In
the Book
of Esther, we read of a fascinating story that took place many years
ago, in a time known as "the days of Ahasuerus." In
our present study, we will look at the King Ahasuerus, the Queen
Vashti, and Esther, as well as some of the
other prophetic people, places, and events revealed in this true
story.
It is our desire to learn, for our benefit, what Yahuweh has hidden for
us in this amazing account.
Each and every person,
place and event seen in
Scripture portrays some important aspect of our Heavenly
Bridegroom, and His present-day dealings, in the preparation of His
Bride! As we look
at the various
characters in the story, let us try to answer the question, "Who
do these people speak of today?" and more
importantly,
"Which
one am I?"
In Esther, some of the characters help the bride, and some
hinder. So where do each one of us fit into the
Esther
scenario?
The King Ahasuerus
When
we look at King Ahasuerus, we cannot help but to see a fascinating
picture emerge. We first catch a glimpse of Ahasuerus in the
opening verses of Esther:
Now
it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus
which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over
an hundred and seven and twenty provinces:)
(Esther 1:1)
Now, in scripture there
is great significance in the meanings of names of people, places, and
things, as well as the numbers themselves. For instance, the
number 'five'
in scripture is representative of the indwelling presence of
"Messiah-in-you" to provide Resurrection-life, which is
the Biblical description of how 'Grace' operates, and so is
the
number that speaks of the Bride; the number 'twelve'
is the scriptural portrait of
Yahuweh’s government or governmental perfection. The
reader is
encouraged to read any of several excellent works on Biblical
Mathematics or Keys to Scripture Numerics.
Let us
first notice in the opening verses several clues to the
King's representative identity. His name means, "I
will be silent and poor," — a strange name for a
King, but a perfect picture of Yahushua in the days of His flesh.
We
see also that the king's rule was from India (the word is 'Ho-Doo'
meaning "the Giving of Thanks") unto Ethiopia (the word is 'Cush'
meaning "black"). So we see the extent of his rule was from
"those who give thanks," to the extent of "those who
are black." This description reminds us of the verse
describing another picture of the Bride of the King, who
is comely, or beautiful, as was the Bride seen in Song of
Solomon:
I
am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of
Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. (Song of Solomon 1:5)
Looking
further at the extent of his rule, we see that he rules 127
provinces. The number 'one hundred' in
scripture portrays the glory that is the result of the Power and
ability given by Yahushua living within, or
"Messiah-in-you," to accomplish a particular work, which is the
definition of 'Grace.' The number 'twenty-seven'
depicts the entire realm of the King. The number twenty-seven
is also equivalent to 3 x 9. The number 'three'
speaks of Resurrection; 'Nine' speaks of
fruitfulness. So in summary we might say that the number 127
speaks of the Entire realm of the King, whose subjects yield to
Messiah-in-them to accomplish the Fruitfulness
of Resurrection Life.
These are the subjects of the
Kingdom — they are those that are yielding to the life of
Messiah-in-them, and bring glory to the King.
Next,
we see in
verse 2:
That in those days,
when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom,
which was in Shushan the palace, (Esther 1:2)
Notice
here that his throne was in Shushan the palace. Shushan was
evidently a place in Persia, and is also spoken of in Nehemiah Chapter
1. Let’s look at the meaning of the word.
The word 'Shushan' means "lily." Yahushua
has told His Disciples to "consider the
lilies" (Matt 6:28, Luke 12:27). There is
therefore something of great importance for the Bride, hidden within
the meaning of the lilies!
Where else do we find
lilies? We find lily or lilies mentioned fifteen times in
Scripture, eight of them in Song of Solomon. The number 'fifteen'
in Scripture speaks of "rest." In the Song of Solomon, we see
that the lilies portray the intimate, personal, relationship between
Messiah and His future Bride.
We
see that lilies are
part of the adornment of the molten sea in the Tabernacle, as described
in 1 Kings 7:25-26 and 2 Chron 4:5. The sea is for the
priests to
wash in, so the sea speaks of the "Word" of Yahuweh. We
may thus conclude the Lilies are prophetic of the Word of
Yahuweh. We see
lilies
also on the
pillars of the Temple, as described in 1 Kings 7:19 and 22, which
pillars we are if we overcome, we are told in Rev 3:12.
In Psalms 45, we see the main theme is the Bride and her wedding.
We can likewise see a sub-theme in this Psalm. In the
title, we see the theme of "Shoshannim," or lilies. We also
see in the first few verses of this Psalm, along with the last
verse, a theme of words, lips, and tongue, and the offering of
praise. We
are reminded that the King (Yahuweh) is enthroned on the praises of His
people, as
written in Psalms 22:3. The lilies may thus represent words
spoken by the King to His Bride, as well as by the Bride to her King.
We
might conclude that lilies speak of the words spoken from Yahushua,
perhaps whispered in a still, small voice, spoken to the heart of His
Bride, who responds because she is at rest in Him. Thus we
might say that the king’s palace is in Shushan,
the place of lilies, the place of intimate fellowship, between Yahushua
and His people, who are at rest in Him.
Last of all
we notice in Esther 1:3-5, "…in the third
year of
his reign…when these days were expired…"
(literally, in the fullness of days), that the King made a feast to all
those present in the palace. We, too, can expect to attend a
feast in the palace of the King, in the fullness of time, to be held in
the third year, as likened to the 'third day' written in Hos 6:2:
After
two days will he revive us: in the third day he
will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.
(Hosea 6:2)
Beloved, we are now at
the close of the second day, and are poised at the
entrance to the third day of the reign of the King! For,
Beloved,
…be not
ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand
years, and a thousand years as one day. (2 Peter 3:8)
Thus
to this point, we see hidden in the caricature of King Ahasuerus a
beautiful picture of Our King, and his life of ruling, reigning, and
fellowship with His people.
But why is this
portrayal
of King Ahasuerus a "hidden" picture of our King? Why
doesn’t Yahuweh just make it very plain and evident, and bring
everything out into the open?
