Shabbat Shalom! Now you can open your Bibles to Esther, chapter 9, verses 1 to 32, but also chapter 10, verses 1, 2, and 3. And with this, with the help of the Lord, we can say that we study together the whole book of Esther. So please follow me, there is these readings that I would like to do, so listen up as we are following the 9th and the 10th chapters of the book of Esther. And we read, now in the 12th month, that is the month of Adar, on the 13th day of that 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, though it was turned to the contrary that the Jews had rule over them that hated them.

The Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Achashverosh to lay hand on such as sought their hurt. And no man could withstand them, for the fear of them fell upon all people. 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 Mordechai fell upon them. For Mordechai was great in the king's house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces. For this man Mordechai waxed greater and greater. Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with a stroke of the sword, and slaughter and destruction, and did what they would unto those that hated them.

And in Shushant the palace, the Jews slew and destroyed five hundred men: Parshanata, Dalfon, Asifata, Porata, Adalia, Aridata, Parsheta, Arisi, Aridi, and Vazata. The ten sons of Haman, the son of Hamadata, the enemy of the Jews, slew they, but on the spoiled laid they not their hands. On that day, the number of those that were slain in Shushant the palace was brought before the king. And the king said unto Esther the queen: The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushant the palace. And the ten sons of Haman, what have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? Now what is thy petition?

And it shall be granted thee. Or what is thy request? Further, and it shall be done. Then said Esther: If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews which are in Shushant to do to more also according unto this day's decree. And let Haman's ten sons be hunged upon the gallows. And the king commanded it so to be done. And the decree was given at Shushant, and they hung Haman's ten sons. For the Jews that were in Shushant gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month of Adar, and slew three hundred men at Shushant. But on the prey they laid not their hand.

While the other Jews that were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand. But they laid not their hand on the prey. On the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth day of the same, rested they, and made it a day of feasting and gladness. Therefore the Jews of the villages that dwelled in the unwalled town made the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another. And Mordechai wrote these things, and he sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Achashverosh, both nigh and far, to establish this among them that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same yearly, as the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day, that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.

And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordechai had written unto them. Because Haman, the son of Hamadatta, the Agagai, the enemies of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast pur, that is the lot, to consume them and to destroy them. But when Esther came before the king, he commanded by letters that this wicked device which he devised against the Jews should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. "Wherefore, they called these days Purim, after the name of Pur, therefore, for all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and which had come unto them, the Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that they should keep these two days according to their writing, and according to their appointed time, every year.

And that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city. And that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed. Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Avichael, and Mordechai the Jew wrote, "With all authority, to confirm this second letter of Purim, and he sent the letters unto all the Jews, to the hundred and twenty and seven provinces of the kingdom of Achashverosh, with words of peace, shalom, and truth, emet, to confirm these days of Purim, in their times appointed, according as Mordechai the Jew, and Esther the queen had enjoined them, and as they had decreed for themselves and for their seed, the matter of fasting, and their cry." And the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim, and it was written in a book.

Chapter 10 and verse 1. "And the king Achashverosh laid a tribute upon the land, and upon the isles of the sea, and all the acts of his power, and of his might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordechai, where unto the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Midia and Persia? And Mordechai the Jew was next unto king Achashverosh, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace, that is, shalom, to all his seed." It is very interesting, brothers and sisters, that this book of Esther is included in the canon of scripture, which have happened historically, away from Jerusalem, in Persia.

Away from the temple, but in Shushan, the palace, the capital city of Persia. Away from the promised land, far away in what is known today as Middle Persia, in this pagan land, away from the land of Israel. And yet, God, by divine design, have allowed this book to be included in the canon of the word of God. And you and I, of course, would ask this question, and we would ask it right from the beginning of the study up till now. Lord, what do you teach us as we study such a book as the book of Esther? Why is it that even when your name, God, and prayer, God, and the name, Jehovah, is not mentioned in this book, why is it such an important book for us to learn?

And why is it that God have allowed it to be included in the canon of scripture? And, of course, the answer is rather clear for those of us who understand the whole scope, in some small measure, of the word of God. The lesson is that while those Jewish people were far away from the promised land, yet they were still the chosen people of God. And even though they were not in the right spiritual state, yet God does care for his own people. The application for believers today, those of us who believe in Yeshua, the Messiah, is simply this. Everyone that has accepted Yeshua, the Messiah, belongs to the Lord, Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah.

And even though it's not right to be away from him, even though it's not right to live a life that is far away from a relationship with him, God does care. And God loves us. And he will reach wherever we are to try to restore his people into a healthy spiritual relationship with him. That's the lesson. And even though a time when we are far away from the Lord as believers, and we are ashamed to speak of the name of Jesus because we know our lives is not right with the Lord. Yet the Lord cares for us. And he stirs us up. And he seeks to restore us.

