World Map

eBible Fellowship

«

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

»

2012.01.15 - Esther, Part 11

  • | Chris McCann
  • Audio: Length: 50:34 Size: 8.7 MB
  • A look at Esther 5:1-8. Esther as a figure of the believers. Esther's petition compared to the believer's petitions. Receiving up to half the kingdom relating to believers receiving the grace of God. Hamon receives the judgment he desired for Mordecai; Satan is also judged.

Let us turn to Esther 5. The last time that we were discussing this, we first of all saw that the book of Esther was focusing on the 17th day of the 2nd month. This was one thing that stood out. This is significant because this is the date that Noah entered into the ark, and remember that May 21 was the equivalent date to this. May 21 was the 17th day of the 2nd month in the Hebrew calendar.

Leading up to that point in the book of Esther, there was a period of intense fasting of three nights and days where Mordecai and the Jews in Shushan fasted and Esther and her maids fasted. We saw last time how fasting had to do with getting the Gospel out, and we saw how this related to May 21. Leading up to May 21, there was an intense spiritual fasting where God’s people were getting the Gospel out to the world.

Then we read in Esther 5 of what happened on the third day of fasting. Let us begin reading in the first several verses of Esther 5. It says in Esther 5:1-8:

Now 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 upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the gate of the house. And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, that she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre. Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom. And Esther answered, If it seem good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him. Then the king said, Cause Haman to make haste, that he may do as Esther hath said. So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared. And the king said unto Esther at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed. Then answered Esther, and said, My petition and my request is; If I have found favour in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition, and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and I will do to morrow as the king hath said.

So that was her request.

We had an older understanding of who Esther represented. Esther, however, did not petition the king on the third day for her life or for the lives of her people. In the past, we saw that she went into the king after a period of three days and three nights. We related this to Christ being in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights, but this just does not fit for many reasons.

Number one, she found favor or grace. Christ did not find grace. He worked in order to pay for the sins that were laden upon Him. Secondly, she touched the top of the scepter, which has to do with the righteousness of Christ. It tells us in the Psalms, “The sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre.”

This was emphasizing, first of all, that Esther, who was the bride of the king, entered into that chamber by grace, by imputed righteousness as she touched the scepter. This was entirely by the allowance of the king since he did not have her put to death, which he could have done lawfully.

Christ was put to death, but Esther was not put to death. Christ was put to death lawfully, because He was bearing the sins of His people. He paid for those sins. He gave up His life and was “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”

There are many things that just do not fit; and in addition to this, she made no petition on the third day for her people. She did not do this until the fourth day. It was the next day that she spoke of tomorrow. It was at the second banquet that she made petition, and we do not read of Jesus making any petition on a fourth day. He was in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

Everything is pointing to the fact that Esther is a figure of the believers. Just as there was intense fasting by God’s people, there was also intense prayer; and this pictures Esther as a type of the believers going into the inner chamber only by the grace of God – because God has forgiven the sins of His people – making request to Him leading up to May 21.

Many of us did this. We felt a great burden for our families, for our friends, and for everyone whom we met. It did not matter. We had a burden for praying. All over the world, God’s people in all nations were beseeching Him and crying out to Him.

Just as Esther finally did make that petition on the 17th day of the 2nd month, so did God’s people make a similar petition, because what did Esther pray? We read in Esther 7:2-3:

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 favour [grace] 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:

This was what many, many believers were doing, “O God, have mercy on me and have mercy on my family and my friends.” We asked for God’s mercy on anyone whom we could think of. We prayed for all of those people whom we were handing tracts to, “Have mercy on them.” This was the petition of God’s people.

We also saw last time that when believers make petition, this is what the Bible says in Romans 8:26-27:

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he [the Spirit] maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

So as God’s people were interceding and praying to God, it was really the Holy Spirit who was leading them and moving them to do this and who was offering up the prayers. This is how God describes this. The Holy Spirit makes intercession as God’s people are making intercession, and so we do see the Spirit of Christ involved in this as Esther goes before the king.

Is it not interesting that the king says to Esther in Esther 5:3:

Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom.

This was stated a few times. This is also said at the end of Esther 5:6:

…what is thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.

We also read this in Esther 7:2:

…it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom.

Remember that we read in Luke 12:32:

Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

This is true for every child of God. What an incredible gift eternal life is; but more than this, the child of God is given the kingdom of God.

King Ahasuerus, who is a figure of God, is saying to Esther, “You found grace. You found favor in my sight. You can make request unto half of my kingdom.” But why half? Why not the whole kingdom, like it says in Luke 12:32?

