God’s Four Sore Judgments – Part 4, Famine – B
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God’s Four Sore Judgments – Part 4
When I Send My… Sore Judgment… The Famine – B
Introduction
In Revelation 11 we are told:
Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
This series of studies is designed to answer the question, “How will the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ?”
We have established the fact that the primary application of all scripture is the spiritual, inward application as it applies to “the kingdom of God… within [us]”:
Luk 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
We need to ask the question, “If the kingdom of God is within you, does this mean that the physical kingdoms of this world will never become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ?” Put another way, does the fact that the primary application of Luk 17:20-21 exclude a time when God’s elect will also bear rule over the kingdoms of this world which are not within? The Biblical answer to that question is, “Absolutely not!” The kingdom of God within God’s elect from the time of Christ to the time of the millennium in no way excludes the necessity for those who have the kingdom of God within them in this age to be given to rule over the nations of this world. The two are not mutually exclusive. Instead it is essential to the revealed plan and words of God that His elect, who at this time have the kingdom of God within them, must bear rule with “a rod of iron” over the physical kingdoms of this world for “a thousand years”, before the “little season” of rebellion of all the nations “in the four quarters of the earth” can take place. Without that rule over the outward “kingdoms of this world”, there would be no rebellion against God’s elect following the thousand years.
Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Rev 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
Rev 20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
These “four sore judgments” which we are covering are expanded into seven seals, seven trumpets and seven vials in the book of Revelation of Jesus Christ. Both God’s four sore judgments and the book of the revelation of Jesus Christ concern themselves with the judgment of the “man of sin”, which is the flesh of every man who has ever lived, probably most succinctly expressed in these words in 1Co 3:
1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
Last week I closed by telling you we would be learning how this next verse applies to prophecy, and how the principle revealed in this verse would help us to better understand how the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ:
1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
Adam, as a type of Christ, is first a natural, carnal and rebellious individual. Afterward through judgment, and “through death… the last Adam becomes a living spiritual [individual]”. This same principle will apply on the national level when “the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ”. As kingdoms they are still “first…that which is natural, and afterward that which is spiritual”.
This is the principle which will prevail in this particular study of how the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ.
Christ teaches us that the primary, ultimate and final understanding of God’s words is their spiritual application (Joh 6:63) as they to relate the establishing of the kingdom of God within. Yet we must never forget or deny that our old man has a definite outward application as “the wicked [man being made] for the day of evil [in the life of] the first man Adam”:
Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
1Co 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
Those two verses are true, both on an individual basis and at “the appointed time” on “the nations of this world”. God has even brought about an outward return of the Jews to the outward land of Israel to lead millions of Christians to conclude that God has both a spiritual elect and a physical elect. That doctrine is a contradiction of this Truth:
Eph 2:14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
Eph 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
Eph 2:16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
All outward fulfillment of prophecy concerning the kingdom of God since Christ has had the effect of distracting the attention of mankind away from the beast that sits in “the [true] temple of God… which temple [we] are”. Nevertheless, there comes a time when there is an outward fulfillment to those prophecies which will not be a distraction. Christ had to come outwardly first “after the seed of David, according to the flesh“. Christ was and is the king of the kingdom of God. “This is Jesus the King of the Jews” was a great Truth, and Pilate had no idea just how true it was.
Mat 27:37 And [the Romans] set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
“Jesus the king of the Jews” came outwardly as “the seed of David, according to the flesh” before coming in a spiritual body. In the same manner the kingdom of Israel has been gathered into an outward nation before the spiritual nation of Israel will “judge the world”, in the person of Christ and His elect. The day is coming, “at the appointed time”, when the physical outward kingdoms of this world will become the physical kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ (Rev 11:15).
These words will also be realized in their natural sense first, and “afterward that which is spiritual”.
Mat 24:29 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:
Mat 24:30 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.
Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.Mat 26:62 And the high priest arose, and said unto him, Answerest thou nothing? what is it which these witness against thee?
Mat 26:63 But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.
Mat 26:64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
Here is Christ, telling those who are just about to crucify Him that they will “see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” Since this series of studies is being presented in answer to the question “How will the physical nations of this world be made to give their powers of rulership over to the elect of God?”, we must demonstrate with scriptural types and shadows from the Old Testament that a transition of power, from the leaders of this world to God’s typical elect, has already taken place in the past, and then, just as with all other prophecies, we can properly understand how the same thing will be accomplished physically in the future.
Has that actually already taken place in the past? The fact is that this giving of the powers of the kingdoms of this world over to our “Lord and His Christ” has taken place, in type, three times in the Old Testament. By looking carefully at how that was accomplished each time, we will be given some idea of how it will be done on a global scale at the beginning of Christ’s millennial kingdom.
