In Esther, we have moved from chapter 5 into chapter 6. We saw that Haman historically had a plan in which he was hoping to hang Mordecai on the 17th day of the 2nd month. We realized that, spiritually, somehow this means that Satan had a plan. Was his plan to hang Christ? When we think what it means to be hung on a gallows, gallows are made of wood, which is basically referring to a tree.
This is really another way of indicating that someone was hung on a tree or crucified, because this is the language that describes the crucifixion. God tells us this in 1st Peter, “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree.” This is also language that indicates that someone is accursed or under the curse of God.
Historically, it was Haman’s plan to hang Mordecai on the 17th day of the 2nd month. When we mention this date, God has drilled this into us. This comes from Him because He is the One who said in 2 Peter 3, “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing.” In this context, He also spoke of “one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
He knew, because He would be the One to open up our eyes to this, that He would give us insight into the seven-day period that is mentioned in Genesis 7 when God told Noah, “For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth.” This spiritually meant, “Yet seven thousand years.”
Then we find that the flood took place in 4990 B.C. and that 7,000 years later is 2011 A.D. and that May 21, 2011 was the 17th day of the 2nd month in the Hebrew calendar. After seven days in the book of Genesis, it was the 17th day of the 2nd month when the flood began and the door to the ark was shut.
God has drilled this into us. He has made sure that we are very much aware of this particular date, that the 17th day of the 2nd month is the equivalent of May 21, 2011. But He does not throw this date around just anywhere in the Bible. Can you think of other places where we read about the 17th day of the 2nd month?
So we find that this is the actual date that all of these events are going to take place in the book of Esther. This is also quite a date here in Esther. It is the date of the second banquet of wine.
First of all, it is the day when Haman intends to hang Mordecai. Also, the night leading up to this day is the night when the king could not sleep, and so he had the chronicles read. And we have no idea how big a volume of a book those chronicles were of the decrees that had been made within his kingdom. It could have been quite a huge volume.
Then it just so happens that the individual reading this book to the king opens it up and begins to read – and we do not know how long he had been reading – but he began reading at some place close to the event when the doorkeepers had been plotting against the king. Then the king’s ears perk up as he heard that the two rebel doorkeepers had been turned in by Mordecai.
God is the One who arranged things so that, first of all, the king could not sleep. Then He made sure that the king would be paying close attention, his ears would perk up, and that the king would then say, “What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this?”
All of this was arranged by God and took place on the 17th day of the 2nd month. Then we go on and we find that a turn of events took place when Haman had thought to have Mordecai killed, but then the king turned it around so that Haman ended up taking Mordecai around on horseback proclaiming, “Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour.”
Well, we will try to get into this a little bit later, but the 17th day of the 2nd month comes into focus in chapters 6, 7, and 8 of the book of Esther. There are three whole chapters that are focused on one day. More is spent on this particular day than on the 13th day of the 12th month of Adar of Purim. Purim takes place in chapter 9, and then chapter 10 is just a few verses. Chapter 10 is like an afterthought or a postscript. But a great deal of focus in the book of Esther is on this day, this particular day when the second banquet of wine occurs.
Is it not something that what was brought to the king’s mind was that which concerned the rebellious doorkeepers? The last time that they were brought up was at the end of chapter 2, which was a few years earlier in the king’s reign, and we saw that this typified the beginning point of the end of the church age. We saw that this typified the beginning of the great tribulation or the judgment that began at the house of God. Then there was no mention of these two doorkeepers again until the 17th day of the 2nd month.
This is very interesting because we know that the 17th day of the 2nd month, i.e., May 21, 2011, was what day in relationship to the churches? It was the completion of the 23rd year of the judgment on the churches and it was last day of the great tribulation. It was the last day of God’s judgment on the church, and then here in the book of Esther these two doorkeepers come to the king’s mind at that particular point. Also, the question was raised, “What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this?”
We can learn from this that the Lord Jesus is the One who revealed the plot of the churches in their rebelliousness and unfaithfulness against God and that He was to be glorified and honored for bringing judgment on the churches and congregations. That honor was to be bestowed upon Him on May 21, 2011 at the completion of the 23-year period, at the completion of the 8400 days of the great tribulation.
In the historical situation where the king could not sleep, we also saw in Psalm 121:1-5:
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from JEHOVAH, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. JEHOVAH is thy keeper: JEHOVAH is thy shade upon thy right hand.
So the Lord Jehovah is the keeper of Israel; that is, He is watching over His people and protecting them. No one can ever harm them. No one can ever hurt them in any way.
