing for the Jews
at this time. right next to King Ahasuerus
to have one of their own number, their own brethren. And there
he is. And there he is in that position
next to the king. Great among the Jews, accepted
to the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people
and speaking peace to all his seed. What a contrast. So the ups and downs, the sorrows,
the distresses, all that went through here, it may be you gather
this evening and you're in the middle of the ups and downs,
the ways, the billows, the tossings, the fears, the sentence of death,
the adversary exalting himself, the gallows raised up, all the
things that were featured here. May this be an encouragement. The Lord is not finished yet. The Lord led right through to
the end here. And what a blessed end it was.
Judged nothing before the time. The Lord knows what he will do. How many times the people of
God had feared. The children of Israel in Egypt,
nine signs and still not let go. They must have thought they
were never going to be let go. They'd never have deliverance.
You might be gathering this evening thinking you'll never have deliverance. You've seen this happen, that
happen, your heart still hard, still not set free from the things
of this world, the spirit of this world, still held fast,
still in bondage. You think, what can do it? What
can achieve it? Well, the Lord will prove this,
that nothing but His blood, nothing but His way, nothing but the
Lord Jesus Christ will bring it about. We think later on,
when the children of Israel were right at the Red Sea, the mountains
each side, the Egyptians behind them, the Red Sea in front of
them. Again, it seemed to be an end,
to finish them. And then the Lord appears, and
that Red Sea, it's salvation for them. And the other side,
come is the deliverance. And then there is that, after
he comes, evening light, that we are to not lose hope in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And these accounts like this,
they point us to the God of hope. They point us to what the Lord
will do and how he will act in Providence, moving men's hearts,
the timing. Dear friends, notice timing in
your lives. Notice those things that are
done and the order that they're done in them. Psalm 107. Who
so is wise and will observe these things, even they shall understand
the loving kindness of the Lord. So this is Mordecai and what
he was to the Jews, to his people. I want to take each of the points
that are set before us here that speak of Mordecai, but speak
more to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. They give us a
picture of His position and where He is at this present time. Now the first one that is said
is His position next unto the King. For Mordecai the Jew was
next unto the King. And we've already mentioned that
is highlighted here. It doesn't just say, for Mordecai
was next unto King, a Asuerus, but Mordecai the Jew, highlighting
his kindred and who it was, a man that is a real man with wounds
still gaping wide. We have our Lord Jesus Christ
spoken of in the word in Proverbs, it speaks of him being with the
Lord, brought up by him. And when the earth was formed,
we have our Lord saying of the glory that he had with his father
before the world was. But that is not what is highlighted. What is highlighted here is after. Mordecai had been brought in
sackcloth and ashes and brought very low, and after then he had
been exalted. And we think of our Lord who
came into this world and came made under the law, made of a
woman, and that he came and humbled himself and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God hath also
highly exalted him, given a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. It is his position
now And we read that when our Lord rose from the dead, then
he ascended up into heaven and he sat on the right hand of the
throne of God. We read in Revelation 5 of him
that sat on the throne, the father and the book and who shall open
the book, who can open the book, that closed book, the Lion of
the tribe of Judah. He shall open it and he took
out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne, the
Book, and worthy was the Lamb to open that Book. There He is
in the midst of the throne. A great mystery to us, Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. But the exaltation of the Lord,
His presence, He appeareth in the presence of God for us. He is in heaven. He is there. as one like unto his brethren,
one that makes intercession for them. We think of other types
in this same way, as if the Lord would reinforce it through the
word. You think of Joseph. Joseph was
hated by his brethren, sold by his brethren. He was brought
then into Egypt, cast into prison, and from prison he was raised
up. And where was he put? right next
to Pharaoh. Pharaoh says, only in my throne
am I greater than thee. And all that was done, all that
was done in Egypt was done through Joseph. Again, we have this same
message, this same time. Here is his brethren, his brethren
that have dealt with him as they have rejected him, cast him out. These same brethren, It is him,
one of their brothers, that he exalted in this position. And
at first, they didn't know it. First, they didn't recognize
him. But as he said to them later, that God had sent him before
to preserve their lives by great deliverance. You see the parallels.
