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Esther and the viSion of a Bride

The book of Esther has all the right elements for our current time - the invitation to a feast, a purified bride and a newly found freedom from an old enemy. Now wonder the phrase 'For a time such as this' comes from this book. The city of Susa, itself resembles the bride of Christ and vision of Zion.

The Book of Esther like the Song of Songs does not mention God by name which gives the impression that there is much more to this book than at first meets the eye. Indeed the two books share the common theme of a bride being brought to a king.

 

The Song of Songs is a very passionate love song, you can discern that is between King Solomon and a young woman from the country who tends his vineyard. She does not at first know of his royalty, only later when he comes to brings her to his palace. At the banqueting table he quiets her qualms regarding her royal position. This book is takes it place in the bible because of its incredible parallel to the Christians forseeable future in union with Christ at the Wedding Feast of the Lamb.

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The book of Esther has all the right elements for our current time - the invitation to a feast, a purified bride and a newly found freedom from an old enemy. Now wonder the phrase 'For a time such as this' comes from this book. The city of Susa, itself resembles the bride of Christ and vision of Zion.

When these days were over, the king gave a banquet, lasting seven days, in the enclosed garden of the king’s palace, for all the people from the least to the greatest who were in the citadel of Susa. The garden had hangings of white and blue linen, fastened with cords of white linen and purple material to silver rings on marble pillars. There were couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and other costly stones. Wine was served in goblets of gold, each one different from the other, and the royal wine was abundant, in keeping with the king’s liberality.

Esther 1:5-7

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Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)

Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”

Revelation 19:7-9

Note, the mirroring effect continues, as just before Revelation 19 (the Wedding Feast of the Lamb), is the representation of a seductive city of Babylon (figuratively speaking of the world), in Revelation 18 . In contrast to Babylon, is the city of Susa whose meaning espouses everthing to do with a pure bride - 'the element ×©×© (shesh), which denotes several whitish items, and particularly the noun ×©×•×©×Ÿ (shushan), lily... The relatively rare verb ×©×•×© (sus) or ×©×™×© (sis) means to exult or rejoice, and its nouns ×©×©×•×Ÿ (sason) and ×ž×©×•×© (masos) mean exultation, joy or gladness.' [1]  Itself is emphasised in the closing of the book of Esther.

For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor.'

Esther 8:16

We should not underestimate the relevance of the book of Esther to our current times. I have shown this on the 'Intro' page that the dating of this book coincides with the greatest revival that world will ever see. Such a revival has been prophesied greatly these past 100 years (please read Jarrod Cooper's book '500: Are We at the Dawn of a New Era of Glory?'). Therefore the message of Esther should be taken with all seriousness.

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You see there are two sides in the story - those that are shown in glory and those that despise those who have been honoured. The storyline is the classic one - good prevails over evil in the end. Thus this is a message for the endtimes, where the naming of the villain, Haman the Agagite, exposes the evil that lurked behind the scenes right from the beginning. We will stick primarily to focus on the current message of the great revival, yet realising that we will need to be prepared for a backlash from the enemy. Perfect love drives out fear (1 John 4:18)

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It is not therefore surprising that Esther contains a chiasm, a symmetrical literary device that creates structure to the text, which in this case illustrates the two opposing sides of good and evil. Thanks to the Bible Project for this [1].

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  • A The splendor of the Persian king + Two banquets [1:1-8]

    • Xerxes in his 3rd year as king of Persia lavishes displays his wealth in the Citadel dressed in linen and costly stones

  • B Esther becomes Queen + Mordecai saves the king [1:9-2:20 + 2:21-23]

    • Queen Vashti loses her title opening the way for Esther to be queen in the 7th Year of the king

  • C Haman elevated to power [3:1-6]

    • Animosity of Haman towards Mordecai's people, the Jews​

  • D Haman’s decree to destroy the Jewish people [3:7-15]

    • In the 12th year of the king Haman the pur (lot) was cast for 13th day of 12 month (Adar) as the date​

  • E Esther and Mordecai’s plan to reverse the decree [4:1-17]

    • "for you you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?​"

  • F Esther’s 1st banquet + Haman plans Mordecai’s execution [5:1-8 + 5:9-14]

    • Esther ​invites the king and Haman to a banquet but Haman's pride is enraged by Mordecai's refusal to bow

  • X - PIVOT: Haman humiliated & Mordecai exalted [6:1-14]

    • The king feels obliged to honour Mordecai's for his help in foiling the previous attempt on his life, but Haman had selfishly misinterpreted the object of kings honour

  • F’ Esther’s 2nd banquet + Haman executed instead of Mordecai [7:1-10]

    • Esther reveals that she and her people had been "sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated​" by Haman

  • E’ Esther and Mordecai plan to reverse the decree [8:1-8]

    • Esther pleads with the king again and a new decree is written to destroy the enemies of the Jews

  • D’ Mordecai’s counter-decree to save the Jewish people [8:9-14]

    • The decree is spread throughout the Persian empire​ to be enacted on the same day 13th day of 12 month (Adar)

  • C’ Mordecai elevated to power [8:15-17]

    • The city of Susa held a joyous celebration. For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor. 