The Story of Joseph
The first time the powers of the nations of this world were given to God’s typical elect was during the time of Joseph. This story has so many parallels to Christ and His Christ that we cannot fail to see how the hand of God worked in the affairs of mankind at that time, to give the power of all of Egypt, a type of the world as a whole, over into the hands of Joseph, who is the Biblical type of “our Lord and His Christ” (Rev 11:15).
Joseph was hated of His brothers, just as Christ was hated of His own nation:
Gen 37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
Gen 37:4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
Joseph’s brother typify the religions of this world who hate Christ and His Christ. “The son of His old age”, means “the last man Adam”, who Christ loves more that those who are “born after the flesh”:
Rev 3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
Joseph’s jealous brothers are led by God (Gen 45:8) to sell their brother for 20 pieces of silver as a slave into Egypt, where Joseph serves in the house of Potiphar and in service to the captain of Pharaoh’s prison for a combined total of thirteen years, before being placed on the throne of Egypt at the age of 30. Christ also began His rule over the kingdoms of this world at “about thirty years of age”:
Gen 41:46 And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.
Luk 3:23 And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,
What did God do to give the power of all Egypt to His typical elect? He “troubled” Pharaoh with dreams which gave him a sense of impending disaster, and then he gave Joseph the ability to interpret the meaning of Pharaoh’s dreams. And what was that impending disaster? It was the very subject of this particular part of our studies into how God’s “four sore judgments” will be used to give the kingdoms of this world to our Lord and His Christ. It was an impending seven years of famine preceded by seven years of plenty.
Gen 41:8 And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled; and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt, and all the wise men thereof: and Pharaoh told them his dream; but there was none that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.
Gen 41:28 This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh: What God is about to do he sheweth unto Pharaoh.
Gen 41:29 Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt:
Gen 41:30 And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;
Gen 41:31 And the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very grievous.
Then, just as God the Father has done with our Lord and His Christ, Joseph is demonstrated to be superior to the priests of Egypt, and Pharaoh gives the rule of the kingdom over to Joseph. Just as is the case with Christ and His Father, “only in the throne” is Pharaoh more powerful than Joseph.
Gen 41:39 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art:
Gen 41:40 Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.
Gen 41:41 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.
Is this not the Old Testament type of ruling with a rod of iron when Pharaoh tells Joseph…?
Gen 41:44 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.
Is that not the meaning of this promise which God has given to our Lord and His Christ?
Rev 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
Daniel, Shadrach, Meshech and Abednego
Our second Old Testament type of how the kingdoms of this world were given to our Lord and His Christ in type is the story of Daniel and his three friends:
Dan 2:48 Then the king [Nebuchadnezzar] made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.
Dan 2:49 Then Daniel requested of the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, over the affairs of the province of Babylon: but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.
Again, this incredible event was accomplished by the power of the Creator of all men to work “all things after the counsel of His own will”, and He did so once again by troubling the king of the nations of this world with a dream of impending disaster. In this case, God’s typical elect were given not just to interpret the king’s dream, but to tell the king what His dream even was:
Dan 2:1 And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him.
Dan 2:2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king.
Dan 2:3 And the king said unto them, I have dreamed a dream, and my spirit was troubled to know the dream.
Dan 2:4 Then spake the Chaldeans to the king in Syriack, O king, live for ever: tell thy servants the dream, and we will shew the interpretation.
Dan 2:5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, The thing is gone from me: if ye will not make known unto me the dream, with the interpretation thereof, ye shall be cut in pieces, and your houses shall be made a dunghill.
Dan 2:6 But if ye shew the dream, and the interpretation thereof, ye shall receive of me gifts and rewards and great honour: therefore shew me the dream, and the interpretation thereof.
In both cases, in the story of Pharaoh and in the story of Nebuchadnezzar, God uses the exact same words “his spirit was troubled”, resulting in the transfer of the powers of the kingdom into the hands of those who typify our Lord and His Christ. In both cases, God’s elect are made manifest to be far superior in their relationship with God to the priests of the nations of the world:
In this particular case, Daniel was used to tell the king that he had dreamed of an image of a man whose various body parts typify the kingdoms of this world from the time of Nebuchadnezzar to the time when “the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ”. It was all one continuous image. It was the image of the beast of Rev 13:
Dan 2:26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, Art thou able to make known unto me the dream which I have seen, and the interpretation thereof?
Dan 2:27 Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king;
Dan 2:28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;
Dan 2:29 As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.
Dan 2:30 But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart.
Daniel tells us that this dream was given “To make known to the king … what shall be in the latter day… [and] for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that you might know the thoughts of your heart.” In other words, Daniel’s entire experience is for our benefit, as the scriptures plainly teach:
Dan 11:32 And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.
