We were in Luke 21 and we saw that Luke 21 is a chapter dealing with the great tribulation and the end of the world. It is a parallel chapter to Matthew 24. We were looking at verses, which is why we came here, that pointed to God’s people standing in the Day of Judgment. We will just go a little further down to Luke 21:34. It says:
And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
This word “unawares” is the same word “sudden” that we read about in 1 Thessalonians 5:3, and we will actually look at this verse a little later.
Then we read in Luke 21:35:
For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
What is a snare? It is a trap. It usually something that is hidden and that is not made very obvious. It is something that is not put out in plain view. It is hidden. If you are hunting, you hide a trap so that the animal does not see it. Before the animal knows it, they are caught and they are ensnared.
This is the word and the language that God is using to describe the end of the world. It is as a snare that comes on “all of them,” on all of those who “dwell on the face of the whole earth.”
So this is a trap that God has planned for mankind at the end of the world and I do not think that we have to wonder any longer about what this trap is. It is rather obvious that God warned the whole world, as this Gospel of the Kingdom was preached “in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”
God warned the whole world “May 21 – Judgment Day!” and the whole world’s ears perked up. This message was put in the forefront of their eyes and in their minds. They could not avoid it. For the first time in history, this was the case. I do not think that there has been anything that could be said to be equal to this warning that went out into all the world leading up to May 21 when so many people heard this message of Judgment Day.
So all of the world was waiting. They were waiting. This was such an event, as this was indicated by how troubled they were by it, that they decided to have parties on that day. They celebrated. When things did not happen as was expected, it was party time, “Let us rejoice!”
This was similar to the whole idea of the New Year. Why does the world celebrate New Year’s and drink and rejoice? Basically, they do this because they are alive. They are here another year. In a sense, this is like saying to God, “I am still here. You have not judged me yet,” and this was definitely what people were doing on May 21 when they woke up and it had not happened as specified and as expected. There was no physical and literal earthquake. There was no bringing up of the bodies out of the ground, and so people celebrated.
What happened after this? What happened is that they began to be at ease. They began to go back to normal. I think that this especially relates to us. This relates to those of us outside of the churches and congregations who profess to be Christians, those who heard this warning.
It is one thing to hear this leading up to that day and to then put away your sins and to leave those things that you were doing that you knew were wrong. You did not want to get caught on Judgment Day. You did not want to get caught going into that Day doing certain things. Depending on when someone heard this message and when they were moved to behave accordingly – maybe a year, maybe a month, maybe a day before May 21 – they told themselves that they needed to get right with God. But then it did not happen as they had heard.
So after taking a deep breath and maybe a sigh of relief, some slowly and some not too slowly went right back to whatever it was that they were doing, maybe even worse. Now there is no threat even on the horizon. Yes, there was that other thing – the five months – and so some could not quite relax just yet. They could not take their ease just yet, because there was still five months. They still had until October 21 that had been spoken of.
As far as the world was concerned when May 21 did not happen, not too many of them even bothered themselves with October 21; but it was on the periphery. We would hear a report now and then and people were still kind of checking up on it, but it was those professed Christians, the true believers, many of whom carried signs and wore hats and handed out a lot of tracts who could not stop being interested in this, even though they might have been doubting or at least beginning to doubt; but then October 21 did not happen.
So now, we have two dates that did not happen as we thought – May 21 and October 21. Now many think that this has all been a lie, that this has all been untrue. But here is the difference between God’s people and someone who is not really one of God’s people. God’s people will be confused. Like anybody else, they can be perplexed and they can be troubled. They can not know what is going on, but they would not just take a study like the timeline of history and decide that it just has to be thrown away, or they would not then revert to the church’s position and claim that no man knows the day or hour.
This has already been discussed how many times? How much time was spent on this leading up to May 21 as people called the Open Forum? They would claim, “No man knows the day or hour”: and again and again it was shown, “Well, what about this verse and what about that verse?”