He challenges us. And he says, is that the life that you want to live away from the Lord? Away from me? Come back. Be restored to me. And enjoy me and be used by me to serve me here in this world. Esther is this great lesson for us. The sovereignty of God. That God sees all things. He knows all things. He works everywhere. Nothing is hidden from the heart of God, from the knowledge of God. He wants his people to be close to him. And so the lesson is here in Esther chapter 9 and chapter 10 that we learn that there is a victory that God provides for his people even though they were far away from him.

And that victory that he provided is always in view of restoring them back to himself. So you remember how we have concluded the end of the 8th chapter. The end of the 8th chapter was that now the Jewish people that had a decree against them to be killed on the 13th day of the month of Adar because Haman the wicked, the hater of all the Jewish people had decreed that. Now, the king Ahashverosh gave a second decree. And that second decree was that the Jewish people can protect themselves against the enemies of the Jewish people on the very same day, the 13th day of the month of Adar.

Adar is the last month in the Jewish calendar and it is the 13th day of the month of Adar. So in the 8th chapter we learn that there are two eternal laws that we find in the word of God. The first law is called the law of sin which leads to death. Romans 8 and verse 2. And then the second law is the law of the spirit of life. And this is through the person of Yeshua the Messiah. This is the lesson that we learn, if you remember, beloved brothers and sisters, in the previous meeting on the 8th chapter of the book of Esther. The two laws.

Sin lead to death. And listening to the voice of the spirit of God through Yeshua the Messiah, it leads us to life. And it is a very important principle for the unbelievers. If they will continue in sin and reject the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, it will lead them not only to physical death, but also to the eternal death. But if they will listen to the voice of the spirit of God, embrace Yeshua Jesus the Messiah, it will grant them life. Not only spiritual life, but eternal life. And John 3:16 is very clear for God. So loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

So the day have arrived. Now we find ourselves in chapter 9 and the 13th day of the month of Adar have finally arrived. And so there are two decrees. The one decrees, the enemies of the Jews waiting to kill all the Jewish people in the Persian Empire. On the other hand, the second letter that was sent by King Ahasuerus through Mordecai is that the Jewish people could rise up and protect themselves. And you see, beloved brothers and sisters, in the first 10 verses of chapter 9, we see the victory of the Jewish people, of course we know, is with the help of the Lord, in the very same day where their enemies hope to destroy them.

You see, look at this. We read in verse 1: Now in the 12th month, that is the month of Adar, on the 13th day of the very same month, when the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be put into execution, notice that, it says in the second half of verse 1: 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. Now notice that, brothers and sisters. I just want to make this thought here. You see, the enemies of the Jews, according to verse 1, hoped to be successful to fulfill the law that was given to them by King Achashverosh to destroy all the Jewish people on the 13th day of the month of Adar.

In other words, that was their wish. And you know, brothers and sisters, just like Haman of all, throughout the generation of the Jewish people, always rise someone who hoped to destroy the Jews. To put them away. Who hoped to finally get rid of these Jewish people, as if they are the source of all the problems here in this world. We had Hitlers. We had Hamans. We had Pharaohs. We had Nebuchadnezzar. And even in the present day, 2500 years later than the book of Esther was written, there are still today those who desire to destroy the Jewish people. In fact, even in present day, Iran. Ahmadinejad, if you remember a few years ago when he was the president of Iran, have declared that we must erase the Jewish people.

We must put an end to the Jews. But spiritually speaking, it's a picture of Satan and those who follow him, who want to destroy both the Jewish people, and the future of the Jewish people, and also the body of Messiah. Seeking to destroy the Ekklesia, the church of the living God. And notice, they hoped for that. They were waiting eagerly. When will the 13th day of the month of Adam will come? Because we cannot wait for the day that we can finally get rid of all the Jews. But God is sovereign. And while the name of God is not mentioned, as we mentioned many times, even once in the book of Esther, you see the hand of God protecting the Jewish people.

A second decree was given. And that decree gave a right to the Jewish people to protect themselves. And here we find out in verse 2 and 3, how the Jewish people were united in that time. And notice that it says in verse 2, the Jews gathered themselves together in their cities, throughout all the provinces of King Ahasverosh, and they lay hand on such that sought their hurt. They didn't just lay hand on anyone. They didn't go and attack anyone, but they sought to attack back those that have hurt them, those that hated them according to verse 1, those that hoped to destroy them according to the first verse of chapter 9.

