Esther 8:1 On that day did 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 what he was unto her.
2 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.
3 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.
4 Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the king,
5 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:
6 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?
7 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.
Oftentimes lost people are too blind to be able to see the obvious. We have some modern day examples of this. England is currently in a state of turmoil. The Labour Party is on the verge of collapse. Their leader is a clueless man. It is astonishing that his party chose him as their leader.
England has been in decline since the end of the Second World War. When Israel was told they could go back to their homeland and rebuild themselves as a nation there, the Arab/Muslim world did not like it. They chose to attack Israel shortly after they arrived in their land. Nations like England were supposed to help Israel get reestablished but England chose to back away from any help. Israel was defended by God. He worked in miraculous ways to protect that fledgling people as they sought to resettle in the land promised to them in the days of Abraham.
Due to England’s decision not to help Israel, God began to break down “Great Britain”. It has been a number of years since then, but England is a shadow of what it once was. It no longer has any clout on the world stage. In fact, Islam is methodically taking over England. England does not seem to be able to see the enemy within. The turmoil in the Labour Party is not surprising to those who are saved and have their eyes open. Their leader cannot lead, and they have no one in the wings to take his place. The Conservative party, which was once a strong party in England is not in any shape to take over.
We can look at Canada and we see a Liberal government, which is similar to the Labour Party of England. It is astonishing that the Liberal Party of Canada is the ruling party. They have taken an antisemitic position as well. The economy is collapsing. They cannot and do not seem to want to work out a trade deal with the U.S. They would rather join up with a Communist regime like China. China already has its foot in our politics and business world. Islam is also gaining hold of this country. How much longer before we fall into chaos? We have no alternative party that can turn things around here either.
In our study of the book of Esther, the Persian Empire was the second of four world empires. God gave king Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, a dream of the four world kingdoms. The king was so astonished by the dream, he could not remember it nor did he understand what it meant. His “wise men” were clueless to help him. Daniel asked for some time to consult with God and then give the king the dream and the meaning of it.
God gave Daniel the answer, and he relayed it to the king. Keep in mind the dream God gave Nebuchadnezzar was about four world empires. These were not small nations. These nations would have control of the world for a time.
King Ahasuerus was not fit to govern his own house, let alone a kingdom. God put him in his position for just this time. He was going to show Himself strong for His name’s sake.
Thus far in our study of the book of Esther, we have seen a king who is extremely incompetent. He was a party animal. He did not know how to govern, and he did not seem to want to concern himself with governing. He brought in worthless men like Haman to look after the government.
In chapter 7, Haman was exposed as the worthless and evil man that he was. The king had chosen a new wife after divorcing his true wife. He had an affection for Esther. She was a Jewess. Haman hated the Jews and wanted to wipe them out. God would not allow that to happen. At the end of chapter 7 we read that Haman was ordered hanged on the gallows he was having built to hang Mordecai on.
Now in chapter 8 we read that after the death of Haman, his possessions were given to Esther the queen. Mordecai, Esther’s cousin was given a high position in the king’s court. The king did not care one way or another about the Jews. His only concern was for Esther’s well-being.
In verse 2 we read that the king took off his ring and gave it to Mordecai. He was very quick to trust a man. That attitude got him into trouble with Haman. God proved He was in charge. He allowed Haman to influence the king for a time. His time ran out and God installed a better man in his place. God would make sure that Mordecai would be different. As a Jew, he would seek to preserve his people. God was not important to him, but the survival of his people was of great concern to him.
In verse 3 we read that Esther was emboldened by the turn of events. Now she came to the king and asked him to put away the mischief that Haman had devised against the Jews. Haman’s letters were still in effect, even though he was dead.
In verse 4 we read that the king willingly held out his golden sceptre for Esther to come before him. In verse 5 we read that Esther asked that a new letter be written to overrule the letter that Haman had sent out. Haman’s letter was to command the Gentiles to destroy the Jews wherever they were in the Persian Empire on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.
Now Esther was asking for permission to write a letter that would cancel out that letter and give the Jews the right to defend themselves against any attack against themselves. The wheels of government ran slowly then, in certain things. As we have noted, they worked rather quickly to deal with the two men who had threatened the king. They also worked rather quickly in dealing with Haman. However, this letter designed to destroy the Jews could not be dealt with that quickly. The only option was to write a new letter that would counter the command of the first letter.
Again we see the tedious process of trying to correct a mistake made by a godless system.
God is not that way. First of all, He never makes a mistake. He does not act irrationally. His had His entire plan in place before He ever created the heaven and the earth. As we have noted as well, there is no need to fear that God would act in an uncontrolled manner when we come to Him. He is willing to save the repentant sinner. He was willing to forgive and restore the repentant saint.
It is important to know Him and to serve Him faithfully. God is able to protect His assets. He promised Abraham that his seed would be a great nation and that all the nations of the earth would be blessed by Him. God also warned that He would curse any nation that would choose to go against the nation of Israel.
As we noted earlier, God is systematically breaking England. He is also showing us that Canada is in big trouble because we as a nation have turned our backs on truth and have chosen to support terrorists rather than the nation of Israel. It will not go well for Canada in the future. We are not Israel. We can be destroyed. We have a fairly wicked government now. Time will tell just how far this country can go before it collapses altogether. The timing is in God’s hands. We know that on the world stage we are actually quite insignificant. Too many people think we are important, but we are not. We have done some interesting things in the past, but we have lost that. Sadly, we are not a shining city on a hill as far as truth is concerned. We have long ago rejected God as important. Thankfully, God has not turned His back on Canada yet. It is important for those who know the Truth, to be bold and speak the Truth in love. It is important that people be reminded of the Truth, even though most are not interested.
Pastor Bartel