Let us think about this. If the king gives Esther half of the kingdom, what would that have made them? It would have made them co-rulers. They would have been reigning together. The king would have had half of the kingdom and Esther would have had half of the kingdom, and they would have ruled over the whole kingdom of the Medes and the Persians together.

This is just as we find in Ephesians 2. This is the language that the Bible uses to refer to the wonderful salvation that God has provided for His people. We read in Ephesians 2:5:

Even when we were dead in sins…

We are just dirty, rotten sinners. We are rebels. What do we deserve? We deserve the dungeon. Then we deserve to be hanged and thrown out onto the dunghill. Yet what does God, the great King, do? It continues:

Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us [made us alive] together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

We have found favor, just like Esther.

Then it says in Ephesians 2:6:

And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

When God saves one of His elect, which is what He has already done and accomplished, they would immediately be lifted up in a spiritual sense and seated in Christ. Where is Christ? He is at the right hand of the Father. This is the throne of God and we are seated with Him in glory.

What does this indicate? This indicates that we are ruling. Actually, the word “sit” refers to ruling. The Bible tells us that the “man of sin” took his seat in the temple, because this indicated that he was ruling in the temple. God’s people are lifted up to sit together “in heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” because the kingdom has been given to them.

What is our reaction to this? We are given a crown; and in the book of Revelation, all of the believers, the elders, take their crowns and cast them before the feet of God, because we know – and we will know this forever – that we are unworthy. We do not deserve anything. We would only desire that He make us as His servant.

We would be very content and happy to just be the servant of God, and yet God has other plans. He says that we are a “royal priesthood.” We are made part of the family of God. We become kings, because Christ is King. This is one reason for why the Bible typifies believers as kings.

In Esther, it is said repeatedly:

…what is thy request? even to the half of the kingdom…

The reason for this is because this is exactly what God is giving His people. He is giving them the Kingdom of Heaven. We, of course, do not understand how glorious this is and how majestic and wonderful this is, because we are still here. We are still on this earth and we still hold our regular positions on this earth. For the most part, God’s people are in lowly positions and not highly esteemed at all in this world; and yet the promise is that soon comes the day when the Kingdom of Heaven will be ours.

Let us go back to Esther 5 and pick up in verse 9. We read in Esther 5:9-11:

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 Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.

We can see, historically, a proud man. He definitely was a proud man. It also has to be admitted that he was a very wealthy and powerful man. He had much to glory in, even though God warns us not to glory in the things of our lives. However, if anyone could look at himself and feel proud, Haman certainly could. He had the glory of his riches. He paid 10,000 talents of silver to the king in order to have the Jews exterminated; and so he had much money. I would also tend to think that he probably also would have had a plan to confiscate some of the wealth of the Jews after he had exterminated them, which would have made him even richer.

What about the multitude of his children? Haman had ten sons. We are not told how many daughters that he might have had, but he had at least ten sons. More than that, the king promoted him and advanced him above the princes and the servants of the king. He had been lifted up in the kingdom to a very high place and had great power and authority within the kingdom of Ahasuerus.

Spiritually, let us think of this picturing the time of the great tribulation. We then realize that Haman was a type and a figure of Satan. It was at that time, the time over the last 23 years, when Satan was really glorying in a way that he had not been able to throughout the whole history of the earth.

At that time, Satan had been loosed. Did he have a multitude of children? Just look at all of those in the churches who bear the mark of the beast. The language of the Bible is that an image is made to the beast and that the unsaved within the churches and congregations bear the mark of that beast, which is Satan. Or look at all of those in the world who are unsaved. What does the Bible say in John 8? It says, “Ye are of your father the devil.”

So if the father of the unsaved is the devil, then this means that they are his children and that he has a great multitude of children in a world of over seven billion people. Even though God saved a great multitude, we only expect that number to be about 200 million. This still leaves over six billion people who would be unsaved. This means that Satan has a tremendous number of children at this time, particularly over the last several decades when the earth’s population has increased to the degree that it has. Especially during the last 23 years, Satan’s children have multiplied in all of the world.

More than that, maybe the most important thing to Satan was that he was given authority by God Himself. The King promoted him. The King advanced him. Satan was loosed and given authority and the ability to enter into the church and to take his seat as the “man of sin.” Above all of the King’s princes and servants, Satan was ruling in the churches at the allowance of God. God gave him this.

So we can see how prideful and arrogant Satan had become over the last 23 years. He has always been extremely proud and arrogant, but this just increased and increased. Verses like this are just revealing what Satan was experiencing or even thinking.

Then it goes on to say in Esther 5:12:

Haman said moreover, Yea, Esther the queen did let no man come in with the king unto the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and to morrow am I invited unto her also with the king.