And so it says, "No man could withstand them, for the fear of them would upon all people." God has somehow, in a supernatural way, providence and divine design put fear upon the enemies of the Jewish people. Just like He has done it in history. He has done it throughout history, whether it is in the time when Israel came out of the land of Egypt, or whether it is the time in the whole human history He put fear on the enemies of the Jewish people in order to stop them from continuing what they have intended to do. It says in verse 3 that even the rulers have helped the Jewish people.

It says that all the rulers of the provinces and the lieutenants and the deputies of the officers of the king, they helped the Jews because the fear of Mordechai fell upon them. Remember, Mordechai now became prominent. And now he became second to the king. Haman already had been killed and hung on a tree, this wicked man. But now we find Mordechai becoming prominent and there was a fear of Mordechai. Verse 4: Mordechai was great in a king's house and his fame went out throughout all provinces. For this man Mordechai works greater and greater. We read in Hebrew, it says: He became greater and greater and greater not in himself because he sought for that, but God in a supernatural way had placed him in that position.

And of course, it reminds us so wonderful of Yeshua, the Messiah, that we read in Philippians chapter 2: You therefore God have highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, of Yeshua, every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Yeshua HaMashiach is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And you see, what we learn here, that the Lord in a supernatural way have elevated Mordechai, the Jewish people and placed fear upon those that hoped to destroy the Jews, those that became the enemies of the Jews, that hated the Jewish people and sought their hurt.

It says in verse 5: Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with a stroke of a sword and slaughter and destruction and did what they would unto those that hated them. In other words, if the Jewish people will not get the help of the Lord and the help of the leaders of the Persians, they will not be able to succeed. They will be the one who will ultimately end up to die. But by divine design, the Lord has helped them against their enemies. Notice from verse 6 to 10 of chapter 9 of Esther, The slaying of 500 men in Shushan the city and all of Haman's ten sons. Now that is very interesting.

It says in verse 6: And in Shushan the palace, Shushan is the capital city of Persia, all the Jews slew and destroyed 500 men. And then it gives you the list in verse 7, 8 and 9, the names of the ten sons of Haman. Parshandata, Dalfon, Asfeta, Pirata, Ardalia, Aridata, Pomechata, Arisai, Aridai, Vezata. All the ten names that you have here. Apparently those ten names had ten meanings. There is a meaning to every one of these names. The meaning of those names are definitely speaks of pride, speaks of selfishness, speaks of the flesh that is existing in the heart of mankind. In verse 10 it says, The ten sons of Haman, the son of Hamadata, the enemies of the Jews, they slew.

And now notice what it says, a clause here that you must get a hold of. It says at the end of verse 10, But on the spoil laid they not their hands. It is repeated again in verse 15 at the end, But on the prey they lay not their hands. It's repeated once again in verse 16 at the end, But they laid not their hand on the prey. Immediately you start to ask the question, Wait a minute. They have been successful in killing Haman. They have been successful in slaying his ten sons. And yet they could take all their possession, And all what is it called here the spoil, But they didn't want to touch it.

They didn't lay their hand on it. Three times it's repeated in this ninth chapter of the book of Esther. And immediately the question is rising. Why? Why is it that the Jewish people of the time that they were in Persia did not want to touch anything that belonged to Haman, the Amalekite. And even though they killed him and they killed his sons, they didn't want to touch all the spoil that they could take in their hands for themselves, for their possession. Now remember, think with me for a moment. If we know biblical history, and if we know Jewish history, if you remember, beloved brothers and sisters, that Haman is a descendant of Amalek.

Amalek was the first nation that attacked the Jewish people, the Hebrews, who came out of the land of Egypt. Amalek is a picture of the self-old sinful nature that all men possess. God said to the people of Israel through Moses, in fact, go with me to Exodus chapter 17 for a moment. I'll read just the last verse. Listen to the word of the Lord. He said to Moses, Amalek became a picture of the sinful nature that we have. And God has constantly animosity against Amalek. He's a picture of the sin nature. And from generation to generation, there is constant fighting against Amalek until God is intending to destroy Amalek.

And because of this, we learn that in our lives as believers in Yeshua, the Messiah, though we are born again, born from above, though we have a new nature, those that are in the Messiah, Yeshua, a new creation. When all things have passed away, all become new, we still have that old nature within us. And there is from generation to generation a conflict between the new man and the old man, the new nature and the old nature. The spirit lusts against the flesh and the flesh against the spirit, and they are contrary to each other. So we find out immediately that Haman, the descendant of Amalek, is a picture of the sin nature and the enemy of God and God's people.

