Go with me if you would back
to Esther, and this time chapter one. Esther chapter one, I would like
for us to look at the whole story of Esther. I mean the whole story
of Esther, start to finish. It is so beautiful. I've gone
to this book so many times over the last few years, the Lord
has never allowed me to preach a message from it. It is so beautiful,
I cannot not tell the end. I just cannot do it. And I want
to give an overview, a very quick moving. I pray the Lord will
give us a sharpness, because this is going to move quick.
Once we get into this, it's all about business. And we're going
to give an overview of all ten chapters. If the Lord would have
us to go back later and look at each chapter, we'll do that. I pray the Lord will truly bless
this. Now, every story in God's Word He is written for a spiritual
reason. Every single story. This world
sees stories and they're looking for a moral lesson in them. And
they're there. And we would be wise to heed
them. But every story in this book is a parable. It's an earthly
story with a heavenly meaning. That's what Esther is. This earthly
story with a heavenly meaning. This book shows us our savior. This book shows us our deliverance
from destruction. So when we go into this, I want
us to go in with spiritual eyes. All right? Sometimes we look
at the story and then see how it relates. We're going right
in with spiritual eyes, okay? There are five main characters
in this story. There's a lot of characters in
it. Five main ones. King Ahasuerus, the original
queen Vashti, a man named Mordecai, A woman named Esther and another
man named Haman. All right? Spiritually speaking,
King Ahasuerus is God, God the Father. He is God's authority,
God's holiness, God's judgment. He's God's strictness of his
law. All right? Queen Vashti. We're going to see immediately
this woman represents the whole world. Every man and woman on
earth. She lost it all. She fell from the favor of the
king. Mordecai and Esther both represent
the Lord Jesus Christ. It takes two characters in this
story for us to see the Christ. Mordecai represents our Lord
Jesus Christ in his humanity. Ruth represents the Lord Jesus
Christ in his deity. Is all that making sense so far?
So Ahasuerus is God's, the strictness of his law. Vashti is sin against
the strictness of his law. Mordecai and Ruth, that's our
redeemer and our savior. And then this man Haman is the
adversary. He's the enemy. All right. Esther. Who do I keep saying?
Ruth. Esther. Thank you. It's important.
Alright, now are you with me? Chapter 1, here we go. Verse
1 says, Now it came to pass, in the days of Ahasuerus, this
is Ahasuerus which reigned from India even unto Ethiopia, over
a hundred and seven and twenty provinces, that 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 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 a hundred
and fourscore days. King Ahasuerus, this great ruler,
made known the riches of His glorious kingdom and the honor
of His excellent majesty. That's our God. Alright? That's our High King. Verse 9. Also Vashti, the queen, made
a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to
King Ahasuerus. She was in the place that belonged
to him. She was allowed to be there.
but it all belonged to him, every single bit of it. Verse 10, on
the seventh day, when the heart of the king was married with
wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, all these different men, verse
11, to bring Vashti 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. Now, when our Lord created all
things. And when he created man, he looked
on his creation and he said it's very good. Isn't that what he
said? Very fair. And that's what King
Ahasuerus said about Bashti. And he commanded Bashti to come
to him. He wanted to show the princes
her beauty. Verse 12 says, But the queen
Bashti refused to come at the king's commandment by his chamberlains. Therefore was the king very wroth,
and his anger burned in him. She sinned against his commandment. That is what our parents did,
Adam and Eve. They sinned against God's commandment.
Verse 13, Then the king said, to the wise men which knew the
times, the ones that knew the laws, verse 15. What shall we
do unto the queen Vashti according to law, because she hath not
performed the commandment of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains? According to the law, what must
be done to her? Verse 19. If it please 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. Cast her out. That's what they said. That's
what the law says to every soul that sins against the commandment
of the king. And that's what happened to our
parents. God said, cast them out. And we were cast out in
them. Chapter 2. Verse 2 says, Then
said the king's servants that ministered unto him, Let there
be fair young virgins sought for the king. Verse 4. And let the maiden which pleaseth
the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased
the king, and he did so." What they said was, we're going to
bring them all before you. They're all going to be before
you. And you choose the one that pleases you, and that is exactly
what our God did. He chose who it pleased Him to
choose. I don't know why men struggle
with that so much. That is exactly what we do. I
chose exactly who I wanted to choose. But they struggle for
some reason with God doing that. But that's what He did. The Scripture
says it pleased the Lord to make you His people. He chose who
He pleased. Verse 5. Now in Shushan, the
palace, there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai, verse
7. And he brought up Hadassah, this
young maiden. That is, or another name for
her is Esther, his uncle's daughter. They were cousins. For she had
neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful,
whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for
his own daughter." So they were family, and we're going to see
them to represent the office of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse
8, So it came to pass, when the king's commandment and his decree
was heard, And when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan
the palace, to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was brought
also unto the king's house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper
of the women, and the maiden pleased him, And she obtained
kindness of him, and he speedily gave her her things for purification,
with such things as belonged to her, and seven maidens, which
were meet to be given her out of the king's house. And he preferred
her and her maids unto the best place of the house of the women."
