Holy Scriptures and Israel

Guest (Male): Shalom. Holy Scriptures and Israel is a ministry designed to share with the Jewish people the good news of the Lord Jesus, Yeshua the Messiah, and to instruct Christians on the Jewish roots of their faith. And now, teaching God's Word from a Hebrew Messianic perspective, here is Gideon Levytam.

Gideon Levytam: This study of Esther chapter 8. Well, now beloved brothers and sisters, the issue still hasn'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 had been assigned earlier, that they all will be destroyed on the 13th day of the month of Adar.

So to 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, 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 remained. So what to do? So Esther is coming to the king, she 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 of Haman the Agagite and his device that he had devised against the Jews. By the way, that word for mischief, again, is not the 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 Ha-agagi. The word Ra’at means evil. This was 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 had been given against the Jews." 127 provinces, probably a 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's handing her the scepter. It said in verse 4: "And the king held out the golden scepter towards 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 scepter towards Esther so Esther could come closer. In other word, he has 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 have 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."

Now you see again, beloved brothers and sisters, Esther is basing her request and appealing to the king. She says, "Listen, if it please you, king, and if I have found favor in your sight, and if it seem right before the king," in other word she is giving it to him to make the decision. And you remember what Proverbs 21 tells us, that the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord and He turneth it whithersoever He will.

And here you can see how God is turning the heart of the king. This is King Ahasuerus. He worked in his heart in His providence and He changed his direction. Earlier, he said to Haman, "Do whatever you want with these people. Take the ring, put the signet in my name, destroy these people." But God changes the king's heart.

And you can see how Esther wisely said, "If it please the king, if I found favor in his sight, if it pleases in his own eyes, let the writing be reversed of the letters that were sent by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote," notice she re-emphasized again, "to destroy the Jews which are in all the king's provinces."

Now brothers and sisters, again, it is amazing how we learn from these passages the principles that the Bible teaches us. The principles of the fact that certain things we can't reverse. Something new had to be introduced. And as I mentioned, beloved brothers and sisters, scripture teaches us of these two eternal laws.

One law is that sin brings death. In fact, I want you to turn to Romans 8 with me for one second so I will just give you the two laws that are biblical, very clear, given to us in the scripture. Romans 8 and verse 2. Look at this, Paul presented this before the believers at Rome and he said to them: "For the law of the Spirit of life in Messiah Yeshua, has made me free from," here's the second law, "the law of sin and death."

Two laws: the law of sin and death and the law of the Spirit of life in the Messiah Yeshua. These are two verdicts that have been given to all humanity. The first thing, of course, is the law of sin which lead to death. And then the second law is the law of the Holy Spirit of God, Ruach HaKodesh, which brings life to those who believe in Yeshua HaMashiach. Two separate laws.

Both verdicts have been proclaimed and given to humanity and you can't change the one, neither can you change the other. So Esther, and again, "Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning," Paul said in Romans 15. All the things that happened unto them were written for us, 1 Corinthians chapter 10, Paul wrote to the believers in those local churches, local assemblies.

And so here we find out that Esther is asking from King Ahasuerus, "Please, if it please the king, if I found favor in his sight, and if I pleasing the king, let the writing, let the verdict, let the law that you have sent that all Jews must be killed on the 13th day of the month of Adar, let it be reversed. The letters have been devised by Haman, they were sent that all the Jews will be killed, King Ahasuerus please, if I found favor with you, reverse it."

But you see, beloved brothers and sisters, you will notice this in a moment that he couldn't reverse it. He could not reverse the decree. This is the law of the Medes and the Persian. And you see, God did not give us this in order for us to discover the law of the Mede and Persian, this is the word of the Lord. And He gave it to us to understand biblical principles.

That there is a law of sin which lead to death and ultimately those Jews will die should they go by this principle, by this law, because the verdict of God, the decree was sent. 127 provinces, the Jewish people worldwide will be killed according to this verdict.

Notice what it says here in verse 6, Esther continue in her request and then she said to him, "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?" The word "my people" and "my kindred" is ammi and moladti. Ammi is my people, moladti is the people of the land that I belong to, the Jewish people.

