Turn to Esther 8. We read in Esther 8:14-17:
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. 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. The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour. And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.
We are going to try to cover these verses. We looked at Esther 8:14 the last couple of times and we have noticed that God is indicating that this command, this new decree of Purim that will deliver the Jews, which is coming after the 17th day of the 2nd month, can be spiritually understood to be coming after Judgment Day on May 21, 2011.
This is information that God is opening up for us at this time, for those of us who are living during these days of testing, during this time of judgment on the world. It is a time of severe judgment when God has shut the door of salvation, and God calls this “torment.” The Bible speaks of five months of torment in Revelation 9, but that five months has been doubled. We now know that what was true of the five months is true of this entire doubled period of time, which is ten months or 294 days.
These are days of torment because it is extremely sorrowful that there is no longer salvation available, that the door to Heaven has been shut; and yet God has good news. He has good news to proclaim to His people. This is why this decree is going out and this is why the king’s commandment is moving the messengers or the postmen to hasten and to press on. They went as quickly as they could. This was very similar to the earlier commandment; and so, likewise, they hastened to carry this message.
Whenever God gives a message, whenever the King of kings gives a commandment, it should be carried out speedily no matter what it is. Likewise, God is today commanding His people to share this information about Purim with others. We see with this wording, wording that we will look at a little later on, exactly why and what wonderful good news this is.
So 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 a word that identifies with “lily,” and Jesus is the “lily of the valleys.” So this is a word that identifies with Christ, and we can see why this statement was made:
…the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad.
This statement was made because Mordecai is a picture of Christ, and here he is being clothed, honored, and lifted up.
So this indicates that the city of Christ or the body of believers will rejoice and be glad when this takes place, because Jesus is being exalted, which is exactly what is in view with all of the language of Mordecai going out in “royal apparel.”
Mordecai was not the king. He was given great authority under the king. He was given the king’s ring so that he could write decrees in the king’s name and seal them with the king’s ring. He had the authority of the king in many things, but he was not the king; yet this was the second time in the book of Esther where we are reading of Mordecai being clothed in royal attire.
Back in Esther 6, Haman had come in to ask and make request of the king to have Mordecai hanged on the gallows that he had made. Of course, everything turned around; because on that night, the king could not sleep. Because he could not sleep, he had the chronicles read to him. In the portion of the chronicles that was read to him, he was reminded that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s doorkeepers, who had sought to lay hands on the king.
So the king asked, “What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this?” Then the king’s servants answered, “There is nothing done for him.” Then the king asked “Who is in the court?” Haman was in the outer court, because he was ready to request of the king that he be allowed to put Mordecai to death.
We can see how God works. We can see how He works through events and circumstances. Certainly, He is a God of providence. The Bible tells us that “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Even the king’s failure to sleep and his insomnia worked together for good for the people of God.
So it was when the wicked were rising up in the person of Haman to harm God’s people, which was not only Mordecai but all of the Jews, that the king could not sleep; and this reminds us of 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.
This Psalm tells us that God keeps Israel and that He will not slumber nor sleep. This is because God is watching over Israel, which is a reference to the elect and protecting them; and so He is always on guard. He is always there to protect the child of God.
This was the case with Ahasuerus who typifies God. He could not sleep at a point when the Jews were in danger due to Haman; and so Haman comes in thinking to make a request that he assumes would certainly be granted. He assumes that Mordecai will be hanged; but before he can make this request, Haman is questioned by the king, “What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour?” This is what King Ahasuerus asked Haman and Haman, in his pride and in his complete arrogance, thinks, “To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?”
So Haman decides to tell the king what he himself would want to be honored with, and Haman says in Esther 6:8-11:
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. 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.
Mordecai had been sitting in sackcloth and ashes. He was taken from the sackcloth. He was robed with royal apparel. The king’s crown was placed on his head. He rode the king’s horse and the king’s most trusted servant Haman proclaimed before all, “Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour.”
Haman said all of these things. These were the things that should be done, because that was what he wanted done. Haman had a desire to be like the king. He wanted to be king himself. This is why he is such an accurate spiritual picture of Satan, because Satan desires to be like God.