You see the reinforcing through these types that we can understand,
grasp a little with our poor minds the message of one made
like unto us at the right hand of the Father in a position like
Mordecai was, a real man, one like unto his brethren and right
in the presence of God for us. But then we have the next time,
which is that he was great among the Jews. In Psalm 29, we read
that in his temple does everyone speak of his glory. Now, everyone in the world does
not speak of the Lord's glory. You can go into many places in
this world and not one would have a good thing to say about
the Lord. But here it is that Mordecai
was great among the Jews. He was a Jew and he is great
among the Jews, amongst those that he had been made like unto. We could say as well how that
he was highly esteemed, he was honoured, he had great honour
in that position that he was, a name which is above every name. Another way we could look at
this, it is said here that he was great among the Jews. In other parts of the word we
read of our Lord as one amongst a thousand. Or we could put it
in another way. This is not just like a sinful
man being exalted. Yes, Mordecai was a sinful man. But in our Lord Jesus Christ,
he is great among his people and his greatness is that there
is none like him because he is truly God and truly man. He is
the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and full of truth. He stands separate from all his
brethren in that way, and looked upon as great for that reason. And so this is what is said of
Maudikei, and this shall be the mark really of all of those of
his kindred, of the people of God, which the Jews were here,
but in a spiritual sense, the people of God, the Lord Jesus
Christ is great. God is greatly to be feared in
the assembly of the saints, to be had in reverence of all them
that are about him. And the Lord Jesus Christ, just
because he is made like unto his brethren, Just because in
his face we may look upon God and live, doesn't mean to say
that we treat him with dishonour, or contempt, or familiarity,
or without that due reverence. No, that can never be so. And I think it's one of the solemn
things in some assemblies of professing Christian so-called
that it seems to be what our Lord said, their thought is that
I was altogether one, such as thou art. But the disciples,
whenever they saw him, and when he had risen from the dead, they
worshipped him, they bowed before him, they esteemed him, they
honoured him. He was truly great in their eyes. And we think of that with Joseph
as well. Those very brothers, that had
sold him, that had cast him into the pit. You know, even after,
after Jacob had died, they were thinking then he would turn upon
them, now that their dad was dead, and how he'd really deal
with them. Poor Joseph, how he wept when
he heard them, because he only thought peace and goodwill towards
them. But they acknowledged his greatness. They knew he had power. if he
would to deal with them and deal with them harshly. And so he
stood in that way above them. Perhaps if you put it another
way, the fear of the Lord, a childlike, filial fear. He explained it
sometimes like a father, a father that disciplines his children
with love. And children know that He loves
them, but they know also that if they do wrong and they don't
listen to His voice, He will correct them and He will deal
with them. And they have then that reverence
of Him. He is great in their eyes, as
their Father may esteem Him as such. And we are to do that with
our Lord as well. And certainly we do not read
this Mordecai was held in contempt of the Jews, or Mordecai was
held with familiarity. No, he was great among the Jews. I believe if we see the Lord
as he truly is, then he will be great to us as well, great
amongst the people of God. But then we have Thirdly, that
he was accepted of his brethren. Now, of course, our Lord was
not accepted of his brethren at first. We read that even his
brethren did not believe on him. We think of Joseph, his brethren
did not believe his dreams. They ridiculed him, they sold
him. But when the Lord had risen,
when he had ascended, when the Holy Spirit was sent down, then
they were convicted at the day of Pentecost. Then many thousands
