The Vast Glory of a Kingdom, 2


Esther 1:
1. Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this Ahasuerus which reigned from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces;)
2. That in those days when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace
3. In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants, the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes, being before him
4. When he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honour of his excellent majesty many days, even an hundred and fourscore days.

The kingdom is truly a vast land of peoples of different tongues, nations, tribes, kindreds and cultures. Yet the king was able to hold all the conflicting interests and contradictions as well as the harmony together in his person. The land was all the way from India in present day Asia to Ethiopia in Africa. But a rising power was appearing in the horizon, a rising power of another kingdom trying to conquer and subjugate him. The history of the world, by which civilisation is measured, is power to conquer and subjugate others
The king Ahasuerus needed to show that he was not only militarily sound but was economically wealthy enough to strike down any upstart and threatening nation; the show of the opulence and excellence of his might and power on display. To mightily impress this on the mind of his people, he feasted them for more than half of a year. The feast was in Shushan.
The world is groaning under economic yoke. I’m thinking of what it would cost one country in the modern world to fete her people for half of a year without the nationals contributing a dime as shown here. Even in the days of covid-19 , the nations of the world couldn’t feed their nationals which had been shut up in the house. But Ahasuerus did this for such a vast kingdom and displayed the grandeur of his military majesty. This kingdom was not only vast but also glorious – a kingdom of glorious peoples, cultures and civilisations all in one awesome unit under one king; a capable, most intelligent one.

           The kingdom of God

I fail abjectly each time I try to wrap my finite mind around the infinite magnitude of God’s kingdom. A drop-in-the-ocean idea is found in the bible. The writer of bible’s Revelation, after giving the statistic of those who received God’s seal of ownership, continues his narration: “After this, I beheld and, lo,a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne…”(Rev.7:9). The Psalmist sings, “Let them praise the name of the Lord…his glory is above the heaven” (Psalm 148:13).

               What kingdom of God is

The word kingdom means the domain of a king, the place of influence of a king, a place of display of his character. The phrase the kingdom of God therefore indicates the domain of the King, the true potentate, the only one that has immortality. This King, says a verse of the scripture, dwells, lives in the midst of light that cannot be approached (1Timothy 6:15- 16).


The kingdom of God is used in contradiction to the kingdom of man or any other man-wisdom-built structures or organisations. Man has been running the show for many millennia. However, the tipped balance is being redeemed, restored as God’s own kingdom is presently amongst men, in the midst of men – right in the midst of the kingdom of man. Said Jesus, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation” (Luke 17:20). This refers to Jesus Christ himself; he personifies and visibly expresses the kingdom. Now, his Body which constitutes the kingdom is here on earth to show the immensity of the riches of the kingdom. The Lord Jesus Christ, the kingdom, is able to display, express self in this world today.