Esther 2:7 And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter.
8 So it came to pass, when the king’s commandment and his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan the palace, to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was brought also unto the king’s house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women.
9 And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her her things for purification, with such things as belonged to her, and seven maidens, which were meet to be given her, out of the king’s house: and he preferred her and her maids unto the best place of the house of the women.
10 Esther had not shewed her people nor her kindred: for Mordecai had charged her that she should not shew it.
11 And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women’s house, to know how Esther did, and what should become of her.
Yesterday was an interesting day in the history of the United States. There was chatter about the Democrats not allowing Mr. Trump to become the next president. There were also threats against his life. However, God saw fit to allow this lost man to become the next president of the U.S. God knows what He is doing. The U.S. has not earned a good leader. Mr. Trump signed many executive orders on his first day. He even cancelled the U.S. support for the WHO. That is a Chinese run organization that is not interested in your health or mine. They are interested in controlling us and killing off those who get in their way.
The many executive orders that were signed may have some impact, but the system in place is bigger than one man or one nation. The world is still moving forward with the one world system. God has declared that the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is imminent. At that moment, God will bring in the antichrist. That is the man the world is waiting for. His coming will be celebrated even more than that of Mr. Trump. He will be a very deceptive man. If you listened to Mr. Trump’s answer to a question of which president he would consult if needed, his answer was Bill Clinton. Mr. Trump supported the Clintons when Bill was president. The Clintons are extremely corrupt and yet this current president praised Mr. Clinton as a good politician. We can look at others that Mr. Trump is putting in his inner circle and we can see trouble is ahead. Don’t put your trust in man. Put your trust in God.
Those who are truly born again, need to pray for Mr. Trump’s salvation, as well as that of Mr. Vance. We also need to pray for the salvation of our own leaders. As we study the book of Esther, we see the mess that godless leaders can make of their own lives and of the lives of others within their realm.
It is important for us to understand the danger of trying to be a secret follower of God.
As we look at the book of Esther it is important to keep the context in mind and to keep the rest of the Scriptures in mind as well. God is not like man. God does not contradict Himself. He is very clear in what He says. He wants us to know the truth.
II Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
We just noted that God put Mr. Trump in the place of president of the U.S. He is a vile man, but he is the leader of that nation. His words have sent chills into the hearts and minds of the Canadian P.M. and the premiers. Mexico is also very concerned with words this president spoke. He has some power but God will limit his power. For the time being, it is still possible to meet openly and preach the Gospel. God-fearing pastors need stop to tip-toeing around and preach the Word in season and out of season. Mr. Trump, a lost man, publicly declared there are only two genders. That message should have been coming from every true pulpit in Canada and the U.S. for a long time. Yes, there are hate laws that target those who speak the truth. There are also thousands of children that are being brainwashed by wicked teaching that tells them to be confused about who they are. Do we love people or not?
There are many people who read the book of Esther and assume that God approved of what was happening in that book. Genesis chapter 2 comes before the book of Esther. In Genesis chapter 2, God established His order for marriage. A man is to leave his father and his mother and he is to cleave unto his wife. They become one flesh.
In Matthew 19, when Jesus was tempted by godless men, He did not limit Himself to dealing with their deception, based on the current standard of His day. He took the Pharisees back to Genesis 2 in order to answer their question. They were not prepared for that, but that was necessary. When dealing with any Bible question, you should always look at what God says first about a doctrine. Then study that doctrine throughout the Bible and see how God deals with that doctrine throughout the Bible.
If we study to shew ourselves approved unto God, we will find that God is consistent in His doctrines. He does not flip around and contradict Himself. Moses changed God’s doctrine on marriage, and the Pharisees tried to get Jesus to agree with Moses’ change. Jesus acknowledged Moses’ change, but He did not endorse it.
When we look at the book of Esther, we will see that God is showing us what happens when His people choose to ignore His Word. The nation of Israel was chosen by God to be different from all the other nations. He gave them His laws. He blessed them greatly. They were the envy of the nations because the nations saw the wealth of that nation. Sadly, Israel did not see themselves as blessed by God. They wanted the depravity of the nations around them. They turned away from God and thus God had to punish them. God gave them true prophets to remind them of the truth and to warn them of the danger they were in. They did not want to hear that and they chose themselves prophets who would be willing to endorse their sins.