She said to King Ahasuerus, "How can I endure that?" You can see how she was engaged by now. You remember earlier she didn't want to go to the king, she was afraid. And in chapter 4, Mordecai told her, "If you are not going to do this, God going to come in another way to bring deliverance unto our people. And you are not going to escape the judgment that is going to come upon all our Jewish people."

So she said to him, if you remember, "You fast, tell all the Jewish community to fast." No prayer, doesn't mention there, because the book of Esther shows us that they were not where they should be, these Jewish people. They should have been back in Jerusalem, in Yerushalayim, in the land of Israel, in Canaan, the land of the Bible, the land that God had given to our forefathers, but they chose to remain in the diaspora, in the dispersion.

They were wrong. But God wanted them to come back to the land, but God preserved them. God watched over them. And so now she boldly coming to the king and saying to him, "How can I endure to see what is going to happen to my people?" By the way, even though Haman was dead, she knew that the verdict could not change.

And that's why she's pleading, "Have mercy on my people. King Ahasuerus, I'm not able to see this evil that is going to come upon my people." She's beseeching him on behalf of her brethren. It reminds me of the importance of praying, with the New Testament language, Brit Chadashah language, for us to beseech on behalf of our families, our nation Israel, our friends, Jew and gentile alike, to beseech the Lord.

Be ye reconciled, turn your heart to God, come back to the living God, accept the Messiah Yeshua because there is none other name given among men whereby you must be saved. "I am the way, the truth, and the life," Yeshua said, "no one come to the Father but by me." To beseech people, to appeal and to ask them to turn to the Lord and also to pray to God on behalf of our people.

And so she is beseeching. She said, "I will not be able to handle, to endure to know that my people, ammi and my kindred, moladti will end up to be consumed by the verdict that was given by the king." And so here, beloved brothers and sisters, in the next two verses, verses 7 and 8, we can see the importance of the understanding of the two principles that are taught in the word of God. Or we can say it the two laws, in Hebrew we call it shnei chukim nitzchi’im. It's eternal laws; they will never going to change.

Because look what we find out in verse 7. King Ahasuerus gives them a counsel and advice and he says, "Then 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," notice that, "he laid his hand upon the Jews." Now notice now, the king now all of a sudden realize that the people that he earlier sunk his ring in wax and stamped the letters, were the Jews.

Now he is mentioning them by name. Oh, we have already hung Haman because of what he planned against the Jews. Now notice what he says in verse 8. He doesn't say, "Oh, wait a minute, let's send another letter to say stop the verdict." He doesn't say it. You know why? Because he gives us the answer here in verse 8. He says, "Write you 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."

Now brothers and sisters, listen. What God gave a verdict here in this world, that sin lead to death, that will never change. God could not reverse it. "The wages of sin is death," we read in Romans chapter 6. Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Look at Ezekiel 18 with me for a moment. If you just turn there, Ezekiel was presenting to the nation of Israel the word of the Lord, and God said to Israel through Yechezkel the prophet in verse 4: "Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine," God is saying to Israel. But then He said, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die."

God cannot reverse this principle. He is holy. He cannot reverse, He cannot change it. That's why, dear beloved brothers and sisters, we visit many funeral homes many times during our lives because there is a physical principle that no one could change. But not only physical, there is a spiritual lesson here. Sin separate us from God and not only that sin lead us to physical death, but sin, unless God forgave that sin, lead us to eternal separation from God.

Spiritually, a person without the Messiah is dead in his or her trespasses and sins. This will never be reversed. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." This is a principle. God said to Adam before even Chava, before Eve, took of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, He said to Adam, "The day that thou shalt eat out of this tree, mot tamut, dying you shall die." And sure enough, Adam ate and he died spiritually that moment. He was separated from the Lord spiritually, which led him ultimately to die physically.

We read the list in Genesis chapter 5. We read there that from Adam all the way unto Lamech, everyone of them died. We read again and again, "And he died." In Hebrew, vayamot. Vayamot. One after the other, the list is going on, and he died, and he died. That verdict was declared by God already before even sin entered in. And that's why God had to introduce another way whereby a sinner can receive life, can receive forgiveness, can receive a relationship back to God.