The problem here and the reason why everything backfired on Haman was because it was the 17th day of the 2nd month when Haman came into the king from the outer court. That outer court would relate to what we read in Revelation 11:2:
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.
Satan has been ruling in the churches and congregations throughout the great tribulation period up until the 17th day of the 2nd month. He is in the outer court trampling upon the churches and congregations, and then he is called in. He is called into a more intimate place with the king. The king is calling him into an area where he has not been, and yet it is not for Haman’s good. It is not for any benefit on Haman’s behalf; spiritually, it is to bring judgment on Satan.
Satan goes from reigning and ruling as the “man of sin” for 23 years to being judged, and the judgment began early that morning because Haman was the one who was to clothe Mordecai and put the crown upon his head and then lead him around, because Mordecai represents Christ. Christ is now victorious and it is a day of humiliation for Satan, a day of shame for him; and yet early that morning, the very beginning of Judgment Day, here we find that Mordecai is already attired and crowned.
But we know what it says here, because 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.
So the day was not done. Esther had not yet had her banquet; and then later on the very same day, which was the 17th day of the 2nd month, Haman would be put to death. He would be hanged on the gallows that he had built for Mordecai; and then the house of Haman would be given to Esther. In giving Mordecai the ring, the king gave Mordecai authority; then Esther recognized that authority and set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
We read language of royal attire and of a crown and of the colors that are spoken of in Esther 8:15 as Mordecai went out:
…in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple…
This language is really identifying Mordecai as though He were the king, because he is picturing the Lord Jesus Christ who is King of kings and Lord of lords. This is also picturing the day when Christ became triumphant over all of Satan’s kingdom, the kingdom of the whole world and all of the kings within it.
We have noticed this before. Actually, if we go to Numbers 24, there is a prophecy there that relates to this day, to May 21 of 2011, the day of Christ’s exaltation and the day of Satan’s humiliation. It says in Numbers 24:7 where this is speaking of Christ:
He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king [Christ] shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom [Christ’s Kingdom] shall be exalted.
We have seen a few times in the book of Esther that Haman is the son of Hammedatha the Agagite; and so they were in the line of Agag. Agag would also typify Satan, and Numbers 24:7 is a prophecy indicating that the Lord Jesus Christ, who is King, “shall be higher than Agag” and that Christ’s Kingdom “shall be exalted” over Agag.
This is just as we are finding in the book of Esther when Mordecai is exalted over Haman an Agagite. We saw what spiritually took place on May 21 through passages like we find in 2 Chronicles 36. 2 Chronicles 36 tells us of the end of the 70-year period, which typified the actual 23-year great tribulation. It was then that Babylon fell and when the Medes and the Persians took the kingdom. Then we find in 2 Chronicles 36:22-23:
Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia…
If we go to Isaiah 44:28, God refers to Cyrus as “my shepherd,” or we could go to Isaiah 45:1 where God refers to Cyrus as “his anointed.” He was clearly another type of Christ.
It continues:
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…
Then he issues the proclamation that the Jews may go up and build the house. But we are interested in the timing of Cyrus’ decree here and what he is saying as he conquers Babylon. It is the year 539 B.C. and the 70-year period has ended.
This would be equivalent to May 21, which ended the 23-year great tribulation, and that is the day that Babylon or the kingdom of Satan fell. That was also the day that Christ took the kingdom of Satan, just as Cyrus took the kingdom of Babylon.
Notice that this says:
All the kingdoms of the earth hath JEHOVAH God of heaven given me…
This is actually repeated in Ezra 1. God said this again in Ezra 1:2:
Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, JEHOVAH God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth…
This is not a small matter, because there were some grounds for Satan to say that he was the ruler. In many places, the Bible actually refers to Satan as if he was a ruler. God actually loosed him to take his seat “in the temple,” and to be seated means that one is ruling as a king.
God also pictured Satan as “the beast” that rose up in Revelation 13, and Satan’s title of “the beast” only identifies with the great tribulation time. It says in Revelation 13:5:
And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power [or authority] was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
The “forty and two months” is a different figure that is also representing the same period known as the great tribulation.
