Esther 9:1  Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king’s commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them;)
2  The Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their hurt: and no man could withstand them; for the fear of them fell upon all people.
3  And all the rulers of the provinces, and the lieutenants, and the deputies, and officers of the king, helped the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them.
4  For Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces: for this man Mordecai waxed greater and greater.

The clock of God keeps ticking. The clock of a nation keeps ticking as well. The plans of a government have consequences. Bad laws cause destruction. Canada is seeing a collapse in many areas. We are scoffed at on the world stage. We are a divided nation. Our once friendly relationship with the U.S. is crumbling. There are many problems we are facing. Those problems are not an accident. I spoke with a concerned person in our community recently. He suggested that the problems our country is facing are global problems. He is an older man who should know better, but he has bought the lies of the media. The problems we are facing are the consequences of a majority of the citizens of this country who live in defiance of the true God.
This nation has long ago lost its way. In spite of the deception that suggests that Canada was founded upon Biblical principles, Canada is a pagan nation and has been since its beginning. The treaties made with the Indians were made by giving them liquor and guns and money. We can see that system is a failure. That is not a Biblical plan. The early history of this country shows drunken leaders sitting among other drunk business people, trying to get a railway through the land among other things.
In our present situation, we have a corrupt government that is hanging on to power with the help of other corrupt parties. The drug trafficking is greatly harming our own country and Mr. Trump is correct in targeting Canada with tariffs. There is no party in Canada that has a solution to the current problems. All are trying to put a bandaid on a problem rooted in the heart of the nation.
The majority of the people cannot see past the physical situation. Years ago I had a discussion with a person on the situation of our country. He was a liberal supporter, and he had to acknowledge that there were major problems in this country then. His answer was that as long as he could finish his life in relative peace, the next generation could deal with the problem. That is the same attitude that king Hezekiah had prior to the fall of Judah.
In the book of Esther, Mordecai had raised Esther with a careless philosophy. He did not want to live for the Lord himself. He was a Jew, but did not want to follow God’s law. He raised Esther to be a careless Jew as well. Esther went along with this careless attitude. Even when Mordecai saw the imminent danger his people were in, he had a difficult time convincing Esther to do something about it. He had allowed her to be dragged into a sinful situation where she was chosen to be the wife of a drunkard and an adulterer. Some might suggest that they had no choice in this matter.
We hear that statement often even in our time. People took the poison shots because they claim they were forced to do so. Women have been changing in their dressing rooms with men present, because the men claim to be women. They claim they were forced to accept that.
The fact is that one of the first words a young child learns is “no”. Wise people did not take the poison shots. They realized they were not properly produced and the side effects were not good. Some people mistakenly took the shots but later realized they had been wrong.
Women do not need to subject themselves to undressing and showering in the same room with men. However, the god of this world has a strong pull over the lost. He is able to convince the lost that there is no choice but to go along with what the media is saying. The Bible is still God’s Word. We can still know the truth and we can still follow the truth. We need to be saved in order to have the right convictions on different matters.
In our text, Mordecai and Esther did not have the right conviction. They faced the threat of death before they finally chose to stand up in a secular manner. They never turned to God. That is similar to what we see happening in our country. We see people who are waking up to the danger of our current political system, but they are not seeking after God. Thus we have a government that sends the army after those who do not bow to them. We have a government that convinces banks to freeze accounts of those who look like leaders working against the government. We have a government that wants to follow the Chinese method of taking complete control of the finances of individuals and to reward those who bow to the government and to punish those who resist the government dictates.
Canada is not Israel. I believe Canada will be destroyed one day. God wants Canadians to be saved. However, Canada as a nation has rejected God. That is very evident. There is much religious activity, but little turning to God.
In our text, the date of the massive slaughter that Haman had devised was coming closer. That law could not be abolished due to the foolish designs of the Persian empire. Only God can declare a law that never needs to be changed. God is perfect and He knows the beginning and the end. He knows what will work and what will not work. Any human law is fallible. Humans cannot see very far. Lost humans are blinded by their pride and unbelief.
