Holy Scriptures and Israel

Gideon Levytam: Shabbat Shalom. We are studying the book of Esther, Esther the queen, Esther Hamalka. And we are drawing nigh towards the end of the book of Esther. Please turn to these 17 verses of chapter 8, beginning with verse 1.

Guest (Male): On that day did King Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews' 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.

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. Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the king, and said, If it please the king, and if I have found favour in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews which are in all the king's provinces: For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?

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, 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.

Then were the king's scribes called at that time in the third month, that is, the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth day thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded unto the Jews, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies and rulers of the provinces which are from India unto Ethiopia, an hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to the writing thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language. And he wrote in the king Ahasuerus' name, and sealed it with the king's ring, and sent letters by posts on horseback, and riders on mules, camels, and young dromedaries:

Wherein the king granted the Jews which were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey, 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.

So the posts that rode upon mules and camels went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment. And the decree was given at Shushan the palace. 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.

The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour. And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree 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.

Gideon Levytam: I'm going to stop here at verse 17 of this chapter. Now, brothers and sisters, the book of Esther is an extremely important book to study because we learn from the book of Esther of the Jewish community who remain in Bavel, in Babylon, while they should have been returning back to the Promised Land, as others returned through Ezra and Nehemiah, and the days when they came back to the Promised Land and rebuilt Jerusalem and the temple and the sacrificial system had been reinstituted, and God was honored when they returned back to the Promised Land.

But those Jewish people that remain in Bavel, in Babylon, were Jewish people who were part of the nation who should have been coming back to the Promised Land, who should have not remained far away from the presence of the Lord. And yet God in His providence took care of them, watched over them, because He had a plan for His people Israel to restore one day the nation as Romans 11:25 and 26 says, "Then all Israel shall be saved." And Israel as a nation one day will be restored ultimately to be a blessing and a light to the nations of the world.

But they were far away from the Lord. As we mentioned many times again and again that we don't even find once the name God mentioned in the book of Esther. We don't find once the word prayer in the book of Esther. We don't find once the name Yehovah, Jehovah, in the book of Esther. It shows us of our own nation, the Jewish people, who are not in a right spiritual state when they remain there in the land of Bavel.

And so the book of Esther is teaching us the importance for us today as believers in Yeshua the Messiah, not to stay away from the Lord, but to come and to gather around Him, where the Word of God is being taught, where Yeshua is being glorified, where the truth is being presented, where the brothers and sisters serve the Lord and minister around the person of the Lord. You remember what Yeshua said in Matthew 18:20, "For where two or three are gathered together unto My name, there am I in the midst of them." He promised blessing for those who gathered around Him and having Him as the object.

So we are now towards the end of the book of Esther. The Jewish people had these enemies of the Jews by the name of Haman. He was an Agagite, Agagi in Hebrew. He was a descendant of the Amalekim, Amalekite. And the Amalekim were the first tribe that attacked our nation Israel of all the people who came out of Egypt. They were the first people to attack the Jewish people, the Hebrews, the Israelis who came out of the land of Egypt.

And the Amalekites are a picture of the old nature, the flesh, that we all possess. And you notice when we became believers in Yeshua the Messiah, the first enemy and the closest enemy that we had is none else but our own sinful nature that we live with every day of our lives. And God of course does not want us to allow the flesh to rise up and that's why Colossians teaches us to put the flesh where it belongs, to count it dead, to put the members of this old nature where they really belong.

But Agag and Haman rising up in every generation. And here we find this Haman rose up and became next to the King Ahasuerus. And what does he do? He wants to destroy the Jewish people, the people of God. And so we find out that Haman's wife by the name of Zeresh told Haman in chapter 6 and verse 13, "If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews before whom thou had begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shall surely fall before him."

God is intending to preserve His people even though enemies will rise in every generation and we mentioned it in the study of the book of Esther that in every generation there's another one who rises to seek to destroy the people of Israel, the people of God. And it's the same thing in the ecclesia, in the church today. In every generation someone will rise to seek to destroy the truth that is found in scripture and to discourage the believers from following after Yeshua Jesus the Messiah.

