Shabbat Shalom. God bless you. Please open your Bible to the book of Esther, a very important book in the Word of God that helps us to understand the sovereignty of God in relationship to His people Israel, specifically in relationship to all believers in particular, but also in relationship to all humanity. God is sovereign, and God is the one that rules over the affairs of this world. We are so blessed to be able to enjoy the study of the Scripture together, beloved brothers and sisters. So I would like you, please, to turn with me to Esther chapter 2 today, verses 1 to 18. And so I'm reading, after these things, when the wrath of King Achashverosh was appeased, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what was decreed against her.

Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king, and let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the fair young virgins unto Shushan the palace, Shushan Habira, to the house of the women, and to the custody of Hege, the king's chamberlain, keeper of the women, and let their things for purification be given them, and let the maiden which pleased the king be queen instead of Vashti, and the thing pleased the king, and he did so. Now in Shishan, the palace, there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordechai, the son of Yair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite, who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Coniah, king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had carried away.

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 Mordechai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter. And 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. 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 meant 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. Esther had not showed her people, nor her kindred, for Mordechai had charged her that she should not show it. And Mordechai walked every day before the court of the women's house to know how Esther did and what should become of her. Now, when every maid's turn was come to go into King Achashverosh, after that she had been twelve months according to the manner of the women, for so were the days of their purification accomplished to which six months with an oil of mirth and six months with sweet orders and with other things for the purifying of the women.

Then thus came every maiden unto the king. Whatsoever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the women unto the king's house. In the evening she went and on the morrow she returned into the second house of the women to the custody of Shashgaz, the king's chamberlain, which kept the concubines, she came in unto the king no more, except the king delighted in her, and that she were called by name. Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Avichael, the uncle of Mordechai, who had taken her for his daughter was come to go in unto the king she required nothing but what hegai the king chamberlain the keeper of the women appointed and Esther obtained favor in the sight of all them that looked upon her so Esther was taken unto king achashverosh into his house royal in the tenth month which is the month Tevet in the seventh year of his reign and the king loved Esther above all the women and she obtained grace and favor in his side more than all the virgins so that he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.

Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, even Esther's feast. And he made a release to the provinces and gave gifts according to the state of the king. Let me remind you for a moment, beloved brothers and sisters, I would like you. To turn to the gospel of Luke in chapter 21 and verse 24 and I want to read a verse there to us all. When our Lord Jesus, our Lord Yeshua the Messiah came to this world before his death on the tree, he knew very well that he will not be accepted and ultimately the times in which already was predicted by Daniel ultimately the times of the Gentiles will continue on until the end will come in the last days and so Yeshua said and they shall fall by the edge of the sword and shall be led away captive into all nations and Yerushalayim this is Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles and listen to this expression until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled the times of the Gentile is an expression in Hebrew we call it a tot hagoim the period of time when the kingdom have been taken away from the people of Israel have been given to the Gentile empires and Gentile Kings and that will have an end at the second coming of the Messiah when he's.

Going to come to rule and reign over our nation Israel a restored nation at the end of the tribulation period now look at this image for one moment Daniel have given instruction to king Nebuchadnezzar about the vision that Nebuchadnezzar have received from God in order to help him to understand the period of time in the history of the nation of Israel and the nations of the world. The image is very clear that was seen by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. You notice that the head is the head of gold. The chest and the arms are silver. The thighs are bronze, the legs and the feet are iron and clay, and ultimately you have here the ten toes, which is the final days of the times of the Gentiles.

By the time our people Israel, in 605 B.C., 597 B.C. And 586 B.C., were taken captive from Judea, from Jerusalem, to the land of Babylon, the times of the Gentiles have begun you never have a king in Israel anymore in fact when the king of Kings have come the Messiah himself have come he was rejected at his first coming by our own nation and the early Jewish believers preached the gospel to the nations of the world and we are still finding ourselves today in what is called the times of the Gentiles it began with Babylon six or five when the Jewish people were taking some of them to Babel it continued with the middle Persia in 539 where the middle persians came and ruled over the nations of the world and defeated Babylon we're finding ourselves in the book of Esther in this period of time of the Persian history later on the Grecian came and they took the world empire and you remember Alexander the.

Great became that great king who ruled over all the world after he took over and he defeated the Persian and then later on we have the Romans from 308 until about 397 a.d and if you remember when Yeshua the Messiah came to the land of Israel to a city of Jerusalem our people the Jews were still under the Roman Empire and the Roman Empire have ended you might say and was divided and right now we are still in the times of the gentles but soon and very soon there will be the rise of those 10 Kings represented by the 10 toes when the revived Roman Empire will rise and ultimately there will be a stone taken out of the mountain which will fall upon those ten toes and will destroy the revived Roman Empire the Messiah will come he will take his rightful place over the nation of Israel and he will be truly then and there called by our Jewish people the king of the Jews and if.