God’s people realize that the Bible clearly does say that God forewarns before He brings judgment and that the Biblical calendar of history is correct. It is based on the Bible. It fits perfectly; and so some people would ask, “Yes; but what happened?” The believer would have no answers, “I do not know, but I know one thing. I know that the Bible is true. I rechecked the information that I had learned and it is still true, and so we wait on the Lord. We are patiently waiting.”
This is the trap that God has set. This is the snare for all of the world as to whether or not someone will just write this off. Now God has opened up more information that identifies that May 21 was Judgment Day in the context of a timeline in the book of Esther.
This is the interesting thing. It is not like we are just reaching out to Purim because it is the next available feast. It is not that we are just grabbing hold of this and saying, “Christ did not come during this feast, and so He must come during Purim. If He does not come then, then He is going to come at Passover.” This is, honestly, what some people have been doing. They have been trying to grab whatever they can, but this is not the reason for why we are looking at Purim.
We are looking at Purim because God put His finger on the 17th day of the 2nd month, which is the equivalent date of May 21. And the amazing thing is that He did this within a timeline that leads to a date of judgment in view in the book of Esther some ten months later.
That was the first thing that we learned. Actually, we have learned many things from the book of Esther. We learned about Esther’s name, which was Hadassah, and it just so happens that this name was found in Zechariah 1 in the very passage that is dealing with five months after a period of 23 days. Then we learned that Haman was killed on the 17th day of the 2nd month and that Mordecai was exalted. But we also learned that God has doubled the judgment.
Just think about this. What had to take place for the doubling to fit? We cannot double 153 days. That will not fit anything. We cannot double 150 days. That will also not fit anything. But there is one date – Tishri 17 – if we have that date as the end of the five months, the space of 2/17 to 7/17, only this date can be doubled and then have the second portion of it land on the last day of the feast of Purim ten months later. This is the only date that fits and this is from the Bible. God gives the date of Tishri 17 in Genesis 8:4.
So God has set this up as a great trial of faith – your faith, my faith, everyone’s faith, especially the faith of those outside of the churches and congregations. This is a period of extreme trial, like we read about in 1 Corinthians 3, to try to see what sort of work we are made of.
Every man’s work is to be tried to make manifest what is in us. Is it the faith of Christ? If it is, it will, therefore, be brought forth as “gold, silver, precious stones.” The fire does not harm “gold, silver, precious stones”; it purifies them. If it is the faith of “wood, hay, stubble,” then it will be burned up; and this day will tell this, this Judgment Day, this “fiery trial,” this period in which God has set a snare for all of the world.
Going back to Luke 21, we read in Luke 21:36:
Watch ye therefore, and pray always…
Notice that He tells us to “pray always,” and this includes now. It continues:
…that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
Luke 21 is dealing with the great tribulation and the end of the world. Finally at the end of this test, what is it that we want to do at the very end of everything? We want to stand.
Mordecai was writing to the Jews in the king’s name and sealing it with the king’s ring. He had granted the Jews “to stand for their life”; and God tells us that “having done all, to stand.” Then He says, “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth.”
So this is what it means to “endure unto the end,” to stand in His faith, trusting God and trusting His Word. And we do this in the face of what kind of opposition? Well, it is the opposition of the whole world, the whole church, maybe our whole families, and maybe everyone or many who stood with us prior to May 21.
Do you see how God is testing? Who is it that causes you to stand? Who is it that enables the believer, the child of God, to stand? Is it what others think? Is it what others believe? Is it the pressure of your peers? No; it is God alone, and so He is indicating that His people will stand; and this is what we want to do, which is only by God’s grace.
Let us go to one other place. We read in Malachi 3:2-3, it says:
But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto JEHOVAH an offering in righteousness.
We can see here how God is relating the fires of purification, of being tried like we read in 1 Corinthians 3, to the whole idea of standing. Who will stand?
This is such an intense flame. This is really a burning heat that we have all felt. It is affliction. It is tribulation. It is a severe trial of faith; and so this is why the question is asked, “Who shall stand when he appeareth?” This is a similar question to what we will see a little later in the Gospel of Luke.
