Would you join me tonight in
the book of Esther, chapter 9? The book of Esther, chapter 9.
I thought last week our study of 9 was finished, but there
was something that just kind of stuck out at me, and I need
to go over it. And then, Lord willing, we'll cover the last
chapter, chapter 10, three verses, the next time we meet together.
And that will conclude our study of the book of Esther for this
time, at least. In the book of Esther, chapter
9, I'd like to read verses 29, 30, 31, and 32. Chapter 9, verse 29, beginning
with verse 29, and the word of the Lord says, Then Esther the
queen, the daughter of Abahel, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with
all authority to confirm this second letter of Purim. And he
sent the letters unto all the Jews to the 127 provinces of
the kingdom of Ahasuerus with words of peace and truth, to
confirm these days of Perm and their times appointed, according
to Mordecai the Jew, And Esther the queen had enjoyed them. And
as they had decreed for themselves and for their seed, the matters
of fasting and their cry. And the decree of Esther confirmed
these matters of Purim, and it was written in a book. Well,
we have here, not only is it suggested, but we have that this
letter went out, this information went out, that this is going
to be, we want to do this every year. This is needful for us
to remember the things. Now, there's something that stuck
out to me in verse 29. In the book of Esther, the king,
Ahasuerus' name is mentioned about, if I counted correctly,
28 times. And it's also mentioned later
in this same chapter, in verse 30, But in verse 29, we have
that there are only two people that are mentioned who carry
out this decree, that carry out this letter. And that is then
Esther the Queen and Mordecai the Jew wrote with all authority
to confirm this celebration. That Esther the Queen and Mordecai
the Jew. In that verse of scripture, it
would be interesting, but it's not there, that Ahasuerus would
also contend to that. But he isn't mentioned. And I
think it's for good reason. I think it's for good reason
that we find that in that verse of scripture, when this edict
went out, when this letter went out, when this went out with
all authority, it reminded me a great deal of a passage of
scripture in the book of Isaiah chapter six. So would you go
with me to Isaiah chapter six? Sometimes the forest hides the
tree. And here in the book of Isaiah,
we find that the tree is identified. In Isaiah chapter six, as we
find in this verse in the book of Esther, that it's Esther and
Mordecai. We get into the last verse of
this chapter, it's Mordecai and Esther, and we get into the new
chapter, verse chapter 10, and we're gonna find out Mordecai
is second in command. He has taken over the position
of Haman and everybody that knew Mordecai rejoiced. There was
no fear when he took over that position. They were not going
to have to fear for their lives. They were going to be blessed
with Mordecai being there. Alright, join me, if you would,
in the book of Isaiah chapter 6. Now, much is said between
Isaiah chapter 1 and Isaiah chapter 6. Much is said about Israel
in Isaiah chapter 1, from the very top of your head to the
bottom of your feet. And also, it tells us in there
that an ox and a donkey know their master. But Israel does
not know their master. And so he's dealing with a subject
that it's no wonder they didn't like him very well. That's almost
the same thing that Stephen brought up in the book of Acts. And they
stoned him to death over things like that. Well, in Isaiah chapter
6, beginning with verse 1, we find that there was something.
Now, it may have been to many people a great tragedy. It may
have been a great time of mourning. But for Isaiah the death of Uzziah
is a mark in his life. Uzziah is taken out of the scene. Uzziah is removed. Now remember
that Uzziah is a leper, and he doesn't even get to live, and
we'll read that in a moment, but he doesn't even get to live
in the king's house. He is relegated somewhere else.
So in the year that King Uzziah died, now it's no small thing
that that word K-I-N-G is in front of his name. He was the
king. But in the year that he died,
and he ruled for a long, long time, in the year that King Uzziah
died, this is what Isaiah says. Now, he is a secretary, and God
has given him a blessing in what he gets to see, and he gets to
write about it, and he gets to write about it in such a manner
that this is the Word of God. This is a man of God speaking
as he is led by the Holy Spirit to write. In the year that King
Uzziah died, there is no Ahasuerus here. In that edict that went
out, it is Esther and it is Mordecai. And Ahasuerus is set aside for
a moment for a good reason. Here we read about this, in the
year that King Uzziah died. Now I'm convinced that Isaiah
was very honorable to the king. I'm convinced that he did what
he should do to the king. I was listening to an account
last night on YouTube. Forgive me if you're not a John
Wayne fan, but there was a 50th anniversary of one of his movies.