This is the spiritual significance of why the king could not sleep. It was because God never sleeps nor slumbers as He is watching over His elect. Haman was coming to do harm to Mordecai. He wanted to harm all of the Jews, but God was watching out for His people.
Whenever someone comes to curse the people of God, God has already stated a principle that we read about in the book of Numbers. He indicated to Baalim that individuals can curse His people but that He would turn it into a blessing, which is exactly the situation in Esther.
Let us go back to Esther 6 where I will read the first few verses. We read in Esther 6:1-5:
On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus. And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, There is nothing done for him. And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman was come into the outward court of the king's house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him. And the king's servants said unto him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in.
Let us look at this spiritually. Haman is Satan, which is a pretty clear connection. The date is the 17th day of the 2nd month. It is May 21, 2011. Now it is said to Haman, “Let him come in.” He was invited in to an inner place where the king dwelt. It was the king’s bedchamber because he was in bed and they were reading the chronicles to him. Haman was outside in the outer court.
Spiritually, where on May 21, 2011 was Satan located? Where was he? The Bible tells us where. We read in Revelation 11:1-2:
And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
That was where Satan was. He was in the outer court. This is language that is pointing to his rule in the corporate body, in the corporate churches and congregations. The churches were not the inner chamber of God. The churches and congregations were the outward representation of the Kingdom of God on earth and this was where Satan was loosed to take his seat as the “man of sin.”
How long was this for? It said “forty and two months.” This is a figure representing the entire great tribulation period, which we know lasted for 23 years. And this was why on the 17th day of the 2nd month, it is suddenly brought to the king’s mind about those two rebellious doorkeepers who were hung, because this related to the church that was under the wrath of God and had become an open shame and curse to the world. Then, secondly, at that very point, where was Haman? He was in the outer court and the king said, “Let him come in.”
Haman, historically, was a very proud man. He was very prideful. We can see his pride and arrogance when he was lifted up by the king. He had been advanced and promoted above all of the princes, but one man refused to bow down to him. Mordecai the Jew would not bow down to him.
As a result of this, Haman was so proud that he determined that he was going to have Mordecai killed, not only Mordecai but every single Jew in all of the provinces of all the kingdom. He hated Mordecai because Mordecai would not recognize his authority and his power. It was all because of Haman’s pride because he could not bear the thought that Mordecai would not bow down to him.
Haman is an excellent example of Satan. He is an excellent example of the devil himself, because the devil is very proud. He is very, very proud. Just look at the arrogance of Satan as he tempted Jesus in the wilderness for those forty days.
Let us quickly read Matthew 4. Remember that Satan is a spirit being who is a creature; he was created. He fell. He was created as an angel. He fell from that position, and then he became known as the devil. It says in Matthew 4:1-10:
Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
This was the plateau of pride. This was as high as Satan could get to demand of Christ that He bow down – when Jesus is eternal God in the flesh – and worship him. We can see just how arrogant and haughty Satan is and how highly Satan thinks of his own self when he would expect Jesus to bow down and worship him.
By the way, in this account in Matthew 4, God gives us a good understanding as far as how to come to the Bible and compare Scripture with Scripture. It is not only about comparing Scripture with Scripture.
Satan had Scripture but Jesus would then counter with other Scripture. When Jesus would counter with other Scripture, what was He showing? He was showing that Satan’s use of the verse that he was trying to apply was not fitting. It did not harmonize with another verse that Christ countered with.
So, yes; we compare Scripture with Scripture. But here we also learn that everything must fit and harmonize with the whole Bible. Satan is very capable of throwing a whole bunch of Scriptures together and trying to use them, and only Scripture.
Some people have the mistaken idea that if they use only Scripture without making any comments that they are not teaching, especially today. By the way, more and more people are thinking that there should be no Biblical teachers; and yet if someone strings Scriptures together, they are basically teaching. They cannot get away from that; but I do not want to get into a discussion on this at this time.
So we see Satan’s pride and his arrogance. Is it possible that he is so proud that he actually thought that on Judgment Day, May 21, that he was somehow going to be honored? Did he think that he was going to be the one that the King delighted to honor? We ask this because this is what Haman historically thought.
Let us look at when Haman went into the king in Esther 6:6:
So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?
Is this not something? I think that we all understand pride. All of us understand how we can be very self-centered and how we think that just about everything comes back to ourselves. Just think of how proud and arrogant man is and how much we are also able to deceive ourselves into thinking that God is pleased with us.
