On a fateful night in Susa, two men are sleepless, both thinking of the same man: Mordecai. The King wants to honor him, giving a rich reward to the man who has saved his life. Haman, on the other hand, has just the opposite in mind as he spends his night plotting to build gallows on which to hang the Jew who has vexed him for so long.

Its been said that God is on the field when He is most invisible. That is certainly true as Haman plots the death of Mordecai, and King Xerxes calls for the chronicles of his reign to be read on a sleepless night in Susa. What transpires could only come from the mind and the hand of God.

A soldier stands behind the king with a mighty ax. At Xerxes word, the ax will fall and Esther will be just another victim, her only crime, an appearance without an invitation. But she finds favor with the king and Gods plan for the protection of His people begins to unfold.

Liam Goligher reminds us that we must see both God and Satan in Scripture, and nowhere is that more evident than in the Book of Esther. An invisible war rages in Susa between the forces of evil and the people of God. Esther and Mordecai have been caught up in that war and have become players in it. But they are not mere pawns.

The news of the coming destruction of her people reaches Esther. While she is deeply distressed, her human nature tells her that there is little she can do. Perhaps, she reasons, harm wont come to me since I am the queen. Esther sees both her duty and her destiny as queen. Its a duty not only to save her people, but also to halt the plans of antichrist himself acting through Haman, a man of formidable power.

Esther has been chosen queen because of her beauty, but circumstances will soon reveal that there is much more to the queen than her outward appearance. She is about to become the central figure in a drama that could jeopardize her life and determine the future of her people.

The spirit of Antichrist is at work in all generations, and he often works through men. One such man, Haman, sought no less than the destruction of a race. This time on No Falling Word we will continue with the second part of this message from Esther as Liam Goligher examines the rise and fall of a tyrant.

Gods providence, if we are to understand it at all, can only be understood after weve gone through adversity. And so it was with Esther. She and her uncle, Mordecai could not have known the parts they would play in both the saving of their race and in the course of history.

Her Persian name, Esther, and her Hebrew name, Hadassah, remind us of the two worlds in which she lived and of the challenge we face as Gods people living in the world but not part of it. This message is the second part of "Beauty and the Beast." In it Liam Goligher examines how Esther maintained her integrity while living in the harem of the king.

It was a world of male dominance. A world where women were mere possessionsbought, sold and used for the pleasure of the king. This message will be looking at the world in which Esther found herself, how she reacted, and how one insignificant Jewish girl changed the course of history.