Book of Esther Part 2 – Favor Given the King’s Wife
We have seen that Esther coming before the king contrary to the law, is a type of Christ laying down His life for us. Esther, is faithful in her calling and willing to lay down her life for her people. She is a type of Church, the truly elect. How do we know we are God’s elect and have indeed “passed from death unto life”? Here is the way to know we love our brethren, and at the same time know we are passing from death unto life.
1Jn 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
Many say they are the elect (Esther) of Christ, but it becomes clear that few know what the love of God is. Here is one of Christ’s commandments which very few men who claim they come in Christ’s Name is teaching or keeping.
Mat 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
Mat 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Esther, as type of God’s elect, is only doing so, is only accomplished by Christ Himself living His life of resisting the devil within her. When we love our brothers in accord with the scriptural definition of love, then we lay down our lives for our brethren.
1Jn 3:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
1Jn 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
Joh 10:14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
Esther appears before the king
Est 5:1 Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king’s house, over against the king’s house: and the king sat upon his royal throne in the royal house, over against the gate of the house.
Esther puts on her royal apparel, our royal apparel, which is the anointing we receive from Christ. It is upon Aaron (type of Christ) and upon his sons, types of the sons of Christ. It is the faith given us by Christ, a gift.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
1Jn 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
1Jn 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
Exo 29:21 And thou shalt take of the blood that is upon the altar, and of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon Aaron, and upon his garments, and upon his sons, and upon the garments of his sons with him: and he shall be hallowed, and his garments, and his sons, and his sons’ garments with him.
The king saw Esther standing as a type of us, standing not adding or taking away from the Word of God. We tarry in Jerusalem …. until endued with power from on High … Luke 24:49
Rev 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
We obtain favour in Christ’s sight, here shadowed by Ahasuerus, the king. The king extend his hand (H3027 meaning an open hand indicating power), extend the sceptre, a rod of empire, drawing her near.
Est 5:2 And it wasH1961 so, when the kingH4428 sawH7200 (H853) EstherH635 the queenH4436 standingH5975 in the court,H2691 that she obtainedH5375 favourH2580 in his sight:H5869 and the kingH4428 held outH3447 to EstherH635 (H853) the goldenH2091 sceptreH8275 thatH834 was in his hand.H3027 So EstherH635 drew near,H7126 and touchedH5060 the topH7218 of the sceptre.H8275
Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
The King gives Esther (His Bride) Half of my kingdom
Est 5:3 Then said the king unto her, What wilt thou, queen Esther? and what is thy request? it shall be even given thee to the half of the kingdom.
Psa 21:2 Thou hast given him his heart’s desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah.
Half of my kingdom means only in the throne will I be greater …… Esther is replacing Vashti and rules over Egypt. Remember the story of Pharaoh and Joseph as another shadow of this principle, comparing spiritual with spiritual (1 Co 2:13).
Gen 41:40 Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne will I be greater than thou.
Gen 41:41 And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.
Esther devises her plan to act upon the destruction of the Jews by petitioning a banquet for the king and Haman, the enemy of the Jews. Christ, Shiloh, and His angels has to come so that Haman is being destroyed.
Est 5:4 And Esther answered, If it seem good unto the king, let the king and Haman come this day unto the banquet that I have prepared for him.
Luk 17:33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
Gen 49:10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come;
A thief in the night
Haman has to make haste. Christ comes as a thief in the night. Haman has no idea what is going to befall him.
Mat 24:43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
Est 5:5 Then the king said, Cause Haman to make haste, that he may do as Esther hath said. So the king and Haman came to the banquet that Esther had prepared.
Est 5:6 And the king said unto Esther at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.
Est 5:7 Then answered Esther, and said, My petition and my request is;
Est 5:8 If I have found favour in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition, and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and I will do tomorrow as the king hath said.
At the banquet of wine, we think of Christ turning the water into wine, read John 2:2- 10). We hear what we have heard from the beginning ……
1Jn 2:7 Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.
1Jn 2:8 Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.
1Jn 2:9 He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.
1Jn 2:10 He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
1Jn 2:11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.
It is an old commandment (love your enemies, turn the other cheek …… etc.) which we are hearing from the beginning. We have to obey Christ in order for Haman, our man of sin, to being destroyed.
2Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
In the meantime ……… Haman thinks he is the one
Est 5:9 Then went Haman forth that day joyful and with a glad heart: but when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, that he stood not up, nor moved for him, he was full of indignation against Mordecai.
Est 5:10 Nevertheless Haman refrained himself: and when he came home, he sent and called for his friends, and Zeresh his wife.
Est 5:11 And Haman told them of the glory of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and all the things wherein the king had promoted him, and how he had advanced him above the princes and servants of the king.
Est 5:12 Haman said moreover, Yea, Esther the queen did let no man come in with the king unto the banquet that she had prepared but myself; and tomorrow am I invited unto her also with the king.
Est 5:13 Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.
Est 5:14 Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits, high, and tomorrow speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon: then go thou in merrily with the king unto the banquet. And the thing pleased Haman; and he caused the gallows to be made.
Babylon in us does not know that it is Babylon. We perceive ourselves as God’s elect. Knowledge puffs up. We read earlier on in this OT shadow:
Est 3:8 And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws are diverse from all people; neither keep they the king’s laws: therefore, it is not for the king’s profit to suffer them.