Everybody fell in love with her. And this man preferred her and
moved her up to the best place. Verse 11, in Mordecai, no verse
10, Esther had not showed her people nor her kindred for Mordecai
had charged her that she should not show it. Mordecai told her,
do not tell who you are or where you're from. And that's our Lord. When our Lord came to this earth,
he veiled himself. He did not reveal who he was
and where he came from. And men had no idea who he was,
truly. Verse 15 now. Now when the turn
of Esther, the daughter of Abihael, the uncle of Mordecai, who had
taken her for his daughter, was come to go in unto the king,
she required nothing but what Hegai, the king's chamberlain,
the keeper of the women, appointed, and Esther obtained favor in
the sight of all them that looked upon her. So Esther was taken
unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month,
which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign,
and the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained
grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so
that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen
instead of Vashti. He said, this is my beloved in
whom I'm well pleased. Well pleased. And now there she
sits on his right hand. Mordecai is out with the people. Verse 21 says, In those days, while Mordecai
sat in the king's gate, two of the king's chamberlains, Bigthon
and Tyrish, of those which kept the door, were wroth and sought
to lay hand on King Ahasuerus." They wanted to kill the king.
Two servants. And the thing was known to Mordecai,
who told it unto Esther the queen. And Esther certified the king
thereof in Mordecai's name. And when inquisition was made
of the matter, it was found out. Therefore, they were both hanged
on a tree, and it was written in the book of the Chronicles
before the king." Let's remember that little detail right there.
Mordecai exposed their sins. That's what He did. That is exactly
what the Lord Jesus Christ did while He walked this earth. His
perfection exposed our imperfection. His sinlessness exposed our sin. According to His righteousness,
a man is either going to be saved or damned. According to His righteousness. Either going to be judged in
Him or next to Him. Either in him or by him. All
right, now the last character enters the story. Chapter 3,
verse 1. After these things did King Ahasuerus promote Haman? The king promoted this man Haman.
the son of Hamadatha the Agagite, and advanced him and set his
seat above all the princes that were with him. And all the king's
servants that were in the king's gate bowed and reverenced Haman,
for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai
bowed not, nor did him reverence." Everyone bowed to the adversary,
and everyone does. Everyone does. Every soul on
this earth is under the captivity of the adversary. All of religion
bows to the adversary. While they're walking around,
all glorying in the fact that Satan doesn't have anything on
them, they are doing his bidding, bowing to the adversary. The
only man who did not bow was Mordecai. Christ, that's the
only hope you and I have of not bowing, is if Christ is in us. Christ would not bow. Verse 5, And when Haman saw that Mordecai
bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath.
And he thought scorned to lay hands on Mordecai alone. He said,
that's not good enough. For they had showed him the people
of Mordecai, wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews
that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the
people of Mordecai." He hated him so much. Not only did he
want him dead, he wanted all of his people dead too. And that's
exactly what the adversary wants. So this is what Haman did. I'm
going to paraphrase a little bit. Haman cast lots. He either drew numbers or rolled
dice. He did something. He cast lots
looking for a particular day. And the lot fell on the 13th
day of the 12th month. It's just what came up. And he
went into King Ahasuerus and he said, there is a people that
do not obey your law and they need to die because of it. They
deserve to die. You don't need them, you need
to put them away. He said, why don't we send a letter out to
all the provinces, 127 provinces, saying that on this particular
day, every enemy of the Jews has the legal right to kill every
Jew he gets his hands on. The king says, all legal. Whoever does it, whatever province
does it, we'll send them 10,000 talents of silver. Verse 10, And the king took his
ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hamadetha
the Agagite, the Jew's enemy. And the king said unto Haman,
The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with them
as it seemeth good to thee. Verse 13, And the letters were
sent by post into all the king's provinces to destroy, to kill,
and to cause to perish all Jews, both young and old, little children
and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth
month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them
for a prey. Now do you mean to tell me the
king allowed this to happen? The king raised this man up to
do this? How does that fit into the spiritual
story? Didn't God say to Pharaoh, for
this same purpose have I raised thee up that I might show my
power in you? The adversary is God's adversary. And what I don't mean is, he's
just God's enemy. I mean, he belongs to God. The adversary is God's adversary. God created him on purpose. That's amazing, isn't it? On
purpose. Why is he running around creating
so much trouble? Purpose. That's why. It's all on purpose. And that
purpose is to show His power in Him. And we will see it. We
will see it. So the king allowed this. The
decree went out. All have sinned. All are going
to die. Because of the sin of one man, everybody is going to
die. Chapter 4, verse 1. When Mordecai perceived all that
was done, Mordecai rent his clothes and put on sackcloth with ashes
and went out into the midst of the city and cried with a loud
and bitter cry. Our Lord entered the garden of
Gethsemane and he cried, my soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto
death. He cried, Abba, Father, all things
are possible unto thee. Take away this cup from me."