You remember when the wise man who came from the east says where is he that was born the king of the Jews well the Messiah was born but he was rejected at his first coming he will not be rejected at his second coming our people of Israel will accept him and they will say baruch haba b'shem Adonai blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord but we are living still in the time of the Gentiles. The second coming of the Messiah is still ahead of us. It might be very soon when he will come and he will rule over Israel after they will recognize truly that he was the Messiah of Israel.

But we are now finding ourselves in the book of Esther in the time where the Medes and the Persians ruled. And we find now that Esther and Mordecai and many many of our own Jewish people are there in the land that is called the land of Babylon or Persia. It's rather sad. That when we begin the book of Esther, we find no name of the land of Israel, no name of the city of Yerushalayim, no name actually until the second chapter of the word Israeli or Jewish or Hebrew, And we find no prayer in the whole book of Esther. We find no mention of the God of Israel, Jehovah or Elohim, mentioned at all in the book of Esther.

And it is a sad beginning because the Jewish people remained, many of them, away from the land in Persia while they were already called to return back to the land where Cyrus, the king of Persia, who ruled the then known world from India to Ethiopia. The Jewish people should have returned back to the land of Israel, but unfortunately, as we mentioned, only about 50,000 Jewish people went back to the land of Israel and to the city of Yerushalayim. If you remember, it was Zerub Havel who led a large group. We read it in the book of Ezra. If you remember, it was Ezra himself, the scribe, who also came back to beautify the temple in Jerusalem a little bit later on.

And in our study of the book of Nehemiah, it was Nehemiah who came to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. And then, beloved brothers and sisters, you would think that all the Jewish people would come back to the promised land, but unfortunately, they did not. They did not. The vast majority, find themselves still in the city that is called Shushan, the capital city of Persia, and in many other areas in the Persian kingdom. Well, we have arrived to the second chapter now, and here we are introduced to certain things that are very helpful for us to see, the providence of God. That even though the Jewish people did not return back to the land that was promised to them through their fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and even though they remained in the dispersion or diaspora yet they are the nation through whom blessing is going to come to this world and God preserves his people wherever they are because he has a plan for the people of Israel.

In the same way I always will make an application for the body of Messiah today. God is preserving the believers wherever they are today because he has a plan as well for the body of Christ, the body of Messiah, the ecclesia, those of us that belong to Yeshua, the Messiah. And if you remember, Yeshua said, I will build my assembly, Matthew chapter 16, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. God is going to preserve the body of Mashiach, the body of Christ as well today. So in this second chapter, in those 18 verses, Esther becomes the queen of Persia. This is by the providence of God.

You notice immediately in the first four verses that here we have a king that is rather sad, and he received again, once again, an advice from his servants now you notice the first words in chapter 2 and verse 1 it says after these things in Hebrew after these things what things well we know what have happened in the previous chapter how king achashverosh was so angry with vashti his wife the queen he called her to come to show herself before all the thousands of people who came from all over the then known world for his celebration, his party. But they all were drunk, if you remember. They were all under this control of alcohol and he wanted to parade his wife before all these men who came from all over the world.

Vashti said, no, I'm not coming. And she didn't come. And you remember what his counselors gave him, the advice, they said to him, King Achashverosh, boy, you should not allow this to happen. If Ashi does not obey your word, you better set her aside. Remove her and make a law, the law of the Mede and the Persian, that can never be altered. And you know, here's this king, Achashverosh, who is under the control of wine. And here is all the people there, and he didn't want to let anybody know that he is not under control of his kingdom. So he listened to the foolish advice of his counselors and he chastened his wife Vashti from being the queen of Persia.

And so this thing was really upon his heart. But there's another thing that we do not know here, beloved brothers, from the Bible here, but we know it from history, that apparently King Achashverosh failed in invasion Greece. You remember again, there will be the kingdom of Grecian that's going to come after that in the image that we have seen we have seen Babylon Persia and Greece and the Grecian people became more powerful as time went on and King Ahasuerus wanted to defeat the Grecian he sent military in ships against Greece but he failed his mission and he failed his mission in fact that happened sometime at the feast in chapter one was about 483 bc the invasion was about 481 bc and the return was about 479 bc about four years passed between chapter one and chapter two and king achashverosh returning defeated he was not successful in taking over Greece and he was so discouraged on the one hand because of his defeat or unsuccessful mission and on the other hand he comes back to his palace and guess what Vashti is no longer there and so we read in verse 1 of chapter 2 after these things when the wrath of king was appeased he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what the decree that was given against.