Let us go back to Esther 8. It says in Esther 8:11:
Wherein the king granted the Jews which were in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey,
So we read here that we are to stand and fight.
I was recently looking at the Union’s slogan, “Stand up! Fight back!” This is basically what we are reading here in Esther where God is saying to His people:
...stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them…
This is telling us to kill our enemies, to slay our enemies, but we have to ask a question. Historically, we understand this situation. We understand that the Jews were going to die and that, therefore, the only way out of this was to grant them the ability to fight back and to show that the power of the government or of the kingdom was behind them and that Mordecai, the great ruler next to Ahasuerus, was for them. Then all of the authorities of the provinces supported the Jews and helped them so that they could finally kill all of their enemies. We do not read of one Jew who was harmed or killed on the day of Purim.
Historically, we can understand why this law was made or that the decree was given telling the Jews to fight back. They needed to do this. This was necessary because of the earlier law that said that they were to die. But, spiritually, how can we understand this, since Mordecai is a type of Christ and the Jews represent God’s elect?
We can understand him telling them to stand for their lives, but he is also telling them to fight back. They were told to stand and to fight back, and we are a little surprised because it is shocking to hear this.
Look at Esther 8:13:
The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.
“Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” Vengeance is not ours. He does not allow us the luxury, if we could call it that, of being wrathful or angry to someone who has wronged us.
The Bible tells us, “Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” It does not tell us to take them on and to fight and to do battle. Spiritually, this command is not given.
Let us take a look at a couple of verses, one in the Old Testament. Leviticus 19:18 says:
Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am JEHOVAH.
Here is the Law of God in the Old Testament and it tells us that we shall not avenge.
In the New Testament, let us go to Romans 12. Romans 12:18-21 instructs us:
If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
This does not say that if our enemy hunger that we should then slay him. This does not give us that kind of instruction. If even our enemy is in need, we should try to help with that need. Of course, this is spiritually referring to the Gospel, as there is the kingdom of Satan that is the enemy of the Kingdom of God.
This is what God’s people do. We share the Gospel. When we were handing out tracts everywhere, many of those people were enemies of God and, therefore, enemies of us because we are citizens of God’s Kingdom; and this is what God would have us to do.
Can anyone think of a place in the Bible that allows God’s people, the elect, to bring vengeance and to destroy their enemies? No; not in this life. In any case and in any situation, we are not to avenge ourselves, “but rather give place unto wrath.” We are to turn it over to God. There is a saying that goes, “Talk about me all you please and I will talk about you on my knees.”
So someone can speak badly of us, and yet our response is not to fight. We pray. We pray for the person. We pray for the situation, and this has always been the position of God’s people. This is what God would have us to do. Never are we allowed to take vengeance but for one exception – and this is the only exception – except for the end of the world. That is the only exception, because that is the place for wrath. God says, “Give place unto wrath.” We are to give place for the “day of vengeance.”
It is at that time when He will take vengeance on His adversaries or on His enemies and bring judgment and destroy them. We are with Him. Since all of God’s people are with Him, then, in a sense, we likewise are taking vengeance on our enemies. They are enemies of God and His Kingdom, and we are citizens of that Kingdom; therefore, they are our enemies. That is the only exception to the idea.
So, spiritually, when we read this idea regarding Purim that this is a “day of vengeance,” that this is a day for the Jews to avenge themselves of their enemies, this is telling us that this is pointing to Judgment Day. Outside of the timelines or anything else, this is another way of indicating, just by the text itself, that the date of Purim is pointing to the end, to the time when God will finally destroy all of the enemies of His Kingdom.
Let us go to Luke 18. We probably discussed this in a question and answer session, but I do not think that we have discussed this during a Bible study, but this is a parable that Jesus gives of a widow woman that fits our day. This is a parable that is really speaking to us today. It says in Luke 18:1:
And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
This is just like we read in Luke 21 where it said that we are to “pray always,” always keep praying.