What does Satan want to be like? Whom does he want to be like? He wants to be like God.

Here is Esther who in her position makes request to the king in her petition, “Come to my banquet,” and she also invites Haman. Spiritually, this is like the believers petitioning God and then having Satan come along. This is because Satan sees himself as God.

Since the false gospels and teachings have increased to such a great degree, it could be that Satan is spiritually thinking, “Perhaps I have deceived even the very elect. Perhaps they are now beginning to see me on the same level as the King or as God Himself.” This is because Esther invited them both to come to the banquet.

So this is another thing that puffs him up, and yet there is a problem. We read in Esther 5:13:

Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.

We saw this before. Mordecai is repeatedly called “the Jew.” Just to remind us or in case someone did not catch this earlier, we read in Zechariah 8:23 says:

Thus saith JEHOVAH of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.

This is speaking of Christ. This is a prophecy of the Lord Jesus. Of course, He was born a Jew. He was a Jew and Mordecai, the Jew, typifies the Lord Jesus.

It was Haman’s thorn that Mordecai would not bow down to him. Mordecai, who sat at the king’s gate, refused to bow down. This was why Haman determined to kill him and all of his people. The whole point behind casting the lot and choosing the date of Adar 13 was for the purpose of having all of the Jews killed.

Of course, spiritually with Satan, his number one nemesis is the Lord Jesus Christ. What did he want Jesus to do in the wilderness when he tempted Him forty days? Satan wanted Christ to recognize him as God, “Bow down and worship me.”

Can you imagine the gall of this creature, of this spirit being? He is just a little creature. Yes; he is more powerful than us men, but he is still just a little tiny creature in comparison to God.

Because he rules over men in this world, as mankind fell into sin, this really lifted up his ego; but, basically, this is like ruling over an anthill in comparison to the universe that God controls. Yet he has the nerve to dare ask the Lord Jesus Christ to bow down and worship him.

That is just an incredible blindness and an incredible foolishness on his part, but God puts up with this and puts up with this and has put up with this all through history. But Satan wants Christ to bow down to him or to be dead. Satan wants him dead.

We saw this when Jesus entered into the human race and made manifest what He had done before the foundation of the world. It was Satan moving behind the scenes stirring up people to crucify Him. He had hoped that that would do it but, of course, it turned out to be a failure for him and it turned into a great victory for Christ.

This was the same thing that was happening in Esther 5:14:

Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and to morrow 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 he caused the gallows to be made.

They were a perfect couple. They were really matched well.

This woman, Zeresh, reminds us of someone like Jezebel who stirred up her husband, Ahab, to work wickedness. Zeresh had the solution, the same as Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, when he was disturbed because Naboth would not sell him his vineyard. Ahab was disturbed, so he was lying on his bed distraught because he could not get what he wanted. His wife, being a good wife, told him, “I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite,” and so Jezebel arranged for Naboth to be killed.

Here, Zeresh does not like what is happening to her husband, Haman. Everything is going well and yet he has this one problem, so she comes up with the solution. She tells him to build a gallows fifty cubits high, go into the king, speak to the king in order that the king hang Mordecai, and then go merrily into the banquet.

What a solution. It was pretty ruthless, and yet Haman thought that this was great. He thought that this was a great thing. After all, the king had advanced him, and Mordecai was just some Jew sitting out at the king’s gate. The king had already sold Mordecai and all of the Jews into the hands of Haman. Certainly, the king would have no problem with hanging Mordecai.

But let us look at this spiritually. Spiritually, we know that Haman was a type of Satan and that Mordecai was a figure of the Lord Jesus Christ. When Haman’s wife talked of tomorrow, she was speaking of the 17th day of the 2nd month. In other words, this was May 21.

Spiritually, was Satan somehow expecting to kill Christ on May 21? Let us think of something else. How was he going to kill Him? Haman was going to build a gallows that was fifty cubits high and hang Mordecai. What does the Bible say about this?

We read in Galatians 3:13:

Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

But Jesus had already done this. He had already hung on a tree according to what we read in 1 Peter 2:24. Since He is bearing sins here in 1 Peter, this had to be before the foundation of the world. It says in 1 Peter 2:24:

Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness…

So Jesus had already hung on a tree and was already cursed. What is spiritually in view is that Satan is plotting and planning somehow to crucify Christ again.

How could he crucify Him again? Jesus died from before the foundation of the world for His elect people, for a certain number of individuals who I still believe total 200 million. He died and paid for all of their sins. He made payment, and so this obligated God to save every one of them throughout history or through the unfolding of time over the course of this world.