Her he now looks back and he remembers as we have it in chapter 1 and verse 19 and 20 that he made a decree Vashti is no longer to be my wife and he signed it and he made a law a decree that is never to be altered according to the Mede and the Persian laws. And so he is looking back and he remembers Vashti. We never read anything wrong about Vashti. The only thing we read about Vashti is that she didn't want to come to be put into shame before all these drunken men in Shushan, the capital city of Persia. And so he remembers Vashti, his wife, and what happened to her.

And I would like to say, beloved brothers and sisters, that you will notice that between chapter 1 and chapter 2, there are four years that have passed by. You see, if you go back to chapter 1, and you notice in verse 3, that he made that large feast in the third year of his reign. And then turn around and go to chapter 2 and verse 16, And you will notice that Esther became queen at the end of verse 16 in the seventh year of his reign. So four years passed by between chapter 1 and chapter 2. And now he's looking back and you find that he's rather sad because of his defeat. And he's rather sad because he made that foolish law that he divorced his wife Vashti.

And he's rather now feeling the consequence of his doing. And so we read in verses 2, 3, and 4 of Esther chapter 2 that once again his counselors giving him an advice. I'm telling you, if he would have been a wise king, he would not take any advice for these men because these men who gave him an advice gave him rather poor advice. Divorce your wife. Make sure that all our wives submit to our authority. They still had their wives, and their wives had to submit to their authority, but here come King Ahashverosh, no wife. No one to submit to his authority as a wife. And so he feels very sad.

So look, he's listening again to their counsel. And notice they give him a four-fold counsel. In verses 2, 3, and 4a, four-fold counsel. Notice they use the word let, four times. Verse 2, let there be fair young virgins brought for the king. Verse 3, let the king appoint officers in all the provinces. Verse 3, B at the end, let their things for purification be given unto them. And verse 4, A, let the maidens which please the king be queen instead of Vashti. They gave him fourfold advice. King, let us give you an advice. Let's make a special beauty contest. You are the king of Persia. You want to have a queen to be a wife?

You are missing Vashti, your wife that you divorced. Let us make a special contest of various maidens that are going to come from all over the Persian Empire. Now just imagine, again, look at the Persian Empire. They've chosen women from all over the land that was controlled by Achashverosh, Xerxes, the king of Persia. So four things they said. Number one, let there be fair young virgins brought for the king. In other words, they will take a young lady who never knew a man and let them be chosen from all the people of the land. Secondly, appoint officers, and they will go to all the provinces of his kingdom.

That word for provinces in the Hebrew is Medinot. It's more than just provinces. It's really countries, nations. Because remember, beloved brothers and sisters, you have Libya, you have Egypt, you have all India and all the areas that you have here that he controlled. So they were bringing women, young maidens that never knew a man from everywhere of the Persian Empire. So thirdly, they said to him in verse 3 at the end, let their things for purification given unto them. In other words, you give those beautiful young maidens all what they need to purify themselves that they're going to be ready for you, king. And you will make a choice which person will become your queen.

The final suggestion by these counselors is in verse 4, let the maiden which pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti. You see, in a sense, there was no freedom, no liberty for anyone to say no if the king was delegating individuals to go to and fro around the Persian kingdom to find all the younger women to bring them into the king's palace to be selected no one could do anything no one could say no because the Persian Empire King Achashverosh was a monarch he did what he want how he want when he want to whom he want and nothing can be changed and so imagine beloved brothers and sisters they are going from area to area they send letters they send messengers and they were searching for young maidens to come to be into that special event into the special contest the most beautiful woman will now become the queen of Persia and so lo and behold the counsel of these wise men of king Achashverosh well you know it's amazing to see how easy it is for him to listen to the counsel of his advisors sometimes one can give a good counsel but sometimes one give rather bad counsel well.

Obviously it was a very bad counsel that they have given him to divorce his wife. We learn from Scripture that we are being taught husband love your wife in Ephesians chapter 5 as the Messiah loved the assembly and gave himself for them for her for the church for the assembly. We know that we are called to love our wives and to seek to bless our wives but here's the counsel of divorcing your wife for no reason and the only reason is because she says no because you were drunk and you want to parade her before everyone else well the counsel that they gave him was rather poor here is another poor counsel because notice that that the contest depend merely upon an external appearance the more you're going to put all kind of perfume and you're going to look nicer and You'll see how long time these girls were 12 months under the oil of this and oil of that.

