Join me if you would tonight
in our study of the book of Esther. The book of Esther, and we're
going to start with the fourth chapter tonight. The fourth chapter
of the book of Esther. And we notice here that I think
it's through the next four chapters we're going to be dealing with
this trouble that is in Shushan the palace. And we find out for
such a time as this is Esther raised to her position. I do
want to read one passage in the last chapter, and that is in
chapter 3 and verse 15. We left this point last time. Chapter 3 and verse 15, the last
verse of the last chapter, that King Ahasuerus and Haman have
sent out a message throughout all the kingdom. And they've
been postling out And this is an English word that we still
use today, our postman. We post a letter. The post went
out being hastened by the king's commandment. And the decree was
given in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down
to drink. And then we have that little
word, but. The city Shushan was perplexed. From this word, we find that
it was troubled, or it was disquieted. Another translation put it this
way, the Jews that were in the city wept when they heard this.
They were thrown into confusion, or there was an uproar. There was a troubling in the
kingdom, and we're going to see that taking place here. It was
in Shushan, and as soon as it would be in Shushan, it will
soon be in the outer parts of the kingdom. So let's go over
to chapter 4 now and begin reading here with verse 1 of chapter
4 of the book of Esther. And we find that Mordecai, in
verse 1, when Mordecai perceived all that was done. Now we're
going to find out in just a little bit in this chapter that Mordecai
had a copy of that letter. So they've done some really quick
printing and they've got it ushered out. They've sent posts out throughout
all the kingdom. But Mordecai has a copy of this.
Now he has a special copy of this because this copy is going
to be delivered to Queen Esther. There's no other region in this
world that Mordecai had that copy of that, an announcement
to most people would be enough, but Mordecai has been given a
copy of that edict. All right, and it tells us here
in this passage of scripture that 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 a bitter cry. This sackcloth
that we find here I looked this up and it seems to be a Hebrew
idiom, sat cloth and ashes. It was something that they were
familiar with and it spoke of having, they donned this, they
put on these very coarse and probably most of those clothes
were made out of goat hair it says and they put or sprinkled
some ash on them and it was to demonstrate that they were contrite
or sorry for some transgression And this particular word is used
in our language, dates back to the 16th century and in England. So before the printing of our
translation, we have this idiom introduced into the English language. But we find that it is used several
times in scripture. If you'll notice with me in the
book of, well, We'll get there in just a moment. Let's read
a little more. And it says that he put on sackcloth and ashes
and went out into the midst of the city and cried with aloud
and a bitter cry. Now this is how Mordecai took
the message that had been given to him, the impact on Mordecai. He heard, he perceived, he saw,
he discovered, he learned, he became aware of or he found out
what that edict had to say. And he ran his clothes. Now, an interesting thing about
this passage of scripture is that when we look at Mordecai
and him going through this process, Mordecai knew why this edict
had been sent out. He was the cause of it. What? He did not bow to Haman. He's the one and we can just
see this as we look at Mordecai and we see the effects of this
on him, the effects that transpired and what took place. It's interesting
just to consider that Mordecai is truly in great mourning about
the people, the Jews, because of some of what he has done.
Now, we know it wasn't lawful for him to bow down to Haman
or bow down to Ahasuerus. It wasn't. That was not the point. And he wasn't mad at Haman to
begin with, and he wasn't mad at Ahasuerus to begin with. It
was just a point. I'm not bowing. I can't bow.
