The angel said to me, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." Luke 1:30-33

Like several other biblical events, it's a true story that can also be viewed allegorically. Here's how it happened.

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

With the death of Haman and the elevation of Mordecai to Chief Counselor, you’d think my problems would be over, but we still had the extermination order against all my people in Persia to deal with. I fell on my knees and begged the King to rescind Haman’s order.

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

As Esther might have told it today…

The foiled assassination plot against the King can be likened to your salvation experience. Remember, due to Mordecai’s timely warning the two officers who plotted the King’s death were discovered and sentenced to die. Most translations of my story say they were hanged,

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

As Esther might have told it today…

As I mentioned last time Mordecai is my cousin, although he’s so much older than I am that he actually remembers life in Jerusalem before the Babylonians destroyed it. When my parents died he took me in and raised me as his own.

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

(NOTE: Ray C. Stedman’s book “The Queen and I” was a major source of inspiration for this series of articles on the Book of Esther.)

This is part of Jack’s, Bible Thru the Eyes of Its Writers series where he tells the stories in first-person—as if the authors were telling the story themselves.

Chapter 19

With the final and total destruction of Babylon, God’s enemies have been all but defeated and the war for Planet Earth is just about over. “Hallelujah,” we all shouted from Heaven, “For our Lord God Almighty reigns!” Hallelujah is a Hebrew word meaning “Praise the Lord” and after the fact I was surprised to learn that I’m the only New Testament writer who used it.

Chapter 15

Back in Heaven seven angels appeared along with the seven golden bowls of God’s Wrath, His last series of judgments. When these were over His enemies would be vanquished and His victory complete. Just then another large group of martyrs arrived from Earth and stood before His throne.

Chapter 11

As the end of the age was drawing near, the Lord had made Himself known to the People of Israel again just as Ezekiel had fore told 2500 years earlier, and in response they had built a temple for worshiping Him again like they did in Old Testament days.

Chapter 7

Because even in wrath God remembers mercy, He paused to commission 144,000 Jews, 12,000 each from 12 of the tribes of Israel, to go out among the people of the Earth and once again spread the Gospel into every nation and in every language. And just then all those who had not become believers until after the rapture,