Go with me back to the book of
Esther. A few months ago, a sister in
this congregation asked me if we could look at the book of
Esther sometime. And after we finished our study
on Samson, Another sister asked, do you think we could look at
Samson next? I mean Esther next. So I've been looking at this
for a couple of weeks now and I believe the Lord has given
me something to say on it. I had a very enjoyable time the
other day. I decided I'm gonna just read
the whole book of Esther and make notes along the way and
I have a lot of notes. So I pray the Lord will let us
go all the way through this. Just like the story of Samson.
There is one big picture in the whole story of Esther. Years
ago, we did the whole story of Esther in one message, 10 chapters. You remember that? It was fast
and furious, but we got it in there. And Samson is the same
way, four chapters in Samson. And if you just look at the whole
big picture, you have the gospel in the whole book. Same thing
with Esther. You have the gospel in the whole
book. But you also have a picture of
the gospel in each chapter. And multiple pictures of the
gospel in some chapters. And I want to do with this what
we did with Samson. We're just going to read it.
And I want to show the immediate comparison to Christ. That's
what we did with Samson. I didn't try to build a story.
We have the story. We're going to read it and just
see an immediate comparison to Christ. And as one picture of
the gospel ends, we're gonna immediately start with a new
picture. If we get into a chapter and you have the whole gospel
in verses one and two, come verse three, we're gonna start over
with sin and run a picture of the gospel again. We're just
gonna keep seeing pictures of the gospel. Before we begin,
let me just point out that Esther is the picture of Christ. She is the picture of Christ,
and we are doing no disservice to our Lord by saying that and
seeing that. He is the one who gave the picture. Often in the scripture, we will
see a picture of Christ in women, often, very often, as an intercessor
or as a provider The same can be said about the Holy Spirit.
Often we see pictures of God's Spirit in women. Rebecca, Jacob
and Esau's mother, Isaac's wife. was very much a picture of God's
spirit in counseling and leading and guiding Jacob in obtaining
the blessing from Isaac. She's the one who applied the
lamb's skin to his arms. Esau's clothes, and she made
the venison, which all of that represented Christ. That lamb
skin was Christ, and those clothes were Christ, and that venison
was Christ, applied by the Spirit. Abigail, David's wife. Some of you know the story of
Abigail. She very much was a picture of
Christ in interceding for Nabal and the men of that city. And
I don't have time to tell you the story. Maybe that's next,
who knows? But if you know the story, she
very much was a picture of Christ. The word wisdom is constantly
mentioned in Proverbs, which is Christ. He is made unto us
wisdom. He is our wisdom. But it's often
spoken of as her or she. And I completely understand that
because I believe women are wiser than men. I know they are. I literally know they are. And
I personally like the women of Scripture better than the men
of Scripture. I respect them more. I look up
to them more. So I believe it's actually a
great honor to see a picture of Christ in this woman, Esther. She is mentioned for the first
time in chapter two. Tonight is chapter one. But she's
mentioned for the first time in chapter two, along with a
man named Mordecai, who in this case represents God's Holy Spirit. So Esther is the picture of Christ
and as we go through this, we'll just keep establishing this.
