When Esther boldly entered King Ahasuerus' court, he mercifully held out the golden scepter to her as a token of his favor. She invites the king and Haman to a banquet; but when they come, she does not proceed to ask the king concerning the great matter that weighed heavily upon her mind. Perhaps she was afraid. At any rate, Haman leaves the banquet full of pride, but he becomes angry again when he sees Mordecai in the king's gate. When Haman gets home, he and his wife and friends concoct a plan to ask the king to hang Mordecai. Apparently this evil man felt confident enough now to deal with his hated enemy individually, instead of waiting for the destruction of all the Jews. And now, even more than before, it seemed as if God was not going to answer the Jews' prayers for deliverance!
When we draw near to the throne of grace, our God holds out a scepter to us that is in the shape of a cross! Through Christ, we may freely draw near to Him and present our petitions; for we are clothed in our Savior's robe of righteousness. Without that spotless robe, we would have worse than a gallows awaiting us; but we may approach the throne in confidence, because of Jesus's perfect fulfillment of the covenant that was made between Him and His Father! |
