Esther 8:13 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.
14 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.
15 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.
16 The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour.
17 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.
We see the foolish nature of manmade laws. Lost man is so delusional that he thinks he can make decrees that cannot be changed. What lost man fails to understand is that he can be wrong. Even when he is wrong he just plows ahead.
We see that in England right now. The Prime Minister has been wrong all along. Finally the people have spoken up and shown him that he is wrong. Even some within his delusional cabinet are realizing he is wrong. They do not yet realize that they are wrong as well.
In Canada we have a government that believes in man-made climate change. They insist we have to get away for fossil fuels and we need to use the wind and solar to power our economy. They are fools, but they are insisting that this is the path forward.
All the parties are in agreement with this premise. Some have different views on how to get there, but they are all involved in the same train wreck.
Spiritually speaking, most religiously minded people are chasing a pipe dream. They have rejected the God of the Bible. He is too “straight”. They want a puppet that they can manage. They like what Paul warned of:
II Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
That is where most religions are today. That applies to the desire to drink alcohol, to party, to be unfaithful in marriage, to New Evangelicalism which is built upon rejecting absolutes and accepting “grey areas”, and many other kinds of heresies. They do not see them as heresies, but that is what they are.
In the book of Esther, there was a need to get the new letters out to all the provinces quickly. The king had decreed that his laws could not be altered. The only option was to write a new law that would counter the previous law. It did not cancel it out, it just countered it. This would lead to the slaughter of many people.
It is clear that among the lost, life is cheap. If you get in my way, I need to find a way to get rid of you and visa versa. That is why we have no law in Canada against the murder of unborn children. That is why we have protectionist governments who promote the use of illicit drugs. That is why we continue to tax liquor and cigarettes, knowing both are destructive, but there is money to make off of taxing them. It is why we protect prostitution and sodomy, etc.
In our text we read that the posts rode on their various animals to get the message out because the letters needed to get out before the date assigned to the previous decree.
In verse 15 we read that Mordecai was now dressed in royal apparel as well. He had a special robe and even a crown. He was being elevated in the eyes of the people, and the Jews in particular were quite excited to have him in this new role.
We read in verse 16 that the Jews had light, and gladness and joy and honour. There was no animosity between the Jews and the Gentiles prior to Haman’s evil letter. That letter had stirred up a hatred that had not existed prior to that.
We can see how influential people can cause gullible, unlearned people to think things they would not have thought of on their own. The average person is not a very deep thinker. Again we see that in our country in the political sphere. We also see it in the religious sphere. We see that in the Bible as well. It only took one man, Nimrod, to encourage the people to build a tower whose top would reach up to heaven. That was an impossible task, but he had a way of persuading the people to waste their time and energy on it.
God stopped the people from continuing on that foolish path. However, due to the wickedness of lost humanity, many other equally foolish paths have been developed throughout history. The most foolish one was the idea that killing Jesus would solve a major problem in history. Jesus Christ is the only Messiah/Saviour. If He could be killed, there would be no Saviour. All of humanity would die and go to hell.
The Jewish leaders thought they had succeeded in killing Jesus. However, they were wrong. Jesus, the Man died on the cross. He was buried and lay in a tomb for three days. Because He was not just a man, His body never suffered decay in that tomb. Three days later He rose again, demonstrating the fact that He was not just a man. He is the eternal Son of Man, Son of God. The sting of death is gone for those who will turn to God in repentance and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. That is a beautiful fact.
God’s plan to save man, does not involve the slaughter of some to save some others. His plan was to have His sinless, perfect Son slain on a cross, shedding His blood, so that all of humanity could be saved. Jesus Christ rose again, victorious over sin and death. His gift of salvation is available for all of mankind, but only applicable to those who will humble themselves and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ alone to save them. The few that do so, have eternal life. The masses live empty lives on this earth, trying to fill the void with things that can never satisfy.
In verse 17 we read that Gentiles converted to become Jews just to spare their lives. This is hardly considered a revival. There are thousands of Jews in hell today. Many more will end up there yet. Romans 3:23 declares:
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Jew or Gentile, all are born as lost sinners. All need to trust in the true God and in the true Saviour for salvation. That was not happening in the book of Esther. Some of the Gentiles were becoming Jews just so they would not be killed when the time came for the Jews to stand up and fight for their survival. Many Jews would be spared death because they would fight against the Gentiles who wanted them dead. However, many of those Jews would eventually die and end up in hell because they did not put their faith in the true God.
We have many false “revivals” taking place today. There are many people who are turning to a fictitious Jesus. Their Jesus loves the worldliness that is common in the majority of religion today. Their Jesus is not that “stuffy” Jesus who rejects drinking or carousing or enjoying dirty jokes or swearing, etc. Their Jesus is “cool”. Their Jesus is nothing. ‘I should not say that because people will take offence to that.’
The Truth is still the only way to know God’s peace. God is not the Author of confusion. He is the Author of Truth and genuine peace. If you have been caught up with humanistic thinking, why not humble yourself and trust in the true God today. You will never regret it. Your life will be miraculously changed and you will know true joy and gladness.
Pastor Bartel