Beloved, we are told
very clearly that Yahuweh is known to different ones by different names:
And
I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, as the "Mighty
One-Most Powerful," but by my name Yahuweh was I not known to
them.
(Exodus 6:3)
Beloved, our King
delights in being hidden, so that certain ones would delight in seeking
for Him, and searching
Him out. After all, it is
"…the
glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search
out a matter." (Proverbs 25:2)
Beloved,
we must seek for Yahuweh, and search Him out, that we might come to know
Him as our King, so that we
might walk in obedience to Him. But it is only by the ability
of
His Holy Spirit that we may search for Him, and find Him.
Thus
we will next search out the
matter of who the "Seven Chamberlains" are.
The
Seven Chamberlains
We will now turn our attention to
the King’s Seven Chamberlains, to see whom they might
represent today. We might first notice that the word
'chamberlain' is mentioned fifteen times
in
Scripture, with twelve of
these in the Book of Esther. As we have previously noted, the
number fifteen in Scripture speaks of rest, and twelve speaks of the
Government of Yahuweh. These are two important clues in
themselves. But let us continue.
We see in
Esther 1:10 that on the seventh day, "…when the heart of the
king was merry with wine…." Dear reader, let us
look closely here. In Scripture the word wine speaks of the
blessings of Yahuweh, of rejoicing, and gladness. In Psalm
104:15, Zec 10:7, and others, we see Yahuweh’s own definition
of these words and
their figurative meanings. The word 'wine' speaks of
gladness. So this seventh day was a day of 'gladness' for the
king, as well as for those in his household. Why was the king
glad?
Let us notice that it was on the seventh day,
that "…the king gave commandment to the seven chamberlains
that served in the presence of the king, to bring Vashti the queen
before the king." How beautiful a picture we have portrayed
for us, that Yahushua is full of gladness in anticipation of His bride,
the queen, being brought into his presence!
The
Called-Out Ones, the entire Body of Messiah, has been called by Yahushua
to be His bride, queen, to rule and reign with Him. In fact,
we are told many times in the New Testament that we are to rule and
reign with Messiah in the future, as indicated in Rev. 5:10, 11:15, and
20:4. Beloved, we are also told we are to rule and
reign even now. We can, while on earth today, rule in the
heavenly realm, through prayer, as we are now seated in Him, and He is
seated in the Heavenlies, as stated in Rom 5:21, 6:12, and Eph 1:20-23.
We,
too, are now in the end of the second (millennial) year, and preparing
to enter the third (millennial) year, of the reign of our
King. We are also at the end of the sixth day, the start of
the seventh day, of Yahuweh. Notice that it is on the seventh
day that the command is given for the queen to be brought
before the
king. It will be likewise for us also – the start
of the seventh day – that the King will give commandment to
the queen, to come before the King!
Beloved, our
King also has Seven Chamberlains to prepare us, and to bring us before
the King by the King’s commandment. These seven
Chamberlains are known as the Seven Spirits of Yahuweh:
And
the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and
understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge
and of the fear of the LORD; (Isaiah 11:2)
These
Seven Spirits of Yahuweh will
prepare us and equip us, for our preparation to go into the presence of
the King. We will not show the details here, but each
of the
names given to the seven chamberlains is representative of one aspect
of the character of the Holy Spirit, in His dealings with the
Bride of
the King. We will see more of these seven chamberlains of the
King while looking at the character of Esther. However,
before we continue, we must look at one last important point.
In
Esther 1:11-12 we see that the king’s commandment was to the
chamberlains, to bring the queen before the king. But notice
in verse 11 that the queen refused to come at the king’s
commandment
by his chamberlains. Have we today, who rule and reign with the
King, refused the King's Commandment? Beloved, Yahushua will never
leave us, or forsake us. The only thing that would ever allow
our removal from His presence and protection, is our own willful refusal of
the King, our disobedience to His commandment, given to us by the
Holy
Spirit.
We are exhorted to abide at rest in Him, under His
Government, as the numbers fifteen and twelve portray. We are
able, however, to "leave our first love," if we choose, and in such
case
we are commanded to repent, and do our previous (first) works of
obedience. This is made abundantly clear in
many Scripture references, a few of which are Heb 12:25; Rev 2:4, and
many, many others. Let us keep these things in mind as we
look at Vashti, the Queen.
Queen Vashti
We
first notice Vashti the queen in Esther 1:9, where we are told that she
made a feast for the women of the king’s royal house, the
king’s household. Vashti, whose name means
beautiful, was very beautiful, and fair to look upon, as stated in
Esther 1:11. In Scripture, the word beautiful denotes 'holiness.' So we see that Queen Vashti portrays the Company
of
Yahuweh’s Holy Ones. The name Vashti is mentioned
ten times in Scripture, all in the Book of Esther. We also
note that the word 'queen' is mentioned 27 times in Esther, and eight
times mentioned along with the name
Vashti. Let us notice that the number ten in Scripture speaks
of the Law and Testimony of Yahuweh. The number '27' speaks of
the Realm of the King, and 'eight' speaks
of the new creation, a new beginning, and the new
birth. We
thus have our next clue as to whom Vashti represents. Queen
Vashti is seen to picture Yahuweh’s Company of holy ones, the
saints of
Yahuweh, those who have been born of Yahuweh, ordained to bear the Law
and Testimony of Yahuweh, and to be under the Realm of the King's
authority.
We can draw much meaning from her
name. We can now see that Vashti is a portrayal, a picture,
of the great company of those that are called out of the world by
Yahushua, as a people unto Himself, to carry forth, to shine forth His
testimony in the earth. This is the company of those that
have been born again, and have been given a new birth, and new
beginning. This great called-out company has a name
indicating that the beauty of Yahushua is upon her. She is
that part of the great Congregation that are called, but as we shall
see, not necessarily chosen or faithful.
We see in
Esther 1:12 that Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s
Commandment by his Chamberlains. We may see now the spirit of
a Queen, in contrast with the spirit of a true
Bride. The
spirit of a queen seeks to gain an advantage through her association
with the Bridegroom, but to act independently of, and without total
dependence on, her Husband. The true Bride, however, will
rule from a humble and submissive spirit, one of total dependence.
