Images of the Savior (From the Book of Esther)

Esther 6:13 If Mordecai is of the seed of the Jews, before whom you have begun to fall, you shall not prevail against him but shall surely fall before him.

I have long desired to facilitate the spread of a more fundamentally Christian reading of the Old Testament. As Jesus himself said, the Old Testament scriptures are “they which testify of me” (John 5:39). In the pursuit of this goal, it has been an intention of mine, as soon as I had continued my series of “Images of the Savior” throughout the gospels, to proceed through the entire course of the Old Testament. However, crass reality has forced me to acknowledge that the series through the gospels alone may take a very long time, such as I may not even have left upon this earth. Hence, I have decided, for the present, to leave off where I am in the gospels, and to attempt the same approach at various points in the Old Testament – not from the beginning, at the account of creation, as I had before imagined, but randomly, as the Spirit opens my eyes to Christ from various accounts. The following is the first of these essays, this one from the book of Esther. God grant that this brief meditation, as well as all which should follow, may serve to deepen, if only a little, the reader’s knowledge of and love for Christ our Savior.

At the opening of the book of Esther, the Jews have been exiled from their land, because of their covenant faithlessness, in accordance with the promise of Moses, that, “If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book…the LORD shall scatter you among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other…”(Deuteronomy 28:58,64). However, even the exaction of this fearful curse could not invalidate the gracious promise made first to Adam (Genesis 3:15), and further delineated to Abraham (Genesis 12:3), that, of the woman’s seed, and indeed of the Jewish line, would come the Messiah, who would eternally save his people from their sin (see Matthew 1:21; Galatians 3:17-18). On the contrary, Moses elsewhere promises that “the LORD your God will turn your captivity, and have compassion upon you, and will return and gather you from all the nations, whither the LORD your God has scattered you.” And he promises moreover that, in that time, “the LORD your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed, to love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live” (Deuteronomy 30:3,6).

It is therefore as certain as the promises of God, indeed as certain as the very promise of the coming of Christ, that in their time of captivity the Jews could not be utterly destroyed. For if they were in fact completely blotted out from the face of the earth, two effects should necessarily follow: first, God would prove to be unfaithful to his solemn asseveration that he would finally circumcise the hearts of his people, so that they would love him; and second, the promised Christ, whose person and work is the sum and substance of all of history, should never even enter into history – so indissolubly his entrance into the world of mankind is bound up with the continuance of the Jewish race at this time. In the crisis which forms the background to the book of Esther, then, we encounter an impending threat which, should it transpire, would utterly overturn God’s great goal of history, in which Christ is all in all, and to which he has bound himself by his own great name. The story of Esther is therefore integrally connected with the story of Christ. And in the outcome of the story, we may learn much about Christ; first, with respect to how central his coming is to the sovereign plan of God, and to what great extent God is pleased to exercise his mighty dominion to effect that great advent; and second, with respect to who this coming Christ should be, and how he should accomplish his great work – which may indeed be glimpsed in shadowy-form by the eye which is illumined by faith. To each of these lessons in order we now turn our attention.

We see the immutability of God’s purpose to accomplish the coming of Christ from the seed of the Jews in two circumstances: the first is how he sovereignly effects the minutest details of history to preserve the line from which he should come. Consider how many incidents he brings about for the preservation of the Messianic line: first, he causes King Ahasuerus, in whose pleasure resides the fate of the Jews (in an earthly sense), to become angry against his queen. Then he causes Esther, who is of Jewish seed (although unbeknownst to him) to find favor in his eyes. Then he provides for Esther the godly counsel she needs in the person of Mordecai, her cousin. Next, he reveals a plot against the king to this same Mordecai, and gives him the opportunity and desire to report the plot and deliver the king from the potential assassins. He causes Haman, the next in power to the king, to be angry with Mordecai, and with the Jews in general; he causes Haman, through the use of lots, to mark a certain day for the destruction of the Jews; he gives Esther the counsel and the courage to seek an audience with the king; he gives the king a favorable reception to this brazen request for an audience; he allows Esther such trepidation that she is unable to ask for her true request, and causes her instead to prepare a feast for Ahasuerus and Haman; he gives Haman the false sense of flattery, that he alone was invited to Queen Esther’s feast; and he does the same thing a second time, so that Haman is emboldened to construct a gallows for Mordecai; he causes the king, on the night before the second feast, to be smitten with insomnia, so that the chronicles of the kingdom should be read to him, so as to put him to sleep; he causes that very portion of the chronicles to be read which speaks of Mordecai’s heroic saving of the king from the assassins; he leads the king to desire to honor him who saved his life; he causes him to seek counsel how to honor him from Haman; he stirs up Haman to think that the king wishes to honor himself; he instructs Haman of a method by which true honor might be shown to him who is worthy; he causes the king to command Haman himself to carry out this true honor for Mordecai, whom he hates; he gives Esther boldness, at the proper time, to declare to the king Haman’s wickedness; he causes Haman to fear, and to fall upon the bed of Esther in seeking her mercy; he causes the king to find him in this position; he stirs up anger in the king, at the false supposition that Haman is attempting to force Esther in the king’s own house; he gives Ahasuerus the heart to grant Esther’s request to overturn the intention of wicked Haman; he brings to the king’s attention the gallows of Haman, and gives him the desire to have Haman hanged on the gallows he built for Mordecai; he gives the Jews a mighty victory out of what should have been their annihilation, from the counter decree of Ahasuerus. He brings to his people a feast of celebration out of the sorrow of defeat; and finally, he causes Haman’s own sons to be hanged upon the gallows of their father, while the Jews celebrate their victory. It is simply staggering to consider how many tiny details God worked together for the salvation of his people.