Many, many people out there in the world and in the churches have lived their lives in their sin. They are basically shaking their fists at God. They do whatever they want to do; but in the back of their minds, they think, “Well, when I die, I am just going to go into the pearly gates.” They speak of going to Heaven as if God is pleased with them and has no problem at all with them or their lives.
This is the nature of man. We can so deceive ourselves that we think that God is smiling kindly upon us from the heavens, and yet what does the Bible say? The Bible tells us that the wrath of God is upon us. It tells us that if we do not find a Saviour, we are going to be utterly destroyed. It tells us that the wages of sin is death.
So this is man’s mind and what man is able to assume about God, and it is all wrong. Man is self-deceived into thinking that God is pleased with him. Well, Satan is the master deceiver. Could he have even deceived himself into thinking that somehow God would lift him up? After all, God did loose him after 1,955 years of the church age. God did allow him and give him the authority to take his seat in the churches as the “man of sin.” Perhaps Satan, in his pride, began to think, “Well, maybe God is pleased with me in some way.”
We do not know exactly what was going on; and yet to some degree, maybe we do. Let us go to Isaiah 14, which speaks of the king of Babylon in a parabolic way because he was a type of Satan himself. It says in Isaiah 14:11-14:
Thy pomp is brought down to the grave…
The grave is hell. It continues:
…and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart…
We read here of him saying this in his heart, just like it says that Haman “thought in his heart.” It continues:
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
He was saying that he would be like the great God, and here is Satan’s pride in view. He wanted to be like God. This was the case with Satan as he took his seat in the churches and congregations as the “man of sin.” As he did this, he was showing himself to be like God.
After Haman thinks in his heart that he is the one whom the king would delight to honor, notice what he says to the king that should be done to the man who should be honored. We read in Esther 6:7-9:
And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honour, Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head: And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.
If we analyze these statements that Haman said, what was he really saying? He was saying to get the royal apparel to clothe the man, the king’s crown to put on him, and the king’s horse to ride upon.
In other words, when Haman thought that the king was referring to him, he wanted to be the king, just like Satan wants to be God; and so he was saying, “Dress me up like the king, put the crown upon my head like the king, and let me ride the king’s glorious horse, just like the king.”
This is because this is exactly Satan’s desire. It has always been his goal to be like God. He wanted to be like God. That is why he entered into the Garden of Eden to deceive man. If man would obey him, rather than God, than he would be the one that received the worship of man; and this has been the case all through history.
During the period of five months, we studied the end of the captivity to sin and Satan. We saw that May 21 was a spiritual Judgment Day and that God did bring judgment on that day. He did put down Satan. We looked at Isaiah 14 to show this and we saw that Satan was put down and deposed, that his kingdom had been ransacked, that the earthquake opened up the prison bars in Acts 16 and that all of the captives went free. Everyone was delivered.
We also saw that May 21 was a great day of exaltation for the Lord Jesus Christ. It was a great day of victory for the Kingdom of God. What we are reading and learning from the book of Esther is that all of those things were correct.
During the five month’s study, I was wrong in thinking that the world would end on October 21; but in many of the other things, we were correct. This is because Esther is showing us that on the 17th day of the 2nd month, Satan (who was typified by Haman) came under the judgment of God.
Let us continue reading in Esther 6. It says in Esther 6:10-11:
Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken. Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour.
God is just giving us the facts. This is what happened. He is not giving us the drama of it. We are not being shown things like a movie would show us. A movie would give us a close-up of Haman’s face and we would see his face drop.
Have you ever had the feeling where you had some sort of expectation, some sort of desire, but you heard something from someone and then you realized all of a sudden that this expectation would never happen? Your hopes fell quickly and it was like your heart sunk within you. I have experienced this, but maybe you are in a situation where you are at work or something like that and you have to keep going. You have to continue doing the things that you were involved in, and so did Haman.
Can you imagine how this man felt when his arch enemy, Mordecai the Jew, was exalted? Mordecai was the one whom he had already gone to the king about (even though he did not mention him) in order to destroy him and all of his people. Plus, the king had granted Haman his request. Everything was certainly going his way; but in a single moment, everything turns around and he just cannot believe it. I think that we can be very safe in saying that he probably could not believe his ears when the king told him to take the royal apparel, the crown, and the horse and to give them to Mordecai.