What is the most prevalent spirit of
independence today within the Body of Believers? Notice the
following passages:
Trust in
the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own
understanding. (Proverbs 3:5)
And
now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their
silver, and idols according to their own understanding,
all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that
sacrifice kiss the calves. (Hosea 13:2)
Beloved,
much of our what we ourselves have understood of Scripture today is
merely some man's "own understanding" — of some individual,
or some
denomination — and passed along to us. We must
diligently
seek the Truth in the Scriptures for ourselves!
So,
Vashti refused the King. Therefore the king was
angry. How shall we respond, Dear Friend, when our King gives
commandment for us to be prepared, to be brought before Him?
See
that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they
escaped not who
refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not
we escape, if
we turn away from him that speaketh from
heaven: (Hebrews 12:25)
Beloved,
let us look very carefully, and very prayerfully, and learn from this
most important of characters in the story – that we might be
on our guard against the things that might result
in our
refusal of the
King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.
We will
later look further into Queen Vashti’s refusal.
However, we shall now look
at the result of her refusal to the
king. We see in the following verses, a two-fold judgment
that is given by the king, against the queen:
…That
Vashti come no more
before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her
royal estate unto
another that is better than
she. Esther 1:19
And
the king loved Esther above all the women,
and she
obtained grace and
favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set
the royal
crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of
Vashti. Esther 2:17
We
must pause momentarily, to state that the replacement of Vashti the
queen, by Esther, another that is better than she, has been taught down
through the ages as having a "Replacement Theology" meaning,
which
is simply another Doctrine of Men. It has been
taught that Esther, a figure or type of the 'Church,' has
replaced 'Israel,' who refused to obey, then was divorced from her
husband, Yahuweh, the husband and King of Israel. Beloved,
This traditional interpretation is not at all what Yahuweh is
speaking in the Book of Esther! The prophetic meaning of
Scripture is not seen in the fleshly attempts of Men to fit Scripture
to their own whimsical views! That traditional viewpoint is
filled with Scriptural contradiction; We must let ALL of
Scripture speak to our hearts!
As
we get closer to the time of harvest, the light becomes
brighter. Truth shines brighter. Traditional views
begin to fade. A very vivid, and striking picture is now
coming into view, one that has been deeply hidden within the
story. We now can see Esther as being the True and Beloved
Bride, the one who is not only the Called of Yahuweh, but will be
Chosen, because she is Faithful. Esther will replace the one
that began, that started out as a true Bride and Queen, but because of
her refusal
of the King, she had become estranged, or widowed,
from her Betrothed One. She had become the prophetic Harlot Bride, as seen vividly in the Book
of Revelation.
We
will examine how Queen Vashti, although she started well,
became
rejected by the King, and then widowed, finally ending up as the rejected Queen. But in order to look further at
Vashti, we must introduce the
next character, that of Haman.
Haman
One
of the primary leaders within the king’s household is Haman,
first seen in Esther 3:1. The name in the Book of Esther is
translated as "Haman" 53 times, and is mentioned in
forty-five verses. The name 'Haman' means
"magnificent." The
number 'fifty-three' in Scripture speaks of those
who will enter in to the City of the King; the
number 'forty-five,' which is 9 x 5, and
speaks of Yahuweh’s
provision and preservation of His saints. We are told that
Haman was the "son
of" Hammedatha the Agagite. The name 'Hammedatha'
means "double,"
and is mentioned five times. The term 'Agagite'
means "I will overtop," or increase to the point of
spilling
over, and is likewise mentioned five times.
We recall that Agag was the king of Amalek, who was spared by
Saul, and whose name is mentioned eight times in
Scripture.
We recall that
the number 'five' in Scripture speaks of the Bride
in General, but in particular speaks of the operating of the Grace
of Yahuweh in the life of the Believers; the "double" use of the number
"5" emphasizes the "five" prophetic characteristic of 'Grace.'
The number "eight" speaks of Born-Again Believers, and "9"
speaks
of fruit, and of fruitfulness. We may conclude that
the name 'Haman' speaks prophetically of those
today who are
"recipients of the Grace of Yahuweh, who have received the provision and
preservation of Yahuweh, who are looking to 'enter in' to the City of
the King, and are filled with
the Spirit of Yahuweh to the point of 'overflowing,' and are 'doubly
fruitful,' just as the name 'Ephraim' means. However, as the
"I
will" in the definition of 'Agagite' indicates, this speaks of a root
of pride within, which has not been judged, nor dealt with.
As we continue looking at Haman, let's remember that Haman is
significantly prophetic of 'Grace.'
What had Haman
done? In general, we see from Scripture that Haman, as a
leader in the king's household, had brought
error and deception into the king’s household by what he
said! We
get a clue of what he was speaking and teaching among those of the
king’s household, by the words he spoke to the king, seen
in Esther
3:8. As we look further, we can identify the very heart, the
very root of
the error and deception that was brought into the king’s
household:
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. (Esther 3:8)
We
see that the doctrinal error regarded the king’s
Laws. This is, in a figure, a charge against the
elect of the
King of Kings, regarding His Laws — His Marriage Covenant
— His
Word. We
are reminded of a strikingly similar charge against
Yahuweh’s elect, against Stephen, regarding Yahuweh’s
Covenant. We read that Stephen had been disputing with
certain ones of the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and
Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, when they were not
able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke:
Then
they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous
words against Moses, and against God. And they
stirred up
the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came
upon him, and
caught him, and brought him to the council, And set up false
witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to
speak blasphemous words
against this holy place, and the law:
For we have heard him
say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this
place, and shall
change the customs which Moses delivered
us. (Acts 6:11-14)
During
the witness of Stephen, it was the false witnesses that told lies about
the nature of the New Covenant Believers, known in the early days
as "The Way." The False Witnesses said
that Stephen had spoken against "the
Law." These false witnesses also said that Yahushua
would "change the customs Moses delivered to
Israel." Beloved, that is what the false witnesses
said! This is what Haman in the story of
Esther was saying! Haman was a false witness!