So eventually, beloved brothers and sisters, if you remember Haman set a decree, gave a decree, had the signature of King Ahasuerus and he signed it and the signature was upon it that all the Jews will be killed in one day according to Haman Harasha, this evil man. And you remember that it was according to chapter 3 and verse 12 and 13, it will be on the 13th day of the first month.

As we read here, there was written according to all that Haman had commanded, that eventually all Jewish people will be killed on the 13th day of the 12th month, that is the month of Adar. One year was supposed to pass by, everybody will receive those letters and information from Shushan the palace and all the Jews in the 127 provinces were supposed to be killed in one day. Now brothers and sisters, we do not know what the population was at that time sometime around 500 or so BC when the Jewish people were scattered abroad.

Could be a couple of millions of them. But in one day was scheduled to be killed by Haman. But the opposite happened. God in His sovereign plan to preserve His people watched over the nation of Israel and ultimately if you remember He destroyed this man by the name of Haman and we read this is how we ended in our last discussion about the book of Esther in chapter 7. What did they do? You remember that, "So they hanged Haman on a gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai, then was the king's wrath pacified."

So Haman eventually received what he planned to do for Mordecai, what he planned to do for the Jewish people. Eventually he himself was hanged on the very tree, etz in Hebrew, gallows, that he prepared for Mordecai the Jew. So what's happening right now? We have coming now to chapter 8. We have to remember that the decree to kill our own Jewish people on the 13th day of the month of Adar haven't changed.

That decree remained. So Esther understood that. Even though Haman died, the verdict was still given by the king of Persia, King Ahasuerus. It could never change. And you notice Esther chapter 8 teaches us and a very important principle that throughout the Bible we learn the principle of the fact that there is a law, there is a principle here in this world that sin brings death.

Romans 6:23, "The wages of sin is death." That principle, that law never changes. It began in Genesis chapter 2 where God said to Adam the day that you will eat out of this tree thou shalt surely die, and it remains today. Notice that. People were born, people die. People are born, people die. But not only physical death, there is spiritual death, separation from God. It is a principle. Sin separates man from God. I'm going to show you this in a moment from this Esther chapter 8.

So in the first two verses we see Mordecai had been promoted by King Ahasuerus. It says here in verse 1 on that day, "Bayom hahu" in Hebrew, the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews' enemy unto Esther the queen and Mordecai came before the king for Esther had told him who he was and what he was unto her. So up to now, Mordecai never told anyone who he is in a relationship to Esther.

In fact, earlier if you remember he told Esther, "Esther don't let anyone know who you belong to." And Esther haven't revealed the fact that she was Jewish. So now Esther after Haman was taken and hung on the tree, after she told him that she belong to the Jewish people, that she is a Jewish lady, here we find out that she is telling King Ahasuerus, she said for Esther had told what he was unto her.

So Esther is now free to share with King Ahasuerus the fact that Mordecai is the one that took care of her and she is a relative to him. He's Jewish, she's Jewish and she already told the king that she belonged to the Jewish people because Haman wanted to destroy all the Jewish people. For this reason he hung him on a tree. So now she is telling the king who Mordecai is.

Now you notice by the way, it says on that day the King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman the Jews' enemy unto Esther. Notice the reverse happened. How God turned the tables. Up to this point, the Jewish people were now in a preparation to be destroyed by Haman and those that will kill them but now things are changing. The providence of God. He protects His own people even though they are not in the land yet He provide and protect them because He has a plan for His people Israel.

Notice the word enemy is not quite right is much more than enemy. In Hebrew we call it "Tsorer haYehudim." Is the one who is not only the enemy but is causing constant tsarot or in Yiddish tsoris, trouble. He's not only an enemy but he's causing constant trouble to the people of Israel, to the Jewish people. But his house was given to Esther.