Why does this encouragement and exhortation fit us so well today? It is because there is such temptation to stop due to our weariness, due just to the trials that we are facing, due to the uncertainty of things, to our perplexity as we wonder what is going on. It is very easy for us to get into our minds and even into a habit to just stop praying, even though we should not stop. God is telling us not to do this. We:
…ought always to pray, and not to faint;
Luke 18:2-3 says:
Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city…
Who does a “widow” typify? She typifies the elect, the true believers, and so this widow woman typifies the elect. Later on in this parable, this will be confirmed.
It continues:
…and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary.
So here is a widow woman going to an unjust judge who did not care about God. When it says that he “feared not God,” this means that he had no concern for the Law of God. He did not operate according to the laws of the Bible, because this is really what the fear of God is. To have the fear of God means that we want to do the will of God as we read it in the Bible.
This judge did not care about this and it also says that he “neither regarded man.” He did not care what the laws of man were either nor the opinion of man. Yet the widow woman had to go to him. He was the judge who was in her province or in her district. He was probably the only one whom she could go to. Maybe if she had preference, she would have picked another one; but she probably had no other option.
So she went saying:
…Avenge me of mine adversary.
Since she was going to a judge, this was probably due to some sort of legal matter. Maybe someone was trying to take her home. We do not know the whole situation, but we do know that a widow woman, someone who typifies the elect, was going to a judge; and even though he was an unjust judge, he would be picturing God; and she is making request for vengeance:
…Avenge me of mine adversary.
This reminds us of what we are reading in Esther 8 when the command is given to the Jews to avenge themselves. We saw that this command can only apply to the end of the world.
The widow woman is asking for vengeance; and since the command to the Jews to avenge in Esther only has application to the end of the world, the widow woman in Luke 18 is basically asking God to come, “Come, Lord Jesus; come quickly.” This is because this is the only time when God will avenge His people or when the elect will actively seek God’s vengeance. This is because when we say, “O Lord Jesus, it is my desire that You come and that You come quickly,” what is going to happen when God comes? It will be the “day of vengeance.” That will be the day of destruction, the day when all of the enemies of God will be slain.
So even though this is not in our thoughts and even though this is not why we are beseeching the Lord to come, since this is just our desire for Him to complete His salvation for us and for Him to create a new Heaven and a new earth and to fulfill His promise; yet, in actuality, it works out that when He responds to that prayer, He comes and brings judgment and destroys all of the enemies of His Kingdom. So, therefore, when believers are praying, “Come Lord Jesus,” they are praying, “Avenge me of mine enemies.”
We were looking to May 21 for Christ’s coming. What was to happen? We thought that it would be Judgment Day, five months of torment, and the “day of vengeance” all at the same time. So as we were beseeching the Lord to come, we were also basically – even though this is unstated – praying that God would avenge us of our enemies. Then again in October, people were looking forward to that date, “Come, Lord Jesus”; once again saying the same thing in an unspoken manner, “Come and avenge us.”
So here the widow woman is saying:
…Avenge me of mine adversary.
God is encouraging us through her:
…that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;
He is encouraging us to continue to pray as He gives us this example of a woman who is continually praying:
…Avenge me of mine adversary.
This was her request to this unjust judge again and again and again. She would not stop:
…Avenge me of mine adversary.
Then it says in Luke 18:4-5:
And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.
Then it says in Luke 18:6:
And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.
Hear what the Lord is saying. We are praying and we are expecting Him to come. This did not happen as we thought. Again, we expected Him to come and things did not happen as we thought they would. Therefore, is it time to pack it in? Is it time to give up the whole idea? Is it time to get back to other things and to leave this whole issue of date setting alone and get back to things that we understand and we know?
That is not what God is encouraging us to do through this parable and through this widow woman. She kept coming to him and asking:
…Avenge me of mine adversary.