So the Jews defeated him with the help of God. They killed his 10 sons with the help of God. But they didn't touch anything that belonged to him. Now turn with me to 1 Samuel, chapter 15 also, please. And here I want you to notice the reason that these individuals understood why they are not going to touch anything that Haman and his sons have had. 1 Samuel, chapter 15, let me just read a few verses there. 1 Samuel said unto Saul, verse 1, "The Lord send me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel. Now therefore hearken unto the voice of the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, and how he laid weight for him in the way when he came out from Egypt.

Now go and smite Amalek." Notice that God said through Samuel to King Shaul, he says, "You go and you kill Amalek completely." Verse 3 said, "And utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not, but slay them both men and women and infant and suckling and ox and sheep, camels and ass." "Everything that belonged to Amalek completely destroyed, including the little ones." Now you might say, "How can God say this to Shaul, to the king of Israel?" Again, the spiritual lesson is that Amalek represents the sin nature and anything that come out of this sin nature is a continuation of that sin nature that represented by Amalek.

So what do you think Shaul did, Saul, the king of Israel? Instead of submitting to the Lord? What did he do? Verse 4. Notice that. It says, "And Saul gathered the people together, and he numbered them." And so on. Verse 5, "And Saul came to the city of Amalek, and he laid weight in the valley." Verse 6, "Saul said unto the Canaanite, "Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I will destroy you with them." Verse 7, "Saul smote the Amalekites from Chabilah until you come down to Shur that is over against Egypt." But notice what we read in verse 8 and on. "And he took Agag, the king of the Amalekites alive, and he utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword." But, verse 9 says, "Saul and the people spared Agag, and the beasts of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fattling, and the lambs, and all that was good, and they would not utterly destroy it." You see what King Saul did, the first king of Israel?

Instead of listening to the voice of the God of Israel through Samuel to destroy Amalek completely and all what belonged to him, they kept the king alive. They kept all the good things that they possessed, and they took it for themselves. And by doing so, he violated the word of God. And because, beloved brothers and sisters, he violated the word of God, look what God said in verse 11, "It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be a king. For he turned back from following me, and he has not performed my commandment." And Samuel was grieved." You see, Shaul did not obey God. He kept back all what belonged to the Amalekites.

He even kept Agag, the king of Amalek, alive. And by the way, this is how we get Haman in the book of Esther. He is a descendant of Agag, the king, and he became an enemy of the Jews. Years later, he sought to destroy all the Jewish people, as we have it in the book of Esther. Now, it is so interesting to take a note, and it was so vivid to see that, so clear, these Jewish people were not in the land of Israel. They were not in the city of Jerusalem. They were far away from the Lord spiritually. But they understood, in a time such as this, when they knew that they were going to be destroyed by the letter that Haman, the wicked man sent, and they were going to be destroyed on the 13th day of the month of Adar.

But somehow, it's dawned upon them. Again, we don't have the mention of God here, not the mention of prayer, not the mention of Jehovah, nothing of that sort. But you see behind the scene that God is working in their hearts. And they saw the necessity of destroying that one that is representing the flesh, this all sin nature, to put it where it belongs. And so, notice that, and I'm back to Esther. In chapter 9 and verse 10, notice we read there very clearly what they did, the 10 sons of Amman, the son of Hamadatta, they slayed. But, on the spoil they lay not their hand. They probably had a recollection of what happened historically to our Jewish people in the time of King Saul.

And three times we read it in Esther chapter 9, that they did not take of the prey. They did not lay their hand on it because King Saul had done it in the past. And look what happened to him. He ended up to lose the kingdom. And God had to raise another man after his own heart to reign over the people of Israel, King David, Melech Israel, King David. And so you can see, beloved brothers and sisters, that even though these Jewish people were far away from the Lord, yet they somehow have been awakened and alerted in their conscience and their hearts. And who knows what have happened to many of them.

Later on, we don't read it because the book of Esther is going to be concluded very shortly. And we do not know, but perhaps many of them, maybe on an individual basis, have returned back to the Lord and back to the city of Jerusalem. That is exactly what happened in the life of believers today. Sometimes we, as believers in Yeshua, the Messiah, do not live close to the Lord. We don't go to meetings. We don't read our Bible. We don't pray. We don't mention the name of the Lord. We don't testify. We don't testify. And we live far away. Oh, yes, I am a believer.

I go to heaven. The tickets have been paid for me. But, oh God, don't bother me in my life every day because I want to live my life the way I wish to live. God, you know, thank you for giving me salvation through Jesus the Messiah, but don't bother me anything else. And the Lord says, no, no, no, no. I didn't send my son to die for your sins so you can carry on in your own life and do whatever you want and live away from me. I sent my beloved son to die for your sins in order that you will live for me and enjoy your fellowship with me and be a testimony for me here in this world.