Esther is the picture of Christ. Mordecai is the picture of God's
Holy Spirit. And a man named King Ahasuerus,
he represents God the Father. So these three people, King Ahasuerus,
Esther, Mordecai, father, son, spirit. And since King Ahasuerus is the
only one mentioned in chapter one, and because to see one member
of the Godhead is to see all of the Godhead, King Ahasuerus
will represent all three of them for this message. Okay. Let's begin. Verse one. That came to pass in the days
of Ahasuerus. This is Ahasuerus, which reigned
from India, even under Ethiopia, over 107 and 20 provinces, 127
provinces, a great, vast area. Look on a map sometime. I did
today. Look on a map sometime. This
was a huge kingdom. It represents God's kingdom. In the beginning, God. In all of his glory, in all of
his royal sovereignty, Verse one says, now it came to pass
in the days of Ahasuerus, this is Ahasuerus, which reigned from
India even unto Ethiopia, over in 107 and 20 provinces, that
in those days when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom,
which was in Shushan the palace. The name Shushan means lily. the flower, lily. Our Lord is
called the lily of the valley. He is called the lily among thorns. And isn't that so true? The lily
among thorns. Ahasuerus dwelt in Shushan. You know, the father dwells in
Christ and so do his people. Everything of His, everything
of Christ dwells in Him. Everything dwells in Him. Verse
2, it says, In those days when the king Ahasuerus sat on the
throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace, in
the third year of his reign he made a feast unto all his princes
and his servants the power of Persia in media, the nobles and
princes of the provinces being before him, when he showed the
riches of his glorious kingdom and the honor of his excellent
majesty many days even and hundred and four score days. Now as I read that, I can't help
but think of God's eternal glory. His eternal glory. This feast
that he made was six months long, 180 days. A six month feast. But our God has an infinite number
of feasting days. He had an infinite number of
feasting days before anything ever even was. And at some point along the way,
our Lord made his creation. He made angels. He made cherubims. He made seraphims. He made heaven. He made a kingdom. A glorious, happy, rejoicing,
feasting kingdom. And it's still like that now. And it will forever be like that. Verse 3, In the third year of
his reign he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants,
the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the
provinces being before him. when he showed the riches of
his glorious kingdom and the honor of his excellent majesty
many days, even in 104 score days. And when these days were
expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were
present in Shushan, the palace, both under great and small, seven
days in the court of the garden of the king's palace. After the
appointed time of that great feast was done, Ahasuerus made
another feast. It was a much smaller feast.
It lasted seven days. And it was for the people that
were in the court of the garden. Now, I see that as being the
time of this earth. The people that are in the court
of his garden, the people of this world started in a garden.
It's where we all started. And the time of their feasting
is going to last seven days. When our Lord created this garden,
he worked for six days and on day seven, he said, that's it. And Peter said, I would not have
you to be ignorant, brethren. One day is with the Lord is a
thousand years and a thousand years is as one day. Our Lord
put man in this garden six thousand years ago. We are in day six. And on day seven, our Lord is
going to say, that's it. Verse five. And when these days
were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were
present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven
days in the court of the garden of the king's palace, where were
white, green, and blue hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen,
and purple to silver rings, and pillars of marble. The beds were
of gold and silver upon a pavement of red and blue and white and
black marble. Can you imagine the beauty, the
magnificence? You know, the heavens declare
his glory. The earth shows his handiwork. We can look around and see God's
glory and all of his beauty. Every evening at sunset, you
know, we're because of the time change, we've been driving home.
Maybe, I don't know if it's sun, maybe tonight we'll drive home
and see a sunset. And our Lord paints a picture
in the sky, a beautiful picture in the sky that no man could
paint. There has never been an artist paint a picture on a canvas
that comes close to what God paints, a brand new painting
every single night. Magnificent. I see these pictures
of these clouds that reach, pillars of clouds that reach into the
heavens. Man is so proud of his granite
and marble countertops. If man can just get granite or
marble countertops, he has arrived. God makes whole mountains out
of granite and marble. Everything is a picture of the
greatness of his person and the majesty of his throne and the
glory of his kingdom. Everything, everything is. Verse
three, in the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all
his princes and his servants, the power of Persia and Media,
the nobles and princes of the provinces being before him, when
he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom in the honor of his excellent
majesty many days, even in hundred and four score days. And when
these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the
people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and
small, seven days in the court of the garden of the king's palace,
where were white, green, and blue hangings fastened with cords
of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble.