In our text, we read that Haman’s law had been countered by Mordecai’s newer law. This newer law had caused the Gentiles to reconsider their acceptance of Haman’s law.
In verse 2 we see that the Jews were organizing themselves now. They were going to go after anyone who wanted to harm them. The Jews were fighting for their survival and the Gentiles saw that they were now in danger due to the aggressive stand that the Jews were taking. We notice here again that the fear of the Jews was spreading, not the fear of the LORD.
During the days of king David, the fear of the LORD was fairly evident in Israel and eventually the enemies of Israel stayed away. They knew they could not win against Israel and they gave up trying. In the time of king Ahasuerus and even in our time, the enemies of Israel are still looking for ways to destroy that nation. God cannot bless Israel the way He would want to because Israel does not want to glorify Him. God would not allow the Jews to be destroyed during the time of the Persian empire and He will not allow them to be destroyed during our time. However they will continue to struggle and suffer due to their rejection of God.
In verse 3 we see that the rulers of the province had a change of mind as well. They were now going to help the Jews, rather than the Gentiles. The reason for this change is noted. It was the fear of Mordecai that fell upon them, not the fear of the LORD. Mordecai was relying on the goodness of an adulterer and drunkard of a king rather than on a holy God. He was dependent upon Esther to keep an acceptable relationship with this adulterer and drunkard of a king. Mordecai relied heavily on Esther for his success.
This was not God’s design. God’s design is for the man to provide for and to protect the woman. The woman is not to be the defender of a family or a nation. The Jews were going to be spared here, but there was no resolution to the problem. We will see this as we continue our study. As we noted above, God granted Israel peace with the nations around them in the time of king David. The reason was that David made peace with God. King David accepted God’s authority over his life and reign. He was not without sin, but he understood the importance of a right relationship with God. He learned the dire effects of his own sins, not only on his life, but also in the life of the nation.
In verse 4 we read how Mordecai was gaining respect from the king and from the people in general. His fame spread throughout all the provinces. The people understood that Mordecai had the full support of the king. He was gaining respect and power. He had a different attitude than that of Haman. He did not try to wipe out the Gentile population of the empire. He just wanted to protect the Jewish population of the empire. He wanted them to be able to live together in harmony.
In the real world there will always be a tension between God-fearing people and the ungodly. Jesus warned of this in John 15. The Gospels show us that throughout the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry. The religious elite despised Him and they grew to hate Him to the place of wanting Him dead. They did not stop until they got Pilate to sign His death warrant. They did not accept that Jesus came to lay down His life as the only hope for mankind. Jesus Christ did not stay dead. He died on the cross. He shed His blood on that cross. He was buried and He rose again three days later. He proved His resurrection by appearing publicly many times over the next 40 days. No one tried to stop Him then. He ascended back to heaven after that and is seated on the right hand of His Father in glory.
The apostles took up the command to preach Jesus Christ after His ascension. True local churches were established and in every generation there have been true local churches. The devil has always attacked true local churches. The Catholics, United, Anglicans, and many other groups are not under attack in the same way. The governments despise them. The devil is always trying to cause division in a true church. The pastor will be attacked and false accusations will be made against him. A true man of God will be protected by God. He may be kicked out of the church God has led him to, but a church that kicks out God’s man will not succeed. They may remain, but they will not succeed. They will become a religious entity that has no power of God in them.
Some professing Christians are content to try to live like Mordecai and Esther did. They do not want to stand and withstand the wiles of the devil. They think that by being more private in their “faith” they will survive. They do not realize until it is too late that they have done massive damage to themselves and to their children.
The love of God motivates a true child of God to press on for God through the local church. That is God’s design for this present age. The world does not need to walk in the fear of a man. That will be the situation during the time of the Antichrist. That has been the case where dictators have ruled and where they are ruling today. Our country is currently walking in the fear of a dictator. He may be stepping aside, but his influence will carry on through whoever might replace him.
The world needs to see the blessing of walking in the fear of the LORD. That is the duty of every true born again Christian and it is the duty of every true local church.
Pastor Bartel