So he's awaking them and you can see it's so precious. If you see the text and you can see how can you imagine when you are going to be sentenced to die by the people who hope to kill you. And now God in a supernatural way help you to survive and to have victory over your enemies. And you now, not only that Haman died, now his 10 sons have been killed. You can just take all the things that belong to them and so on and say, no, no, wait a minute. We are not going to take that. We leave it there. We have realized the supernatural preservation of the Lord in our lives.

And brothers and sisters, whatsoever things were written the four times the Apostle Paul said in Romans chapter 15 were written for our learning. We need to take this passage and apply this spiritually how we can learn from these experiences that the Jewish people have had historically. So, verses 1 to 10, the victory of the Jews in the very same days where the enemy's hope was to destroy them. Then verse 11 to verse 19 is the second section. Here we find the king, Achashverosh, questioning Esther and giving him another opportunity to ask him for whatever she would want him to do for her. And so, I want you just to notice here from verse 11 and 12, the king heard the report.

You notice that we read, on the day, the number of those that were slain in Shushan, the palace, was brought before the king. Somebody came and said, hey, king Achashverosh, do you know what? 500 people died in Shushan, the capital city. So, the king now come to Esther in verse 12 and he says to Esther after the report about the 500 men that were killed. He said to her, notice that, he says, now what is thy petition, verse 12b? And it shall be granted unto thee. Or what is thy request further? And it shall be done. He is now, remember, Esther is his wife. He is now asking her, what more do you want?

I've already sent the letter. We've already seen that on the 13th day of the month of Adar, 500 people were killed in Shushan, the palace. Ten of the sons of Haman were killed. What more do you want? This is only in Shushan. We're going to read in a moment what happened away from Shushan, the palace. And so, notice what Esther said to him. In verse 13, Esther has two requests. The first one, she says, then Esther said, if it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews which are in Shushan to do tomorrow, this is on the 14th day of the month of Adar, also according to this day's decree.

Decree. This is the request number one. Let us have another day to protect ourselves from the enemies. As it was today, also give us tomorrow. The second request was, let Haman's sons be hung upon the gallows. Now, they're already dead. Now, Queen Esther asked Haman's sons to be hung on trees to be a presentation to all that seek to kill the Jewish people, to show to all the consequence of seeking to destroy all the Jewish people. Now, you and I might say, Esther, how can you? Isn't it enough that they have died? Now you want to place them on a gallows on trees that they will be presented before, displayed before everybody else to be seen?

Well, you have to realize, beloved brothers and sisters, listen, Agag, the Amalekite, Haman and his sons represent evil. It represents that which leads God's people away from him, that which is against God. It's a representation of the flesh and its sinful ways. It must be put to death. That's why we read in the Bible, spiritually speaking, that which is of the flesh is flesh. And that which is of the spirit is spirit. God has no pleasure in our sin nature whatsoever. Whatsoever. That's why, beloved brothers and sisters, when Nicodemus, Nakdimon, came to Yeshua by night and asked him, how can I receive salvation? And Yeshua told him, even to Nicodemus, he didn't use those words.

Yeshua said to him, you must be born again. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the spirit is spirit. You must be born from above, born again. You have to be saved. You have to receive forgiveness from Yeshua, the Messiah. Otherwise, you will die in your sins. So, it is so important to display before all that which is of the flesh that has no good whatsoever. And those ten sons of Haman, spiritually speaking, represent also that which is going to happen in a future day. If you remember, the book of the Revelation talks about the tribulation period. Where the Antichrist will rise.

And he will rule over ten kings. And those ten kings are being represented here. That ultimately, God will destroy the enemies of the people of God. We read about it in Revelation chapter 17. In fact, turn to Revelation chapter 17 with me for a moment. And let me just make the reference to these verses. In verse 12, we read: "And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet, but received power as kings one hour with the beast." They will follow the beast, the counterfeit Messiah. Notice verse 13 and 14: "These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast." "These shall make war with the lamb, and the lamb shall overcome them, for he is Lord of lords and king of kings." "And they that are with him are called and chosen and faithful." You see, in the future day, beloved brothers and sisters, during the tribulation age, before the kingdom, there will be risen those ten kings which will follow the beast, the Antichrist.

They will hand to him their power. And they will seek to destroy and to harm the Jewish people, specifically during the tribulation period. And those are the ones that the Lord, Yeshua, the Messiah, they make war with the lamb. And the lamb, this is Yeshua HaMashiach, he shall overcome them and ultimately destroy them. Why? Because he is Lord of lords and king of kings. Adon HaAdonim and Melech HaMlachim. And so what we really see here, again, it is something that we must see it as we study the whole scope of the word of God, that these ten sons of Haman representing his continual ways of evil against God and God's people.