were brought to believe, and he was accepted amongst his brethren. Blindness, says Paul, in part,
has happened unto the Jews until the fullness of the Gentiles
is brought in. Our text says, regarding Mordecai,
that he was accepted of the multitude of his brethren. And no doubt,
even with Mordecai, there were some that would not have accepted
him. But of the brethren, we think
of the Jews and of their Lord's brethren, they are brought to
accept the Lord Jesus Christ. And we believe the time will
come that it shall be more so, and as a nation as well. But
the spiritual brethren, the people of God, those that are His true
brethren, He is accepted of them in all that He is. He is embraced,
you know, as a mark of God's dear people, that the Lord Jesus
Christ is the accepted one. He is the Christ. He is the Saviour. He is my Redeemer, my Saviour. He is the one that I owe my life
to, who God has raised up, who speaks for me in heaven's high
court for good. We're not looking in another
direction, in another way. One of the marks of the children
of Israel through the wilderness, they kept on trying to usurp
Moses' authority, Aaron's authority, The rod that budded had to prove
that, who had the authority of heaven. And so we see in this
account as well, the things that were done established Mordecai's
authority with the king and with his brethren. How vital it is
if there is one to be a mediator, if there's one to be one that
does appear in the presence of God for us that he has an acceptance
with God and with man. We read when our Lord was growing
up, he grew in stature and in favor with God and with man. And we find with Mordecai here
that he is in this position. But then we have fourthly, that
he was seeking the wealth of his people, that which was good
for them, the real good for them. I cannot think that all that
Mordecai was looking after was material wealth, no. I believe in that, scattered
throughout those nations, he was seeking true wealth, the
true blessing of the Lord. and truly our Lord Jesus Christ. When we read Romans 8, 28, we
know that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them that are the called according to his purpose. We're not to
imagine that that means, well, they work together to get a good
back balance, to have a nice healthy life and loved ones and
nothing goes wrong. The Lord has a greater love to
the souls of his people than he has to their bodies. The flesh
will dislike the way, but faith will esteem it well and like
it well. The Lord says, fear not them
which kill the body, after that there is nothing more they can
do. But fear him after he hath killed, to cast both body and
soul into hell, yea, fear him. And we are to seek first the
kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be
added unto us. And so with our heavenly Mordicai,
our Lord Jesus Christ, may we always remember this and not
be stumbled and not be just a fair weather Christian. The Lord said,
in me you shall have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer, I have
overcome the world. The Lord seeks the true wealth
of his people, those things that shall work for their eternal
good. You know, there's some, there
are brethren in very poor countries, those in Sri Lanka that we know,
and they will say, well, you're praying for us in our poverty
and in our need. But we are praying for you because
you have prosperity and you have wealth and you have ease. And
they are greater danger than ever what our poverty and our
need is to us. And they can see it, but we can't
see it. And it's a good thing that we
remember that we have our Lord above. He will not suffer us
to have those idols or those things. that shall do our souls
ruin. To remember that we have Him
that has the King's ear, who is in control. May we always
remember this. The Lord is in control in this
world, not Satan. We've had leaflets put in our
Bible boxes by the Jehovah's Witnesses. I'm not saying Jehovah's
Witnesses put them there. Maybe other people have put them
there. In some of those leaflets it makes the statement that Satan
is in control in this world, that God does not bring anything
evil, anything wrong. Well, is there evil in the city?