This is basically the equivalent statement of saying, “Come, Lord Jesus. Come. Come.” Even if people were telling her not to desire this and not to pray for this, she cannot help it and only continues.
Can any true believer help this? Is this not always the case for a child of God? Have we not always wanted Him to come? But people do not understand this. They think that we might hate the world or that we just want to escape this world, but it has nothing to do with that.
This is a desire that God has placed within the heart of an elect person, because he has a new heart and a new spirit. We hate sin and yet we still have the body of sin. We still live in a world of sin. The whole universe is corrupted by sin. So, naturally, we want God to come and to set it right. We want Him to perfect us and to perfect a new Heaven and new earth. This will be the fulfillment of our desire. Salvation is not complete while we are in this world. It is not complete until we receive a new resurrected body. This is our desire.
Would anyone say to someone in the days when God was still saving, “Do not desire salvation; do not desire a new heart”? Well, that would be foolish. Of course, we would desire a new heart, and the true believer desires a new body. What is the difference since it is all part of God’s salvation?
Here in Luke 18, the unjust judge finally says that he will avenge the widow woman because she keeps coming to him. He is getting annoyed and tired, and so he is going to grant her request.
So it says again in Luke 18:6:
And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.
Then it says in Luke 18:7:
And shall not God avenge his own elect…
Do you see how He relates the widow woman to the elect and He, Himself, to the position of the judge who is hearing her request?
And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
We are in a time when the Bible says that there is still day and night. There is no rest day and night because we are in the period of judgment and there is no salvation day or night, but there are still timekeepers in the sky. There are still 24-hour periods, and day and night God’s people are crying. But what are they crying?
This is definitely referring to the elect:
And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?
They are crying for vengeance. This is because Christ will execute vengeance when He comes. We just want Him to come, and yet God is relating this prayer and that desire to the “day of vengeance” when He will finally pour out His wrath to the uttermost and completely destroy all of the unsaved or all of the enemies of His Kingdom.
Then Luke 18:8 says:
I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
Do you see how this is related to the end of the world and to looking for Christ’s coming? When He cometh, “shall he find faith on the earth?”
Why this question? It is because who shall stand? On the day of this refining fire, who is going to stand? Nobody by their own strength, “If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” None of us. Only the elect will stand, because God will force us, He will cause us, He will make us, and He will enable us to stand the heat of the fire, this “fiery trial” of faith.
This is why the question is finally asked:
…Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
What is “faith”? The Bible tells us that faith is “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
So the people of God continue to trust Him and to believe. God’s people believed that judgment was on the churches, even though they could not see it. We could never see this. We never saw the stones tumbled down so that one stone was not left upon another. We never saw that, yet we know that judgment began at the house of God and that God left the churches without salvation back in 1988, and yet we never saw a thing. We never saw the Holy Spirit leave. We never saw Satan enter in. We never saw these things and yet we believed them by faith, because God has given us this understanding of His Word.
Likewise, Judgment Day was May 21 even though we did not see a worldwide earthquake and even though we did not literally see the ground open and the bodies come up. Even though we did not see these things, we are learning them in the Bible and through faith we understand and we trust what God has done.
This is basically the similar judgment that came on the church. It is almost identical. God tried the church for 23 years before Judgment Day and now He is trying the world for the ten months leading up to the final end.
Let us turn back to Esther 8. I just want to read verse 12 to point something out. Esther 8:12 says:
Upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, namely, upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar.
This date has not changed anywhere in the book of Esther. This date has always been the 13th day of the 12th month that was chosen by lot, the day of destruction. This is because the number 12 points to fullness and the number 13 points to the end of the world; and so in the fullness of time, as the month and day relate to time, God will bring the end of the world.
This date had not changed from the earlier message that was sent out to the provinces and it does not change with the second decree that is sent out to the provinces. This date stayed the same. We just did not have all of the information earlier. When we were sharing Judgment Day, we were correct about that date of May 21, but we did not know the duration or how long Judgment Day would be.