The second notable circumstance is how God accomplished this great orchestration, as it were, behind the scenes. In no place at all is the name of God mentioned in the book of Esther. And yet, even when he is not seen, God is sovereignly and mightily at work to effect his great plan. How comforting is this reality to all who are his! God truly does cause “all things to work together for good to them that love him” (Romans 8:28)! And more comforting yet is the reality that the purpose for which he is exercising this minute and staggering sovereignty is nothing other than to bring Christ into the world. Christ alone is the good that God has purposed to bring about for his children, through every circumstance. The effect of God’s great control over history is that “nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:39). Oh Christian, do you despair at the manifold trials which attend the insignificant details of your life? Rejoice, for God is at work, even when you cannot see him; and he is at work to bring to you Christ, your only hope of glory and eternal satisfaction!

The second lesson we will examine is what we may learn of the person and work of Christ through this notable history. Consider first how mightily the enemy rages against God’s people (thus Haman raged insatiably against the Jews). Consider how God raises up his humble servants through obscure and inglorious means, as he raised up insignificant Mordecai. Consider how he grants his enemies the sense of power and invincibility for a time, but only to overthrow them in the end. Consider how he uses the very weapon that his enemy devises against his servant to destroy himself and his seed. Consider how he used the plot against his people to bring salvation to his people and destruction to their enemies. Consider how he raised up his afflicted servant to the right hand of the king, to dispense salvation and mercy to his people. In all of these things, how can we fail to see Christ, who was unjustly afflicted by the enemy of God, and who used the devil’s own instrument of battle to destroy the devil himself? For the cross, by which Satan planned to destroy the Messiah, was the very means through which “ [Christ] blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:14-15). Just as Haman was hanged on the gallows he built for Mordecai, so the devil was crushed by the cross he erected to destroy Christ. Just as the Jews were given a cause for joy and celebration in the decree which was purposed against them, so Christ employed the sentence against himself to establish the greatest cause for joy in his people: his cross became the basis for the great supper of the Lord, the sole means by which his people might nourish themselves against the onslaught of the Serpent, and await his return in glory. Just as Mordecai was elevated to a place of glory and power, from which he might dispense many blessings to his people, so Christ was raised up to the right hand of the Father, from which place he “gives gifts to men” (see Ephesians 4:8).

Oh Christian, if your life seems ready to fall apart; if the raging of the devil seems about to consume you; if you think yourself too lowly and insignificant to see the great acts of God in your behalf; remember how great is our God, who, even when unrecognized, works together the minutest details of human history to effect his great purpose – the purpose of bringing Christ and all of his blessings to his own people. If he used pride and vindictive anger, insomnia and brute “chance” to deliver his people through Mordecai; how much more will he use every circumstance in your life to deliver you from the wiles of the devil? The very things with which Satan intends to destroy your soul will be used by God to deliver you and to crush him. We see this in the history of Haman and Mordecai. We see it more clearly yet in the history of Christ: for, when he was “delivered up,” it was “by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God”; and though your enemies “have taken [him], and by wicked hands have crucified and slain [him]:” yet “God has raised [him] up” (Acts 2:23-24). Thus God is always pleased to bring great victory out of seeming defeat. This is all to show forth in a picture the mighty victory of redemption that he would bring forth from the shame of the cross. Oh let us worship with joy and trembling!

4 Responses to “Images of the Savior (From the Book of Esther)”

  1. Chris says:
    September 20, 2006 at 7:05 pm

    That’s a good way to dissect the story of Esther with a redemptive-historical look. It’s a difficult book, I believe, because God is not explicitly mentioned. I read once that when the Rabbis read from the scroll of Esther they would cast it against the ground, because it didn’t contain the name of God.

  2. pitchford says:
    September 21, 2006 at 8:57 am

    Chris,

    Here is John Gill, commenting on the tradition you mentioned:

    “Though the versions of other books of Scripture might not be read in the synagogues, versions of this book might to those who did not understand Hebrew (g); and so Luther (h) says, the Jews more esteem the book of Esther than any of the prophets. Whence Mr. Baxter (i) had that notion, I can not devise, that the Jews used to cast to the ground the book of Esther before they read it, because the name of God was not in it: nor is that any objection to its authenticity, since the hand and providence of God may be most clearly seen in it; in raising Esther to such grandeur, and that for the deliverance of the people of the Jews, and in counter working and bringing to nought the plots of their enemies, and in saving them…”

  3. Bob Hayton says:
    September 21, 2006 at 11:41 pm

    Nathan,

    Great article. Thanks for doing this series. I plan on linking to this article from my blog soon. It is true food for the soul.

    God bless,

    Bob

  4. Russ Richmond says:
    July 13, 2009 at 5:33 pm

    This is pure gold. Thank you for this work. I’m preaching Esther in a two part overview. I’ll use some of your insights.

    In Christ, Russ

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