Verse 3 says, And in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment
and his decree came, this law that was sent out, everywhere
it went there was great mourning among the Jews, and fasting,
and weeping, and wailing, and many lay in sackcloth and ashes. When the law came, Every soul
it came to was crushed, smitten. Every soul that realized this
is applying to me, this applies to me. Verse four, so Esther's
maids and her chamberlains came and told it her. Then was the
queen exceedingly grieved and she sent Raymond to Mordecai
and to take away his sackcloth from him, but he received it
not. He entered this suffering and
he remained in this suffering willingly. Willingly. Our Lord told Peter. He said,
don't you realize I could call down 72,000 angels right now? But he didn't do it. He didn't
do it. Now Esther and Mordecai are about
to have a conversation. The God-man is about to consult
himself. deity and humanity, body and
spirit. Esther sent a servant to Mordecai
to hear from him, verse 7. And Mordecai told him of all
that had happened unto him and of the sum of money that Haman
had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the Jews to destroy
them. Also, he gave him the copy of
the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy
them, to show it unto Esther. He said, you bring the law to
Esther. And to declare it unto her, and
to charge her that she should go in unto the king to make supplication
unto him, and to make request before him for her people. He said, with this law in your
hand, you must go in before the highest and make intercession
on behalf of your people. You must do this. You must plead
for them. And through the servant, Esther
responded in verse 11, All the king's servants and the people
of the king's provinces do know that whosoever, whether man or
woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is
not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except
such to whom the king shall hold out the golden scepter, that
he may live. But I have not been called to
come in unto the king these thirty days." She said, we need to acknowledge
this king is holy. This is a just judge. You can't
just enter into His presence and expect to live. If He does
not summon you, you'll die. You'll die. In Psalm 22, our Lord said, My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And then He said, But thou
art holy. I acknowledge how holy you are. Verse 13. Then Mordecai commanded
to answer Esther, think not with thyself that thou shalt escape
in the king's house more than all the Jews. He said, set your
face like a flint, prepare to die. Verse 14, for if thou altogether
holdest thy peace at this time, Then shall their enlargement
and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place, but
thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed, and who knoweth
whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"
Mordecai said, who knows if this is the very reason God put you
in this position. Our Lord said, for this cause
came I into the world. I came to die. I came to redeem
my people from their sin and deliver them from this destruction.
Verse 15. Then Esther bade them return
Mordecai this answer. Go gather together all the Jews
that are present in Shushan and fast ye for me and neither eat
nor drink three days. Three days. Three days. Don't eat or drink, night or
day. And I also and my maids will fast likewise. And so will
I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law.
And if I perish, I perish." So Mordecai went his way and did
according to all that Esther had commanded him. She said,
three days. We're going to be emptied for
three days. This is how we're going to do this. It's going
to take three days to accomplish this. Our Lord did perish because
of the condition of His people. He did, and He did it willingly.
He said, if I perish, I perish. Chapter 5. Verse 1 says, Now
it came to pass on the third day. I hope the Lord will let you
into this like He let me. It came to pass on the third day. After three days, of being completely
emptied. After three days of suffering
and agony over the ruined state of the people, it came to pass
on the third day that Esther put on her royal apparel and
stood in the inner court of the king's house. over against the
king's house. And the king sat on his royal
throne in the royal house over against the gate of his house.