Then we read in Esther 8:13-14:
The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies. So the posts that rode upon mules and camels went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment. And the decree was given at Shushan the palace.
The decree was given at Shushan, and Shushan identifies with Jesus as it is the word for “lily” and Jesus is the “lily of the valleys.”
So the decree is given in Christ or in the Word of God or in God’s Kingdom, and the posts carry the message. They hastened and pressed on.
This word “pressed on” is translated as “hastened” in Esther 3:15:
The posts went out, being hastened…
This is the same word that was translated “pressed on” in Esther 8:14.
Esther 3:15:
The posts went out, being hastened by the king's commandment, and the decree was given in Shushan the palace…
Do you see any similarity with this verse and with Esther 8:14? They are very similar, but this is information of sharing Judgment Day with the world when God was still saving, because this is prior to the 17th day of the 2nd month in the book of Esther. God gave a command and “great was the company of those that published it.”
When God gives a commandment, His people run the way of His commandment. Does it matter if there is or is not salvation? What kind of postmen or postwomen would you be if when the king gave a decree you first had to inspect it and read it over and say, “I like this decree. This decree is worthy of me getting on my horse or on my mule and galloping as fast as I can to carry this message. I am going to go all out for this decree”? But later on when you receive another decree – and we know that the timeline is telling us that this is after May 21 and after the door is shut when there is no salvation – now the postman inspects the information and decides that he does not like it.
Why should we press on? Why should we hasten this matter? I have heard many people ask this. Why do we want to share information about Purim since God is not saving anyway?
Well, who are we? Who are we? We often lose sight of who we are. We are the doorkeeper. We do not determine if the door is open or shut. We just open or shut it according to the One who command us. We are the messenger. We do not write the message. All we are is the one who receives it and then we run with it.
We are the postmen. We are given the decree from the King that is sealed with the King’s ring, it is stated in His name, we get on our animal and we go with it and we do not question it. We do not question it.
Obviously, for King Ahasuerus, Esther, and Mordecai the second decree is just as important as the first decree was, maybe more so, even though it is all taken care of. Esther has already gone into the king. She had already made request. The Jews had already found favor in his sight.
So what is the urgency? The urgency, as we spiritually carry this over, is that God is commanding us to share this information. It is a commandment and that is all that we need to know.
If God commands that Sunday is His Holy Day, and He does, then do we delay to observe this? Do we delay to keep Sunday as His Holy Day? We might, but we should quickly and right away start to change what we are doing on Sunday – or whatever God’s Law is – because it is God’s Law and He is the great King. He tells us what to do and we do it.
So here, the posts do not even inspect it. The letter is sealed. They just carry the news and they go forth as fast as they can. There is nothing here that would indicate that they slacked or delayed or failed in any way to carry this message the same way that the postmen carried this message earlier when it was news of Judgment Day approaching.
Now this news of complete deliverance for the Jews is carried to all of the same places to the world. Then it says in Esther 8:15:
And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad.
Again, Shushan is the word “lily.” So the city of Christ “rejoiced and was glad” at the news. They were glad.
I do not understand if someone is troubled by this. I do not understand if someone does not like this, because this was not the reaction of the people of God in the book of Esther. This news is all good. It is all positive.
There was not a Jew, not a single Jew, not one who heard the message of Purim, this second letter when the decree was given that they could stand for their life, who received this in a manner indicating that they did not like this. It was all wonderful news, it was a great blessing, and it was something that caused tremendous rejoicing in every Jewish home with every Jewish person, with all of the elect.
This is for everyone who has been crying to God day and night, “Avenge me of mine adversary,” because they have basically been praying to God, “O Lord Jesus, come; come quickly.”
Well, when they hear that Christ is coming and that He is fulfilling His Word, when they hear that there is still a way that May 21 is true, that the five months is true, and that God has just simply doubled this, that He has laid a snare and a trap for all of the world and that He will spring this trap on the last day of the feast of Purim, well then, this is news that will encourage any person who is one of His people.
Let us stop here.