I will not worship a human being. I will not bow in the same way
that I bow before my Almighty God. And we find that that experience
with the three Hebrew children, and we find that experience with
Daniel, they wouldn't bow. And if you're not going to bow,
you're going to suffer the consequences for it. Three Hebrew children
thrown into a burning, fiery furnace. Daniel thrown into a
lion's den. And we find out that in that,
and to me it is just an outstanding miracle of God's grace. Because
very few people have been thrown into a burning fiery furnace
and ever lived to tell the tale. Or very many people were thrown
into a lion's den and ever lived to tell the tale. Many of our
forebears died in the Colosseum in Rome or other places over
the same thing. And they were not delivered,
but these were, and they were delivered for our benefit. And
they were delivered for us to notice that God is almighty,
and He rules and reigns, and He takes care of His people as
He sees fit. It's not up to us, it's up to
Him how we are delivered or not delivered. And we may pass out
in the night, in the sleep, or we may pass out in a tragic wreck. It doesn't matter, that's still
going to be up to God. He may have asked, as religion
would ask, what must I do to be saved? Now, you know, when
I grew up in church, that was always asked young people. What
must I do to be saved? What must you do to be saved?
Well, we found out that there's nothing that we can do to be
saved. We find out that yet Mordecai knew that there was nothing he
could do and it was in the hands of someone else. The deliverance
of the Jews was in the hands of someone else. There must be
a better mediator than him. There's going to have to be someone
higher up the chain. than him. He cannot deliver the
Jews. He can't even deliver himself
from the consequences of his own actions. Just like we find
Adam could not deliver himself from the consequences of his
own actions. There was no fig leaves big enough. There was
no tree big enough. There was no sacrifice big enough.
It took Almighty God to deal with this. So, we're going to
find out that there's other people going to get involved in this.
One of them is going to be Esther. She's the queen. Another one's
going to get interested in this, and that's the king. How blessed
it is to have someone that's higher up the line to take care
of the problems that even we have created for ourselves. So,
more to KI. He's the one that it must sit
right at his feet, and we find that it sits right at Adam's
feet, but everybody on this side of Adam also has the same problem. And it has to be dealt by someone
higher than we are. We cannot get above ourselves.
I love my little cup here, it's got Sylvester on it. It's smiling
on one side and frowning on the other, so you can tell what attitude
I have. But you can't get the water in here any higher than
the sides of the cup. And so it is with us. We can't
get anything higher than ourselves. We have to depend on someone
else to do with that. So as we go back here, we find
in verse two of this chapter four, and it came even before
the king's gate, and came even before the king's gate, for none
might enter the king's gate clothed with sackcloth. And in every
province, now here is the consequences of that edict that has been sent
out. It's finally getting out there. How long it took to get
out to the inner lands, it doesn't tell us, but we do find out the
results among God's people of that edict. Mordecai is gonna
have a copy of it. The rest of them is probably
nailed to the doors of the church at Wittenberg or whatever. It's
nailed to trees or whatever and says, And in every province,
whethersoever the king's command and his decree came, there was
great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and
wailing, and many lay in sat cloth and ashes." It's a troublesome
time in the Persian Empire. And it started with a man. Now,
he would not bow. And the consequences of that
are going to be great in Shushan, the palace, and in the rest of
the area. We find here that the consequences
of this 127 provinces are going to get post with this message. 127 provinces are going to have
the same message delivered to them, and that is all the Jews
are going to be slain on a certain day, and the day is listed in
this edict. It is going to be the 13th day
of the last month of the year. Now, how long it took for everything
to get out there and all the announcements to be made, it
doesn't tell us. But it does tell us that there
is going to be enough time for everybody to read the edict and
there's going to be enough time. God blessed. that another edict
can be sent out too. Now we're going to follow that.
