Genesis 40 Series, Part 36, Esther 6:1-14
Hello, and welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Genesis. Tonight is study #36 in Genesis 40. We will start by reading a passage in Esther that I mentioned at the end of our last study, and I want to make sure we have enough time to discuss it. I will read Esther 6:1-14:
On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king. 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 hand on the king Ahasuerus. 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. 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. And the king's servants said unto him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in. 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? And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honour, 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. And Mordecai came again to the king's gate. But Haman hasted to his house mourning, and having his head covered. 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. 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.
Talk about God’s control over all things! God orchestrated all events that were taking place just at the time that Haman was approaching to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai upon the gallows he had already built. It so happened that the king had been unable to sleep, and he commanded it to be read to him from the book of the records of the chronicles of the kingdom. I am sure there was a lot of information in that book, with quite a lot of detail in its volume, but the man opened the book to a place at precisely the right time to deliver Mordecai, which led to the deliverance of all the Jews. At precisely the right time it was read to the king of the plot of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s chamberlains that had sought to lay hands on the king, and how Mordecai had revealed the plot, saving the king’s life.
You know, this is one of the best passages in the Bible to get an understanding of the tremendous pride and arrogance and self-serving nature of the evil one, the devil. This shows his tremendous desire to be like the king, and King Ahasuerus is a type and figure of God. Haman said, “Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear…” He wanted to wear the very apparel the King wore, and he wanted to ride the horse the King rode upon, as well as the crown royal that was upon the King’s head. What do you think of that? Remember that Haman had thought, “To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?” This was his own desire because he thought he would be the one the king wanted to honor. So we can see why it says in 2Thessalonians 2:3-4:
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
That is why Satan was so relentless and persistent in coming against the churches, even while Christ was still in the midst. Satan wanted to be like God by entering into the temple of God, the churches, showing himself that he is God. We can really see that in Haman and his desire to be exalted.
And yet it was not to be. Do you feel any pity for the devil? No, and neither do I because all we have to do is look at all the misery and ruin that his pride caused by his desire to exalt himself over man who was made in the image and likeness of God. We should not feel a bit sorry for him.
Let us go back to Esther 2 where it says in Esther 2:21:
In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king's gate, two of the king's chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, of those which kept the door, were wroth, and sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.
Now we will do what we always do when we come to the Bible, and that is to ask, “What is the spiritual meaning?” The first clue is that there were two chamberlains, and we know that in the Bible the number “two” identifies with the caretakers of the Word of God, and that was the nation of Israel at that time, God’s representatives of the kingdom of God on earth in the Old Testament days, as well as the churches and congregations during the church age. Both were caretakers of His Word. Israel first had that responsibility, and then the churches had that responsibility. They were duty-bound to faithfully declare God’s Word. Also, Christ sent out the seventy two by two, as well as other references where we see the relationship between the number “two” and His Word.
Where is the Word? It says in Esther 2:21 that these two men kept the door. They were doorkeepers, and that is exactly the job of all God’s people, and we will find the spiritual definition for “door.” It is stated more than once, but I will read one verse in John 10:9:
I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
Jesus said, “I am the door.” And who was Jesus? He is the Word that was with God, and who was God, according to John 1:1:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Then it says in John 1:14:
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us…
God identifies Jesus in the flesh as the Word, the very embodiment of the Word of God, the Bible. Christ is the very essence of the Bible, and He is the door. He also said in John 10:9, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved,” and that means to enter into the security of the kingdom of God, which is salvation by the grace of God. And how does God save? It is through the Word, according to Romans 10:17:
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
So faith, who is Christ, is delivered via the Bible. So to be a “doorkeeper” means you are the keeper of the door, and that is the task of every child of God, including those who profess to be the children of God, as typified by Bigthan and Teresh.
Regarding the church age, many were called but few were chosen, and that would mean that most were unfaithful doorkeepers. The few, the elect, would have been faithful doorkeepers. But when we reached the time of the end, the character of those in the churches were that they were overwhelmingly unfaithful due to the false gospels that brought masses of unsaved into their midst, filling the churches with a majority of tares. And that is why we see that these two men were not faithful men, and they plotted against the king, according to the language of Esther 2:21:
…two of the king's chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, of those which kept the door, were wroth, and sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.