Haman,
who was a leader among the king’s household, was
teaching error to the king’s household!
Beloved,
the False Witnesses among the King’s household today
are
teaching the same false doctrines as those false
witnesses of Haman’s day,
and of Stephen’s day. The False Witnesses of today are saying,
"There
is no need to keep the King's Laws. Why, we heard
this Jesus
of Nazareth say (in the Bible) that he has changed, has done away with,
the customs which Moses delivered to us."
Yahushua did not change any customs of Moses, nor did He do away with the Law! He has simply chosen a different set
of tablets on which to write the Law ('Torah') — onto the tablets of the
heart of Man (Jer 31:31-33), the very essence of the new
Covenant!
Haman
and the other leaders, as members of the King’s
household, brought into the king’s household error and deception
about
two things regarding the King's Laws. We will see that they brought
false Testimony as to what the Word of the King really says regarding
the Laws of the King; and they brought a corresponding 'twisted' teaching of the Grace of the King. Let
us look at this error, and take careful note of how Vashti and Esther
each responded to the error.
We
see that Vashti, because she was Queen, found it easy to believe what
she had been taught, that as queen she was immune from hardship and
sorrow. Let us notice what the prophetic Harlot in Revelation says
regarding her Royal position as Queen, her security as Queen, and her
escape from sorrow:
…for
she saith in her
heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow,
and shall see no
sorrow. (Rev 18:7)
Beloved,
the above verse in Revelation 18:7 is not some isolated, unrelated
verse regarding a different matter. We see that Queen Vashti
is
the
personification of Revelation 18:7, and is a strong warning to us
today! Because she had "said in
her heart" the three statements highlighted in the above passage, we
know that these
are the three teachings that she received while in the king’s
household. These three teachings, or doctrines, were the
error that eventually led her to her final, horrible
condition. The three teachings Queen Vashti received, and by
example, we also among the king's household have received, are
as
follows:
"I
sit a queen…"
She was taught about her position as
the Queen; that her position was unconditional, regardless of her
actions. She did not derive her
identity from being the "wife of the king." She was taught
that
her actions had no bearing on her position as Queen, thus it was
through a spirit of pride that she said, "I sit...." The
Queen
herself, and not the king, was the sole purpose
and initiator
of her existence.
Likewise,
she was taught "Once a Queen, Always a Queen."
It would have been
to her advantage to search diligently, and to look into the King's Laws
for herself, to see whether this "quote" was really there —
or not!
She had not realized that perhaps she had been lied to!
"…and
am no widow…" She was taught that her
eternal
security as queen was unconditional, and that obedience to the
"commandments" of the king was not an issue, or even
important.
She did not consider that she would ever become divorced, or
widowed. She did not have the "Fear of the King" in her, so
she
refused the King’s Commandment.
"…and
shall see no sorrow..." She was taught that as part
of the
King’s household, the Queen would escape hardship and
sorrow. She had glorified herself, and lived deliciously and
luxuriously, and she took no thought for sorrow or mourning, which in
figure speak of the Great Tribulation. She was taught that
those of the king’s household would escape the Great
Tribulation, but that the "Jews would not escape." We see
that
Esther was taught the same error as all the King's household, because
we get a clue to what Esther
was thinking by looking at Mordecai’s response to
Esther’s words:
Then
Mordecai commanded to
answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the
king's house, more than all the
Jews. (Esther 4:13)
Not
only was Vashti taught error, but Esther was told also — in
type, in a
figure — that the Jews
would have to go through that Great Tribulation, the Time of
Jacob’s Trouble, while the members of the King’s
household sit idly by, having been raptured away to watch the
horrifying event from a celestial grandstand.
Beloved,
Haman, and by their complicity all the leaders of the
King’s
household, had deceived Queen Vashti
with many lies and deceits, many doctrinal errors, all of which
contributed to the one result. The result was that Vashti
was deceived, which caused her to not truly "know" the King,
thus
causing her to disobey
the King’s Commandment! This is for our admonition
and learning
today — on whom the ends of the ages have arrived!
We are
told
by the Prophet
Jeremiah:
Thine habitation is
in the midst of
deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me,
saith the
LORD. (Jeremiah 9:6)
Because
Queen Vashti did not "know" the King, she did not obey the
King’s Commandment. Notice what John says about
knowing Yahuweh, and how 'knowing' Him is completely dependent upon obedience to
His Commandments:
And hereby
we do know that we know
him, if we keep his
commandments. (1 John 2:3)
John
says something very similar, about the connection between loving
Yahuweh
and obedience to His commandments:
For
this is the love of God, that
we keep his
commandments: and his commandments are not
grievous. (1 John 5:3)
If
we are taught
error, we will be deceived. Deceit results our refusing to
'obey' Yahuweh, which in turn leads to our not 'knowing' Yahuweh.
Thus it is through deceit we can refuse to know Yahweh, according to Jeremiah. That is
why we must love the truth, and search it out. It is all a
matter of either knowing Yahuweh, or not knowing
Yahuweh. Queen
Vashti was told error, and did not search out the truth for
herself. The difference between Vashti and Esther, is that
Esther
heeded Mordecai’s words to her, when Mordecai corrected
her. Vashti, on the other hand, had no heart to receive
correction for her error,
neither was there found in her a heart to repent.
Beloved,
we in the King’s household will not escape from the Great
Tribulation, any more than Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego escaped from
the furnace, or Daniel from the lion’s den, or "any more than
all the Jews." We must simply prepare for the event by arming
ourselves with the armor of light, the armor of Truth. We
must remember what Yahuweh says, speaking of those who do not have a
love for Truth:
…God
shall send them
strong delusion, that they should believe a
lie… (2 Thessalonians
2:10-12)
But how can we guard
ourselves from
deception? How can we know which of the many voices out there
are truth? The many voices all seem to be saying something
different. Well, the answer is to be seen next as we look at the wise men of the
King’s household. Yahuweh has sent His prophets and
wise men to help us sort out man's error from His Truth!