  • B’ Queen Esther and Mordecai save the Jewish people [9:1-19]

    • The decree is enacted​

  • A’ Two feasts + The splendor of Mordecai [9:20-32 + 10:1-3]

    • The feast of Purim is established​

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Now to give an historical setting according to the reign of Xerxes I [2].

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  • 486-484 BC 1st Persian Greek Wars

  • 483 BC Queen Vashti deposed at a Banquet in Susa 3rd Year of Xerxes (Esther 1)

  • 481- 479 BC 2nd Persian Greek Wars

  • 479 BC Esther becomes queen 7th Year of Xerxes (Esther 2)

  • 474 BC Mordecai uncovers plot 12th Year of Xerxes (Esther 3)

  • 473 BC Purim. Jews escape annihilation, and many are freer to return to build in Jerusalem. To realise the vision of Zion.

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The year 487 BC was also amazingly 70x7 years before 977 BC, when David's Kingdom faltered! Changes were afoot.

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473 BC marks the realisation of the Word going out in Daniel's 70 Sevens (see Daniel 9 Seventy Sevens page). Listen now to the words of Isaiah 54, worth quoting in full, for it also speaks beautifully into our current times.

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Sing, barren woman,
    you who never bore a child;
burst into song, shout for joy,
    you who were never in labor;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
    than of her who has a husband,”
says the Lord.
“Enlarge the place of your tent,
    stretch your tent curtains wide,
    do not hold back;
lengthen your cords,
    strengthen your stakes.
For you will spread out to the right and to the left;
    your descendants will dispossess nations
    and settle in their desolate cities.

“Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame.
    Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated.
You will forget the shame of your youth
    and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.
For your Maker is your husband—
    the Lord Almighty is his name—
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
    he is called the God of all the earth.
The Lord will call you back
    as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit—
a wife who married young,
    only to be rejected,” says your God.
“For a brief moment I abandoned you,
    but with deep compassion I will bring you back.
In a surge of anger
    I hid my face from you for a moment,
but with everlasting kindness
    I will have compassion on you,”
    says the Lord your Redeemer.

“To me this is like the days of Noah,
    when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth.
So now I have sworn not to be angry with you,
    never to rebuke you again.
Though the mountains be shaken
    and the hills be removed,
yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken
    nor my covenant of peace be removed,”
    says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

“Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted,
    I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise,
    your foundations with lapis lazuli.
I will make your battlements of rubies,
    your gates of sparkling jewels,
    and all your walls of precious stones.
All your children will be taught by the Lord,
    and great will be their peace.

 In righteousness you will be established:
Tyranny will be far from you;
    you will have nothing to fear.
Terror will be far removed;
    it will not come near you.
If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing;
    whoever attacks you will surrender to you.

“See, it is I who created the blacksmith
    who fans the coals into flame
    and forges a weapon fit for its work.
And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc;
   no weapon forged against you will prevail,
    and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
    and this is their vindication from me,”
declares the Lord.

Isaiah 54

In this chapter we have glimpses of the Church as a as a Bride, a City, but also as a Tent (as seen in Isaiah 16:5, Amos 9:11 and Acts 15:16). 

 

Imagine the Church now as a large tent being put up with a canvas made from linen. It's not grubby but white. It's opened up with Christ as the central pillar but not to it's full potential. It needs those indispensable guy (& gal) ropes to stretch the fabric into it's proper form. It needs those indispensable pegs to extend it territory. 

“Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes."
Isaiah 54:2

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It is calling for the full range of gifts in the church to be recognised, even the ones that seem weaker are indispensable (1 Corinthians 12:22). From those who provide service and hospitality to those that stretch the fabric of faith in the Church and strategically extends its ministry in the world. All this is not possible without the Spirit that fills - so perhaps one new metaphor seems apt - to stretch out the white linen canvas sail to catch the wind of the Spirit and the way tabernacles were once filled with the glory of God. This sailing metaphor is inline with the recognised waves of the Spirit (see the 'Intro' page) and the great commission call to 'Go!'

Footnotes:

[1] Esther: Secular or Sacred?

https://thebibleproject.com/blog/esther-secular-sacred/

[1] Xerxes the Great and Queen Esther

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKKaonre_Jk

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