First of all, it would have been a shock to him that this was not for himself. That would have been a big blow; but secondly, which was probably far worse, he was told to take those things that he thought he would be exalted with and to go to Mordecai the Jew, the man sitting in sackcloth and ashes at the king’s gate who refused to bow down to him, the one whom he had come into the king to see about in order to have him hanged, and exalt him.
This was the very man whom he had in his mind to request to the king that he be hung on the gallows that Haman had already built. They were hammering away and finishing the gallows in order that Mordecai the Jew, be hung; and before Haman could even make that request, before he even got to this, the king told him to go and honor that same man, to go and honor Mordecai the Jew. Haman does so because, ultimately, Satan does everything that God wants him to do. He cannot do anything other than what God would have him to do.
When God loosed Satan and brought judgment on the churches, remember that he was typified by the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. God even called Nebuchadnezzar “my servant,” because it was serving God’s purpose that Nebuchadnezzar, historically, destroy Judah. Spiritually, it has served God’s purpose that Satan destroy the churches and congregations.
So Satan can go only so far, but he can never go beyond the commandments of God or the will of God. Now God is saying, “Alright; it is over. It is all over. You had your time. I loosed you for a specific purpose, which was to bring judgment on the churches, but now it is May 21, 2011. It is the 17th day of the 2nd month and it is 7,000 years from the flood. It is Judgment Day. The judgment has now been completed upon the churches. Your authority was limited and given a specific time duration of 23 years, and now you are being put down. You are being taken out of the church. You are no longer seated as the ‘man of sin’ ruling in the congregations. You are no longer the one in authority in the church or in the world. You have been deposed and put down.” Historically, we read about this incredible story; but, spiritually, this was the situation that took place on Judgment Day.
Then it goes on to say in Esther 6:12:
And Mordecai came again to the king's gate. But Haman hasted to his house mourning, and having his head covered.
We find this word for “hasted” in 2 Chronicles 26:20 where it is speaking of King Uzziah. Remember that King Uzziah was the king who went into the temple to burn incense when he should not have. He was not a priest and it was only the priest who could burn incense at the altar. He went in against the commandments of God. Then Azariah the priest and all of the other priests went in and confronted Uzziah; but when Uzziah began to protest against them, he became a leper. God struck him with leprosy in the temple. It says in 2 Chronicles 26:20:
And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because JEHOVAH had smitten him.
This was exactly what was going on with Haman. He was being smitten by the Lord. He was shamed as the leprosy spread quickly upon him, and so he hasted to go out from that situation.
This was the same situation with Haman as God was bringing His wrath upon him, which represents God’s judgment on the churches. After taking Mordecai around, Haman wanted to haste home in order to just get away from that situation.
We will not look right now at these other words, but “having his head covered” also related to shame. King David and his men left Jerusalem on the day that Absalom was approaching and it says that they had their heads covered. It also says that they left barefooted, which points to having some shame involved.
But let us continue reading here it Esther. It says in Esther 6:13:
And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends every thing that had befallen him. Then said his wise men and Zeresh his wife unto him, If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him.
Let us look at this word “fall.” I have a few verses here. Turn to Psalm 35:7-8:
For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul. Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall.
Also, Proverbs 11:5:
The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way: but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.
One other passage is Ezekiel 39:4-5. This is referring to Gog and Magog:
Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord JEHOVAH.
This is language indicating that unsaved man and Satan have set a snare. They have set traps, but they themselves fall into them. They try to destroy the people of God, which is what Purim is all about as they wanted to kill all of the Jews. But who ends up being killed? It was not Mordecai and the Jews. It was Haman and all of the enemies of the Jews. And this is the case of what spiritually occurred on May 21, 2011 with Satan and this is what will occur finally at the end for all of the unsaved people who are against God and His Kingdom.
Going back to Esther 6:14, it says:
And while they were yet talking with him, came the king's chamberlains, and hasted to bring Haman unto the banquet that Esther had prepared.
So Haman has just experienced something terrible. He was humiliated and brought low in having to honor Mordecai. And while they were talking with Haman about this, then came the next judgment of God.
This reminds us a little bit of Job when the messengers were coming to Job and telling him of his flocks being destroyed and of his children being killed when their house fell upon them. Again and again, it says in Job, “While he was yet speaking, there came also another,” and then the next judgment came.
But on May 21, it was Satan’s turn. Haman was judged and he was humiliated, but it was not done. It was not complete. While they were talking, the king’s chamberlains came and hasted Haman to the banquet. He had no option. The king required him because it was time for Esther’s banquet; and so Haman goes from bad to worse. There is nothing pleasant happening for him on this day. This was all taking place in the book of Esther on the 17th day of the 2nd month.