And can you imagine for 12 months they were preparing themselves for King Achashverosh? How long time it takes for one to make himself or herself beautiful? You ladies, I'm sure, five minutes and you are looking very well. But look at this. Look what happened here. Here is 12 months. He says, give them the things to purify them, to get them ready for King Achashverosh. So what we learn here, and I'm challenging all of us today, especially the young ones here, you know, when one looks for a bride, for a wife, it's not only the external appearance. Men looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

Yesterday I met a young couple that I knew the girl's parents. And it was so encouraging to me. And the young man that I met his future wife-to-be, they are going to get married soon. And I was so impressed. I was told by others, you know, we heard that this young girl is a godly girl. And I'm thinking, what a blessing. And some of you have benefited to have a wife that is a godly young girl that has been a blessing to you and will be a blessing to you forever. As long as you continue on with the Lord, she will be a blessing. And this is the thing, beloved brother and sister.

You know, the Proverbs of Israel says, he who found a wife found good and obtained the favor of the Lord. Matzah Isha, Matzah Tov, as the Proverbs at King Solomon said. Of course, Solomon was not the best example, but nevertheless, the Lord used Solomon to give instruction to the nation of Israel. And so you see, they are suggesting to him to get a wife from all the nations of the world that would be merely beautiful outwardly. Now, listen, it's nice to look attractive. It's nice to look beautiful, and we thank God for that. But you don't marry a woman on the basis of her outward appearance.

You want to have a heart who loves the Lord, who loves the Lord Jesus, who loves Yeshua the Messiah, who wants to be a godly woman that will love God and love His Word and live for Him here in this world. That is a blessing that this man, of course, he is not a king of Israel. He does not believe in the living God, but nevertheless, it doesn't matter where you are and who you are, you still don't evaluate a person on the basis of the outward appearance. Well, beloved brothers and sisters, the king, of course, again listened to the counsel of his servants, to their advice.

And so in verses 5, 6, and 7, you see the providence of God. You can see the sovereignty of God. God is, you might say, even though his name is not mentioned in the book of Esther, but you can see that his hand is controlling the affairs that have existed in those days in the life of King Achashverosh. By the way, you notice in verse 4b, it says, and I didn't point to it, and the thing pleased the king, and he did so. In other words, it pleased the king. Their suggestion pleased the king. In chapter 1, they suggested to divorce his wife. It pleased the king. In chapter 2, they suggested to collect women from all over the nation of the world.

It pleased the king. He did what he wanted. He went by his external feeling, but he didn't do anything that has to do with wisdom, that he needed to be wise in what he was doing. Well, notice that now verses 5, 6, and 7, we are introduced the first time in the book of Esther to a Jewish man by the name of Mordecai and to a Jewish woman, his cousin, in Esther chapter 2 as well. Now notice the first time that we are introduced to these two Jewish individuals. Later on, we'll find that there will be many more. And so we find in verse 5 the genealogy of Mordecai ha-Yehudi, Mordecai the Jew.

It says here, now in Shushan the palace, there was a certain Jew whose name was Mordecai, the son of Yair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite. Now we are introduced immediately to Mordecai. It is interesting that Mordecai was not a Hebrew name. Mordecai is a name that is rooted in Morduk, the gods of the Babylonian. And I would like to remind you, beloved brothers and sisters, that when our Jewish people were taken down from Yerushalayim and Israel to the land of Babylon, The Babylonian knew very well, how are we going to draw them away from the God of Israel? Well, the best way to do is, first of all, to change their names.

And you remember, if you just for a moment, please, turn with me to Daniel. I just want to point out in chapter 1 and verses 6 and 7, we read those words. Look how the Babylonians knew how to control these Jewish boys and girls and to change their mindset to be occupied with the gods of the Babylonians and later on the Persians. It says now among these were the children of Judah Daniel hananiah mishael and azariah and to them the prince of the eunuchs gave names for he gave unto Daniel belteshazar and to Hananiah, Shadrach and to Mishael, Meshach and to Azariah, Eved, Nigo see what they did?

They took these young Jewish boys specifically in the book of Daniel Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah and they gave them different names you see, Daniel means God is my judge Hananiah means Jehovah or Jehovah had grace or gave me grace Nishael means who is like unto God and Azariah means Jehovah is my helper so what did they do the Babylonian and the Persian the Jewish boys, the Jewish girls they changed their name and instead of them through their name reminded of the living God of Israel of Abraham Isaac and Jacob instead of occupying their mind even through the calling one another by name instead of keeping them occupied with the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob they changed their name to be occupied with their gods and so we read for example to Daniel they call him Belteshazzar the God Bel will protect your life that's what is the meaning and then you have Hanani they call him Shadrach has to do with Marduk like Mordechai.