And the Lord hath not done it. God is in control, not Satan. Who is he that saith, and it
cometh to pass, when the Lord commandeth it not? God is not
the author of sin and evil, sinful evil. But it is he and by his
decrees that brings, and we think with great sympathy of those
who have suffered from the recent earthquake and those who have
suffered loss and the disasters through the world. But these
things don't come by chance. They don't take the Lord by surprise. He said there shall be wars and
rumors of wars, earthquakes in diverse places. But see that
ye be not troubled. All these things must come to
pass, but the end is not yet. It is a most solemn thing to
suggest that God is not in control in this world. He is. And he
is at perfect peace with all that is happening. And we think
of Mordecai on this position here, in the ability to speak
to the king, and to make decrees and to order things as far as
what could have been done for that nation, for the good of
his people. And we have the Lord on the throne
and the Lord Jesus Christ next unto the King. And he's speaking
good for his people. I know the thoughts that I think
towards you, thoughts of peace and not of evil. They give you
an expected end. It is the Lord that Shores his
people, he has not cast them away. He is still speaking for
them and for their good. We might think sometimes that
we do not have that voice above, but we do. And the Lord speaks
for us and makes intercession for us. Well, the last thing
that is set before us here regarding Mordecai, speaking peace to all
his seed. The first parts of what has been
described is Mordecai right next to the king. And yes, what he
is amongst the Jews and accepted of them. But here he is speaking
to his seed. and he's a beautiful type of
the gospel. This is where the Lord speaks
to his people. My peace I leave with you, I
give unto you, not as the world give I unto you. See that ye
be not troubled. We think of when Peter was sent
to Cornelius, the Gentiles, bringing together the other fold And he
summarises the Gospel, and he says, preaching peace by Jesus
Christ. And this is what Mordecai was
doing, a message of peace. And we have to remember this,
there's a difference between the law and the Gospel. In this
account of Esther, we have the law that condemned them to death. We have another law given, but
it is a gospel, it is good news. It comes from the same source,
it has the same authority. One brought sadness, the other
one brought gladness. The gospel is not to be taken
as a great big stick to beat the people of God. It is good
news of salvation, and it is good news for those that cannot
help themselves. that are sinners. They are like
the wounded one that went down to Jericho, fell amongst the
thieves. No use standing at the top of
the pit or looking down at him and saying, if only you'd get
up. If you only go and apply these balms, you'd be all right.
Those that passed by on the other side, they couldn't help. The
good Samaritan came right where he was. He healed him. He poured in oil and wine. He
bound up his wounds. He brought him up. He put him
on his donkey. He brought him to the inn. He
gave charge over him. This is the Lord. This is the
gospel. Sinners can say none but they. How precious is the Saviour. Those who come, as it were, and
say, well, Here is the gospel, here is salvation, it's offered
to you, all you've got to do is to accept it, embrace it,
and that you do your part. The people of God that know their
sinful heart, that know how backward they are, they said, how can
I come? How can I believe? It is Christ makes a believer. This is the work of God, that
ye believe in him whom God has sent. We're exhorted to repent,
to turn from idols, to turn from every other way of salvation
and look for salvation alone in Christ. But in the gospel,
he comes to a sinner. He gives them repentance. He
gives them grace. He gives them forgiveness and
pardon of sins. Every grace and every favor comes
to us through Jesus' precious blood. I give unto them eternal
life. They shall never perish, neither
shall any man pluck them out of mine hand. And that good news
is to those that are sinners of the deepest eye. He which
hath begun a good work in you, when you are dead in trespasses
and sins, pass by thee when thou wast in thy blood, and when thou
wast in thy blood, bid thee live. That is the gospel. and it is
the power of God unto salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one that will apply
the word of the gospel. The Lord said, no man can come
unto me except the Father which sent me draw him, and I pray
it might be so as the word is preached this evening. As we
hear that word, we'll be drawn to our Lord Jesus Christ, drawn
to our heavenly Mordechai. Drawn to him who God has prepared
for sinners, who even before we fell, before we knew our need,
had provided a remedy and a way of escape in his precious sin-atoning
blood. Salvation says Jonah is of the
Lord. I will look again toward the
holy temple and the Lord spake unto the fish and vomited him
out on the dry land. Dear Joseph, thinking of him
as a type, how much that he spoke for and placed his brethren and
looked after them in the land of Egypt. Those who may be troubled
this evening, remember, as the Lord's people, you have a heavenly
Mordecai to look after you and to preach peace to you and to
speak for you in heaven's high court for good and for what is
your real good. May we help to trust him, look
to him, and lean upon him, and may he be great in our esteem,
and may we bless him and glorify his name. Amen.