And that movie had a bunch of teenage boys in it. And 50 years
later, they're all assembled here on this stage. And they
were talking about John Wayne and the authority that he carried
on that set. Now, and the honor that they
gave him, well, here we find that this king is taken out of
the scene. He dies, natural consequences
of sin. In the year that King Uzziah
died, I saw also the Lord. Now, if you drop down to verse
six, We'll come back up there, no, no, no. Verse five, verse
five. We're gonna come back up and
read this whole thing. But notice in verse five, the last phrase
in that verse, for mine eyes have seen the king. Now, isn't
it interesting that we are introduced in this chapter in the year that
King Uzziah died. And here we read in verse five,
I saw the king. And then he goes on to describe
a little more about this. And when we were going through
the book of Zechariah, we found out that this name is used many,
many times in the book of Zechariah. And that is the Lord of hosts.
I saw the King, the Lord of hosts. Now, we went a number of times
over to the book of Daniel and the description that we find
Daniel giving with regard to what the king there had to say
about the king of heaven. He said, he does his will in
the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth
and none can stay his hand or say what do us out. Now that's
the Lord of hosts. He is in absolute control of
all things. He created everything out of
the dust of the ground. There in the third chapter of
the book of John, Jesus mentioned to Nicodemus, are you a master
of Israel and you don't know these things? And my student
today said, what were those things? And I says, well, let's just
go over to the book of Genesis chapter one. It says in Genesis
chapter one, I think it's six or seven times, and the Lord
said, and in the conclusion of that verse, it happened. That's
what Nicodemus missed. He missed that God is in absolute
control of all things. It says there in chapter three,
it says, a man by the name of Nicodemus, a Pharisee. So he's
very religious, he's related to Adam, and he missed everything
that the Old Testament had, but probably could quote most of
it. So here it says in verse five, for my eyes have seen the
King, the Lord of hosts. Now let's back up to verse one,
because in verse five, before he gets down to that, he tells
us a whole lot about his position before God. Woe is me. In verse one, in the year that
King Uzziah died, it is to me, it is no wonder that we don't
find King Ahasuerus' name mentioned when that last The letter goes
out. It's for the Jews, and it's for
their celebration, and it's for their remembrance. And if those
folks truly, when it said many of the folks became Jews, and
they celebrated, and they understood what it was about, we say hallelujah. God bless anybody that will bow
to this King. In the year that King Uzziah
died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne. Well, we're thankful
that he's always been there. He is the King on a throne. He's always been King of Kings
and Lord of Lords. And it said it was high and lifted
up and his train filled the temple. Now, much of this is a vision
that God gave him. He saw things that most people
didn't know. Most people would recognize it
as thunder. They'd recognize it as really
beautiful colored sky. But behind that, Isaiah was given
permission by Almighty God to see God. to see who truly was
the king of Israel, to see who truly was the king of all peoples. And here he said, above it stood
the seraphims. Now, angelic beings and their
whole business. You know, we think, wow, look
at that. They've got that angelic personality and their being and
they're glorious. We have to look at what they're
doing. That's what we want to look at. It says, and above it
stood seraphims. Each one had six wings. With
two, he covered his face. With two, he covered his feet.
And with two, he did fly. And one cried unto another. Now this, they may not get to
see it. They cover their feet, they cover
their face, and with two they did fly. It's a picture, it's
a shadow, it's a beautiful statement about what Isaiah saw, but the
most important thing was not the angelic being, it's what
they cried. Now, this is the law being declared. God is holy, holy, holy. He will not take any of our trappings. He will not take any of our righteousness. He will not take any of our works. He alone is holy. And no one
is capable of keeping the Ten Commandments for one day, one
minute. So he could, he did. One cried
to another and said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. And the whole earth is full of
his glory. Can you just grasp this for a moment? That this
is what Isaiah got to see by permission from almighty God
when the natural king was taken out of his vision. This is the
king that we want to worship. This is the king. And it's no
wonder there in verse 29 of Esther chapter 9 that Ahasuerus has
nothing to do with this. The world has nothing to do with
this. This is dedicated to the church. This is their vision. This is
what they get to see. And then it says here that there
was such an aura about this whole scene that the posts of the door
moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled
with smoke." You know, we go over to the tabernacle, and we
go over to the tabernacle, and then the temple. There was a
scene much like this when the glory of the Lord came down,
and entered the tabernacle, it was a thick smoke that filled
it. And when the temple was completed,
we find the visitation of a visioner, God in his Ability to do that
sort of thing is there. Well, this is the whole house
is filled with what this smoke That's let's just say this whole
house is filled with his glory. The whole house is filled with
his holiness The whole house is filled with his salvation.