So “the beast” was given authority. Who gave him this authority? It says something in Revelation 13 about “the dragon” giving “the beast” authority; but who gave “the dragon” authority? God did when He loosed him.
God is the One who loosed Satan’s binding so that he could take his seat. God is the One who departed out of the church so that Satan could enter in. If God had not done this or if God had not allowed this, this would not have happened; and so God is the One who gave him the authority.
Then notice Revelation 13:7-8:
And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them…
This is what Satan did, especially at the beginning when the two witnesses were slain, and then Satan continued the assault on the churches throughout the entire 23-years.
Then it continues to say:
…and power…
This is the same word that is sometimes translated as “authority.” It continues:
…and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
At the beginning of the great tribulation, Satan, called “the beast” in Revelation 13, was given tremendous authority over the world and over the church. He ruled. He ruled the churches, and we can see just how wicked the churches have become. He ruled over “nations” and “tongues.” He ruled over all of the unsaved whose names “are not written in the book of life,” and we can see how wicked the world has become over this great tribulation period.
So it was a drastic change; it was an enormous change when May 21 came and the great tribulation ended and Judgment Day came and God deposed Satan. God put him down. God removed Satan from authority in the church, He removed him from authority in the world, and Christ is now the authority over all, over all the kingdoms of the earth.
This is also said in Isaiah 14 where we read a parable about the king of Babylon. It says in Isaiah 14:4-10:
That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!
This would be referring to Babylon. It continues:
JEHOVAH hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers. He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke…
This is spiritually referring to Satan or the king of Babylon in this proverb. It continues:
…he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth. The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing. Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down…
Remember that this is a parable; this is a proverb. The “cedars of Lebanon” is referring to the righteous. You can look at Psalm 92:12 that likens the righteous to “a cedar in Lebanon”; and so this would be speaking of the believers here in Isaiah. Notice what they are saying:
…Since thou art laid down…
This is a reference to Satan who was “laid down” or put down on Judgment Day. It continues:
…no feller is come up against us. Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?
That is, art thou become like the dead; because this is speaking of those in the grave. God uses the language of Satan being killed; but, of course, Satan still exists. In his rule and in his authority, it is as though he has been slain.
It goes on to say in Isaiah 14:11-12:
Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, 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!
Then it goes on and this whole passage is really a description of Judgment Day when Satan is usurped or put down, when he loses his rule.
Some might say, “Okay, but this is talking about the very end of the world. This is language that is describing when Christ has come and destroyed the world, because it is then that Satan will be put down.”
But no, because we have Daniel 7 to help us. In Daniel 7, God gives us certain information. He gives us a description of Satan being slain, and yet it is not the very end because there is still time that continues on.
We would never be able to understand this if we did not have a book like Esther; because in Esther, we find that Haman, who is a type of Satan, is killed on the 17th day of the 2nd month, and yet time continues.
That could have been an excellent place to end the book of Esther, because the threat is over. The enemy of the Jews is hanged and destroyed. God certainly could have ended the book of Esther at this point and Esther and Mordecai could have sat with the king and we would just know that all would work out well.
But God did not end the book of Esther there. It actually continues on for awhile longer because Haman, who typifies Satan, is slain on the 17th day of the 2nd month. But he is killed in the midst of a timeline that leads to a day of destruction that comes at the end of the Hebrew year, in the 12th month of the Hebrew year; and so the historical account in the book of Esther continues for 10 months after Haman was killed.
It is interesting that we thought after May 21 that there would be five months of time, but we have now learned that God has doubled this to ten months. This is exactly the length of time in the book of Esther from the 17th day of the 2nd month until the last day of Purim on the 15th day of the 12th month. There is this 10-month period of time.
What happens at the “end of the days”? What happens when Purim comes, the day that was chosen by lot? Well, Haman had ten sons and those ten sons were killed on the 13th day of Adar. Then on the 14th day, those ten sons who were already dead were hanged again.
In other words, they were killed a second time, even though you cannot physically kill someone a second time because they are already dead; but this is really what is being portrayed. They were hanged even while they were already dead. Those ten sons were a further representation of Satan; because even though he was put down on May 21, he did not cease to exist; he continues to exist.
