|Synopsis Home||Esther Summary| The condition of the people in
the land till Christ's coming as shown by Nehemiah The Book of
Nehemiah has shewn us Judah reinstated in the land, but deprived
of the presence of God, except as to general blessing, and
unacknowledged by God as His people; so that, whatever length of
time may elapse, their condition leads us morally up to the
moment when the Messiah should be presented to seal up prophecy,
to finish the transgression, and to bring in everlasting
righteousness. That book gave us the last word -- until the
coming of Christ -- of the history of Israel; and that, in grace
and patience on God's part. The Jews' position out of the land
but under God's hand shown in Esther The Book of Esther shews us
the position of Israel, or, to speak more accurately, the
position of the Jews, out of their own land, and looked at as
under the hand of God, and as the object of His care. That He
still cared for them (which this book proves to us), when they
no longer held any position o