There's no room for anything else whatsoever Nothing. There is not a trapping that
we have in that can go into this place and do any honor to God
because he's already filled it with his great person and personality. And then said I, this is Isaiah
speaking after he'd seen the Lord, you know, we don't have
to make ourself humble. God's gonna do that for us. God
will give us humility. And it's not something that we
go around bragging about. It's something we thank God for.
I get to see the Lord and I get to feel my position before him. And you know what? Left to myself,
it is woe is me. Paul brings that up there in
the book of Acts chapter seven. And I know many people say that
that's when he was a lost man. Lost man never feels that way.
never brought to that position. Nobody is ever brought to this
kind of position that Paul was brought to there in the seventh
chapter. He just, oh, I am an undone man. Well, that's exactly
what Isaiah says, woe is me, for I am undone. because I am
a man of unclean lips. And I dwell in the midst of a
people of unclean lips. You know, I follow Nicodemus
later in the scriptures, later in the New Testament. And I think
he understood what Isaiah is talking about here. He got to
visit and never got to see him. He didn't see Jesus in Jesus.
But later, it appears that he knew something. And he would
be able to say this. He wouldn't come as a proud Pharisee
anymore. He came as a woe is me. But I'm thankful for what he's
done because I'm a man of unclean lips and dwell in the midst of
a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the king,
the Lord of hosts. flew one of the seraphims unto
me, having a live coal in his hand." Now, it wasn't actually
a live coal. We have, this is the gospel.
This is the gospel. Which he had taken from the tongs
of the altar and laid it upon my mouth and said, lo, this hath
touched thy lips and thine iniquity is taken away and thy sin purged. Can't get any better than that.
Can't be any better than that. The king, little K, is taken
off the scene and the big king reveals himself to Isaiah the
prophet and said, this has taken care of thine iniquity and the
sin that you have is purged. Now that means it's taken away
and it's paid for. It doesn't mean he never sinned
again in his life. And at that moment, We have the
call of Isaiah to the gospel ministry. Also, I heard the voice
of the Lord saying, whom shall I send and who will go for us?
Then said I, here am I, send me. And then we know the rest
of the story. You're going to go preach and
they're not going to believe you. And then he writes in the 53rd chapter
of the book of Isaiah, to whom of the arm of the Lord revealed. He understood that he couldn't
cram this down mouths. This was going to have to be
a declaration of the Lord of hosts. His glory, His honor,
His holiness, and then God would do with it as He saw fit. Now,
join me, if you would, over in the book of 2 Chronicles. In 2 Chronicles, we read the
account of Uzziah, Uzziah the king. In 2 Chronicles chapter
26, This is the man that's taken off, out of the scene. And this
we have record of given to us that it was in that year that
God let Isaiah see things he'd never seen before. He got to
see the Lord of glory. He saw the Lord of hosts. He
saw the one who these angelic beings cried out, holy, holy,
holy is the Lord God Almighty. In verse 21, it tells us Uzziah
the king was a leper until the day of his death and dwelt in
a several house being a leper. He didn't get to stay in the
king's house. He was removed from the king's
house. For he was cut off from the house of the Lord, and Jotham
his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land.
Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah the
prophet, the son of Amos, write. So Uzziah slept with his fathers,
and they buried him with his fathers in the field of the burial,
which belonged to the kings. And they said, he is a leper,
and Jotham his son reigned in his stead. So we have the condition
of Uzziah. You know what? Isaiah got to
know about his own leprosy. I am a man of unclean lips and
live among a people of unclean lips. He got to realize his own
condition before God. And so it is so great that God
would allow him to see He would allow him to see God. He would
allow him to see the Lord of hosts. He would allow him to
see the one that they cried, holy, holy, holy unto him. In the book of John chapter 12,
the Lord brings up this subject that Isaiah was speaking about,
what he got to see. In John chapter 12, John chapter
12, this very thing is brought up, John chapter 12, And I want
to read verse 41, but then we're going to read part, a little
bit more of this. But I want to go over here to
John chapter 12 and verse 41. When this is recorded, this is
what Isaiah, the things, these things said Isaiah, verse 41,
when he saw his glory and spake of him. Now I want to know what
he saw, didn't you? Wouldn't you like to know? Well,
let's just back up here a little bit. And the Lord shares this
with us. It tells us in John 12, verse
36. While ye have light, believe
in the light, that ye may be children of the light. These
things spake Jesus and departed and hid himself from them. But
though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed
not on him. that the saying of Isaiah the
prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed
our report? And to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed? So two things about Isaiah at
least are mentioned in these words that the Lord shares with
us concerning Isaiah here in the book of John. Therefore,
they could not believe because that Isaiah said again, He hath
blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, that they should
not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart,
and be converted, and I should heal them. These things said
Isaiah when he saw his glory and spake of him." What does
he say to us in this? He said, the arm of the Lord
is a mystery. Who does the arm of the Lord
been revealed? It is a mystery without the revelation. And it tells us there in verse
40, he hath blinded, who did this? The Lord hath done this.