The beds were of gold and silver upon a pavement of red and blue
and white and black marble. And they gave them drink in vessels
of gold, royal gold, pure gold. The first time gold is mentioned
in the scripture is in Genesis chapter 2. It talks about this
river called Pisan that compasses the whole land of Havilah where
there is gold. And it says the gold of that
land is good. It's good. They drank in vessels
of good. They drank in vessels of goodness. You know, that's what Adam and
Eve drank in. I don't know how long that span of time was, but
it was good. It was very good. It was very
good. They drank in God's goodness. He said concerning them when
he made them and everything else is very good. Verse 7. And they gave them drink in vessels
of gold, the vessels being diverse one from another. And that's
how God made man and woman diverse one from another. And it goes on to say royal wine
in abundance. According to the state of the
king, the scripture says wine makes the heart glad. And that
royal gladness in abundance came directly from the hand. That's what the word state means.
It came directly from the hand of the king. Goodness, abundance,
gladness. All from the hand of the king.
Verse 8 says, And the drinking was according to the law. No
sin. Everything that happened was
lawful and right. Verse 8 says, None did compel. That means no one had to insist
or ask for it. It was all freely given. Every
need supplied in abundance. It goes on to say, for so the
king had appointed to all the officers of his house that they
should do according to every man's pleasure. Psalm 37 verse 4 says, delight
thyself also in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires
of thine heart. What a glorious state, what a
glorious kingdom. Verse 9 says, also. That means but. It means yet. Vashti, the queen, made a feast
for the women in the royal house, which belonged to King Ahasuerus. On the seventh day, when the
heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehumen, Biztha,
Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Karkas, the seven
chamberlains, or eunuchs, that served in the presence of Ahasuerus,
the king, to bring Bashti the queen before the king with the
crown royal. to show the people and the princes
her beauty, for she was fair to look on. But the Queen Vashti
refused to come at the king's commandment by his chamberlains. Sin. She sinned against his command. Vashti represents us. She represents all of mankind.
Every soul on this earth fell from God's goodness and God's
favor and God's grace because of the sin that took place in
the garden. When Adam sinned against God's
commandment to him, he fell and every soul that came from him
fell out of God's favor into his judgment. out of his kindness
into his wrath. Sin brought every soul on this
earth under the law and the condemnation of God's justice and judgment. Verse 12, but the Queen Vashti
refused to come at the king's commandment by his chamberlains,
therefore was the king very wroth and his anger burned in him. Now hold your place right here,
we're gonna flip back and forth quite a few times, okay? Hold
your place here and turn over to Genesis 3. In this chapter, in Genesis 3,
Eve ate the fruit, and then Adam ate the fruit, and the Lord caught
them in their sin. Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the
serpent, and this is what God said, verse 14. The Lord God
said unto the serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art
cursed above all cattle, above every beast of the field. Upon
thy belly shalt thou go, and thus shalt thou eat all the days
of thy life, and I'll put enmity between thee and the woman, and
between thy seed and her seed, it shall bruise thy head, and
thou shalt bruise his heel. He said, you are cursed. And
the cross of Calvary is gonna prove that to you. In the bruising
of Christ for this sin on his people, he said, your head is
gonna be cut off. The head of the serpent is gonna
be cut off. And you're gonna endure an eternal
death for this. Verse 16, unto the woman, he
said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow shalt thou bring forth
children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall
rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because
thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten
of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not
eat of it, cursed is the ground for thy sake. In sorrow shalt
thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also, and thistles
shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of
the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt
thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground, for out of it
wast thou taken, for dost thou art, and unto dust shalt thou
return. Our text said, therefore was
the king very wroth, and his anger burned within him. All
right, now hold your place here, and flip back to Esther, back
to Esther chapter one. Verse 13. Then the king said to the wise
men which knew the times, for so was the king's manner toward
all that knew law and judgment. And the next unto him was Carshina,
Shethar, Admetha, Tarshish, Merez, Marcina, and Mimucan, the seven
princes of Persia and Media, which saw the king's face and
which sat the first in the kingdom. What shall we do unto Queen Vashti
according to the law? Because she hath not performed
the commandment of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains. They consulted
over what should be done. What should be done to her. And
that's what God did concerning Adam and Eve. Not that they had
to figure anything out. Everything was appointed, ordered,
set in stone before the foundation of the world. It was all according
to God's purpose and God's design. But this is what Genesis says. Hold your place and flip back
to Genesis 3. Verse 22, And the Lord God said, Behold, The man is become as one of us
to know good and evil. And now lest he put forth his
hand and take also up the tree of life and eat and live forever. Therefore, the Lord God sent
him forth from the garden of Eden to till the ground from
whence he was taken. A judgment was made. A judgment
was made. All right, now hold your place
and flip back to Esther. Verse 15, What shall we do unto
the queen Vashti according to the law? Because she hath not
performed the commandment of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains. And Mimucan answered before the
king and the princes, Bashti the queen hath not done wrong
to the king only but also to all the princes and to all the
people that are in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus. For this
deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women so that
they shall despise their husbands in their eyes when it shall be
reported. The king Ahasuerus commanded
Bashti the queen to be brought in before him but she came not.