Very similar and then we have Mishael they call him Meshech that has to do with another God of the Babylonian and of course Eved Nebo was given to Azariah which means the servant of Nego or Nebo this is another God of the Babylonian they're worshiping idols but the Hebrews the people of Israel were worshiping the true and the living God so change their names keep them studying the books of the babylonians and not the Bible the Torah not the Tanakh and this way will sway them to be drawn away from the God of Israel well Satan is very crafty and he does so even today he takes boys and girls men and women who grew up in a home of believers those that believe that Yeshua is the Messiah the parents sending them to school or to university or to colleges and it doesn't take too long where the professors tell them your God and your Yeshua your Jesus he's not the Messiah he is not the Savior and in no time those who do not have a backbone and those who do.

Not stand for the Lord they are being drawn away from God they have been drawn away from the Bible from the word of God and they ultimately you find how many of believers today or believers in Yeshua and Jesus the Messiah who raised the children from their mother's belly they raised them upon the truth of the word of God and they find later on their children is gone away far away from the things of the Lord and the things of Yeshua the Messiah it's rather sad but Satan is working and yet at the same time, beloved brothers and sisters, God is also working as well.

So back to Esther, chapter 2, and we are here in verse 5, we are introduced to a man that is called Mordecai the Jew. And notice that we have his genealogy here in this verse 5. It says his name was Mordecai, He was son of Yair, who was the son of Shimei, who was the son of Kish, who was from the tribe of Binyamin. You and I remember very well that Kish was the father of the first king of the people of Israel by the name of Shaul, Saul. Kish was his father. And then if you remember what happened, how Shaul was chosen to be the first king of Israel.

He was head and shoulder above everyone. He was a very handsome man, a tall man. He was a choice of the people. But Benjamin is a tribe from the 12 tribes of Israel. He was a tribe that was called to serve God. And out of this tribe came the first king of Israel. In fact, beloved brothers and sisters, the apostle Paul, whose Hebrew name is also Shaul, he was from the tribe of Binyamin as well. He was the one, he says, I'm a Hebrew of the Hebrew, I'm of the tribe of Binyamin, I'm a Jew, but I'm from the tribe of Binyamin. God had raised the apostle Paul, Shaul, to become the apostle to the Gentile, to the uncircumcision.

And he's the one that the Lord used to spread the gospel of the grace of God among the nations of the world and how God used these men who suffered so much for the name of the Lord Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah both of them were descendants, Shaul the first king Shaul the apostle to the uncircumcision both of them came from the tribe of Binyamin and Mordechai as well he was from the tribe of Benjamin notice by the way that even though he's called a Jew which linked him with Yehudah Judah yet he's from the tribe of Benjamin Benjamin a distinct tribe and yet Benjamin and Yehudah were really together at the time where the kingdom was divided and from the time that the kingdom was divided everyone whether he's from benjamin or Judah is called Yehudi Jew and Yehudi means a praiser of God but here we have it's kind of sad because even though he was a Jew and even though he was of the tribe of binyamin his parents were.

Taking down you see that when the Babylonian came and took down the Jewish people from the land of Israel six of five 597 and 586 three times they took the Jewish people away from Jerusalem to Babylon and some of his parents or his grandparents of Mordechai were taken captive by the Babylonian and they lived in the land of Babylon for many years. So Mordecai remained there in the land. His Jewish name, his Hebrew name is not mentioned in Scripture, but his name Mordecai really linked him with Morduk, the God of the Babylonian, is mentioned here. In a sense, it's kind of strange, but it teaches us some lessons.

You see, the Jewish people should have been back in the promised land. Mordecai, what are you doing in Babylon? If you would have been, you might call it a good Jewish devoted man, you would have been taking the opportunity to go back to the promised land. But apparently, beloved brothers and sisters, Mordecai have chosen to stay away from Yerushalayim, away from the land of Israel, away from the temple on Temple Mount in the Persian Empire, in Shushan the palace, and he, in a sense, didn't even live, you might say, his life in a way that is pleasing to God, even though we know what he did here, and we can commend him for what he did, but it's rather described before us a sad condition of Mordechai the Jew.

