Chapter 10
THE book terminates with a beautiful view of the great king whose authority extended over the land and the isles of the sea. In man's hand this is inseparable from a tribute laid on all his subjects, who must of necessity give to him, rather than he to them. Never will, never can, the just balance be reached to God's glory, till He fills the place of the giver manifestly and indisputably, as He assuredly purposes to do and will in Christ the Lord; Who has already proved it for life and redemption eternal, as He will come to display in the kingdom shortly. For the despised Messiah must return as the glorious Son of man in order to make good all promises and fulfill all prophecies.
Here is the foreshadowing when Israel broke down and were dispersed among the Gentiles; as Joseph exalted in Egypt furnished another prefiguration before they went down into that which was to be a land of bondage and oppression. It was not only that Mordecai was advanced to greatness: he was “next to the king and great among the Jews.” How incomparably more will this be verified in Him Whom they once rejected to the uttermost!
“And the king Ahasuerus laid a tribute upon the land and the isles of the sea. And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the full account 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? For Mordecai the Jew [was] next to the king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren; seeking the good of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed” (vers. 1-3).
It is a beautiful picture of a king great in his power and his might, morally greater in the faithful administration of the premier, who never forgot that he was “Mordecai the Jew,” and, if second to the king, sought neither favorite nor party, but yet “was great among the Jews and accepted by the multitude of his brethren.” It was faith in the Unseen that sustained and guided him. Hence he sought not personal aggrandizement but the good of his people, and spoke peace to all his seed. The day hastens when the Son of man will do for the universe far more and better to the glory of God the Father.