Est 10:1–3 The Greatness of Mordecai

[Study Posted December 20, 2020]

Est 10:1  And the king Ahasuerus laid a tribute upon the land, and upon the isles of the sea. 
Est 10:2  And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, whereunto the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? 
Est 10:3  For Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed. 

The concluding chapter of the Book of Esther focuses on the greatness and power of Mordecai, who represents Christ. Knowing his greatness and power is the same as Jesus Christ being unveiled to us. Thus, the objective of the Book of Esther is to unveil Jesus Christ to us, that is, to show us the process of coming to know Christ. As we have demonstrated in the review of the Book of Esther, Mordecai represents Jesus whose greatness and power fills the whole of the scriptures. King Ahasuerus here denotes our Father God who superintends over everything. This concluding review of the Book of Esther will therefore focus on the process of knowing Christ and how such unveiling permeates through the scriptures. The unveiling of Christ or the showing of His greatness and power is about how God changes us from being wicked and insignificant beasts to become rulers of His kingdom.

Ecc 3:18  I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

Christ is unveiled to us in the Book of Esther not in a chronological order as most scriptures do not follow that pattern. However, the steps are as follows:

The Period of our Rebellion 

In verse 1 of this review of Esther Chapter 10, the King laid a tribute upon the land and the isles of the sea. Strong’s definition of tribute is as follows:

Tribute
mas, mees
From H4549; properly a burden (as causing to faint), that is, a tax in the form of forced labor: – discomfited, levy, task [-master], tribute (-tary).

So tribute here means a burden or tax or task, etc. Verse 1 is therefore another way of saying that God has given human beings an experience of evil to humble them by it. That is the beginning of the process of knowing Christ. We must know the first Adam before we can know Christ.

Ecc 1:13  I applied my heart to inquiring and exploring by wisdom concerning all that is done under the heavens: It is an experience of evil Elohim has given to the sons of humanity to humble them by it. (CLV)

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.
1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

This experience of evil is the operation of the law of sin and death in our lives which results in us disobeying our Lord, reproving and disannulling His judgments. This is demonstrated in the Book of Esther right at the beginning where the King held a feast.  It was during this feast which spiritually signified the hearing of the word of God that we, as Vashti, refused to pay heed to the King’s words. This was a period in our lives where we heard the Lord’s call through His words but we refused to heed to our Master’s call and followed our own pernicious ways.

Isa 1:2  Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
Isa 1:3  The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.
Isa 1:4  Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.
Isa 1:5  Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
Isa 1:6  From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
Isa 1:22  Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:
Isa 1:23  Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
Isa 1:24  Therefore saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:

This period in our lives, as portrayed in the Book of Revelation, is when we are shown the extent of our sins as portrayed in the message to the seven churches and the need for us to be judged. For example:

Rev 2:4  Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
Rev 2:5  Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

Rev 2:14  But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.
Rev 2:15  So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.
Rev 2:16  Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

The encounter of the Israelites with God in the desert shows us our hopeless sinful state. The Ten Commandments which represent the law of sin and death were therefore given to the Israelites to show them their sins.

Psa 95:10  Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
Psa 95:11  Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.

Gal 3:19  Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

In Exodus 33:18-23, Moses requested to see the Lord’s glory. He could only see the back parts and not the face of the Lord of glory. The back parts represent the law of Moses or the law of sin and death. Seeing the Lord’s face and his glory is operating under the law of the spirit of life which sets us free from the law of sin and death.

Exo 33:18  And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.
Exo 33:19  And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
Exo 33:20  And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
Exo 33:21  And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:
Exo 33:22  And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:
Exo 33:23  And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

Rom 8:2  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

The Need to be Judged

If we are destined to be part of the elect, just as Esther was chosen to become one of the possible candidates to become the bride of the King, then we will be dragged to repentance through fiery trials as demonstrated in many parts of the scriptures.

After the law of sin and death has been applied to us, we then come to know that we are sinful and without hope, and so this necessitates that the Lord comes to judge us as shown by the Israelites meeting the Lord on Mount Sinai. During this encounter, Israel witnessed smoke, fire and earthquake on Mount Sinai, representing the need to be judged.

The need to be dragged to Christ through judgment is also illustrated by the dedication of the temple in the Old Testament. When Solomon was dedicating the temple to the Lord in 1 Kings 8, the priests could not minister because the temple was filled with a cloud of the glory of God. Revelation 15:8 gives us insight why they could not minister.  It was because the priests were sinful and needed to be judged by the seven plagues before they could enter the temple to worship. The same thing happened to Moses when he could not enter the Tent of meeting because of the cloud that abode there. We have to pass through this judgment process which is a lifetime experience in order to know our King’s greatness in terms of His power and might as exemplified by Mordecai’s greatness in verse 2 of this review.