So Esther, with the little bit of understanding that she has, she says, "No, no, no, they are not only dead, but I would like them to be displayed publicly." And you remember what we read in the book of Deuteronomy, "Cursed is the man that is hanging on the tree." And what she is really saying, she requested that Haman and his sons will be hanging on the tree and really point to us, spiritually speaking, by typology, by a picture lesson, by an application. It points us to the Antichrist, to the counterfeit Messiah of the tribulation period and those ten kings that will hand over to him their power against God and God's people.

And so we find out now in the next verses in Esther, chapter 9, after the two requests of Esther, verses 14 and 15, Esther's request is granted. Then verses 16 to 19, there is the two days of rest that the Jewish people finally have had. Notice, I am reading now those verses. You notice it says in verse 14, "And the king commanded it so to be done, and the decree was given at Shushan, and they hung Haman's ten sons." Verse 15, "And the Jews that were in Shushan gathered themselves together on their notice, on the fourteenth day of the same month of Adar, and now, they slew additional three hundred men at Shushan, the capital city of Persia." So on the thirteenth day, they killed five hundred.

On the fourteenth day, they killed three hundred. And now you notice that the thirteen, the fourteenth are kind of linked together because Esther requested another day from King Achashverosh. And so verse 16 on, we find out the days that the Jewish people rested. Both the Jewish people in Shushan, the capital city, and the Jewish people who were in the hundred and twenty-seven provinces. Let me read those verses. "But the Jews that were in the king's provinces." "Those," it says, "they gathered themselves together and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew," listen, "slew of their force seventy and five thousands." Can you imagine?

Seventy-five thousand, I guess, hundred and twenty-seven countries. In every country, some enemies of Israel sought to destroy the Jewish people. Then they rose up and they stood against those who wanted their life, and they, in return, destroyed, as it says here, seventy-five thousand people of their own enemies. But there was a conflict that existed. They came against them. The enemies rose against the Jewish people to destroy them. But the Jewish people was emboldened by the help of the Lord, and they, in return, have attacked their enemies. And many have died of the enemies of the people of Israel. Again, brothers and sisters, no one is in joy to even talk about the fact that God's people is attacking their enemies and killing them.

But this is really the story that will happen eventually in this world. The enemies of God's people will ultimately be destroyed. They will physically die, but also spiritually going to be separated eternally from God because they have opposed Yeshua, the Messiah, and the people of God. So in verses 16, 17, 18, and 19, we have those two days that became a time of rest. The Jewish people in Shushan, the palace, rested on the fifteenth day of the month. The Jewish people in the rest of the nations of the world, rested on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar. The reason is because Esther asked for another day to get the permission of the king to stand against the enemies on the fourteenth day.

Therefore, they rested on the fifteenth day. So, this is verses 11 to 19. Now, let's move along. Because in verse 20, all the way to verse 32 of Esther chapter 9, we have the establishment of what we call today Chag Purim, the feast of Purim, the feast of Esther. So, you notice a few things that we find out very interesting here. First of all, verse 20, 21, and 22, Mordecai sent letters requesting from all the Jewish community to establish and keep that two days that is called the feast of Purim. I'm reading verse 20 now. It says that Mordecai wrote these things. And he sent letters unto all Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Zachashverosh, both nigh and far.

To establish. Notice that word to establish. It comes from the Hebrew word lekayem. Lekayem means to keep it. Lekayem means to hold on to it. So, he said to establish, he says in verse 21, among them that they should keep the 14th day of the month of Adar and the 15th day of the same every year. The day wherein the Jews rested from their enemies. And the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy and from mourning into a good day. The day should make them days of feasting and joy. And of sending portion one to another and gifts to the poor. Now, that feast of Purim has been established now.

Every month of Adar, usually it's the month of March. For us who are in North America, it's the month of March. In Israel, it's called the month of Adar. Every month of Adar, the 12 months of the Hebrew calendar, on the 14th and on the 15th of this month, the Jewish people celebrate the feast of Purim. And Mordecai requested that all the Jewish community worldwide will keep that feast. In fact, he used the word establish. It's come from the Hebrew word lekayem. To do it. To act upon it. And why? To look back at history. What happened to us many, many years ago when Haman sought to destroy all the Jewish people.