Dan 11:33 And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days.2Co 4:15 For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
The Story of Mordecai and Esther
In this third and final story, we see the king’s wife, Queen Vashti, typifying the churches of this world. Vashti comes to be in great disrepute with the rulers of this world, and is replaced by Queen Esther, typifying God’s elect. In all three stories God’s elect are given great favor in the eyes of the rulers of this world. But in our previous two stories neither Pharaoh’s wife, nor Nebuchadnezzar’s wife played a part in this great transfer or power. Each retelling of how this will be done adds more information, and this story provides for us, in type, how the beast turns against the whore as prophesied in Revelation 17:
Rev 17:12 And the ten horns which thou sawest [on the beast – vs 15] are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
Rev 17:13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
Rev 17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
Rev 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
Rev 17:16 And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
Rev 17:17 For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
Rev 17:18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
In this story we have the seven princes of the Medes and the Persians, who hate and destroy the ‘whore’. Then we also have a man named Haman. Haman is a type of the same “ten horns” on the beast, in whose heart God places the desire to fight against the Lamb after the harlot is destroyed. The details of both of our last two stories reveal that it is only after God’s elect come to be favored by the powers that be, that these ten horns will “make war with the Lamb” and are destroyed by the Lamb (Rev 17:14). So Haman is promoted by the king after the rejection of Queen Vashti. At that point it immediately becomes evident that he is “the Jew’s enemy”, and in this story, just as with those who conspired first against Shadrack, Meshech, and Abednego in the Babylonian empire, and then again, like those who later conspired against Daniel after he found favor with King Darius of the Persian empire, God’s elect come to be hated and threatened for their very lives just before they are given to destroy those very enemies.
It is “the Lord and His Christ” who are typified by Joseph and by Daniel and his three friends and by Mordecai and the people of Esther who are slated for destruction by their enemies. As a type of Christ, Esther lays down her life for her people by appearing before the king without first being given a summons from the King. That act by Queen Esther at the very moment her people are about to be destroyed, typifies our being willing to be “crucified with Christ” even as the enemies of God’s elect are intent upon our destruction.
The deliverance of Joseph from the Egyptian dungeon, the saving of Daniel and his friends from the wrath of Nebuchadnezzar, the deliverance of Daniel’s friends, Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego from the fiery furnace, the deliverance of Daniel from the lion’s den, and now the deliverance of Mordecai and Esther and the Jews from the gallows of Haman, all typify how God’s elect will be given the favor of the leaders of this world before they will then be delivered from the hands of the ten horns of that very same beast. In the end of every story, the kingdoms of this world supernaturally “become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ”, and those who conspired to destroy Joseph come and bow down before him, those who conspired to destroy Daniel and his friends are instead cast into the same flames, and into the same lion’s den which they had intended to be used for the destruction of God’s elect. In this story, Haman is hanged on the same gallows he had intended for Mordecai, the type of God’s elect.
In every case their salvation comes only after it becomes abundantly evident that the enemy has won, and it is all intended to convey to us that God’s elect are drafted by God and are not seeking to be offered up, and that those who slew our Savior were not the winners but were the losers, and that our Lord was in fact “saved… from death… in that He feared”:
Heb 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
Esther, as the type of Christ’s Christ, certainly had not asked to be offered up for the sins of her people, but she submitted herself to her Lord:
Est 4:11 All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.
Queen Esther, typifying us, feared for her life and did not want to go before the king without first being summoned.
Est 4:12 And they told to Mordecai Esther’s words.
Est 4:13 Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews.
Est 4:14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?
Est 4:15 Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer,
Est 4:16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.
This is this same spirit:
Dan 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
Dan 3:17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
Dan 3:18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
Esther and Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego, are all types and shadows of Christ and His Christ who say the same thing under the same circumstances:
Luk 22:42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
Haman, as the type of the ten horns of the beast, prepares a gallows 75 feet high, on which he intends to ask the king to hang Mordecai (Esther 5), and at this very critical point, just as in the two previous stories, the king’s sleep is taken from him, resulting in a late-night reading of the chronicles revealing that Mordecai, typifying Christ as the head of His elect, has not been given His due reward for having saved the life of King Ahasuerus.
Est 2:20 Esther had not yet shewed her kindred nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her: for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him.
Est 6:1 On that night [the very night Haman had the gallows built for Mordecai’s hanging the next day] could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king.
Est 6:2 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 hands on the king Ahasuerus.
Est 6:3 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.
Est 6:4 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.
Est 6:5 And the king’s servants said unto him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in.
Est 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?
Est 6:7 And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honour,
Est 6:8 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:
Est 6:9 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.
Est 6:10 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.
Est 6:11 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.
This story is a type of this New Testament prophecy:
Rev 3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
Est 6:12 And Mordecai came again to the king’s gate. But Haman hasted to his house mourning, and having his head covered.