It is almost as if …… The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil (Prov 16:4).
Haman in us, the self-righteous Pharisee, thinks he is making it and this is the great deception…… Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 2 Th 2:3
Luk 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
Luk 12:16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:
Luk 12:17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?
Luk 12:18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
Luk 12:19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
Luk 12:20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
Luk 12:21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
Haman the Pharisee in us, does not know the times ………
Mar 13:33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
Mat 16:2 He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.
Mat 16:3 And in the morning, It will be foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?
Haman prepares a gallows and the king is troubled
Haman, as the type of the ten horns of the beast, prepares a gallows on which he intends to ask the king to hang Mordecai (Est 5), and at this point, the king’s sleep is taken from him, resulting in a late-night reading of the chronicles revealing that Mordecai, has not been given His due reward for having saved the life of King Ahasuerus.
Est 6:1 On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king.
Est 6:2 And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.
Est 6:3 And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? Then said the king’s servants that ministered unto him, There is nothing done for him.
This is we hear again what we have heard from the beginning. Faith comes by hearing, we now delight to worship/obey what we hear. Remember Mordecai saved the king from death earlier on in type. Mordecai saving the king typifying the spirit of Elias (John) as we have seen earlier on.
Luk 7:26 But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet.
Luk 7:27 This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
Luk 7:28 For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.
In a moment
Est 6:4 And the king said, Who is in the court? Now Haman was come into the outward court of the king’s house, to speak unto the king to hang Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.
Est 6:5 And the king’s servants said unto him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in.
Est 6:6 So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?
Est 6:7 And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honour,
Est 6:8 Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head:
Est 6:9 And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.
Est 6:10 Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king’s gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken.
Est 6:11 Then took Haman the apparel and the horse, and arrayed Mordecai, and brought him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaimed before him, Thus shall it be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour.
This story is a type of this NT prophecy:
Rev 3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
The problem with Haman is his pride. Haman within is under the law which is not the law of Christ.
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Haman within, is the daughter of Zion, walking with an outstretched neck with wanton eyes and mincing as we go.
Isa 3:16 Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:
Jas 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
But even the Pharisee within us all, is beautiful in its time “is, was and will be”, it has to be for the kingdom of God to be ushered in.
Ecc 3:11 He hath made everything beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
The Lord sets up, the Lord removes
Haman is shamed and Mordecai is honoured typifying the old being replaced by the new. The Law of Christ is replacing the law of Moses (Ten Commandments) and the law of the gentiles (Rom 2:15) which are one and the same thing. The carnal mind are not subject to Christ (the poor) but only Christ is able to bring us out of death/disobedience.
Jud 1:13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
Psa 14:6 Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge.
Psa 14:7 Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
Continuing…. Haman has his head covered, he is hasting to his house.
Est 6:12 And Mordecai came again to the king’s gate. But Haman hasted to his house mourning, and having his head covered.
Est 6:13 And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends everything that had befallen him. Then said his wise men and Zeresh his wife unto him, If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him.
Est 6:14 And while they were yet talking with him, came the king’s chamberlains, and hasted to bring Haman unto the banquet that Esther had prepared.
1Co 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
1Co 11:4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.
Haman does not acknowledge Christ as His Head and therefore great shame comes to him. This is us in our seasons.
Job 8:22 They that hate thee shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought.
Isa 33:10 Now will I rise, saith the LORD; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up myself.
Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Mat 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Mat 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
To recap
In the book of Esther, we have thus far see the spiritual realities of the OT shadows:
Ahasuerus, the king, makes a feast, all the kingdoms of this world (Vashti, a type of Egypt) does not satisfy……… to be carnally minded is death.
Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Lev 18:20 Moreover thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour’s wife, to defile thyself with her.
We are not able to serve God and Mammon, we have to come out of her My people.
2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
Mat 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
We, though rich in knowledge (Egypt) think we can escape the judgments of God not knowing that we are and will live by every Word proceeding out of the mouth of God.
Mat 4:8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
Mat 4:9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
Mat 4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Ahasuerus, the king marries Esther, a virgin……called unto the marriage Supper of the Lamb.
Rev 19:9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
Ahasuerus loses his first love and falls away, setting up Haman, the abomination of desolation in the Temple of God which Temple we are……
Eze 28:13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
Eze 28:14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
Eze 28:15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
1Co 4:19 But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power.
1Co 4:20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.
Esther, as types of us, has to lose and is losing her life, appearing before the king, she, through fiery trials and judgements, is coming to see that faith without works is dead.
Jas 2:14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
Jas 2:15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
Jas 2:16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
Jas 2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
Esther requires Ahasuerus and Haman to come this day to a banquet of wine (Est 5:4), Christ is resurrected in us again, what we have heard from the beginning at the banquet of wine typifying the first resurrection………Ahasuerus sleep is taken and he remembers Mordecai and delights to honour him.
Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Esther petitioned the king and Haman to attend the banquet the next day that she is preparing which is going and is destroying the man of sin…… with the brightness of Christ’s coming typifying our Day of the Lord is, was and will be.
Isa 34:8 For it is the day of the LORD’S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion.
Joe 2:11 And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
2 Pe 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
In our next study, we will see how the mystery of the kingdom of heaven within us is revealed when the kingdoms of this world becomes the kingdom of Christ and His Christ within first and at the appointed time for all humanity.
Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal (age abiding life), that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