The Wise Men
Soon
after
Queen Vashti refused to obey the king, notice what the King does:
…Then
the king said to the wise men, which knew
the times... (Esther 1:13a)
The
wise men "knew the times." Who does this remind us of? We recall that the Sons of
Issachar were:
…men
that had
understanding of the times, to know what Israel
ought to do;
the heads
of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their
commandment. (1 Chronicles 12:32b)
Note
in this verse that Yahuweh gives 'understanding of the times' to men
for one specific purpose — to know what Israel ought to
do! Yahuweh always
has a purpose in mind! But would the 'rest of Israel' do what
these few men of
understanding told them? Yes they would! Notice the
end of the verse above: "…all their brethren were at their
commandment." Notice that they all had hearts willing to receive correction!
This, my friend, is the heart that is prepared for the
Master!
So,
what was it that made the wise men of the King’s household to be
'wise,' so that they would know the times? Doesn't everyone
know
the times, by simply watching the News?
Let's notice in
Esther
1:13 above, that "the King said."
The King 'said'
to
them; the King 'spoke' to them.
That is what makes us wise today. If the
King
speaks to us, and we hearken — that is, if we listen and heed,
and walk
in obedience, and do
what the King says — then we too become 'wise.' But notice, the
king
doesn’t speak to just anyone. There is further
qualification. Notice carefully who it is that the King speaks to:
…Then
the king said… for so was
the king's
manner toward all that knew law and
judgment: (Esther 1:13b)
What
was the king’s manner — his custom?
It
was the King’s custom to speak to "All that knew Law and
Judgment."
To whom did the King speak?
The
King spoke to all that (are knowing, perceiving, understanding,
and knowing by experience), Law and
Judgment! This is a picture of who the King was speaking to in that
day, and is a prophetic picture of who the King is speaking to today!
Can each one of us say that we "know" —
that we
are a "do-er" of Law and
Judgment? Or, is this some strange terminology that does not
fit in with what we have been taught?
Who among the
King’s household are you listening to, Dear Reader? Are you hearing Haman — or the King?
Have you been taught to "know," to be a do-er of, Law and
Judgment? Have you been a "do-er" of Yahuweh’s Word,
as
James exhorts us in James 1:25? Let us remember that the King
speaks to those that "know" Law and judgment.
Yahuweh
sends His wise men and prophets to tell Yahuweh’s people their sin
— their 'Transgression of the Law' (1Jo 3:4), in order that they
would
repent, and obey, thus being restored to
fellowship with Yahuweh — restored to the fellowship of 'knowing'
Yahuweh. Let’s now look at one example of the
prophet’s work in action:
…Ahab
said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?
And he
answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy
father's house,
in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the
LORD… (1 Kings 18:17-18)
We
can see in Elijah’s reply one of the greatest distinguishing
characteristics of a true wise man, or prophet of Yahuweh: He
tells
Yahuweh’s people their Sin, and he tells them the
solution! That is the prophet’s purpose
–-
his mission! Yet he does not force them to choose the correct
solution, for that is up to the hearers to do.
We
may also see the mission of the
prophet in the following:
Cry
aloud, spare not, lift
up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their
transgression,
and the house of Jacob their
sins. (Isaiah 58:1)
In
the following verse the prophet Micah tells us both his enablement, and
his mission:
…But
truly I am full of power
by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to
declare
unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his
sin. (Micah 3:8)
The
prophet Micah was to declare to Yahuweh’s people their sin
– their "Transgression of the Law," according to James 2:9
and
1 John 3:4. So how did the people recognize Micah as a true
prophet of Yahuweh? How is one to recognize a true wise man or
prophet today? First, a true wise man or prophet is full of
the
Spirit of Yahuweh, and he knows and walks in, and is a "do-er of," Law
and Judgment! Micah
walked in judgment of himself — in obedience to the
Scriptures, and in moral discernment,
knowing what is holy and what is profane, in the eyes of
Yahuweh. Micah walked in daily testing of himself -–
judging himself by acknowledging, confessing, repenting of his sin, and
being cleansed from of all known sin, as we are all exhorted in 1 John
1:9. Micah also kept in mind at all times the coming trials,
testing, and resulting separation and pronouncing of sentence by Yahuweh
that will come at the Last Day, the Day of Judgment.
The
two types of "judgment" spoken of here is not part of our initial
justification by the blood of Yahushua, but is part of the process of
"sanctification" or "setting apart" of the soul.
This is
what Paul referred to
when he said that we must "work out our salvation with fear and
trembling," and also when he told us to "give diligence to make our
calling and election sure."
Meanwhile, back at the
Palace, we
see
in Esther 1:14-15, that Queen Vashti's judgment was to be "according to
the Law
of the Kingdom." We, too, will be judged by the "Law of the
Kingdom." It behooves us to judge ourselves (now), that we be
not judged (then), at the final day of reckoning.
Thus we
would do well to find out for ourselves, exactly what applies
to
us, and what does not. We will take note of these as we look
further.
Precious
Saints of Yahuweh, the evil and unstable times that are on our doorstep
are going to require us to walk in wisdom and judgment ourselves, or
else require us to draw the "water" of Truths of Salvation from those
who do, as wells of
water. In fact, walking in the Fear of Yahuweh, and in wisdom,
judgment, and in obedience to Yahuweh’s commandments
–- in effect, allowing "Messiah in us" to live fully
-– will be our only
hope of glory, and of being among the overcomers, in the evil
day, as we see
in the following verses:
Whoso
keepeth the
commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise
man's heart discerneth
both time and judgment.
Ecclesiastes 8:5
…wisdom
and knowledge
shall be the stability of thy times, and strength
of salvation: the
fear of the LORD is his
treasure. Isaiah 33:6
Here
is the patience of the saints: here are they that
keep the
commandments of God, and the faith of
Jesus. Rev 14:12
Dear
Reader, we too will feel no evil thing in the evil day, and we will
overcome, as we make the fear of Yahuweh our treasure, and keep the
Commandments of Yahuweh, and ("even") the Faith of
Yahushua.