Likewise shall the ladies of Persia and Media say this day
unto all the king's princes which have heard of the deed of the
queen, thus shall there arise too much contempt and wrath."
What he's saying there is this sin is going to pass unto all. It's going to pass to all of
them. That's exactly what happened
with Adam. By one man, sin entered the world. and death by sin,
and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Verse 19. If it pleased the king, let there
go a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the
laws of the Persians and the Medes that it be not altered,
that Vashti come no more before King Ahasuerus, and let the king
give her royal estate unto another that is better than she. And
when the king's decree, which he shall make, shall be published
throughout all his empire, for it is great, all the wives shall
give to their husbands honor, both to great and small. And
the saying pleased the king and the princes, and the king did
according to the word of Mimucan. For he sent letters into all
the king's provinces, into every province according to the writing
thereof, and to every people after their language, that every
man should bear rule in his own house, and that it should be
published according to the language of every people. He cast her out. He sent letters of law that every
mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before
him. Now flip back to Genesis 3. Verse 23 says, therefore the
Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden to till the
ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man and he
placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubims and a flaming
sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of
life. Now, here's how we're gonna end
this message. The king's council said, Cast
her out. We just read that in Esther.
They said, cast her out that her estate, her estate may be
given to another that is better than she. We're gonna find out in chapter
two that the one who was better was Esther. Christ is better. It's not me
and you. We're not the special ones. Christ
is better, the second Adam. Christ, the second Adam, is far
better than the first Adam. We were the ones who were cast
out. And that glorious, good, kind, loving, favorable estate
that was given to man was taken from man and given to one who
was way better. are better than Bashti is here.
And here's the reason why. Here's the whole reason why.
The first Adam brought God's people into sin. The second Adam
brought them out. Bashti brought condemnation. Esther is going to bring deliverance.
Adam exposed himself and he exposed Eve to be naked and Christ, by way of a sacrifice,
clothed their nakedness. Look right here in Genesis 3
at verse 21. It says, unto Adam also and to
his wife did the Lord God make coats of skin and clothed them. The same one whose anger was
kindled, the same one whose judgment was decided, the same one whose
punishment was sentenced and cast out. The same one by way
of a sacrifice. clothed their nakedness, in spite
of everything that they did, He covered them. He covered them
in innocence. In spite of all of their sin,
He covered them in innocence. And He redeemed them by the blood
of innocence. And that's what Christ did for
His people. And by the end of this, we're gonna see that's
what Esther did for her people. as this picture of Christ. And
because of that, I can't tell you how moved I was by the very
end of this whole story. Maybe I should have just done
the whole story in one message verse. But by the end of this,
the king, Ahasuerus, is going to make a feast unto Esther because
of how everything turned out. He's going to make a feast unto
Esther. It's Esther's feast. And that's what eternity is going
to be. It's going to be a feast unto Jesus Christ. The whole
thing is going to be unto the Lord Jesus Christ, all to the
praise of His glory. Amen.