And there are many, many customs during the time of Purim. Older and younger, we have clothes. We dress like Mordecai or we dress like Queen Esther. Some of us dressed like wicked Haman. And some even dressed like King Achashverosh. I told you before that my mother, for some reason, always wanted me to dress like Queen Esther. I do not know why she actually offered me money. She said, "If you're going to dress like Queen Esther, I'm going to give you so much money." And I was not emboldened enough to dress like I'm a boy. I want to look like a man, you know. I'm not want to look like Queen Esther.

But it was so real, beloved brothers and sisters. We dress, we have... Every time the name of Haman is mentioned, there is booing because he was an enemy of the Jewish people. Noise making noise because he wanted to destroy our nation, the Jewish people. So, it became a celebration, Lekayem, to establish in Jewish history. Now, of course, it is not part of the seven feasts that God gave to Israel already when the law was given, some 3,500 years ago, in Mount Sinai there. No, it was a separate feast. But it was an important feast in Jewish history. Just like Chanukah, the feast of dedication that Antiochus wanted to destroy the Jewish people as well.

And just like the Independence Day today that came out of Hitler who wanted to destroy all the Jewish people, and he was successful to kill six million of our own Jewish people that he placed them in the gas chambers. And he was successful. You can go today to Yad Vashem in the city of Jerusalem and see the monuments there, a memorial to what happened to our own Jewish people in the time when Hitler sought. And it was not too long ago, beloved brothers and sisters. Some 70 years or so from our point. Can you imagine from today, 70 years ago, those of us that are older than 70 here today, you were alive when they sought to destroy the Jewish people, when they successfully, Hitler killed six million of our own Jewish people.

Can you just imagine? And so no wonder there is a need to establish, to remember how in the providence of God our people have been preserved by the God of Israel in a supernatural way from their enemies. And notice what we read now in verse 23 to verse 28, the commitment of the Jewish people and the naming of the feast. They committed themselves to keep those two days, the 14th and the 15th of the month of Adar, and they gave it a name. And notice that I'm going to read verse 23, verse 24, the Jews understand it. It says here, And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun and as Mordechai had written unto them.

They really took it seriously. They knew it very well. Let me tell you, when somebody is going to come to your home and going to desire to destroy you and your family, and somehow in a providence of God you will be preserved and be happy and you will be able to defeat your enemy, you will remember that very well in your own personal life. And therefore they undertook to do it, to keep it, to be thankful for what was happening at that day. Again, not mention of God, but you know very well that God was in their hearts during those days because He did preserve them.

He did protect them in His providence. Notice what it says in verse 24, Because Haman, the son of Hamadatta, the Agagai, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them. And he had cast poor, that is the lot, to consume them and to destroy them. By the way, you notice that it says about Haman, he is the enemy of all the Jews. Not only of some selected Jewish people, but he was an enemy of all the Jewish people, all together. He was an enemy of all the Jewish people. Those that were in Shushan the palace and those that were in the 127 provinces.

He sought to destroy all the Jewish people. We continue and we read in verse 24 again, Why is it named Purim? Here is the reason. Because Haman had cast poor. The word poor means lot. In Hebrew we call it Goral. He cast a Goral, a lot, to find out which day he is going to destroy all the Jewish people. That's where you get pur, purim, P-U-R, and then purim, P-U-R-I-M, plural for poor. Lot, lots. And here we find out that the name, the feast of Esther or the feast of Purim, it says in verse 25, But when Esther came before the king and he commanded by letters that the wicked device which he devised against the Jews would return upon his own head.

And then verse 26, Wherefore they called these days, not only one day, but these days, Purim, after the name of Pur. And the word Purim, it explained it here, the word pur is lot. Lot in Hebrew is Goral. And the Goral, the lot is actually, the Lord is the one that ultimately bring about an answer to every lot that had been cast by ancient times, by men. In fact, I want you to turn to Proverbs chapter 16 with me, please. And there notice what it says. It says in verse 33, the last verse, The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.

They are casting lot and casting lot, but eventually the Lord is a sovereign God. He is the one that is making the outcome of it. And the outcome was that he preserved the Jewish people, even though the lot fell on a certain day to destroy them all. The Lord had overturned the enemy's plan to preserve his own people, the people of Israel. Now back to Esther chapter 9, to draw near towards the end of chapter 9, beloved brothers and sisters, verse 27 and verse 28, the ordering of Purim to be kept by the people of Israel, by the Jewish community. The Jews ordained. And they took upon them and upon their seed and upon all such that joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that they should keep these two days according to their writing and according to their appointed time every year.