For our warning and admonition, we must now
turn our attention to the nature of the false teaching and deception
brought
into the household of the King.
The Error
of Haman
– a Closer Look
Beloved, there are today
false witnesses who have crept into the King’s household, and
have told the Queen herself, and the ones that desire to be a part of
that Bride Company, that not only is there an "escape from the Great
Tribulation," but that "Yahushua came to do away with the Law of
Yahuweh!"
These
false witnesses, as those in the Book of Acts, have spoken
lies to
all of us who are part of the New
Covenant. These false witnesses claim that, having come out
of
the Bondage of Egypt by the blood of the Lamb, having been justified in
the precious Blood of Yahushua, we need
not obey Yahuweh’s commandments. They are saying
what Dathan and
Abiram said in the wilderness. They are speaking what Korah
spoke
in the wilderness. And the result was that Israel failed to
"enter in!" This example is discussed in more detail in The Way of Salvation: According to the
Scriptures,
where we look at some of the New Testament examples, given to us as a
warning to ALL of us who have come out by the precious Blood of
Yahushua, and who also desire to "enter in" to the Promised
Land!
The False Witnesses have "wrested,"
or twisted and perverted the apostle Paul’s words, and are
now saying, "We
are not under Law, but under Grace" — which (they claim)
"means we no longer
have to obey Yahuweh’s Commandments, Statutes, and Judgments;
Jesus obeyed, so we don't have to." These False Witnesses are
saying, "Isn’t it wonderful — Yahuweh no longer
sees
our Sin — He sees the Blood of Yahushua." Precious
Saints, let us be more noble, as the Bereans of
Acts 17:11, and search the
scriptures, to see if what our leaders and teachers are saying
is
true. Look at what Yahuweh says, regarding the wicked that
commit sin, but claim that "Yahuweh doesn't see" our sin:
…Yet
they say, The LORD shall not see,
neither shall the
God of Jacob
regard it. Understand, ye brutish among the people:
and ye
fools, when will ye be wise? He that planted the ear, shall
he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not
see? …Blessed is the man whom
thou chastenest, O
LORD, and teachest him out of thy
law… (Psalms 94:7-12)
We
are told, however, in Heb 10:17 that Yahuweh will not remember our sins
and iniquities any more (that is, after we have confessed, or
acknowledged our sins, as 1 John 1:9 tells us). We cannot now
speak in much detail, but we may summarize what we saw in The New Covenant: According to the Scriptures
as follows:
Once
a
person is justified by Grace, not by his own works, but by the Blood of
Yahushua, he is "set free" from the Old Covenant, as well as all its
Laws, and curses, sins, and guilt associated with the laws -–
in exactly the same way as a wife is set free from the Law of the
Husband, when the husband dies. After the
husband dies, the woman no longer has
any obligation to live under the Marriage Covenant
of the man
who had died. She is no longer under the headship,
or
government of
that husband. She is now "free" to choose, to marry another
Husband! This is a New Testament figure, or
picture, of
the Old Testament, and how,
because we have "died" with Messiah, we are no longer under the requirements
of the Old Covenant. We are now "free to choose" a New Master.
The
old husband has died, and the
woman is now free to choose. This is a very important
concept, seen in Romans 6:14. Because we have died (in
Messiah), we are no longer under the "jurisdiction," the requirement or
guilt of Breaking the Law, and therefore
we are no longer under the "dominion" of sin. We may
now "choose" to sin, or not sin.
The
purpose of
all of the apostle Paul’s statements, is to appeal to us not
to "sin,"
not to "Transgress the Law," even though we have been "set free" from
the Law! (see Rom 6:2; 6:15).
Instead,
Paul appeals to us, that we
should "yield" ourselves unto Yahuweh, and "choose" to obey Him from a
New motive: that of Love! Paul's reasoning is, that
since you are no longer under the Law, sin no longer has dominion over
you, since you are no longer under the "dominion" of sin’s
strength (the Law). Therefore, you are now "free to choose"
whom you will serve! You are no longer "forced" to
serve Sin (Transgression of the Law)!
You
have in effect been set free from an "external" Law, written
on tables
of stone. Now, if you choose to follow
Yahushua under the "New" Covenant, you begin to allow the Holy Spirit to
write His "internal" Law on your heart, the fleshly tables of the
heart. There are numerous Scripture references to show this,
but a few of these are:
This is
the covenant that
I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I
will put my
laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write
them; (Heb 10:16)
For
I delight in the law of God after the
inward
man: (Romans 7:22)
...not
without law to God, but under the law to Christ...
(1 Corinthians 9:21b)
Beloved, for
the leaders to say that "we are not
under law" is to speak deception. At no time is any New
Covenant Believer to be under "no" law. To be under no law is
to be in iniquity, in "Lawlessness." In fact, Paul tells us
who is not under the Law, not subject to the Law:
…the
carnal mind is enmity against God: for
it is
not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can be. (Romans 8:7)
According
to the Apostle Paul, only the
"carnal mind" is not subject to the Law of
Yahuweh. Let us
remember, that even our Justification by the Blood of Yahushua was
according to the Law. Notice the following verse:
…almost
all things are by the law purged with blood; and without
shedding of
blood is no remission. (Hebrews
9:22)
As babes in Messiah we are
under the "tutor" of
the external law, until over the course of time, the Holy Spirit writes
His Law on our hearts. At all times, however, we have the
Blood of Yahushua to cleanse us, when we confess our sins. It
is not until we begin to "know" Yahuweh, however, that He reveals
himself
in new ways to the Believers, and calls that one unto greater
obedience,
and to greater perfection.