And so you see what we read here, and I'm back in Esther chapter 8 and verse 8. We read, "Write you also for the Jews," notice he is introducing now to write another verdict, another law, another letter. Not to remove the other one; he is going. But notice it says here, "Write to all the Jews as you like in the king's name, 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."

Write another one. Write another letter. In fact, I just want you to go back to chapter 1 of Esther for a moment and here I want you to read verse 19. You remember that the queen Vashti could not be restored back to the king when she refused to submit to the king and he gave a verdict that Vashti will no longer be his wife? Notice what it says in verse 19 of Esther chapter 1, it says: "If it please the king, let there go a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes that it be not altered, that Vashti come no more before King Ahasuerus and let the king give her royal estate to another that is better than she."

Notice, the law of the Medes and Persian that it be not altered. You can never change it. And that's a principle, biblical, spiritual principle taught in the word of God that the wages of sin is death. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. And the fact that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God means that all of us by nature are deserved to die, will die physically, but unless we receive that new law that God have given, we will remain eternally separated from God.

And so in verse 8, he says, "Write another letter. Write all together another letter," he is saying to her, you and Mordecai. "And I will seal it with my ring and we will be sending this to all the Jewish community and all the people in the 127 provinces of the Persian kingdom."

And so beloved brothers and sisters, notice, from verse 9 on to verse 15, we have the second decree, the second law that was given to Mordecai and Esther for the Jewish people and for all the people around the world in these 127 provinces. It's a new law. It's the law of the Spirit of life in the Messiah Yeshua that's been represented here by this new letter.

And so we read in verse 9, the call for the king's scribes now to come. "Then the king's scribes were called at that time," he said, in the third month, notice a few months passed by now because earlier it was the month of Nissan. Now we are in the month of Sivan, three months: Nissan, Iyar, Sivan, the three first months in the Hebrew biblical calendar.

So, "Then were the king's scribes called at that time in the third month, that is the month of 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 the rulers of the provinces which are from India unto Ethiopia, 127 provinces, unto every province according to the writings thereof, and unto every people according to their language, and to the Jews according to their writing and according to their language."

Now can you imagine, they didn't have internet in those days. They didn't have telephones or television in these days. They didn't have airplanes and cars and trains and buses, that they will have to 127 medinot in Hebrew as it says here, these are provinces. In Hebrew, the words medinot, 127 countries from India all the way until Ethiopia, the then-known world.

So when they were writing and they were sending it away, somebody had to write on a mule or on a donkey or on a horse or on a camel in order to get it some faraway. It takes a long time to get it. But not only this, beloved brothers and sisters, they had to write this new law, the law we would call it from a New Testament point of view, the law of the Spirit of life through the Messiah Yeshua, needed to be sent to all the nations of the world, but in all different languages.

Can you imagine, beloved brothers and sisters, according to this verse 9, the writing thereof unto every people after their language and to the Jews according to their language. You see, the Hebrew language, Be-Ivrit as we said, was written in Hebrew to the Jewish people. But it was written in every other language to the people of the world that they will know this new verdict that is going to be sent by the king, sealed by his ring.

Now can you imagine, we are trying to translate a little booklet from one language to another, we have a difficult time, oh, who is able to rightly be able to spell and write this different language? Imagine what it meant. It also tells us how large Persia have been in those days.

Guest (Male): You have been listening to Holy Scriptures and Israel with Gideon Levytam. Gideon teaches God's word from a Hebrew Messianic perspective. For more information about this ministry, write to Holy Scriptures and Israel, Box 1411, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, L0S 1J0, or visit our website at holyscripturesandisrael.com. You are also invited to Gideon's weekly Bible teaching on Fridays at 11:00 AM and 7:00 PM and Saturdays at 1:00 PM at Willowdale Christian Assembly Hall, 28 Martin Ross Avenue in Toronto. Holy Scriptures and Israel is made possible by your prayers and financial support. If you would like to support the program, visit holyscripturesandisrael.com. God bless you. Shalom, shalom.