We would never understand what we are going to read in the book of Daniel without the understanding of how God has now laid out His judgment plan. He began with a spiritual judgment on Satan and on the world. He also completed the judgment on the church in the sense that they were cast into “fire and brimstone” immediately on May 21; that is, all of those who were previously in the churches have no hope of salvation now, because they did not come out of the church. Then when God shut the door to Heaven on May 21st, well, that was it. It was then that judgment transitioned to the rest of the world.
From our perspective, we can still pray for them. From our perspective, there is still hope for them; because we can pray for mercy. We can pray, “O Lord, having had mercy,” that is, “Could it be that You have already saved these people before You shut the door?” And so this is what we can hope for, “Having had mercy, have mercy now, today, upon those whom we are praying for.”
But all of this took place spiritually, and then there has been a double portion or a doubling of the judgment of the cup that was filled. It should have been five months, but God has doubled it to ten months.
So in Daniel 7:9-11, it says:
I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.
There it is. Satan has met his end. For “the beast” of Revelation, it is Judgment Day. It is immediately after the tribulation, and he is destroyed. That is the language here; but look at Daniel 7:12:
As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion…
“Dominion” would be referring to their authority. It continues:
…they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.
How could we ever understand this? This is certainly speaking of Judgment Day. The “Ancient of days” is sitting, just like we read in Revelation 20 where God is on a “great white throne.” It says here that the “Ancient of days” is seated and that the judgment is set. The books were opened, just like we read in Revelation 20, and then we read:
…the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.
This is the “fire and brimstone,” and so this must be referring to the end of the world, right? No. No; it is not. If it is, then what is verse 12 talking about when it speaks of “the rest of the beasts”? It says again:
…the rest of the beasts…had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.
This is still speaking of time; and now we understand it. We now get this, and Haman helps us a great deal with this.
There is time until the ten sons are slain, even though their authority was certainly taken away when their father died on the 17th day of the 2nd month. They would have been viewed by all as having no authority at all, even though they could have previously been looked up to greatly since Haman was such a powerful man.
But after Haman was hanged on a tree – and everyone hanged on a tree is cursed – and after he was under the king’s wrath, no one would have looked up to the ten sons of Haman. They probably spent their days in humiliation also leading up to the day when they themselves would be hanged, even while dead, just like their father was hanged.
So in other words, we have a perfect match with what we have learned from the book of Esther. God’s judgment plan in Daniel and in Esther matches perfectly. But even more than this, let us read Daniel 7:13. This says:
I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
Where have we heard this language before? We read in Matthew 24:29-30:
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
This is exactly what Daniel 7:13 is saying:
…behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven…
We will not have time to get into this tonight, but this phrase “the Son of man came with the clouds” does not mean literally that Christ had to come in the clouds immediately after the tribulation; that is, after May 21 we did not see Christ in the sky and we did not see Him in the clouds. But this does not mean that He did not come in the clouds.
This is not to be taken literally, just like Matthew 26:64-65 speaks of this as it uses very similar language when Jesus was before the high priest of Israel:
Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter…
“Hereafter” is a word that means “from now.” It continues:
…Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy.
Jesus told the high priest that He would see:
…the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven…
Did the high priest of Israel ever see Jesus literally “coming in the clouds of heaven”? No. This has to be understood spiritually.
Christ was indicating that the high priest would see and understand that He was the Messiah, that Christ was who He said he was. Likewise, immediately after the tribulation, Christ came “in the clouds,” but not literally; He came in judgment.
It says here back in Daniel 7:13-14:
…behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him…
This is referring to the Son of man or to Jesus. It continues:
And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
We see the transfer of dominion, the transfer of power and of authority that we also see in the book of Esther.
Haman’s ring was given to Mordecai. Haman’s house was given to Mordecai. Haman’s power and authority was given to Mordecai on the 17th day of the 2nd month, just as on that date, on May 21 of 2011, we can say that the Lord Jesus Christ received all dominion and glory and His kingdom and that all people and nations and languages should serve Him.
Is His dominion an “everlasting dominion”? Yes, because it will go on forevermore. God has begun it in this world, but it will go into eternity.
At this point, I think that we will have to stop.