Beloved, we
start out spiritually as
children, and grow to be young men; but we become "Fathers" when we
have
known Yahushua, and seen Yahushua, and walked with Yahushua, from "The
Beginning," that is, from the Book of Genesis (1
John 2:13, 14). When we see who
Yahuweh really is, when we know His Name (Psalms 91:14), we know
that our "New Testament" Yahushua has more than one
Commandment.
But for us, the Commandments are no longer external, on tables of stone
– they are internal, on tables of the heart.
Let’s
look at what Yahuweh tells us further about His commandments.
It is the Commandments written on the heart, and obeyed, and walked in,
that shows Yahuweh, and also shows ourselves,
when we truly Love Him, and when we Love the brethren:
For
this is the love of God, that we keep
his
commandments: and his
commandments are not grievous. (1 John 5:3)
And
hereby we do know that we know him,
if we keep his commandments. (1
John 2:3)
He that
saith, I know him, and keepeth not
his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in
him. (1 John 2:4)
And
he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in
him. (1 John
3:24)
By this we know
that we love the children of
God, when we love God, and keep his
commandments. (1 John 5:2)
If
ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love;
even as I have kept
my Father's commandments, and abide in his
love. (John 15:10)
He
that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even
as he
walked. (1 John 2:6)
How
did Yahushua walk? How did Yahushua abide in the
Father’s love? By keeping the Father’s
commandments!
The enemy of the Brethren desires that
we not abide in the Father’s
love. But we are told
in Rom 8:35-39 that nothing shall be able
to separate us from the love of Yahuweh, which is in Messiah Yahushua our
Lord. So, how can satan get us to a place that we are
not abiding in the Father’s love? He can do this if
he can prevent us from keeping the Father’s commandments,
as
stated in John 15:10! (Please notice the word "if" in John
15:10.) Therefore satan must somehow convince the saints that
they are "exempt" from keeping, from obeying, the Father’s
Commandments.
Disobedience to the Father’s
commandments results in "lasciviousness." Notice the warning
Jude gives:
For there are certain
men crept in
unawares, who were before of old ordained to this
condemnation, ungodly
men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness,
and denying the
only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus
Christ. (Jude 4)
Beloved,
we are told by Jude that those that have crept in unawares have brought
their deception wrapped in a certain kind of teaching — a
certain kind of "Grace" teaching. Let us pause here, to state
that everything in the life of the
Believers is only by the Grace given to us
by Yahuweh. For it
is:
…by
grace are ye saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not
of
works, lest any man should
boast. (Eph 2:8-9)
Dear
Reader, it is when some of the Truth, but only half of that truth is
presented, that it becomes
an imbalance, and becomes "error." It is the imbalanced, or
"false" Grace
teaching that is so subtle, because there is a "True" Grace teaching —
one of
the greatest foundational truths of those who have been called-out by
Yahushua. We
must all be as the Bereans, who were more noble, for when they heard
Paul teaching, they:
...searched the
scriptures daily,
whether those things were so. (Acts 17:11b)
The
"Error of Haman"
was the false teaching of Grace. It consists of the "True"
teaching of scripture, along with a number of "False" word definitions,
and "False" explanations of the application of Grace,
turning the
entire "True" teaching into a "Falsehood." Indeed, from the
examples seen thus far, we can conclude that the
prophetic picture of Haman is one of a "Leader" in the King's
household, and is likewise seen, from the meaning of the names and
numbers, a teacher of "Grace." From the message he taught to
the
King's household, false statements against the "Laws of the King," we
see conclusively that Haman is prophetic of the multitudes of Pastors,
teachers, prophets, and leaders in the Body of Messiah today, who teach
against the Laws of the King, and who bring further separation between
Vashti and Esther, to their respective destinations.
The
false grace teachings have very
grave, serious consequences in the lives of Believers today, as we have
seen in the example of Vashti. The end result of the
recipients of false grace teaching is that they do not "know" Yahuweh,
and
as a result they do not obey His Commandments.
In
the final day, Yahushua will speak a very frightening word that will be
heard by many, heard by those that had been taught the False Grace
teaching, for they had been led to believe, by their leaders,
that they "know" Him:
And
then will I profess unto them, I never knew you:
depart from me, ye
that work iniquity. (Matthew 7:23)
Notice
that those that were refused entry do not know Him, but are engaged in
"iniquity." The word for iniquity is the
Greek word anomia,
Strongs numbers <458> and <459>, whose
meaning is
"Lawlessness," or "without Law" and is the New Testament definition of
Sin (1 John 3:4).
Disobedience to Yahuweh’s Law is the cause of not knowing
Yahuweh!
It is also evident from the book of
Revelation that the true Bride Company, those who Overcome, are those
who obey Him, because they "know" Him. They are the ones that
gain the right to eat of the Tree of Life, and gain the right to enter
into the City of Yahuweh. Notice the following:
Here
is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the
commandments
of God, and the faith of Jesus.
(Revelation 14:12)
Blessed
are they that do his
commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life,
and may
enter in through the gates into the
city. (Revelation 22:14)
Dear
reader, Vashti has now been ruling and reigning as Queen, along
with the King, for 2,000 years. Vashti has likewise
been
under the teaching of Haman, and has allowed Haman's teaching to infect
herself, and all of the King's household. Vashti will soon be
judged, as the Queen, as the Harlot Bride.
There is
one True Bride Company, one that will
replace Vashti, the Beautiful One. She is Esther, and she is
at this moment undergoing her preparation to go into the presence of
the
King. Let us now turn our attention to Esther, to see who she
is, so that we might learn, and prepare ourselves to come before our
King.
Esther Is Hadassah
We
first see Esther mentioned by her Hebrew name 'Hadassah,'
and then by her
Persian name of Esther.
As the
name 'Hadassah' is mentioned
only one time in all of scripture, we have our first clue as
to whom
she represents. We are told of the Bride,
My
dove, my undefiled is but
one… (Song of Solomon
6:9)
We are told also in Esther 2:7
that Hadassah had
neither father nor mother, reminding us of Melchizedek, who is a
figure of our King. We are also reminded of our
Lord’s admonition to us, as part of our preparation:
Hearken,
O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget
also thine own
people, and thy father's house;
Psalms 45:10
We see then, that Esther
was fully
prepared in this regard – she had died to all her earthly
ties, not only familial, but as to her own ambitions and plans that her
parents might have had for her. We are told also, in Esther
2:7 that she is fair and beautiful, both terms being used throughout
Song of Solomon to describe aspects of the Bride of the King.