From the very beginning until May 21, 2011, history was God being faithful to that promise. In each and every generation when an elect person would be born, God had an obligation and committed Himself without failure to save that person before they died or to save that person before something else happened. This only came into view especially prior to May 21 because God had made another commitment, which was that the day of salvation would come to a close on a particular date. That date was May 21, 2011 because the Word of God pointed to that day as the day that the door would shut.

So if God was committing Himself to shutting the door to salvation on the world on a particular day, how would Satan view this? He would view this information as something to prevent or to hinder from being believed or from even going out into the world, even if he could only prevent one of God’s elect from hearing this.

This was because it was absolutely necessary that they heard the Word of God. This was how God applied what Christ had done. This was how God redeemed people. It was like taking the blood of the lamb that was slain, putting it in hyssop, and applying it to the heart of the one who heard it according to God’s timetable. God, however, set a closing point and date for that timetable.

I think that what we have in Esther 5, when the plan was to hang Mordecai on the 17th day of the 2nd month, was indicating that Satan was very confident that a world full of seven billion people could not possibly hear the Gospel message and become saved prior to the point that God had determined to shut the door; yet he was wrong about this and deceived in this.

Let us move into Esther 6. We read in Esther 6:1:

On that night could not the king sleep…

When we go past midnight on our clocks, we enter into a new day. The king could not sleep, so this could have been 1, 2, or 3 A.M. He could have been into the next day. So even though this says “that night,” this is referring to the 17th day of the 2nd month.

We can know this because remember that Zeresh told her husband, Haman, “To morrow speak thou unto the king.” After the king could not sleep and they read to him the chronicles, he asked, “Who is in the court?” Because this was the next day or “to morrow,” we read next, “Now Haman was come into the outward court of the king's house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.” He was probably there bright and early. Maybe the king had the chronicles read to him for two or three hours. We do not know. It was basically very, very early in the morning, but we could also say that it was late at night.

It continues:

On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king.

The king was having insomnia, which is not pleasant. I am sure that we have all experienced a night or two when we could not sleep, but the king probably did not have this problem all of the time because it says, “On that night could not the king sleep.” In other words, it was not his regular habit to not be able to sleep. Maybe he had too much coffee too late or something that had caffeine or some type of stimulant of some sort and he could not sleep.

We have to realize that even though God is not mentioned in the book of Esther, we see the providential hand of God everywhere. This means that He is in control of all circumstances and all events. He is orchestrating all things, especially when it concerns His people.

What does Roman 8:28 tell us? It says:

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

This is telling us that “all things work together for good.” There is nothing left out.

This was the case when this king could not sleep; but we can ask, “What if he had fallen asleep?” What if he had fallen asleep like he normally did and had slept right through? What if the next thing he had heard was Haman knocking at the door? What if when the king got up, he was told that Haman wanted to make an appearance because he had a request?

Of course, the way that Haman would have laid this out was by telling the king that this man, Mordecai, was an evildoer and that he certainly did not have the king’s best wishes at heart, “There is this man who refuses to obey the authority of the king.” After all, the king had given Haman authority. Technically, if Mordecai was not obeying Haman, then he was also not obeying the king.

Because of the way that Haman would have laid this out, the king would have certainly said, “Do what you think is best.” Then Haman would have rushed out, grabbed Mordecai, taken him to the gallows, and he would have been killed bright and early on the 17th day of the 2nd month.

God, however, was in complete control. He knew exactly what would happen when Haman would get there; and so God just troubled the king in the sense that He would not let the king sleep. The king was probably wide awake, and so he called for the record of the chronicles.

Basically, this would be like the minutes of Congress. To be a little cynical, if I was reading about all of the laws that had been passed and all of the voting that had been done, that would certainly put me to sleep.

This might have been the king’s idea, but maybe not. Maybe he was just intending to put that time to good use, so he decided to have some things be brought to remembrance, which turned out to be a good thing. So they brought the book of the records of the chronicles and they were read before the king. Someone was reading this to him.

One other thing that I want to look at before we move on is the first few verses of Psalm 121. We read in Psalm 121:1-5:

A Song of degrees. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from JEHOVAH, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. JEHOVAH is thy keeper: JEHOVAH is thy shade upon thy right hand.

This, of course, is speaking of God. God is not going to slumber nor sleep at His watch of keeping Israel, which is every one of His people. He watches out for them.

Do you remember what Elijah mockingly said to the prophets of Baal when they were trying to call down fire from Heaven to consume the sacrifice? As they were calling out to their god, Elijah said, “Peradventure [or perhaps] he sleepeth.” This was because they had no god. It might as well have been as if he were asleep, because they had no god that was aware of their concerns, of their desires, or of their wants. They had a god that was not aware of anything. Their idols were gods of stone, wood, gold, or silver, and they did not know anything.