We got the edict, the first one, all the Jews are going to be
slain. And then we are going to give the edict, all the Jews
could protect themselves. How blessed that there is enough
time. The impact of this edict. far-reaching
the impact they and he rent their clothes and he and they sat in
sackcloth and ashes it was a clear and a real and a live threat
and everybody understood that now we mentioned last week who
are these people out in the hinterlands that are Jews they're the carpenters
They're the mathematicians. They're the doctors. They're
all of the important people that were taken out of Israel by King
Nebuchadnezzar and taken over here. Why slay all these good,
fine minds? And he took them in. And they're
the ones that, and their descendants are the ones that are gonna be
paying for this edict that has been made out. Now, there's an
interesting thing about this edict. We find, look at Esther
chapter one if you would, Esther chapter one. We find the same
thing in Esther chapter one that we're gonna find out here with
regard to this edict. When a king of the Medes and
the Persians makes an edict, a ruling, a law, we find out
here in verse 19 of chapter one, the effect of this and that it
is something that cannot be altered. There's no way of changing this
law. Notice here, 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. And we're going to find out,
Daniel writes about this, that the laws of the Medes and the
Persians could not be altered. It can't be voted out. Now we're going to find out they
can be circumvented but it can't be voted out. It's still there
and it goes on to tell us that Vashti come not before king Ahasuerus
and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better
than she. Well turn with me on the same
vein as we think about this edict that went out. It's in writing
It's been sent out by the post. It has brought a great hue and
cry among the Jews that are out there. They're weeping and wailing
and sitting in sackcloth and ashes. They are turned upside
down by this command that has been sent out. Most of them,
I'm sure, have been quite pleased with their position that they
have in this kingdom. They have made money. They have
been good servants of the king and to have this happen to them.
Well, in the book of Daniel, it tells us again, this Daniel
chapter six, in Daniel chapter six. And you know, there's so
much similarity with regard to this law of the Medes and the
Persians that are brought into the scripture by almighty God
to share with us about the everlasting covenant. The everlasting covenant
cannot be altered. It can't even be voted around
because the three that are in charge of it are not going to
vote around it. They have made an agreement in the council halls
of eternity before the world ever began. They made an agreement,
they made a covenant, and they're agreeing to it, and they're going
to carry it out, and they do not change. So we don't have
another court over here with the ability of changing it, and
we don't have even a king that will change it. But here in Daniel
chapter 6 and verse 8, we read these words about this law of
the Medes and the Persians. Daniel chapter 6 and verse 8.
Now King established the decree and signed the writing. Now this
again is a negative effect upon God's people and it cannot be
changed. It says here that it be not changed
according to the law of the Medes and the Persians which altereth
not. Now that is a pretty strict kingdom
that they make a law. It cannot ever be changed. There's no amendments to it.
There's no chance of changing it. And yet we find with regard
to the everlasting covenant, God, who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will, has determined that once he does
something and says something and proclaims something and puts
it in writing like the covenant of grace, it shall not, it will
not, it will never be changed. No man can ever, no matter how
much authority. I have a friend up in Canada.
You've met him on our site from time to time. Mike and Marilyn
went to visit him. He has a friend that he's been,
his neighbor has asked him, would you mind coming over and studying
the Bible with me? Well, Brother Ed said, well,
the book of Romans would be a good place to start. So he went over
there and he started bringing out the scriptures, especially
in chapters 9, 10, and 11. And that man said, you know,
if Paul had written those words today, they wouldn't be like
that. He would have changed his mind on what to put down. Well,
you know, that's so logical, human logic at its best. Paul
wouldn't have written what he wrote. Well, he didn't write
it. He's a secretary. He did what the commander said.
He did what the Holy Spirit gave him to write. It's not his words. In his earlier life, he would
have been against them too. but in his Christian walk with
God and recognize him as the sovereign over all, this is just
how it is. And the church recognizes how
it is. And we find out that God is better than the meads and
the purses because all of his writings, all of his edicts,
all of his laws, all of his rulings are in favor of the church for
their deliverance. And he will not change. It is
wonderful as a result of him not changing In a colossal law
of the Medes and the Persians, in his colossal view, he won't
change his mind about you and me. And somebody might lay a charge,
as we read in the Book of Romans, but who shall lay anything to
the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. So
he's saying, I voted for him. I wrote an edict for him. I have
written it down in the covenant of grace. Their names are there.