The inauguration ceremony of yesterday copied the pattern of Israel. The U.S. is not Israel and they are not a replacement for Israel. Men were chosen to pray for the president and the nation. Those men did not pray for the presidents salvation. They wanted God to bless him and the nation without understanding how that blessing comes. Mr. Trump has been very bold with his statements. Yet, most professing Christians tip-toe around and try not to be offensive. The truth will offend those who hate God.
God has been very gracious to the U.S. over the years. They have not appreciated His graciousness. Canada has not appreciated it either.
Let us look further at what was going on in the book of Esther. Verse 7 tells us that Mordecai brought up Hadassah. The Hebrew word translated as Hadassah means “myrtle”. The Hebrew name translated as Esther means “star”. Interesting names. Mordecai had raised Hadassah. She was an orphan girl and he was gracious enough to take her as his daughter. The text tells us that she was fair and beautiful.
In verse 8 we learn that Esther was taken into the custody of Hegai as one of the many virgins that would be brought before the king. Hegai is the same as Hege. Mordecai had raised her, but he did not protect her from abuse by the king.
In verse 9 we see that Esther pleased Hegai. Hegai was a eunuch, but he was still a man. He saw something in Esther that pleased him. He did not abuse her physically. He liked what he saw in her and he provided her with all she “needed” to prepare her to meet the king. He gave her seven maidens to help her to prepare as well. Hegai put Esther ahead of all the other virgins.
In verse 10 we read that Esther did not reveal who she was. She listened to Mordecai. He did not want her to reveal who she was. Keep in mind that Daniel had revealed who he was and he had showed the various kings in the two kingdoms Who the true God was. He made it well known that there is only One True God. Mordecai could have followed in Daniel’s footsteps, but he chose to bury the facts of who he was and who Esther was. They appeared to be secular Jews. Most Jews today are also secular Jews.
God was watching over all that was happening here. He would work to protect the nation of Israel in spite of the disobedience of people like Mordecai and Esther. God made a promise to Abraham, and He does not lie. He is able to keep His promises. Those who truly know Him are the ones who receive the blessings from Him. As we noted earlier, God established His order for marriage in Genesis 2 and He reinforced His order for marriage in Matthew 19. John the Baptist was beheaded for reminding a pagan king that it was wrong for him to have his brother’s wife.
In verse 11 we read that Mordecai was concerned about his adopted daughter. He wanted to know how things were going for her. He could have taught her to be thankful for her true Jewish heritage and the importance of knowing the true God. He could have taught her to let others know who she truly was. Mordecai could have done the same. Instead, he tried to keep tabs on her after he gave in to the ungodly demands of an ungodly king.
God had already promised to make a great nation of Abraham’s descendants. The nation of Israel had faced other challenges prior to this event. They had survived and thrived. God did not need them to compromise in order to keep them alive. Pharaoh had tried to destroy them but God had protected them during his ungodly reign. Moses stood before another Pharaoh and reminded that king that he needed to let God’s people go. That Pharaoh also despised God and he drowned in the Red Sea.
King Herod tried to kill the infant Jesus, but God took care of that situation. Mary and Joseph did not need to lie to make that happen. They needed to obey God. God gave Herod more time to live but he eventually died and God brought Mary and Joseph and young Jesus back into Israel at just the right time.
God knows how to deliver His people from danger without human assistance. He gave clear commands as to how Israel needed to live. Mordecai and Esther were in a foreign land because of the sins of the people. Mordecai had chosen to accept silence over truth before he was taken captive. As a captive, he ignored the examples of Daniel and his three friends. He chose to go along with the flow. He believed that would work better for him. Compromise is never God’s design. God wants His people to identify with Him and seek to help others to know the blessing of knowing the true God.
As we continue to study the book of Esther, we will see how God worked in spite of Mordecai and Esther’s secret life. They could have been a great blessing to king Ahasuerus and the entire nation. They chose not to reveal the greatness of God to a pagan king. God would continue to show himself strong in spite of their disobedience. They would survive the threat against their lives. What about their souls? What about king Ahasuerus’ soul? Lost people need a clear testimony before them. They may not appreciate that, but they need to be reminded of what the truth is and where it can be found.
Pastor Bartel