This is the fulfillment of the words of the prophet Isaiah,
by the spirit of God, he hath blinded their eyes. Isaiah said,
and hardened their heart that they should not see with their
eyes nor understand with their heart and be converted and I
should heal them. I told my student today, don't
ever argue with God. You may not understand it, and
you may not find it hard, but don't dare argue with Him. Don't
say, God, my God would never do this. Well, in honesty, that's
true. Their God will not do this, but
the God of heaven has done this, and He has a prophet to prove
it. Verse 42, nevertheless, among the chief rulers also, many believed
on him, but because of the Pharisees, they did not confess him, lest
they should be put out of the synagogue. What is the most important
thing to them? They're permitted to stay in
the synagogue. I've been asked several times
recently, does these people in this particular group of people,
can God save them? And I says, absolutely, he can
save them. Well, I believe that some of
them that stayed in there are still saved. And I says, no, that's
not true. You cannot deny the gospel and you cannot deny Christ
where you are. And so these people, they said
they were believers, but the most important thing was their
status in the synagogue. And it doesn't take long for
people to share with us the most important thing that they believe.
Because if it gets crossways with them, they're gonna let
you know that this is the most important thing. Now that's important,
but the most important thing is I get to stay in my synagogue.
You know that man that was born blind and the Lord healed him? He didn't care about the synagogue
after that. It was the last thing on his mind. He'd been kicked
out. He didn't want to go back. And so, as we find the Apostle
Paul, he was kicked out of the synagogue. He was kicked out
of the temple. He was kicked out, and it didn't bother him
any because he had much greater position in Christ than he ever
had in the synagogue or anywhere else he went. So, for they loved
the praise of men more than the praise of God. What does it say
in here about Isaiah? He saw the Lord high and lifted
up, and His train filled the temple, and holy, holy, holy,
and what was the next thing? Who is this revealed to? And God has the right to Israel,
He has the right to Israel, He has the right to anybody, to
keep them hidden. Now, He keeps us hidden until
He's pleased to reveal. Now, if He never unbridled us,
if He never lets us go. If he never takes back his hardening,
if he never does that, he's still right. He's still God. He still is the God of heaven. And let's not argue with that. All right. So The Lord's glory
is figured in His mercy and His salvation and the highest form
of God's glory. His salvation is His highest
form of His glory. What did God do for Isaiah? Well, we have the picture of
one of those angelic beings going over and on the altar taking
a coal of fire and putting it on his lips and saying, now you're
purged from your sin. Now, well, that fire didn't do
it. The blood of Christ did that.
So we have what glorious statement. So Ahasuerus removed for just
a short time off the scene so that we might say, Ruth and Mordecai
did and only for the Jews. Mordecai
and Esther were used for this great glorious statement about
where do we rejoice. We rejoice in God delivering
us. All right, join me if you would
in the book of Isaiah once again. Our deliverance and our hope
and our redemption and our sanctification and our righteousness and our
wisdom is not in Egypt. Mordecai and Esther's deliverance
was not in the Persian Empire. They were used in the Persian
Empire to deliver God's people, but their deliverance was not
Ahasuerus, and their deliverance was not in the Persian Empire.
Our deliverance is from God. God alone is our deliverance,
and He is the Holy One, and we have every benefit and everything
from Him. We can have no king but Christ. Turn with me, as I mentioned
over there, to the book of Isaiah chapter 31. Isaiah chapter 31,
once again, is Man who said, I am undone. I am unworthy. Woe is me. I am undone. Here he is permitted
to write this wonderful message that says so much to us and to
anybody. Woe to them that go down to Egypt
for help. woe to them that go down to Egypt
for help." Now, he's not talking about anybody going down to literal
Egypt. You know, Egypt grew a lot of
grain, and that was why it was so important during the Roman
Empire. They needed the grain. Well, it doesn't mean going down
to Egypt that way. It's going down to a place that
is without help, without God, all of those other things to
get some help. Don't woe to them that go down
to Egypt and stay on horses. Trust in chariots. What's all
that mean? Trust in anything else but Christ.