The God of Israel is the real God, the only God. He is a God who knows all things, and He knew that the historical situation was that Haman was making his way to the king. If Haman had come to the king and had implemented his plan, this would have harmed the people of God.

So God was watching and keeping Israel. He was not slumbering and He was not sleeping. As Ahasuerus could not sleep that night, we see this truth in view.

Then in Esther 6:2-3, we read:

And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus. And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, There is nothing done for him.

This is the second time that this issue of the two doorkeepers comes up in the book of Esther.

Back in Esther 2:21-23, we read of this:

In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king's gate, two of the king's chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, of those which kept the door, were wroth, and sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus. 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.

Here, we read that what happened was recorded in that book. The only thing is that they wrote it down and then they forgot all about it.

This kind of reminds us of Joseph and the butler and the baker. The butler was loosed and Joseph had asked the butler to remember him, but the butler forgot all about Joseph until the very appropriate time when the Pharaoh had a dream. Again, we see the hand of God.

God has not forgotten us. He has not left us. He has not forsaken us. He knows exactly what is going on. He is in control of everything that has happened. Up to May 21, since May 21, since October 21, unto the present, the hand of God is orchestrating all things and working out all things for good for His people. This never changes. Even now, no matter how difficult things might be, it is for good.

So these two doorkeepers in Esther typify the church. We looked at this before. There are two of them and the number two relates to the caretakers of the Gospel. The doorkeepers relate to the believers who keep the door, and the door is Christ. Basically, this is the door to Heaven, which comes through the Bible, the Word of God. As people hear this, God blesses them and they can enter in.

The church was given the responsibility of being a faithful doorkeeper. They were to keep the commandments of God faithfully. If they would do this, then they would have continued, but they were rebellious. They were unfaithful.

When they tell people, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life,” they are telling people to come in who should not come in. God has to bring them in. We are only the doorkeepers, but it is God who determines who comes in or who goes out. God determines when the door is open and when the door is shut. He makes all of those determinations, not us. We are the just person who stands there. We open the door and we close the door.

God says that on the 17th day of the 2nd month, which was May 21, that He shut the door. Are we now to determine that the door is open? He made a special point of proclaiming this to all of the world, to everyone in the world, “You have until this day to seek the Lord. Seek Him before the day of His wrath comes, because the door shuts on this particular day.”

This did not happen as we thought it would but this takes spiritual sight to understand what God is doing, just like it takes spiritual sight to understand that He brought judgment on the churches. The churches are not physically decimated either, but we learned, “Oh, the Holy Spirit left.” This is all seen through the eyes of sight in His Word. We have also learned that Judgment Day came in a spiritual way, and what a severe judgment it was to shut the door of Heaven; and this is what He did.

So these two doorkeepers are mentioned when they are first found out, as Mordecai reveals their plot, like the Spirit of Christ revealed the wickedness of the church. They are in view at the end of the church age and at the beginning of the great tribulation, and then they are forgotten. We do not read about or hear about these doorkeepers again until the 17th day of the 2nd month when the king could not sleep.

In other words, there are two references to the doorkeepers. The first one would be May 21, 1988. The second one or the second time that they come into mind would be May 21, 2011.

Is this not interesting how that particular night and that particular day was leading up to the day that we realized was the 23rd complete year and the 8400th day of the great tribulation and the end of the judgment on the churches? That was the end for them.

So the doorkeepers come into view at the beginning when judgment begins at the house of God. Then in the book of Esther, at the end of that judgment, they are remembered.

What was remembered? What was remembered was, “What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this?”

In other words, the Spirit of Christ brought judgment on the church, and what honor has been done to the Lord Jesus for judging this rebellious house of God, the churches and congregations of the world?

When Haman has to take Mordecai around, this was a triumphant parade through the streets of Shushan. This was because Mordecai, historically, had reported the matter of the plot against the king; but, spiritually, this is as if Satan must now give honor to Christ because that judgment is complete.

What happened? Satan’s authority was only for 23 years. It was only for him to reign over the churches for that length of time but not one day longer; and so he begins to fall.

Then we read in Esther 6:4:

And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman was come into the outward court of the king's house…

Go to Revelation 11:1-2. We read there:

And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

Haman was in the outer court. Now, though, it was as if those 42 months were done, because that is a figure representing the entire length of the great tribulation of 23 years. Now he is brought in, but not to honor him. This was not to glorify him. This was to judge him, as God used him to bring judgment and now that judgment turns upon his own head.

We are going to stop here.

 

«

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

»