"For Ever, O Lord, Thy Word Is Settled in Heaven" (continued"
Lamentations, chapter three is different, for it consists of sixty six verses. The first three verses commence with Aleph and the second three verses commence with Beth and so forth, throughout chapter three, until the whole Hebrew alphabet is used. And in chapter three, verses 46-48 and 49-51, the order of the alphabet is again designedly transposed to reveal that things are not as they seem; because THE ALPHA and THE OMEGA, THE LIVING WORD, will complete that which hath been purposed in Himself - and this is true whether it concerns Israel or the Church. Each letter of the alphabet is repeated 3 times, signifying that God the Father in and through the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit will sum up and complete all things in the Christ. Thus, in Lamentations, The Alpha and Omega" emphasizes the importance of intercession, for many years later Jeremiah's words will be fulfilled and a remnant of those such as Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Mordecai, and Esther will be used to further God's Purpose - Great is Thy Faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion ... therefore will I hope in Him" (Lamentations 3:23, 24).
Brethren, the Holy Spirit has led us and many of God's children to pray the above Psalms and Scriptures over and over again. Now when we do this [whether we are conscious of it or not] we are proclaiming Christ, The Living Word, "as the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the Ending" (Revelation 1:8).
He Is Lord
Now, let us return to the Book of Esther and see how the Lord of ALL has hidden His Name by using this same powerful Acrostic figure of speech. satan, in his attempt to nullify God's promise of the Messiah, is using his emissary Haman to blot out the whole nation of Israel, but God is "hiding" His power! Hence, the Name of "Jehovah," which is usually written "Lord" in the English, is hidden four times in this book and the Lord's all-inclusive Title, the "I AM" is hidden once. In Esther, the alphabetical Acrostic is different in that it occurs in phrases and words; and this Acrostic does not use the successive order of the alphabet but in the original language it spells individual words, sometimes they are spelled backwards for emphasis. 1. Esther 1:20 - Ahasuerus, the king of a very large empire, made a feast and called all his princes and nobles together and showed them the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honor of his excellent majesties. Scripture says that they drank and each man did according to his own pleasure for six days (the number of man) and on the seventh day the drunken king called for Queen Vashti to show herself before this rabble, and to her credit, she refused. Hence, Vashti is set aside; and to save face, the heathenish king sent out a decree: "All the wives shall give to their husbands honor, both to great and small." In the Hebrew, the Acrostic is formed by the first letters of the phrase, "All the wives shall give," which in the original Hebrew spells the Name of the Lord. However, the Divine Name is spelled backwards, which speaks of the Lord overruling the prevailing circumstances in order to bring about His Will; and translated from the Hebrew, it would read like this: Due Respect Our Ladies ... (Lord). Ahasuerus may have thought that he and his seven princes ruled his great empire, but we know differently. Because the King of kings and Lord of lords was proclaiming His Lordship as He overruled the prevailing circumstances in order that Esther might become queen, a woman whose only Lord was the Living God. Thus, satan's evil plot is defeated because God purposefully hid Esther in the palace. 2. Esther 5:4 - Under the influence of satan, Haman, the descendant of Amalek, had persuaded the king to decree that all Jews should be killed: But God had made Esther queen "for such a time as this". And, at the risk of her life, she went before the king to intercede for God's people. Minute by minute ... step by step ... day by day, Esther allowed herself to be led of the Lord in order to accomplish this Throne Ministry of intercession - while in her heart she cried: "and if I perish, I perish." But the Lord reigneth! - so the king said "What is thy request?" And Esther answered, "If it seem good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him." The underlined phrase is the Acrostic figure of speech, and this time the Name of the Lord is formed by the first letter of each word but the Name is spelled forward, which when translated from Hebrew to English reads like this: "Let Our Royal Dinner ... (LORD). Thus, interwoven in His eternal Word is the un-annullable decree that He is Lord! He is at all times in control: not the kings of great empires, not the Hamans, and certainly not satan, because the Lord's Name is Above Every Name; He is Lord! (Philippians 2:9, 11). 3. Esther 5:13 - Haman went forth that day with a glad heart thinking he was even in greater favor with the king because of Esther's request. However, as he went, he saw Mordecai in the king's gate and his hatred of Mordecai, the Jew, rose up in him - a bitter hatred that had accumulated throughout the generations of Amalek, for it was the bitter and venomous hatred of the serpent himself against "The Seed" of the woman. And Haman said to his wife: "yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate." The underlined phrase is the Acrostic, and this time the letters are at the end of each word and the word is spelled backward, thus speaking of the Lord overruling and turning back the counsel of the enemy; and in the English it may be freely rendered: saD foR nO avaiL ... (Lord). And even though Haman does not realize it, with his own voice he has sealed his and his descendants' doom, because God is overruling and turning back the enemy's counsel. The Eternal Word, the Lord of all, is executing judgment upon His enemies, "Because with secret hand the Lord fighteth against Amalek from generation to generation" (Exodus 17:16). 4. Esther 7:7 - At last the time has come and Esther's intercession draws to a climax as the king, moved by the hidden power of God, grants her petition. Now, in God's appointed timing, Esther discloses the fact that she is a Jew and that the wicked Haman had plotted the murder of her and her people. Then Haman realizes that his end is near: "for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king." Again, the Acrostic is underlined and in the English is translated thus: eviL tO feaR determineD ... (LORD).
So the enemy of God is taken in his own craftiness, and Haman is hung on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Beloved, no matter what our trials or circumstances, we must come to realize that the hidden power of God proclaims in His Word, with intricate detail, the the Alpha and Omega is the Beginning and the Ending: He is Lord! Hence, the Word of God has determined that the diabolical plots of the enemy against the Christ and His people must proclaim, and consummate in, the unequivocal fact that Jesus Christ is Lord. No wonder satan hates the Word!
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 23)
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