William Kelly Major Works Commentary - Esther 9:1 - 9:32

Online Resource Library

Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | Download

William Kelly Major Works Commentary - Esther 9:1 - 9:32


(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)

This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

Esther Chapter 9

So accordingly it was done (Esther 9). The Jews did gather themselves together and laid their hand upon all that sought their life. No man could withstand them. It is the evident type of the day when the Jew will be again restored to his due and proper place throughout the earth. And "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. Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction, and did what they would unto those that hated them." And so we have the account given. But there is more. "The king said unto Esther the queen, The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the palace, and the ten sons of Haman; what have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? Now, what is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee; or what is thy request further? and it shall be done. Then said Esther, If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews which are in Shushan to do tomorrow also according unto this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows."

There are many that cannot understand this. And no wonder! They take Esther as the type of the Lord's dealings with the church. One sees at once what profound confusion is made by that. Not so. It is the Gentile discarded, and it is the Jew called in; but righteousness will be the character of the reign of the kingdom by and by. Grace is what suits the church now. It would be perfectly unintelligible therefore to have Esther representing the church now. The execution of righteous vengeance would be altogether incompatible with the calling of the Christian - with the church's place. But with the Jew called in to share the kingdom by and by - called into the honours of the kingdom - it is exactly in season. Then - when Messiah shall reign, and Jerusalem shall be His queen - will be found that word verified, "The nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish."

So it was in this day. Thus you see, whenever we get the truth, the word of God falls into its due place. We understand it, and we distinguish between things that differ; we rightly divide the word of truth. When, on the contrary, we in our anxiety apply things to that which concerns ourselves, we fall into great mistake, and destroy the proper place of the church of God, and our share of God's heavenly affections. Our proper place now is to act suitably to Him who is at the right hand of God. But when the Lord Jesus leaves heaven for the earth - when He comes to reign, then righteousness will be the character of His kingdom, and terrible things will be done in righteousness, according to the 45th Psalm. Thus the execution of the ten sons of Haman is not the smallest difficulty when this is understood, for the Lord will not only smite at the beginning, but there will be a repetition of the blow: there will be a thorough clearance of the adversary, and of all that render but feigned obedience. The Lord will deal with them in that day that is coming.

And so the king commanded, and the Jews gathered themselves for another day. Not only those in Shushan "but the other Jews that were in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand, but they laid not their hands on the prey.'' So that joy and gladness then fill the heart of the Jew. And Mordecai writes and sends letters to all the provinces, and thus the joy is spread throughout the whole earth. Not only so, but the Jews, as we are told, founded a feast upon this remarkable intervention of the providence of God.