Bereansearching Bible Studies

Introduction

The Book of Esther never names God. That is the point. The name Esther itself sounds like the Hebrew סָתַר (sāṯar)^H5641, “to hide / conceal.” Isaiah 45:15 says the same of God: “Verily thou [art] a God that hidest ^H5641 thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour.” The Jews continue to read Esther every year on the feast of Purim to remember that, by lot (“pur“), Haman fixed the day for their destruction—which God instead turned into a day of deliverance. That preservation of the remnant of the Jews ultimately prepared the way for the coming Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. Esther provides an accurate historical account, but the book is also an Historical Parable, which conceals the Gospel of Salvation through the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ: “national” Israel is set aside, a remnant bride (the “eternal” Israel) is prepared, the accuser hanged on his own gallows, a second decree that does not cancel the first, but grants life to the Jews and to all those who convert (“become Jews”), and the eternal Israel of God resting and rejoicing after the last battle, picturing Judgment Day. This post is just an outline. The full study can be found here: The Book of Esther: a Christian Commentary.

The Book of Esther in Brief

King Ahasuerus, a ruler of great glory, majesty, and honor, deposes Queen Vashti for disobedience and gives her estate to Esther, the Jewish orphan raised by her near kinsman Mordecai. For an entire year the king’s chamberlains anoint and prepare her before the marriage. Later, because Mordecai will not bow, Haman casts lots (“pur“) and fixes a day at year’s end to destroy the Jews. He obtains a decree from the king by accusing “a certain people” (without mentioning Jews directly) of not keeping the king’s laws. Mordecai mourns in agony. Esther, at Mordecai’s commandment, and at the risk of death—“if I perish, I perish”, approaches the king and requests to prepare two banquets. Haman, meanwhile, builds a gallows to hang Mordecai. The king, in a sleepless night, then remembers an earlier service: by which Esther had certified, in Mordecai’s name, a plot against the throne (Esther 2:22). Mordecai, known by the king to be a Jew and is reminded of Mordecai’s faithfulness, is arrayed in the king’s apparel, set on the king’s royal horse, given the king’s royal sceptre and led through the city as the man whom the king most delights to honor—the very same honors Haman had sought for himself. When Esther exposes Haman’s plot to kill her and her people, the king orders Haman hanged on his own gallows. Mordecai goes out in royal apparel of blue and white, with a crown of gold. The city of Shushan is glad. “The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour.” Given the authority once held by Haman, Mordecai issues a second decree. It does not nullify the first. It arms the Jews to defend themselves on the appointed day. Between the third month (Firstfruits / Pentecost) and the end of the year (a picture of the coming Judgment Day), “many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.” On that last day, the enemies are destroyed, including Haman’s ten sons, “with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction.” The next day the Jews rest and make it a feast to be kept in every generation: Purim. The king advances Mordecai “next unto the king,” “seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.”

The Spiritual Types

(Each name links to a fuller character study)

Person	Type
Ahasuerus	God the Father — sovereign king over a vast indivisible kingdom (127 provinces is a prime number)
Vashti	Old Testament national Israel — beautiful, beloved, yet refuses the king’s command and feast and is set aside (cf. Deuteronomy 31:16-18; Isaiah 50:1; Jeremiah 3:8-10)
Mordecai	The Lord Jesus Christ — near kinsman, unnoticed deliverer, later clothed in royal honor and set at the king’s right hand
Esther	The church, the true eternal Israel — orphan made queen, walking by faith, the bride who replaces Vashti
Hegai / Hatach	The Holy Spirit — prepares, anoints, intercedes, comforts, and leads the bride into the king’s presence
Haman	Satan — the accuser who seeks to destroy God’s people for not keeping “the king’s laws” (cf. Isaiah 14:12-15 and Revelation 12:10)

Mordecai is like the “little man” who saves the city and is forgotten for a time fits Ecclesiastes 9:13-17, who is also like the hidden Christ. Esther as the bride fits Revelation 21:2. The three-day fast before she enters the throne room, and her appearing in royal apparel “on the third day,” point to death and resurrection.

Chapter Map (the Gospel in Ten Chapters)

1. Vashti refuses — national Israel under the Law rebels; the way opens for a remnant of Jew and Gentile under grace (Esther 1; Deuteronomy 31:16–18).
2. Esther is prepared — the Near Kinsman shows mercy to the fatherless; the Spirit purifies and qualifies the bride; a plot at the door is exposed (Esther 2).
3. Haman exalted — Satan given temporary dominion; the accuser seeks the destruction of the God’s people (Esther 3; Romans 6:23; Revelation 12:10).
4. Sackcloth and a three-day fast — the Atonement (Esther 4).
5. Esther enters the throne room on the third day — the faith of the saints; the bride in royal apparel (Esther 5; 2 Corinthians 5:7; Hebrews 4:16).
6. Mordecai honored in the city — a preview of Palm Sunday: the one whom the king delights most to honor (Esther 6; John 12:13).
7. The banquet and the gallows — the last Passover; Satan defeated at the cross (Esther 7).
8. A new decree, many become Jews — the New Covenant and the Great Commission and the Spirit’s work from Pentecost onward to Judgment Day (Esther 8, Hebrews 8:6-13).
9. The day of slaughter, then rest — Judgment Day and the transition to eternity (Esther 9).
10. Mordecai next to the king — Christ exalted, seeking the peace of his people forever (Esther 10, Hebrews 12:2).

Conclusion

God deliberately hid Himself in Esther so that those with the “spiritual ears to hear and spiritual eyes to see“ would find Jesus Christ in Mordecai’s role of the kinsman, nurturer of the orphan, the parade through the city (reminiscent of Palm Sunday), the loud and bitter cry in sackcloth and ashes, the gallows (the Cross) that defeated the devil, the third day, the defeat of God’s enemies in the last battle on Judgment Day, the Salvation of the Jews (eternal Israel made up of both a Gentiles and a remnant of national Israel), resulting in the eternal promise of Jesus speaking peace to all His seed in eternity in Heaven. The book of Esther is an Historical Parable, and Jesus always spoke in parables to the multitudes (Matthew 13:34&35 and Mark 4:34). The book is not a curiosity because God is unnamed in the Book, it is a curiosity because God concealed Himself and His Salvation Plan throughout the Book.

While the hermeneutic (the Biblical basis of understanding) applied in this study may be new and strange to some readers, we need to be reminded that this is the very hermeneutic that Jesus taught to His disciples on the the road to Emmaus. Please see how this is the case as explained here: “The Road to Emmaus: A Journey of Revelation“.

Note to the reader: Verse-by-verse studies of each chapter begin with Esther Chapter 1.

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