In order to
fully understand the messages of the Book of Esther, one must look below the
surface and discover the hidden manna within. All of God’s scriptures point forward, not
backward. Esther is about real people and real events but hidden within its
pages is the story of King Jesus and His Bride and the battle between good and
evil.
In the story
of Esther, God will save His people who have been taken captive in Babylon from
extinction through two Jews – Esther and Mordecai (male and female). Babylon
means place of confusion. God is the God of order, not confusion and
chaos. These are the devil’s ways. Throughout scripture, Satan wants to destroy
Jesus’ bloodline. God must preserve Israel so the Savior of the world can come
through them. God is faithful to His people in spite of their disobedience. In
the midst of Israel’s captivity, God will raise up leaders like Ezra, Nehemiah,
Esther, and Mordecai who walk with God in obedience to His Word to restore and
rebuild His holy temple and city. He will do the same with the Bride of Christ.
His people must leave the worldly and
the devil’s ways that Babylon represents and return to God’s ways and truth and
start rebuilding and restoring.
Comparison of Ruth and Esther – Type and Shadow of the Bride
of Christ
Concealed in the story of Ruth and Esther is a prophetic picture
of the Bride of Christ. Throughout the Older Testament scriptures God wove a
picture of King Jesus and His Bride. God used the godly women in scripture to
paint a picture of the Bride of Christ. He used the godly men in scripture to
paint a picture of Christ. He uses the “natural” to paint a picture of the
“supernatural.” (see 1 Corinthians 15:46)
Ruth was a gentile who married her
Jewish kinsman-redeemer from the tribe of Judah--Boaz. The story of Ruth takes
place in the harvest field. Ruth the gentile will marry her Jewish kinsman-redeemer
and redeem the land in God's Promised Land belonging to her Jewish mother-in-law’s husband. Ruth and
Boaz reveal Jesus as the Redeemer of both the Jews and the Gentiles as His
Bride. Boaz is a type and shadow of Jesus our Kinsman-Redeemer. Jesus, who came
through the tribe of Judah in fulfillment of scripture, will redeem and harvest
souls – both Jew and Gentile -- through His Body and will wed us as His Bride
for all eternity. He will use His Bride made up of both Jews and Gentiles to open
the eyes of others to their spiritual kinsman-redeemer – Jesus. At God’s
appointed time, Jesus will gather the harvest of souls from the earth to
Himself. (see Revelation 14:15)
Esther was a virgin Jewish woman from
the tribe of Benjamin. Benjamin means “son of the right hand.” Jesus is the Son
of the right hand because He sits at the right hand of the Father. Esther was
an orphan. Her father died when her mother was pregnant with her, and her
mother died while birthing her. Her cousin Mordecai raised Esther and taught
her about Israel’s God. Basically, Esther had everything in her life taken from
her – her parents, her land, her freedom—but God had not left her. He will save
His people through her.
Esther had two names – one a Gentile name and the other a Jewish name. Esther was her Persian name. It means “star” – light-bearer. Esther would be a light-bearer to the Gentile king of Persia and his people, but she would also save her people – the Jews. This is a picture of the spiritual work of Jesus’ Bride made up of Jews and Gentiles. Hadassah is Esther’s Jewish name. It means “myrtle” symbolizing righteousness, peace, rest, a sweet aroma, and God’s blessings. In Zechariah 1: 8-11, Jesus is walking among the myrtle trees. He is the One through whom all blessings come. He is our righteousness, rest, and peace and will transform us into a sweet aroma to God as Esther went through a cleansing process in order to be a sweet fragrance to the King.
The story of Ruth took place in the harvest field of her kinsman-redeemer, but the story of Esther takes place in the palace and the throne. Ruth, who was a Gentile who married her Jewish kinsman-redeemer Boaz, represents the mostly Gentile Bride of Christ who are wedded to Jesus and will gather a harvest of souls to King Jesus.
Esther represents the Bride of Christ reigning with Him as the King of all kings who sits on the throne of God in the heavens. Esther will become the Queen of the King. In the story of both Ruth and Esther, God is bringing the Jew and the Gentile together as one through His Son Jesus Christ.
In both Ruth and Esther God is not mentioned nor are any
Jewish religious practices. God’s people had moved far away from God, but God has not moved away from them. He will save the Jews
from extinction through two Jews -- Esther and Mordecai.
God’s Voice is Silent in the Book of Esther
God in His love for mankind whom the Godhead originally created in their own image and likeness had the Word of God written through mankind by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to show the difference between the earthly and the spiritual -- those who turn to God and His ways to do His will even though imperfect and those who follow their own fleshly ways and do the work of Satan. These two – the flesh and Spirit of God -- war against each other throughout scripture. Romans 8:3-5: For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but whose who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. When we walk in the ways of our sinful flesh, we are walking in the sinful ways of the devil. When we walk and live according to the Spirit of God, we are doing the things of God. The Bride of Christ will allow God’s cleansing and preparation by the power of the Holy Spirit and Word, so she is presented without spot or blemish to her King.
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