Trust in any deliverance but Christ. You know, there was
a king. in a chariot that thought he
was safe. And the Bible simply says a man
took a venture with a bow and caught him between the griefs.
Only one place that he had an Achilles heel, and that's where
the arrow went. And he died, just like God said
he would. He went in his chariot for safety. He took off from
the battle. All right, trust in chariots
because there are many, and in horsemen because they are very
strong, but they look not. unto the Holy One of Israel,
neither seek the Lord. Yet he also is wise and will
bring evil and will not call back his words, but will arise
against the house of evildoers and against the help of them
that work iniquity. Now, the Egyptians are men, not
God, and their horse is flesh, not spirit. They that are born
of the flesh are flesh, and they that are born of the spirit are
spirit. When the Lord shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth
shall fall, and he that is hopin' shall fall down, and they all
shall fail together. For thus saith the Lord. For
thus hath the Lord spoken unto me, like as the lion and the
young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds
is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their
voice nor abase himself for the noise of them. So shall the Lord
of hosts come down to fight for Mount Zion and for the hill thereof. It doesn't matter the odds. He
will come down and fight for Mount Zion. All right, turn with
me if you would as we think about this and the truth. It's not
poetry, it is truth. Romans chapter 9. My Lord and my God identified
a lot about, not Stephen, Thomas. You know,
after that, I wonder how many people says, well, you know,
I sure was praying for him that he doesn't miss any more church
services. And they hear him say, my Lord
and my God. Now, he had a grasp of things.
He knew something about this Lord Jesus Christ. All right,
in the book of Romans chapter 13, book of Romans chapter 13
excuse me chapter 9 verse 13 Romans chapter 9 verse 13 as it is written Jacob have I
loved but Esau have I hated what shall we say then is there unrighteousness
with God no There is no unrighteousness with
God. It has a different meaning than we have right here, but it's
no way. For he saith to Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I'll have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. Now that just takes me right
back to Isaiah chapter six, and it takes me right back to Esther
chapter nine, verse 29. The king is left out. Ahasuerus
is not mentioned. It is Ruth and Mordecai, the
Jew. And the letter goes to the Jews.
It is for the Jews. It's for their blessing. It's
for their remembrance. And then we go on here, I'll
have mercy, verse 15, for he saith to Moses, I'll have mercy
on whom I'll have mercy. and I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion. So then, it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but God that showeth mercy. For
the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have
I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that
my name might be declared throughout all the earth. You know, he said
that about Pharaoh. He could say that about every
believer too. For this purpose have I raised
thee up that I might show my power in you. Now he did demonstrate
that to Pharaoh and find out he was taken out in the Red Sea,
drowned, he was raised up for a purpose. Therefore, verse 18,
he have mercy on whom he will have mercy, on whom he will he
hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, why
doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Nay, but O man, who art thou that replyest against God, shall
the thing formed say unto him that formed it, why hast thou
made me thus? So we find as Queen Esther and
Mordecai sent out with authority. Let's go back there to the book
of Esther for just a moment in conclusion. The book of Esther
chapter 9, there in verse 29. They wrote with all authority. Nothing said about Mordecai,
nothing is said about Ahasuerus. They have this given to them
by Almighty God, and they wrote this to confirm the second letter
of Purim. They've already sent one out,
and it says, let's do this. They send this one out and it
says, we will do this. We will celebrate. And he sent
the letters to all the Jews in every province, 127 provinces
of the kingdom of Ahasuerus. And the letter went to the Jews
in the kingdom of Ahasuerus with the words of peace and truth
to confirm these days of Purim in their times appointed according
as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had enjoined them.
as they had decreed for themselves and for their seed the matters
of fasting and their cry. And decree of Esther confirmed
these matters and Purim, and it was written in the book."
Ahasuerus is missing for good reason. In the year that King
Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. The Lord's gonna take out everything
that we hold as important and reveal to us the glory of his
dear son, Jesus Christ. And we too, at the drop of the
hat, without thinking about it, my Lord and my God.