Again, I would like to make a parallel for us today. It's like a believer in Jesus the Messiah, who should have been occupied with the Lord Jesus gathered together unto his name spending time in living for him but no he live away from the people of God away from the gather saints he's not enjoying fellowship with the Lord he's a believer he belongs to God but he's not enjoying the things that God have intended for him then it says in verse 6 about Mordecai the Jew we are in Esther chapter 2. He said he is the son of Kish a Benjamite a Ben Yemeni who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Koniah king of Yehuda Judah whom Nebuchad netzer the king of Babylon was carried away you see we have a clear explanation that when the king Nebuchadnezzar came and took the Jewish people to Babylon he also took some of the family of mordechai and mordechai perhaps never seen Jerusalem he was born in Babylon and there he grew up and he remained until the time in which we read here then we read beloved brothers and of another Jewish person this time is Esther but then it is interesting in Esther's case the book of Esther give her Hebrew name it says and he brought up verse 7 hadassah that is Esther his uncle's daughter for she had neither father nor mother and the maid was fair and beautiful who Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, he took for his own daughter.

Apparently, Hadassah, which is the Hebrew word for myrtle, it's a beautiful trees that are growing special fruit in the land of Israel and elsewhere. Hadassah also received a pagan name, which is called Esther. Esther, again, according to Scripture, Esther was the God of fertility, again, of the pagan world, of the Babylonian, and she was named that in order to sway her away from her people and her God. And so we find out that her name is Hadassah, and we know very well that Hadassah is a very famous name among our people Israel. You have Hadassah Hospital in Mount Skopas in Yerushalayim, in En Kerem in Yerushalayim, in Jerusalem.

Very famous hospitals that were named after Hadassah, that is Esther. And many, many Jewish girls are called today both Hadassah and also Esther. My mother was called Esther, our dear sister is called Esther, and Esther actually means a star, and really, again, as I mentioned before, it is a name that is not Hebrew in its origin, but since then became a name that was given to many of our Jewish women in Jewish history. So, what we find out, Mordecai, the Jew, and Esther, his cousin, are now mentioned for the first time in the book of Esther. You notice that it says about Esther that she had neither father nor mother.

Her father and her mother were dead. Apparently, here we have a presentation of perhaps what happened when the Babylonian came and destroyed the temple in Jerusalem. They burned the temple destroyed the walls of Jerusalem and many have died at that time where the Babylonian came so she had no parents no mother she was an orphan she had no father no mother her parents died and what did Mordecai do he took her because her father was his uncle and he embraced her and took her to be as if she would be his very own daughter he took care of her he watched over her and it's so nice to see his concern for Hadassah that is Esther in this period of time when our Jewish people were in Persia so verses 5 6 and 7 we are introduced to these two Jews a man and a woman Mordechai and Esther away from the land of Israel I would like to just remind you one more time please when you see them in this situation it only shows us that they were not where they should have been they are not in the right place they are not in the right spiritual.

Condition they are not supposed to be in Persia they're supposed to be in the land of Israel in the city of Yerushalayim worshiping the God of Israel the temple was already rebuilt and the introduction of the service of worship was restored but they decided to remain away from the land well it is not different today we have most of our Jewish people are outside of the land. My grandfather, bear with me, came back to Israel in the late 1800s. My father's parents, my mother's parents came in the early 1900s back to the land of Israel. They were conservative Jewish people who longed to be back in the land that belonged to the Jewish people.

But there were few, because the vast majority of Jewish communities are still scattered around the world and many of them do not have that burden to go back yet to the promised land. God will work it out in his time but at this point of time it is not so. Now we continue in verses 8 to verse 11 we have now the gathering of the many maidens of Persia including Esther. You know that it says in verse 8 of our chapter 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 Haggai that Esther was brought also into the king's house to the custody of Haggai the keeper of the women so they were going now and the commandment gone the decree was gone women was collected from all over the then known empire of the Persians including Esther Esther was also brought into the king's palace.

She was brought to Haggai, the one that was responsible of all the women to keep. Them and to prepare them to meet King Ahasuerus. In verse 9, we have the fact that already we see the providence of God. God and his plan know that he is going to set Esther in this position, and the providence of God is seen here so clearly because immediately we read in verse 9 that she was preferred by Haggai above all the other women. He, you see, notice in that next verse, at the end of verse 9 it said, he preferred her and her maids unto the best place in the house of the women.

You know, there was a place, a location where you would put every woman. This woman came from India. This woman came from this country. This woman came from Libya and from all the other nations, Ethiopia. And I will put her here, put her here, put her here. But he gave Esther, he gave her the best place in that house because he preferred her. You see again the providence of God working already in the heart of this man by the name of Hegai. Then in verse 10, it says here that Esther did not tell anyone that she was Jewish. This is another evidence of the fact that they were not in the right place.