And notice it says in verse 28, and that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city. And that these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seeds. And so on, beloved brothers and sisters, the Jewish people preserved the feast of Esther, the feast of Purim, from generation to generation, every year, on the 14th and 15th day of the month of Adar, everywhere in Jewry, beginning from Jerusalem, all the way around the world, that feast is being kept by our people. To remember the preservation of the Jewish people, and we know very well, it is from none else but the Lord Himself, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Well, to conclude chapter 9 and to go into chapter 10, we find out in verse 29, 30, 31, and 32 that a letter of confirmation by Esther and Mordechai was sent. And so we will read, and Esther, the queen, the daughter of Abichai, the Jew wrote, with all authority to confirm this second letter of Purim. And you can read the remaining verses of chapter 9, at verse 32 it says, Now, that is interesting, it was written in a book, and that's why many believe that this is the book of Esther, that was written by Mordechai himself, who was there, the one who was writing those letters to the Jewish community worldwide, about the necessity to keep the feast of Purim.

Well, now let's quickly go into chapter 10 and conclude the book of Esther, because chapter 10 shows us the distinction between King Achashverosh, who was the king of Persia, and his self-will. And on the other hand, we see Mordechai, the Jew, and his selfless will. You can see, if you will, a picture between the sin nature, the old nature, and the new nature. Or we can put it this way. You can see the difference between the Antichrist, the counterfeit Messiah, and the Messiah himself in typology. Look at this, chapter 10, verse 1 and 2a. And King Achashverosh laid tributes upon the land, and upon the isles of the sea, and all the acts of his power, and of his might.

Just pause here for a moment. You remember what I said earlier. The book of Esther began away from Israel, and end away from Israel. The book of Esther began with a pagan king, and ends with the story of the thinking of the pagan king. The book of Esther began far away from the temple in Yerushalayim, and it is speaking about the capital city, and the one who ruled over that city in Persia. What do we see about him? What does he do, King Achashverosh? He began with a party in the beginning of the book of Esther, and he ends with putting tax upon all his people.

You can see that he is taxing them. He put tributes upon them. Whether it is in the land, or in the islands, in the isles of the sea, he taxed his people. And secondly, he is writing about his greatness, and all his power, and his might. This is a picture of Satan, a picture of the Antichrist, a picture of the old sinful nature, that is priding in itself. Look what I have done. Look what I have accomplished. And I am going to tax the people, my subject, and I am going to gain more from them for myself. It begins with self, and it ends with self when it comes to the king.

But on the other hand, beloved brothers and sisters, look what happened with Mordecai. It says in verse 2b, and verse 3, to conclude the book of Esther, look what we read about Mordecai. It says in verse 2b, where unto the king advance him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Midia and Persia? Then the final verse in the book of Esther, verse 3 of chapter 10. For Mordecai, the Jew, was next unto king Achashverosh, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking shalom to all his seed. See the different, beloved brothers and sisters?

One of them is a representation of the sin nature. The other one is a representation of the new nature. One of them is a representation of Satan, the Antichrist, the enemies of God, the people who are godless. The other one is a representation of the person of our Lord Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah, who loved the nation of Israel. Just like he loved you and I, who cared for the welfare of mankind, who was willing to give himself a ransom for many. This is a beautiful picture and typology that we see in Mordecai, the Jew. Notice, he became next to king Achashverosh. And he was great among all the Jewish people.

But the Jewish people honored him and respected him because he had been used to deliver them out of, to be extinguished. And then it says those few beautiful remarks at the end. He was accepted of the multitude of his brethren. He was seeking the wealth of his people. And he was speaking peace, shalom, to his seed. Notice the three words. His brethren, his people, his seed. The people, the Jewish people, have respected Mordecai, the Jew, who sought the welfare of the people of Israel. That takes us, beloved brothers and sisters, to the beautiful picture of the future day. When our own Jewish people, who are blinded to the Messiahship of Yeshua, the Messiah, they will finally realize who he is and what he had done for them.

They will realize that he is the one who cares for his brethren. He is the one who wishes wealth for his people. And he is the one who brings shalom, peace, unto his own seed, the people of Israel. This is beautiful to see that. And you and I, as believers in Jesus, the Messiah, Jew and Gentile, doesn't matter who we are. We also have to appreciate what Yeshua has done for us today. We belong to him. We are the one that have become part of a redeemed company. And we are the one who should appreciate what the Lord Yeshua has done for us. Well, brothers and sisters, this is the conclusion of the book of Esther.

The theme is not really the Jews, it's not really Mordechai, it's not really Esther, it's not really Achashverosh, it's not even Haman. The theme here is the sovereignty of God. God is in control over the affairs of all men. And he does take care of his own people and no matter what, his plan and purpose will surely come to pass in the life of the Jews and in the life of the body of Messiah. He will surely bring it to pass.