They're mine. I will not change my mind about
them. So there's no discussion about it. Well, we read here
that with the laws of the Medes and the Persians, it was also
that way. In a microscopic way, a law was
given. Three Hebrew children are gonna
be thrown into a burning fiery furnace. Daniel is gonna be thrown
into a lion's den. And it doesn't matter how much
the king felt bad about it, he couldn't change it. And he comes
with Daniel particularly and says, are you still there, Daniel? Was your God able? Daniel said,
yeah, Lord came, shut the lion's mouth. Well, turn with me just
a little bit further in the sixth chapter and verse 12. Verse 12,
then they came near and spake before the king concerning the
king's decree. Hast thou not signed a decree
that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man
within 30 days save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the
den of lions? The king answered and said, the
thing is true according to the law of the Medes and Persians,
which altereth not. Yes, that's the law. And then
in verse 14 of the same chapter, then the king, when he heard
these words was sore displeased. Why? With himself and set his
heart on Daniel to deliver him. And he labored till the going
down of the sun to deliver him. And what was against it? The
law of the Medes and the Persians. He couldn't change his mind about
it. Well, and then in verse 18 of this, it says, then the king
went to his palace and passed the night fasting. Neither were
instruments of music brought before him, and a sleep went
from him. What a statement concerning Daniel. A law is passed, a law, and you
know, as we mentioned with King Ahasuerus, just like with this
King Nebuchadnezzar, they don't even think about what they're
signing. I'm thankful God was thinking about it. All wisdom
was poured out on our behalf. So we have here the condition
of what happened after the edict was handed out. how Mordecai
went into great travail, how the children of Israel went into
great travail. You know, there's another person
that struck me that he was much in the same place when he found
out, they're hunting me and I'm the last one left. Would you
turn with me to that wonderful brother over in 1 Kings chapter
19. 1 Kings chapter 19. First Kings chapter 19 and there
in verse 10 Now there's a lady after him She's the Queen Ahab's wife Jezebel
She could She could kill him in a heartbeat She's ordered
his death He says, and he said, I have been very jealous for
the Lord God of hosts. For the children of Israel have
forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy
prophets with the sword. And I, even I, only am left,
and they seek my life to take it away. Do you think he's serious?
Absolutely. He saw, he spoke it as he saw
it. Now, thank God he has an everlasting
covenant. And he has a law that is greater
than the Medes and the Persians. And he's not going to change
his mind about this prophet. It tells us there in verse 14
of this passage of scripture. And he said, I have been very
jealous for the Lord God of hosts. You know what? When I read about
what he did, I think he was. And whether he should have been
out saying this or not, but he was a prophet of the Lord, called
of the Lord. He didn't manufacture his call,
he was called of the Lord. I love that passage of scripture
where the Lord said, pray ye the Lord of the harvest that
he will send forth. That he, I believe, this prophet
was sent forth. And he goes, because the children
of Israel have forsaken thy covenant. What did the Lord tell Isaiah
when he sent him forth? You're gonna preach and preach
and preach and nobody's gonna pay any attention to you. And
all he could say is, how long do I do that? And he says, till
the cities are gone. Don't stop, all right? Goes on
here, says, thrown down thine altar, slain thy prophets with
a sword, and I, even I, only am left, and they seek my life
to take it away. Verse 18. God says, oh my. I love this verse of scripture,
because it's just as applicable today as it was in that day.
There were 7,000 that this prophet didn't know existed. 7,000. You would think that he would
have crossed paths with one of them. It says, yet I have left
me 7,000 in Israel. Now, you know, I could understand
a little bit more about that if that had been Judah. Those
two tribes, the Lion of the Lord Jesus, this is Israel. This is
the 10 tribes that went off Got a golden calf up here, and we
got a golden calf down here, and we're gonna make sure that
they don't go back to Jerusalem, because if they go back to Jerusalem,
they'll get mixed up with that religion again, and we'll lose
our kingdom. He said, I have left me 7,000 in Israel, all
the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which
hath not kissed him. They have not given in to the
pressure. Now they may be hunted too. There
may be a price on their head, but they have not bowed and they
have not kissed this idol. What a statement. The Lord said,
I have left me 7,000, they're mine. And so 7,001 in Israel,
that's pretty good, but it's all of the Lord. Now we're gonna
find out that the Lord is gonna tell this man to go Elijah, go
ordain Elisha and he's going to take over for you and so forth
and so on. But we find that in chapter 19 verses 1 and 2, let's
look at that. It says, and Ahab, now this is
the reason, here's the edict. Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah
had done, and with all how he had slain all the prophets with
a sword, and Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah saying, so let the
gods do to me and more also if I make not thy life as the life
of one of them by tomorrow about this time. If you're not killed
by tomorrow, I should be. So that's what he's talking about.