Est 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.
Est 6:14 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.
It is at this banquet that Queen Esther is promised by the King to give Esther her request “to the half of [his] kingdom”. Esther, as the type of God’s elect, devises a means of overcoming the impossible task of reversing the effect of the King’s proclamation to destroy all the Jews in all of his 127 provinces.
Est 1:1 Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces)
These 127 provinces typify “the nations in the four quarters of the earth” over whom God’s elect are granted to rule for a thousand years:
Rev 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
Rev 2:27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.
This “broken to shivers” prophecy was fulfilled in type when the Jews were given to destroy all their enemies throughout the entire 127 provinces of the Medo-Persian empire:
Est 9:1 Now in the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king’s commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them;)
Est 9:2 The Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their hurt: and no man could withstand them; for the fear of them fell upon all people.
Est 9:3 And all the rulers of the provinces, and the lieutenants, and the deputies, and officers of the king, helped the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them.
Est 9:4 For Mordecai was great in the king’s house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces: for this man Mordecai waxed greater and greater.
This story, along with the story of Joseph and the story of Daniel and Shadrach, Meshech and Abednego, gives us the principles by which God will supernaturally make “the kingdoms of this world to become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ”. He will trouble the powers that be, and He will strike them with a fear that will cause them to favor His elect to the point they will see His elect as their only salvation. There will be no space ship to fight against. Our God is as invisible and is much more powerful that all the military might of all of the kingdoms of this world combined. Mankind’s most advanced weapons are rendered useless against Him and His elect. His is the power which gives men their very thoughts, and with that power He is capable of “working all things after the counsel of His own will (Eph 1:11)”:
Isa 66:15 For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
Isa 66:16 For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
Isa 66:17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, [all the abominable false doctrines of men] shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
Isa 66:18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.
This prophecy is, was and will be true. It is part of the Word of God which “shall never pass away”, and it will be just as applicable at the beginning of the millennium as it will be at the time of the “little season” of rebellion which will follow the millennial reign of God’s elect over the kingdoms of this world.
Mat 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
Next week we will, Lord willing, consider how the Lord’s sore judgment of “the noisome beast”, will be used of our Lord to give the nations of this world over to “the Lord and His Christ”.
Eze 14:21 For thus saith the Lord GOD; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?
Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
Other related posts
- Wisdom Is 'She' (June 21, 2014)
- Who Is "The Ancient of Days"? (May 31, 2017)
- What or Who Is "The House of God"? (September 27, 2007)
- What is The Glorification of Christ? (April 1, 2014)
- Types And Shadows Of The New Testament (June 16, 2009)
- The Wise Took Oil (September 4, 2008)
- The Saviors of Obadiah 21 (May 7, 2008)
- The Keys To The Kingdom of Heaven - Part 12 (November 7, 2015)
- The Book of Hebrews - Heb 9:1 Part 1 - "Christ Being Come an High Priest of Good Things to Come" (November 26, 2020)
- The Book of Hebrews - Heb 5:1-4 "Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ" - Part 1 (August 20, 2020)
- The Book of Hebrews - Heb 1:9-14 "Kingship and Priesthood" - Part 3 (May 21, 2020)
- The Biblical Overview of The Plan of God - Part 8 (December 6, 2014)
- The Biblical Overview of The Plan of God - Part 7 (November 22, 2014)
- Synopsis of the Keys to the Kingdom (November 14, 2020)
- Studies in Psalms - Psa 140:5-13 "Preserve me From the Violent Man" Part 2 (December 30, 2019)
- Revelation 7:1-3 - Part 5 - What Is The Seal of Our God? (November 25, 2009)
- Revelation 11:15-17 (June 12, 2010)
- Prophecy of Isaiah - Isa 42:1-9 Mine Elect in Whom my Soul Delights (May 18, 2019)
- Prophecy of Isaiah - Isa 13:12-22 I Will Make A Man More Precious Than Fine Gold... (July 22, 2017)
- No Man Is An Island Part 1 (November 11, 2008)
- Is The Term "Christ's Christ" Scriptural? (January 8, 2018)
- Is It Really Possible To "Be In One Spirit, With One Mind"? (December 8, 2010)
- God's Four Sore Judgments - Part 4, Famine - B (May 16, 2015)
- Gifts, Ministries and Operations (July 19, 2011)
- Fitly Joined Together (May 13, 2011)
- But Ye Brethren Be Not Weary In Well Doing (August 16, 2010)
- Are We A Sin Offering Like Christ? (May 5, 2008)
- Alleged Contradictions in The Bible - Part 8 (August 8, 2015)
- A Pentecostal Spirit (March 3, 2006)
- "You All Are Partakers of My Grace" (January 9, 2016)