Then we read in Esther 7:1-2:
So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen. And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? and it shall be performed, even to the half of the kingdom.
We saw before that the reason the king granted her petition was because she was representing the true believers, and Proverbs 10:24 states:
…the desire of the righteous shall be granted.
When God’s people pray according to God’s will, He hears our prayer.
So what will be granted to Esther? What will be granted is “even to the half of the kingdom.” If she had said, “I want half of the kingdom,” this would have meant that they would have been co-heirs and that they would have ruled together. They would have been seated together.
This is exactly the language that the Bible uses of Christ and His people. When we become saved, we are seated together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Jesus said, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
We receive everything that is involved with His Kingdom, which is eternal life and being with God. We are of royalty when He saves us. We are spiritually kings. We are made unto God to be prophets, priests, and kings.
Let us look at just one more thing today before we close, which is this banquet. This is called a “banquet of wine” in Esther 7:2:
…on the second day at the banquet of wine…
Let us go to Daniel 5 and begin in verse 1. It says in Daniel 5:1-2:
Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple…
At what point is this feast or this banquet of wine taking place here in Daniel 5? We know that this is a banquet, by the way, because Daniel 5:10 says:
Now the queen by reason of the words of the king and his lords came into the banquet house…
So this is a banquet of wine. But at what point in history is this taking place?
This was the 70th year that God spoke about through Jeremiah. It says in 2 Chronicles 36:20-21:
And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: To fulfil the word of JEHOVAH by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years.
This is referring to 70 years, and this 70-year period typifies the great tribulation.
Mr. Camping has addressed this many times. The different lengths of time that typify the great tribulation are 70 years, 2300 days, 7 years, and 7 months in some cases. The actual length of the great tribulation was 23 years, but the 70-year period from the time that King Josiah was killed until 539 B.C. when the Medes and the Persians took the kingdom of Babylon was a period that typified the great tribulation.
In Daniel 5, we know that this was the 70th year, because this was the time when the Medes and the Persians were going to take the kingdom; and we have some similarities here of Haman coming to the banquet of wine that Esther had prepared. It was a banquet of wine, and we read of the king drinking wine with his lords in 2 Chronicles. Also, Haman was very proud as he entered in. He was extremely proud as he thought, “To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?” All of this led up to Haman’s going into the banquet of wine.
Well, we find in Daniel 5:20-23:
But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him: And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will. And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven…
So Belshazzar was involved in a prideful act in using the Lord’s vessels from the temple and in drinking wine in them. As a result, God brought the writing on the wall, which indicated that the kingdom was divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.
It says in Daniel 5:30-31:
In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.
That night at a banquet of wine, the king of Babylon, who typified Satan, was killed.
This matches very well, because we have many of these same elements with Esther’s banquet. We have Haman who was a type of Satan. It was a banquet of wine. Pride was involved as God indicates to the king of Babylon that he had lifted up himself, just as Haman had lifted up himself. Then we will find that Haman is killed at his banquet of wine. He will be taken out and hung, just as the king of Babylon will be killed on the 70th year, which would point to the end of the great tribulation, on the night that the Medes and the Persians took the kingdom. That was the night that the king of Babylon was killed and Cyrus the king took the kingdom.
We remember what God says of Cyrus in Isaiah 44:28:
That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.
Then we read in Isaiah 45:1:
Thus saith JEHOVAH to his anointed, to Cyrus…
This word “anointed” is the same word for “Messiah” that we find in Daniel 9, and so the Lord is very clearly indicating that Cyrus is a type of Christ.
Well, again, we have similarities. Haman was killed at a banquet of wine. The king of Babylon was killed at a banquet of wine. Cyrus took the kingdom, in comparison to Mordecai being given the house of Haman; and Mordecai is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. We also have the reference to the 70th year, the end of that period of time that typifies the great tribulation. And we have the 17th day of the 2nd month in the book of Esther or May 21, which is the equivalent day to the last day of the great tribulation.
Do you see how God is confirming what we had understood? We understood that on that day, there was a spiritual judgment. It was the completion of the judgment on the churches, but it was the expansion of the judgment on the world.
In what way? Well, the door shut. The door shut. There was no salvation taking place in the churches for 23 years. Now, since then, there is no salvation taking place in the world. This was the judgment. If this was not the judgment, I do not know why it was Judgment Day. But it was Judgment Day, because God shut the door.