There is a real threat on his life. There's a real threat on
Mordecai's life. There's a real threat on every
Jew in Shushan the palace and throughout the Persian empire. 127 provinces, there is this. Now, Mordecai, Mordecai had a great deal on
his side. You know, we're all have had
we'll have, or we'll have again, some great things happen in our
lives that we wish didn't happen in our lives. And yet, as Mordecai
had, so is all of God's people on the earth blessed because
they know the joyful sound. You know, we don't have the name
of the Lord mentioned in the book of Esther, but we have people
who worship the Lord God Almighty. Mordecai is one of them. And
another one is the Queen Esther. And there's going to be some
more scattered throughout the province. Turn with me to the
Psalms, if you would, as we find out Mordecai, even though in
his great travail. He was a blessed man. He knew
something about God. He knew the blessed message.
In the book of Psalms, Psalm 89. In Psalm 89 we have this
message left us. Psalm 89 and verse 15. Blessed is the people. Now what
is that joyful sound? What is that joyful sound? Well,
God saves His people. He changes not. It's a glorious
gospel. It's a gospel of shed blood.
It's a gospel of the shed blood of the Messiah or Christ as we
look at him. It is good news. Blessed is the
people that know the joyful sound. I'm convinced that Mordecai knew
that joyful sound. Now in a moment, he's caught
up in such travail because he has been the one that got this
all started. He's the one that it sits at
his feet. And yet he knows the joyful sound. They shall walk, O Lord, in the
light of thy countenance. God has not forgotten him and
God has not put him aside. And God has not said, this is
not for naught. This is going to take place.
Also, we find out, that the people are blessed. Turn with me back
to Psalm 32. Psalm 32. I'm convinced that
Mordecai and Esther had this too, as we find what a blessed
statement. Whatever condition we are in,
whatever should take place, what a blessing it is to hear these
words. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven. Even with Mordecai. bound up
in sackcloth and ashes, prevented from entering into the presence
of the king because of that, He knew what it was to have his
sins, his transgressions forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is
no guile. Blessed is that man. So Mordecai,
even in the great position that he's in, or the rest of the people
that knew anything about the gospel, they're still blessed.
God has blessed them. He has taken care of their transgression. He has taken care of their sin,
even though they're in tremendous mourning over the situation.
And in Psalm 84, would you turn there with me? In Psalm 84, as
we think about what does Mordecai have, even though he is in this
condition, even though he has had great mourning, even though
he is in sackcloth and ashes? In Psalm 84 and verse 12, we
read these words about the great work of God's covenant of grace that altereth
not, O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee. Blessed is the person who trusts
in me. So we're going to have this conflict
going on here in the book of Esther as we see what's taking
place with this man Mordecai. Shushan the palace is affected.
The provinces are affected. We find out that there is much
going on throughout the land. The same response when the word
came. This is like when the Lord brings
the gospel to any place on earth. The results for his work, what? Repentance and faith. Satcloth and ashes. By the way,
if you get online, you can buy you some satcloth. It's amazing
what the religionists have for everybody. Turn with me, if you
would, to the book of Revelation, chapter 5. Now there's, I don't
know how many, different languages are in the Persian Empire. But
there's 127 provinces and they have to have interpreters. Can
you imagine the languages that had to be sent out? Or someone
had to interpret that edict that went out. But here in the book
of Revelation chapter five, it's a wonderful passage of scripture
that shares with us how far this great gospel has gone. It says
here, they sung a new song saying, thou art worthy to take the book.