Esther now told King Ahasuerus who Mordecai is and notice the promotion of Mordecai the Jew. It says here in verse 2 and the king took off his ring which he had taken from Haman and he gave it unto Mordecai and Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. Notice now, it's not Haman any longer who remain alive but Mordecai. It's not Haman any longer who have the ring of the king upon his finger but Mordecai.

God in His sovereign protection over His people have allowed the enemy to be defeated and yet the people who He has a plan for have been preserved. And now Mordecai become the one that received the house of Haman. Now I can assure you that Mordecai by that time sense that there's a miracle here that the God of Israel had provided for the Jewish people in protecting them from this enemy.

And he was not as proud as Haman who is seeking to exalt himself. Mordecai haYehudi, you could see that he was now being really a humble person that seek the welfare of the people of Israel, of his own people. Even though he was not in the land, he was not you might say in a spiritual state that he should have been at yet he still had a care for the people and God have lifted him up and you might say exalted him.

And again I would like to suggest that Mordecai here in type in the whole shadows that we see here is a picture of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Men have humbled Him, God have exalted Him. Men have rejected Him, God have lifted Him up. And you remember we have already studied in chapter 6, "What shall be done unto the man whom the king desire to honor?" And the king honored Mordecai and now Mordecai became the one who ruled and you might say reign next to the king but he ruled over the very house of Haman himself.

Well now beloved brothers and sisters, the issue still haven't been dealt with. Even though Haman was dead right now, but the verdict went out and the verdict cannot be changed. This verdict was that all the Jewish people must die on that day that have been assigned earlier that they all will be destroyed on the 13th day of the month of Adar. So what to do?

So you notice what happened here, Esther knows that because the law of the Medes and Persians never changes. And so look what we find out in chapter 8 now in verse 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, Esther's second request from the king. And so we read in verse 3, Esther appeals to the king to put away Haman's verdict or mischief. We read in verse 3, and Esther spake yet again before the king and she fell down at his feet and she besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite and his device that he had devised against the Jews.

You see this brothers and sisters, even though Haman died but the verdict, the command to kill all the Jewish people signed by the King Ahasuerus himself with his ring could not be altered. So you might say the plan to destroy all the Jewish people in the month of Adar still remain. So what to do? So Esther is coming to the king says please, if I will put it in a day-by-day language, please.

She wept before him, she fell down at his feet, she besought him to put away, notice the mischief or the evil of Haman the Agagite and his device that he had devised against the Jews. By the way that word for mischief again is not a correct word. You know sometimes we say about a little kid that he is mischievous. You know Haman was not mischievous, he was evil. He was operated you might say under the satanic influence.

He hated the plan of God, he hated the people of God, he hated the purposes of God and he raised men, Satan that is, raised men in history to seek to destroy the plan of God. It was not a mischief. In Hebrew we call it "Ra'at Haman haAgagi." The word ra'a means evil. This is evil. The thing that Haman wanted to do was evil, was sinful, was wicked.

And so she, this is Esther pleading with King Ahasuerus, please remove this. Please put this away that verdict that have been given against the Jews, 127 provinces, probably couple millions of Jews are going to die on that particular day. And so notice the king responded to her in verse 4. The king told her and it's so beautiful to see that he handing her the sceptre.

It said in verse 4 and the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So Esther arose and she stood before the king. The king have accepted her. Okay what do you have to say? Let's see how we are going to handle your request. Remember she said earlier, she fell at his feet, she besought him, she wept and tears were down her cheeks and she's beseeching him to help her and the king responded by lifting up the golden sceptre towards Esther so Esther could come closer. In other words, he have accepted the fact that she has a need and he is going to seek to help her.

And so beloved brothers and sisters, here's the request from Esther. Esther requests a reverse of Haman's decree against her own people, the Jewish people. And so she says in verse 5, "And she said if it please the king and if I found favor in his sight and the thing seem right before the king and I be pleasing in his eyes let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite which he wrote to destroy the Jews, which are at all the king's provinces."