And it was so when the king saw Esther the queen standing in
the court that she obtained favor in his sight. And the king held
out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. So Esther
drew near and touched the top of the king's scepter. After
three days of suffering for the sins of His people, Christ arose
from the grave in all of His glory, in all of His glorious
robes, the victor, the conqueror of sin and death. And this is
what God the Father said to Him. He said, Thy throne, O God, is
forever and ever a scepter of righteousness, is the scepter
of Your kingdom. Then said the king unto her,
What wilt thou, Queen Esther? What is thy request? It shall
be given thee to the half of the kingdom. And Esther answered,
if it seemed good to the king, let the king and Haman come this
day unto the banquet that I have prepared for them. The Redeemer
said to the law of justice and to the adversary, the three of
us are gonna meet. We're gonna meet. Verse six,
and the king said unto Esther at the banquet of wine, what
is your petition? And she told them, I'm gonna
make another banquet tomorrow. And if I please you, come, you
and Haman, come tomorrow to this banquet, and I'll tell you what
my petition is. Verse 9. Then went Haman forth
that day joyful and with a glad heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai
in the king's gate, that he stood not up nor moved for him, he
was full of indignation against Mordecai. Nevertheless, Haman
refrained himself, and when he came home, he sent and called
for his friends and Zeresh his wife. And he said, I hate Mordecai. That's what he told them. He
said, I will not be satisfied until he's gone. He must die. Verse 14, Then said Zeresh his
wife and all his friends unto him, Let a gallows be made of
fifty cubits high, seventy-five feet. And tomorrow speak thou
unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon. Then go thou
in merrily with the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased
Haman and caused the gallows to be made. They said, why don't
you just make a gallows and you go into the king and ask him,
can I please hang Haman? And he'll say yes and you do
that and just be happy and then you go to that feast that Esther
has prepared for you to come back to tomorrow. Where am I? Chapter 6. On that night could not the king
sleep. He couldn't sleep. So he asked
them to bring the book of the Chronicles in and read it to
him, because he couldn't sleep. And as they were reading it to
him, he heard about a man named Mordecai. And this man had exposed
the sin of two traitors, two servants who sinned against the
king and wanted to kill the king. And Mordecai exposed their sin
And those two men were found out and hanged, and the king
was safe. And he asked them, What honor has been done to this
man? And they said, No honor has been done to him. And at
that exact moment, Haman came into the presence of the king.
Verse 6, So Haman came in, and the king said unto him, What
shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honor?
Haman came in to ask, Do you mind if I hang Mordecai? But
he couldn't get the question out. The king asked him first,
what honor should I do to the man that I desire to honor? Middle
of verse 6, now Haman thought in his heart, to whom would the
king delight to honor more than myself? He has to be talking
about me. And Haman answered the king,
for the man whom the king delighteth to honor, let the royal apparel
be brought which the king useth to wear. Not just a royal robe,
put your own robe on him. the royal robe which the king
useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and
the crown royal which is set upon his head. And let this apparel
and horse be delivered to the hand of the one of the king's
most noble princes, that they may array the man with all whom
the king delighteth to honor, and bring him on horseback through
the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be
done to the man whom the king delighteth to honor. Then the
king said to Haman, Make haste, take the apparel and the horse
as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew that sitteth
at the king's gate." Don't you love that? You do it to Mordecai. You bring the best robe and the
best crown and put it on Mordecai. Verse 11. Then took Haman the
apparel and the horse and the royal and arrayed Mordecai, and
brought him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaimed
before him, Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king
delighteth to honor." Haman had to do it. The adversary had to
do it. Doesn't the scripture say, Every
knee shall bow? Isn't that what it says? Every
tongue, the adversary is going to have to bow down, and his
tongue is going to have to confess, Jesus Christ is Lord. He's going to have to. While Haman, after that he went
home, he was so bitter. He was complaining, and the king's
chamberlains came and got him to take him to this second feast.
Chapter 7. And Haman came to the banquet
with Esther the queen, and the king said again unto Esther on
the second day at the banquet of wine, what is thy petition,
Queen Esther? And it shall be granted thee,
and what is thy request? And it shall be performed even
to the half of the kingdom. Then Esther the queen answered
and said, if I have found favor in thy sight, O king, and if
it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition and
my people at my request. My life and my people. I'm identifying
with my people. Verse 4, for we are sold. She didn't say they. She said,
we are sold. Our Lord made Himself to be sold
with His people. She said, we are sold and my
people to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if
we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I'd held my tongue.
although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage.
Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen,
who is he and where is he that does presume in his heart to
do so? And Esther said, the adversary
and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before
the king and queen. And the king left in a rage. He left in all his wrath. And
while he was gone, Haman laid down on Esther's bed to beg for
his life. The king came in and saw him
on her bed and said, kill him. Verse 9. And Harbona, one of
the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also the gallows,
fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had
spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the
king said, Hang him on them. He made them for Mordecai. and
hung on him himself. Verse 10, So they hanged Haman
on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's
wrath pacified. God allowed the adversary to
bruise our Savior's heel. But in the process, our Savior
crushed his head. He crushed his head. Chapter 8. Verse 1, On that day did King
Ahasuerus give the house of Haman, the Jew's enemy, unto Esther
the queen. And Mordecai came before the
king, for Esther had told what he was unto her. 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. The one who humbled himself was
highly exalted. Verse 3, And Esther spake yet
again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought
him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite,
and his device that he had devised against the Jews. I love this,
yet again, here she is again, the scripture says, our Lord
is daily making intercession for us. Daily, yet again, yet
again, making intercession for us. And this is what she said,
would you please send out another letter. Haman sent out this letter
to 127 provinces. Would you please send out another
letter to all the provinces, notifying them of my people's
redemption. It's done. Now, would you notify
them? It's over. He's dead. Now, would
you notify them that they have been completely restored from
their destruction? Verse 7 Then the king Ahasuerus... Now listen to this. Man, this
is so good. Then the king Ahasuerus said
unto Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have
given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon
the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews. Write
ye also for the Jews as it liketh you in the king's name. Put my name on it. and seal it
with the 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." What he said was, all authority has been given unto
you. You write whatever you want to
write and sign my name on it. Seal it with my ring. And they
sent a letter out that says, the king said, verse 12, upon one day in all the provinces
of King Ahasuerus, namely upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth
month, which is the month Adar, the copy of the writing for a
commandment to be given in every province was published unto all
people, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to
avenge themselves on their enemies." Not only did the letter say the
enemies no longer have the right to kill the Jews, Now it said
the Jews have the right to kill their enemies. A complete reversal. Total reversal. The declaration
went out. There is nothing more to fear. All your enemies shall be destroyed. Verse 15. And Mordecai went out from the
presence of the king in 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, and the
Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor. Why? Because of the gospel of Mordecai. The gospel according to Mordecai. Verse 17 says, In every province
and in every city, withersoever the king's commandment and his
decree came, this glorious news went out. In every place that
it 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. The
fear of the Lord fell upon the Gentiles too, and they were made
to be Jews. Chapter 9. Now in the twelfth
month, that is the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the
same, when the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be
put in execution in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped
to have power over them, though it was turned to the contrary,
that the Jews had rule over them that hated them. The Jews gathered
themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces
of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their
hurt. And no man could withstand them,
for the fear of them fell upon all people. And all the rulers
of the provinces and the lieutenants and the deputies and officers
of the king helped the Jews, because the fear of Mordecai
fell upon them. For Mordecai was great in the
king's house, And his fame went out through all the provinces,
for this man Mordecai waxed greater and greater. And it goes on to
say they slew all of their enemies. And Mordecai sent out another
letter to the Jews, and this is what he said, You remember
this day. You remember this day and keep
it a feast. Do not let the memorial of this
day be lost. Don't forget this. Every year
you keep it. This do in remembrance. That's what he said. Verse 29.
Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihael and Mordecai the Jew
wrote with all authority to confirm this second letter of Purim.
That means appointment. This appointment went out. And
he sent the letters unto all the Jews to the hundred twenty
and seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus with words of peace
and truth. The law came by Moses, but grace
and truth came by Jesus Christ. Verse 32 says, And the decree
of Esther confirmed these matters of appointment, and it was written
in the book. And now here we are reading it.
Chapter 10. And the king Ahasuerus laid a
tribute upon the land and upon the isles of the sea. and all
the acts of his power and of his might, and the declaration
of the greatness of Mordecai, whereunto the king advanced him,
are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings
of Media and Persia?" He said, let all the house of Israel know
assuredly that this same Jesus whom you crucified, God hath
made him both Lord and Christ." Tell everybody. 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.
That's glorious, isn't it? He is well accepted among all
His brethren. Let all the house of Israel know
assuredly that the Prince of Peace has come. Peace, peace
be unto you. Peace, I leave you. The Prince
of Peace has come, and He reigns, and there's nothing more to fear.
He's finished. The battle's over. That's the
peace he speaks to the heart of all of his seed. What a story.
What a story. I went longer than I ever go. Sorry. I never go this long. But how can you tell that story
and not get to the end? How can you do that? What a story. That's our gospel. Let's all
stand together.