Now
the Name Esther (meaning "Star") is mentioned 55 times in the Book of
Esther, and is mentioned in 45 verses. The number 45 in
scripture
speaks of preservation by Yahuweh of His saints; and the number 55
speaks of two 5's, as two walking together by the 'Grace' given to her
from
Messiah living within her, as she allowed "Messiah-in-you" to walk in
obedience. The number "5" is thus the number that speaks of
the
Bride. The word "Star"
reminds us of what Yahuweh says in Daniel:
And
they
that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they
that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and
ever. (Daniel 12:3)
So
we may conclude that Esther had the characteristics of a "star"
– that she was wise, and that she turned many to
righteousness. That is one of the character traits that the
Overcomers will have during their 1260-day ministry during the Great
Tribulation, which is fast approaching. They will be wise,
and will turn many to righteousness.
Now
the name 'Hadassah'
means "myrtle" tree, and is mentioned
only once in Scripture as the feminine gender.
However, the word for
'myrtle' in the masculine gender is mentioned six times,
with the
feminine completing and making the seventh usage. As the
number '7' speaks of "perfection" or "completion,"
we see in this that the Bride "completes" the Husband.
As
we look at the word myrtle, we catch
further glimpse of the Bride, and her character
traits, as one who is fully prepared.
Another
fascinating picture of myrtle in Scripture is seen in the fact that it
is listed in both Nehemiah and Isaiah as the 'third' in a list of
trees.
Since the number 'three' speaks of resurrection, we
understand these
passages are significant, and we thus associate myrtle trees
with
"resurrection." In other scripture
verses, we see that the branches of myrtle trees are among the branches
used to construct the Sukkah, the booths used in celebrating the Feast
of Succoth, or Tabernacles, one of the three main feasts of
Yahuweh. This usage speaks to us as the "tabernacling" of our
Yahushua among us, and of the presence of the Father with the
Son. So we see that this was another trait of
Esther — she had the presence of Yahushua "tabernacled"
within her.
Likewise,
in Zechariah, we see a
highly-significant prophetic event: the angel of Yahuweh is seen
standing among the "myrtle trees," and is mentioned three
times (in Zec
1:8,10,11). Zechariah
is the 38th book of
the Bible. Thirty-eight is equivalent to 19 x 2.
The number
'nineteen' in scripture speaks of faith, so 19 x 2 speaks of "two
walking together by faith." In Zechariah, for each mention of
myrtle trees, we see Yahuweh walking among them! We
see also reference to the end time, in the reference of the horses that
are present in these verses. Furthermore, the
Strong’s number for
the name 'Hadassah'
is number <01919>, that is, the one thousand, nine
hundred and nineteenth word in the Hebrew dictionary. In
observing this number, we see that by the power and sovereignty of
Yahuweh, He put just enough words in the Bible to have it work out
thus. The number '1919' again speaks of
two walking together by
Faith!
Next
we see that Esther was brought unto Hege, also
known as Hegai, keeper
of the women. We will not go into much detail here,
but Hegai represents the work of the Holy Spirit through the various
ministries
of the Believers, given by Yahuweh to prepare the Bride.
We see in Esther 2:13 that all the things that were
needed for her
purification were given to her, to prepare her to go into the presence
of the King.
Esther Begins Her Preparation
Next,
let's notice the preparation that Esther underwent:
Now
when every maid's turn was come to
go in to king Ahasuerus, after that she had been twelve months,
according to the manner of the women, (for so were the days of their
purifications accomplished, to wit, six months with oil of
myrrh, and
six months with sweet odours, and with
other
things for the purifying
of the women;) Esther
2:12
We
could spend hours discussing this verse, but will only look at several
items. Throughout scripture, we see that oil of myrrh was
given to Yahushua on three occasions in His life on earth -–
At
His birth, at His death on the cross, and at His burial.
Myrrh was used to embalm a body after death. Myrrh speaks to
us of "death to self." So we see that Esther was prepared by
"death of self" — she had died to her own self-life, and her
own
self-effort, and her own ambitions, and her own understanding, and all
that she once held dear in this life on earth. As a
result
of giving up "all she had," she also would be among those that would
overcome:
And they overcame
him by the blood of the
Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not
their
lives unto the death. (Revelation 12:11)
Next
we see that she was prepared
with sweet odours. We are told elsewhere in scripture what
the sweet odours portray:
…an
odour of a
sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to
God. (Philippians 4:18)
…golden
vials full of odours, which are the prayers of
saints. (Revelation 5:8)
So
we see that Esther underwent preparation that included sacrifice to
self, as well as a vital prayer life, one of fellowship and
sharing of life, or 'koinonia.' Then we
see one last item that speaks to us of the
days we are in. The last item included in her preparation was:
…and
with other things for the purifying of the
women… (Esther 2:12)
Beloved,
we are told regarding the things that are coming on the earth to try
the sons of men, in the Day of Yahuweh:
Watch
ye
therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape
all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son
of man. (Luke 21:36)
And
he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed
till the time of the end. Many shall be purified,
and made
white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none
of the
wicked shall understand; but the wise shall
understand. (Daniel
12:9-10)
Beloved,
there is much more that could be
said about Esther. As we have looked at the various
personalities
within Esther, we might ask ourselves, "Which one am I?"
Perhaps
it is time to seek Yahuweh, and return to Him, and return to the "first
works" of the "early Called-Out Ones."
We trust that
the little we have shown
gives the reader adequate warning of the two possible outcomes of the
Body of those that have been called — the wide road, with
many
thereon, going the way of Vashti unto rejection; the narrow road, with
few thereon — only a remnant — going the way of
Esther, into the ultimate presence of the King.
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