To be wroth means to be angry. The spiritual picture is that the churches were angry with God, and that is not surprising since most of the congregations consisted of “natural men.” And what is the condition of natural man? He is a sinner, And what is his heart condition? He is at enmity with God. He is in warfare against God, and one does not go to war unless one is full of hatred and anger. So this is a good way of describing the true heart condition of professed Christians toward the God they profess to serve and worship, but they really do not. It is just like these two men. Their outward appearance was that of doorkeepers, and there was an outward show. But what was going on within their hearts? Inwardly, they were plotting to lay hands on King Ahasuerus, looking for an opportunity to overthrow him and rid themselves of him. They did not want him as their king. They did not want to be mere doorkeepers serving this great king. They wanted the king gone. Again, that is the spiritual picture when the people in the churches did not want to serve the great King and God of the Bible. Why? It is because they hate Him. How do we know that? It is because they hate and despise His Word, and Jesus is the Word made flesh.
What did the churches do with the Word, especially at the time of the end? Did they seek to obey it and follow the Word with great care? Were they troubled at the prospect of having incorrect doctrines? No – they did not care. They just wanted it to operate within their denomination’s teachings and their brand of Christianity. So these two men in this historical parable are a very good type and figure of the apostate church.
As far as being a doorkeeper, there is one very good verse we can turn to in Psalm 84. Of course being a doorkeeper is really coming to the forefront in this Day of Judgment. Why do I say that? What did God do on May 21, 2011? He shut the door of heaven. Again, it said in John 10:9: “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved.” But what if the door is shut? You cannot get in through the Word, who is the door. If you cannot enter in, you cannot be saved. And what is the role of God’s people that have been left here on the earth in this prolonged Judgment Day period? We are doorkeepers. God’s elect are faithful doorkeepers.
You know, we are not the door itself. During the day of salvation, we provided service to those that might enter through the door by sharing the Word of God with people. That is when we were in our glory. We delighted in that job: “Here is the Word of God. May you enter in, if it be God’s will.” Whether one entered in, or not, was all according to the will of God. Again, we delighted in that job, but then God shut the door. We are still doorkeepers. Now when people approach, we must say, “I am sorry but Jesus, who is the door, has shut that door.” Prior to May 21, 2011, there was a great and effectual door that God opened to save the great multitude. But after saving that great multitude He shut the door, and what He shut no man can open.
We are just men and now our task is to witness of the status of the door, and that is to say that the door is shut. Yes, people can bang at the door, and they can try to climb up another way. That is out of our hand. We just share the status of the door. It says in Psalm 84:10:
For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
That is what we are, lowly doorkeepers. In the case of Bigthan and Teresh, we can see that they needed a sense of humility, and they thought they should be more. The Bible says, “For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.” And that is not good, and it leads to pride.
But we did not shut the door. I did not shut the door, and EBible Fellowship did not shut the door, and we grieve and sorrow for those that are now shut outside the door. We would that we could still bring the Gospel that could open a great and effectual door, but we cannot. We can only share the situation that God has revealed to us to share.
So you can see the role of the doorkeeper regarding these two men. They were wroth and sought to lay hands on the king. Then it says in Esther 2:22:
And the thing was known to Mordecai, who told it unto Esther the queen; and Esther certified the king thereof in Mordecai's name.
Then it was apparently forgotten. But God does not waste anything: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Just put yourself in Mordecai’s place. He did this wonderful thing for the king, and there was no recognition. He could have become bitter if he had dwelled on it, but he did not, and the Lord later used it to his benefit. The same thing happened to Joseph in that he did well and served God faithfully but things went from bad to worse, and yet God has His timetable. God allows certain things to happen in order to bring future things to pass that will serve His glorious and grand purposes and to be for our ultimate benefit. That is a good thing for us to remember.
Then it says in Esther 2:23:
And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found out; therefore they were both hanged on a tree: and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king.
They were hanged like Ahithophel hanged himself, and Absalom was hanged in a tree. He was a picture of the corporate church, and then Joab, a type of Satan, shot him with three darts, like the fiery darts of the wicked one, and Joab’s men slew Absalom. Likewise, we see that these two men were hanged, and that is because they are a picture of the churches and congregations.
We do not have any more time in this study, but we will come back to this because we will see something that is very much in line with what we have learned about God’s end time judgment program with the loosing of Satan that corresponded to the end of the church age. We will see that in these verses.