They shouldn't have been there. They should have been in the land of Israel, and they should have not been afraid or ashamed to say that they are Jewish, that they belong to the nation of Israel. And so verse 10 tells us, Esther had not shown her people nor her kindred, for Mordecai had charged her that she should not show it. In other words, they didn't tell anyone that they're Jewish. Well, there are two things that I would like to emphasize. On the one hand, because of anti-Jewish sentiment in the world, one would not say to everyone, hey, listen, I'm Jewish. By the way, yesterday, I don't know if you've watched the news, That in France, two Jewish men with kippah on their head was driving the car and right in Paris, a few individuals stopped them in the middle of the road, took them out of the car.

One of them even brought a saw to saw the head of one of these Jewish men. Another one came and fought him and he waved the saw and I think he cut his finger and imagined they had to flee for their life. And those seven men disappeared. Nobody found them. Anti-Semitic attitude already have existed in the time of Mordecai and Esther in Babylon. Hatred towards the Jewish people. We'll read about it in the book of Esther later on. It happened then, it's happened today. Those that oppose the God of Israel will also oppose the Jewish people. That even though they are not in their spiritual state right before God, yet they are Jewish and the hatred towards the Jews have existed then.

And so Mordecai told her, listen Esther, you don't let anyone know that you are Jewish. It says in verse 10, Esther did not show her people, this is the people of Israel, Amma in Hebrew, nor her kindred, this is Moladetah, the people of the nation of Israel. Why? Because Mordecai had charged her that she should not show that. So in obedience to Mordecai, she did not let anyone know that she was part of the nation of Israel. Now this is the one side, beloved brothers and sisters, on the other hand, she should have. The Jewish people need to know, you remember what the Bible teaches us?

In the prophet Isaiah, God said concerning our nation Israel, he says in chapter 43 of the prophet Isaiah, these people have I chosen for myself that they will show forth my glory. Israel are people called to be witnesses to the glory of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But when they were not in the right state, they could not be a testimony to the nations of the world because after all, they are in Babylon because of disobedience. That's why they were in Babylon. That's why they were in Persia. That's why they were scattered around the nations of the world. That's why our own people, the people of Israel, are still scattered among the nations of the world because we have not submitted to the authority of God.

And so she didn't tell anyone that she was Jewish. Neither Mordechai at this time. He charged her, don't let them know that you belong to the Jewish people. And so, brothers and sisters, you know, sometimes you and I, also as believers today, we're not able to share with people that we belong to Yeshua, the Messiah, because perhaps our testimony is not as it should be. Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, said in Matthew chapter 10, if anyone loves mother, father more than I, he's not worthy of me. He said, if you will deny me before men, I will deny you before my father, which is in heaven. In other words, we sometimes, out of fear, out of shame, out of selfishness, and every one of us speak for ourselves, we don't need to speak for anybody else, We do not let people know that we belong to Yeshua, to Jesus, the Messiah.

It shows us that the time we too find ourselves in such a situation as this. Paul said in Romans 1, verse 16, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of the Messiah, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes, to the Jew first and also unto the Greek. And so Esther did not let anyone know that she was Jewish because she was afraid on the one hand. Secondly, she was not in the right place to be able to give glory to the God of Israel. And so we read now, let's move along. It says here in verse 11 of Esther chapter 2, Mordechai watched over his cousin, over Hadassah, that is Esther.

In verse 11 it says that Mordechai walked every day before the court of the women's house to know how Esther did and what should become of her he watched over her he was there walking to and fro right there walking to see what will happen to my cousin to Esther when she is there in that palace well again remember it is the providence of God God is working behind the scene he is bringing about his will in the life of the people of Israel and in the life of all those that belong to him and so we read in verse 12 to verse 14 we read here the manner of the preparation of all the women that came before King Achashverosh you see there was a special way in which they had to be prepared verse 12, 13 and 14 they had to prepare if they are going to be before the king they needed to prepare themselves so first of all verse 12 said that 12 months of purification was needed and when every maid turn was come to go into King Ahasuerus.

After that she had been 12 months according to the manner of the women for so were the days of their purification accomplished to which 6 months with oil of myrrh and 6 months with sweet orders and with all other things for purifying of women. Imagine six months to be prepared there with oil of myrrh. How much time can you be prepared with oil of myrrh? And then another six months with sweet orders and with other things just to prepare yourself to meet the king. And imagine the king was demanding. Everything he did was outrageous. He did everything beyond the norm. Six months he made to show everybody all the things that he is in control over.

He has done things, drinking as much as he wants, everything with access. Six months with oil of myrrh and six months with sweet orders. This is something, ladies and gentlemen. And so in verse 13, anything that the women wanted, she would be receiving. Thus came every maiden unto the king, he said, whatsoever she desired was given unto her. She could get anything she wanted to improve her external beauty. You see, we can look as nice as we want, and it doesn't mean we should not look nice, but we need to have an internal beauty. You remember what the Bible tells us about Sarah and about women, about the believer, that it is the inner man of the heart that is so attractive, beloved brothers and sisters.

