Chapter 8
No reader of O.T. prophecy can fail to note that the fall of the enemy, threatening the Jews with imminent destruction, coincides with their deliverance, joy, and honor under the Great King. So runs the word from Isaiah and before him to Malachi; and the N. T. so far as it discloses the future of the earth (for its main and peculiar witness is to Christ in heavenly glory) is to the same effect. Here we see the type continued which began in the last chapter. Judgment proceeds.
“On that day did king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews' enemy to Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he [was] unto her. 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. And Esther spoke 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. Then the king held out to Esther the golden scepter. So Esther arose, and stood before the king; and she said, If it please the king, and if I have found favor before him, 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. For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? and how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred? 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 stretched his hand against the Jews. Write ye also to the Jews, as it pleaseth 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, Then were the king's scribes called at that time, in the third month, which [is] the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth [day] thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded unto the Jews, and to the satraps, and the governors, and the princes of the provinces which [are] from India unto Ethiopia, a hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to their writing thereof, and unto every people after their language, and unto the Jews according to their writing and according to their language. And he wrote in the name of king Ahasuerus, and sealed [it] with the king's ring, and sent letters by couriers on horseback, riding on swift steeds that were used in the king's service, bred of the stud: [stating] that the king granted the Jews who were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, [their] little ones and women, and [to take] the spoil of them for a prey, upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, [namely] upon the thirteenth [day] of the twelfth month, that [is] the month Adar. A copy of the writing, that the decree should be given out in every province, [was] published unto all the peoples, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.
The couriers that rode upon swift steeds that were used in the king's service went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment. And the decree was given out in Shushan the palace. And Mordecai went forth from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a robe of fine linen and purple. And the city of Shushan shouted and was glad. The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor. 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 from among the peoples of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews was fallen upon them” (vers. 1-17).
Mordecai no longer abides at the gate of the court, but is brought forward worthily to administer the kingdom here below, after service of the utmost value against treacherous men of blood.
So we read of the twelve called to sit, in an even higher honor when “the regeneration” comes, on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt. 19). What meaning has this to those who see nothing more than the gospel followed by the judgment of the dead and eternity? They ought not to ignore the thousand years' reign, as distinct from the present as from the changeless day which is after the great white throne. It is this intermediate period of blessing which Israel enter after they say, Blessed be he that cometh in the name of Jehovah (Matt. 23). Jerusalem is trodden down by the Gentiles, but only till their times are fulfilled (Luke 21).
In Acts 3:19-21 (cf. Acts 1:6) we have a beautiful anticipation of that day of glory for all things, in contradistinction to the Holy Spirit now come and witnessing in Pentecostal presence. Then only will be the fulfillment of God's holy prophets, when “all Israel shall be saved,” instead of a mere remnant now during the call of the Gentile complement (Rom. 11:25-32). Then will not the Messiah only but the saints from on high judge the world and angels too (1 Cor. 6). Again, 1 Cor. 15:54 furnishes the most instructive synchronism between the coming of the Lord to raise the saints from the dead, and the restoration of Israel nationally yet spiritually to honor and glory in the land of promise (compare Isa. 25-27).
God will gather together in one all things in Christ, the things in the heaven and those on the earth—in Him in whom also we were allotted inheritance (Eph. 1:10-11). For we are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ (Rom. 8, Gal. 4), the Reconciler of all things to Himself, whether earthly or heavenly (Col. 1:20). This is not eternity, but the previous and predicted blessing of the Kingdom, which is again quite in contrast with the walk, while Satan reigns, of faith and suffering under the gospel. Now it is the kingdom and patience in Christ (Rev. 1), but then the world-kingdom of our Lord and His Christ (Rev. 11), the coming age and habitable world to come of Heb. 2 and vi., when the rest of God shall be brought in for earth as well as heaven (Heb. 4), and the Father's will be done on earth as in heaven, the Father's kingdom having come (Matt. 6). If some complain of these distinctions as nice and difficult, let them learn that they are only such to souls fed on the traditions of men, so hindering the discernment of the things that differ, which is essential to genuine progress in revealed truth.