In another place it says, worthy is the Lamb. Do you think Mordecai
could sing this? I do. I think he could sing this.
Worthy is the Lamb, or they sung a new song, worthy? Thou art
worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof for thou
was slain and has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of at
least 127 provinces. The Persian Empire out of every
kindred and tongue and people and nation. What a demonstration
of that just in this one empire. There are people all over that
country that are identified as God's people and they get a death
sentence. Guess what? We're all under a
death sentence. What's going to happen about
it? He that hath the son hath life, even if the death sentence. He
that hath the Son hath life. You know, Peter was put in almost
the same situation that Mordecai is. 5,000 men plus women and
children separated themselves from the assembly at Jesus' feet
at one time. That's a big bunch. And Jesus turned to Peter and
said, Will you also go away? Was the Lord serious? Absolutely. What was Peter's response? To
whom shall we turn? That's exactly what Mordecai
could say too. And that's what every believer
could say. Where am I going? Where would I go? Why? You have the words of eternal
life. My whole life and my eternal
life is dependent upon you. I can't go anywhere else. We
don't find that Mordecai picked up his robes, his belongings,
and headed for the border. He stayed right there. And we
don't find that anybody else in that whole 127 provinces says,
pack your bags, kids. We're leaving this place. They mourned. They were in great
trepidation. They were in great fear for their
lives. But they did not leave. Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon the earth
that I desire besides thee. Turn with me, if you would, in
closing to the book of 1 John chapter 5. 1st John chapter 5. In 1st John chapter 5, beginning
with verse 11. 1st John chapter 5 verse 11.
This, and this is the record. Now this is the record. This
is the record that altereth not. This is the covenant that altereth
not. As a small picture, we can read
about the laws of the Medes and the Persians, which altereth
not. A king was so distraught with
himself for passing a law without even thinking about it that he
spent all night wondering what's going to happen to Daniel. Who
was Daniel to him? Close advisor, a friend? And he condemned him to the lion's
den because he wrote an edict. and couldn't be changed. Well,
this is the record. It will not change. It will not
be altered that God hath given to us eternal life and this life
is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life.
He that hath not the Son of God hath not life. Did you notice
the change there? He that hath the Son hath life. Now those who have life know
who the Son is. He's the Son of God. What did
Peter say when Christ asked him, who do you say that I am? He
says, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. Flesh
and blood hath not revealed us unto you. Goes on to tell us
in that very same verse, he that hath not the son of God hath
not life. They don't know him for who he
is. He is the son of God. It is quite
evident that everyone that is born again knows he's the son
of God. He's God the son. He's the son
of man. He is Emmanuel, God with us. He is the God-man. He is the Word come in the flesh.
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name
of the Son of God that ye may know that ye have eternal life. It's been written down in the
book and it cannot be altered. It will not be changed. I will
not erase any and I will not add any. He has purposed in himself
to do what he purposed to do. All right, it goes on, that you
may know that you have eternal life and that you may believe
on the name of the Son of God. And this is the confidence that
we have in Him that if we ask anything according to His will,
He hears us. Isn't that an interesting statement
made? If we ask anything according
to His will, He hears us. There's only one group of people
that is concerned about the will of God and that is the people
of God. Now we're going to see the will
of God carried out there by all in Shushan the palace and all
of the provinces. God's will is going to be carried
out to the very last detail. He's going to protect all his
people and the rest. What does he say? Doth not the
potter have power over the clay? Have one lump to make those into
honor? the other lot to make them to dishonor? We're going to see the potter
at work. Now he's going to use human frailty. We're going to
have the queen finds out what the problem is. She's been kept
from this. Her husband hasn't said a word.
Haman hasn't said a word. Nobody's brought her anything.
But now she's going to have it in her hand. And now the Lord's
going to use her to deliver the children of God. We'll stop there
for tonight and pick this up Lord willing the next time.