And that's what the demand was, that there would be only an external beauty. And then in verse 14 also, every woman went in the evening and returned in the morning. If she returned, it's done. We read there in verse 14, in the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned, into the second house of the women, to the custody of Shashgaz, the king's chamberlain, which kept the concubine, she came in unto the king no more, except the king delight in her, and that she were called by name. In other words, the king received her at night and sent her in the morning receive her at night and send her in the morning if he didn't like her he sent her and of course can you imagine how many women came they went into the king at night i don't know how long time that kind of event had to take place day after day after day after day imagine what the king had to go through but it just show that his mindset was only externally and not internally beloved brothers and sisters well let's conclude here with this thought here today beloved brothers and sisters finally in verse 15, 16, 17 and 18 the last four verses we read today of Esther chapter 2 the selection of Esther.

By King Achashverosh and again I would like to tell you it is the providence of God God who is the one who is over the affairs of this world we read in Proverbs 21 1 the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord and he does with it whatsoever he wills and so finally in our passage today it says in verse 15 when the turn of Esther the daughter of avichael the uncle of modechai who had taken her for his daughter was come to go to the king listen to this she required nothing but what Haggai the king's chamberlain and the keeper of the women appointed and although she didn't ask for anything more apparently she must have been a very beautiful woman she didn't need any more than what originally every woman had received and then we read beloved brothers and sisters it said and Esther obtained favor in the sight of all them that look upon her.

Apparently this man by the name of Haggai and all the people who watch over Esther they must have been seeing something unique about. Her. She found favor in the sight of all them that watch her. She must have been some beautiful lady. This woman by the name of Esther, Hadassah. In verse 16 we read that Esther was taken into the king's palace to be presented before king Achashverosh as it says here in verse 16 so she was taken unto the king Achashverosh into the house of his royal in the 10th month which is the month of Tevet and notice it says in the seventh year of his reign that's also interesting why in the seventh year of his reign the number Sheva seven in Hebrew speaks of the number of completeness it is the full number and it suggests that it's coming to the climax where God is now in a perfect timing in a perfect way place his servant you might say in a right place in a right time to situate her to become the queen of Persia and so we read now finally in verse 17 and 18 and the king loved Esther above all the.

Women and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins so that he set the royal crown upon her head and he made her queen instead of Vashti can you imagine beloved brothers and sisters the king was so attracted now i would like to suggest that there was some character as well in this woman by the name of Esther you will see it later on that she stood for certain things to save her people and so somehow with God's movement touching the heart of the king being brought before him he have fallen in love with Esther the Jewish woman though she was away from the land away from where she should have been apparently the king loved her as we read here in verse 17 above all the women and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins so what does he do he take the very keter the very crown that was removed from Vashti his wife and he was placing it upon Esther and she was crowned queen at that moment.

By the king he crowned her as it said he made her a queen instead of Vashti and so look at the ways of the Lord and how the Lord works things out and finally we read in verse 18 here it is this king is doing always parties he always seems to have parties here's again in verse 18 and the king made another feast another party and this time again he called that feast Esther's feast and what did he do he released the taxes a little bit he lowered down the taxes it says here in verse 18 he released to the provinces in other words in Hebrew the word he made hanacha he made it cheaper they used to pay taxes upon taxes upon taxes and what did the king do he's happy with Esther well he's lowering the taxes he's unhappy with Vashti he raised the taxes you see and it is amazing this king is really depending upon feeling and things are feeling good big parties.

Things are feeling bad oh boy we're gonna divorce my wife and so we read he gave gifts to everybody and finally it said according to the state of the king i felt good now i will lower the taxes give everybody gifts before i felt bad i'll raise the taxes and i will not give anyone a gift you see that's the way king achashverosh have behaved and so beloved brothers and sisters what is the lesson again the lesson here is the sovereignty of God Romans 8 28 says for we know that all things work together for good to them that love God to them that are called according to his purpose he have a purpose in Israel's history he has a purpose in the church in assembly's history he has a purpose in your individual life and in my life and he wants to accomplish this in our own life and so even when we are away from the Lord which we shouldn't be He still walks behind the scene and He allows us to experience in our life things which ultimately, hopefully.

Will drive us to be closer to Him May the Lord help us beloved brothers and sisters that as we study the book of Esther we will appreciate the providence of God Can we say Amen to that? Amen