That was the whole significance of the 7,000-year timeline from the flood, from the very day or the 17th day of the 2nd month in Noah’s account when the Lord shut him in; and May 21 was that equivalent date. And so, here we find that Cyrus takes the kingdom and that this is equivalent to Mordecai.
Going back to 2 Chronicles 36, let us also read verse 22. This is after the verses that I had just read. It says in 2 Chronicles 36:22-23:
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of JEHOVAH spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished, JEHOVAH stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath JEHOVAH God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah…
So believe it or not, this is what the Bible is teaching. Right now, Christ is the supreme ruler over all the earth, the whole world, and the church, even though we should never even think about going back into the church. No; the churches were under the judgment of God and they are still in just as bad a situation, because there is no salvation of any kind there. God would not have anyone go back into the church. But just like the world is under the rule of the Lord Jesus Christ, so are the churches.
Satan exists. He still continues to exist. He is a spirit being. God has not destroyed him as yet; and in the book of Esther, this is taught through the ten sons of Haman. Even though Haman was killed, his ten sons continued to live until the very last day of the Feast of Purim, the 13th day of Adar. So we should not think that Satan is not out there and that he is not going about, because he is; but at this point, Christ is the supreme ruler.
You might be wondering, “If Christ is the supreme ruler, why are things so tough for His people? Why are things so difficult and trying? Why is there so much affliction upon the people of God?”
Well, if you go from Daniel 5, what is the very next chapter? The very next chapter after Daniel 5 is Daniel 6. What happens in Daniel 6?
Cyrus is also known as Darius; and in Daniel 6, we find Darius. Does he like Daniel? Yes; he is very favorable to Daniel. He favors Daniel. He sets Daniel as the chief president.
So the king, the one ruling over all the kingdoms of the world, as we read, is favorable to Daniel. Does this mean that everything is going to go wonderfully for Daniel from that point on? It is at the end of the 70 years, which would be pointing to the end of the great tribulation or May 21. Is everything thereafter going to go superbly and smoothly and wonderfully for Daniel?
In Daniel 6, what happens? There is a tremendous amount of envy and jealousy by his fellowman, his fellow individuals that he was ruling the kingdom with. They plot in order to have Daniel thrown into a den of lions; and even though the king prefers Daniel over all of those other men and is favorable to him, he must still continue to abide by the law of the Medes and the Persians. Historically, he made a law that anyone who makes a plea of any other God or man within 30 days would be thrown into the den of lions. So what must happen is that Daniel will be thrown into the den of lions.
Well, let us close with this verse in 2 Timothy 4:16-17:
At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me…
Remember that the two witnesses were lying dead in the street and they stood up on their feet. That language of standing on their feet had to do with the Gospel going out into the world. Well, God was with us. He stood with us and He went before His people to bring the Gospel to the world.
Then it continues:
…that by me…
Paul here is a type and figure of the true believers. It continues:
…that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles [which is the same word as nations] might hear…
This is an incredible statement. Historically, we would have to say that this never happened in Paul’s life. He went to many different nations, but he did not go to all of the world. He did not go to all of the nations. The preaching was not “fully known” by him. Many things were sealed up “till the time of the end.”
But as he was a type and a figure of the believers, when the believers are alive at the time of the end when God opens the Scriptures, the preaching is “fully known” and then all of the nations hear like they did just prior to May 21.
Now we can understand what it says next:
…all the Gentiles [nations] might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.
This is because this is the next step, and this is where we are. We are in the den of the lions, in a sense, where God is trying us and testing our faith. It is a “fiery trial.” It is our faith if you and I have the faith of Christ. This is what the test will show. It will make manifest and reveal by the time that this is through whether or not you, or I, or anyone who claims to be a child of God is truly a child of God, even when the world thinks that you are crazy and when the church thinks that you are a heretic, even when maybe your family and friends think this; and even when many whom you stood side-by-side with and proclaimed these things with also are – what can you say – they are beating their fellowservants, even when these people are saying terrible things about their fellowservants, just as we read in Matthew 24.
When all of these things are going on, where can the child of God go? Well, ultimately, we go to God and He comforts us, He strengthens us, and He delivers us out of the mouth of the lion. This is exactly what God has been doing.
All the night, Daniel had to stay there. We read it quickly, but he did spend the night in the den of the lions and the lions were there, but they never really could harm him. And it is the same situation today where God’s people will never be hurt. They cannot be harmed because God will turn the curse into a blessing.
Let us stop here.