1Ki 8:10  And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD,
1Ki 8:11  So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.

Exo 40:35  And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

The Judgment Process

The judgment process is the same as a purification process. In the Book of Esther, before Esther could meet the King, she had to go through a purification process. This purification process causes us to gradually become doers of His words.  That is when we commence the dying process (beautification process) in order to meet our husband the King. We are dragged to meet the Lord through judgment (seven plagues), and it is this judgment process that grants us access to the temple to worship our Lord.

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

1Co 11:31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

Act 9:15  But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
Act 9:16  For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.

2Co 6:4  But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,
2Co 6:5  In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;

Rev 15:8  And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

All the Israelites who left Egypt died in the wilderness through judgment, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb. The dying of the Israelites represents the dying of our old man in this journey of going to the promised land.

Jos 5:6  For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: unto whom the LORD sware that he would not shew them the land, which the LORD sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey.

The seven plagues in the Book of Revelation are represented in the Book of Esther by Haman’s (the beast within) attempts to put to death all the Jews at an appointed time.  This brings us to our wits’ end as demonstrated by Esther putting her life on the line to come to the King’s presence uninvited. The King extending the sceptre to Esther is like Esther coming from death to life.

Psa 107:21  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Psa 107:22  And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.
Psa 107:23  They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
Psa 107:24  These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psa 107:25  For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26  They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27  They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Psa 107:28  Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psa 107:29  He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psa 107:30  Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psa 107:31  Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

What we need to understand is that the judgment process is accompanied by a period when our heavens are opened to receive exponentially the knowledge of God and of His son Jesus.  That is what eternal life is all about. This is demonstrated in the Book of Revelation by a heavenly scene where the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Jesus) prevailed to open the seal of the word of God. Jesus also said in explaining the parable of the sower that as we receive the word of God, there will be more tribulations or persecutions. So the process of judgment and the exponential increase in the knowledge of God go together.

Rev 5:3  And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.
Rev 5:4  And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.
Rev 5:5  And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.
Rev 5:6  And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
Rev 5:7  And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.

Rev 6:1  And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

Mat 13:21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

We can only see the glory of the Lord when we are judged. The glory of the Lord is the devouring fire that destroys the works of the flesh in our lives to be able to hear His voice. In other words, it is being able to hear His voice in the midst of our affliction, as shown in the verses below:

Exo 24:17  And the sight of the glory of the LORD was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.

Deu 5:24  And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.

The end result of the judgment that is marked out for us is the death of the old man and the birth and growth of the new man. In other words, judgment begets righteousness, which is a life of obedience as we wait for the manifestation of the sons of God.  The manifestation of the sons of God is the same as the joy that is set before us.

Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

The Joy that is Set Before Us

Through the death of Haman, Mordecai and Esther are given exalted positions in the King’s kingdom.  That represents the joy which is set before us. In our walk here on this earth, this joy set before us is only in earnest form. In other words, only a portion of this joy is given to us now. The fullness will come into play at the time of the redemption of the purchased possession. The purchased possession includes the period of our rulership when the kingdoms of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. It extends also to the lake of fire age.  The Book of Revelation shows us the joy that is set before us by unveiling to us the reward for overcoming, the millennial rule, the great white throne judgment and the New Jerusalem.

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Eph 1:14  Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Rom 8:18  For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

The death of that generation which left Egypt through judgments signifies the death of our old man which granted the new generation of Israelites the ability to possess the land of Canaan which God has promised them. The land of Canaan figuratively represents our bodies which must die (a negative connotation), but it also represents the joy that was set before the Israelites and to us (a positive application).

Jos 5:6  For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: unto whom the LORD sware that he would not shew them the land, which the LORD sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey.

In conclusion, these processes outlined show how Christ is unveiled to us as we come to appreciate the acts of His power and might and of His greatness as symbolized by the greatness of Mordecai (verses 2 and 3). This is what Paul was alluding to when he prayed for his Ephesian brethren that:

Eph 1:15  Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,
Eph 1:16  Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
Eph 1:17  That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Eph 1:18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Eph 1:19  And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
Eph 1:20  Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
Eph 1:21  Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come (His greatness and might):
Eph 1:22  And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Eph 1:23  Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

May God have mercy on us by granting us the grace to know Him and to be found in Him on that day!! Amen!!