Commentary on Esther (No. 63)

This commentary is on the Book of Esther. It is a wonderful story about a lady who became queen of Persia, or it is a story about the millennial reign of Jesus Christ or it is both? We will find out from the commentary that it is both. What it teaches us is how we, with the Jews, will inherit the Kingdom of God. It is the equivalent of a time span or a plan of salvation for the Jews so that the sequence is understood. It is very carefully concealed and often by the rabbis themselves, because it has information that is quite extraordinary. There are a number of things which require discussion. The king involved is Ahasuerus. God is nowhere mentioned in this book. This fact is quite extraordinary and the reason for this is because the controlling of affairs, or the power of God, is exercised under the identity of Ahasuerus. So there is no necessity for God to be named, because the kingdom and the kingship rest in the entity who exercised the power of God. Ahasuerus adopts that position in the story as it unfolds, especially in the millennial perspective. The actors themselves take on an enormous significance in relation to the Church, Christ, the fallen Host, and the time sequence of the end.

Ahasuerus is generally recognised as being identical with Xerxes who reigned from 485 to 464 BCE. The Hebrew Achashwerosh is an attempt to represent the Persian word Khshayarsha from which the Greeks derive the name of Xerxes (see Soncino fn. to v.1). They were difficult pronunciations and the names are transliterations. The king is Xerxes. He is the king in Ezra 4 who reigned after Darius 1 and before Artaxerxes and who stopped the construction of the temple. Ezra 4 has the sequence of the building of the temple. It says in Ezra 4:4-5:

⁴The people in the land discouraged the people of Judah and made them afraid to build ⁵and hired counsellors against them to frustrate their purpose all the days of Cyrus king of Persia until the reign of Darius king of Persia.

So they frustrated or stopped construction on the temple in the reign of Cyrus until the reign of Darius king of Persia who was not Darius 1. Modern Judaism and modern Christianity have a vested interest in making the temple complete in the reign of Darius 1. The temple was not and could not have been completed in the reign of Darius 1 at all. That is a direct contradiction to the express words of the Bible. It says at verse 6 in Ezra 4:

⁶And in the reign of Ahasuerus in the beginning of his reign there rose an accusation against the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem.

The rabbinical commentaries on the Midrash on Esther say he stopped construction on the temple in the beginning of his reign and promulgated the decree against the Jews in his later years (see Soncino, Midrashic Approach To Esther, p. 125). That is why attempts are made to make Ahasuerus Cambyses who was the son of Cyrus, so they could fit the construction of the temple in the reign of Darius 1. However, it goes on in verse 7:

Ezra 4:7-24 And in the days of Ar-ta-xerx'es, Bishlam and Mith'redath and Tab'eel and the rest of their associates wrote to Ar-ta-xerx'es king of Persia; the letter was written in Aramaic and translated. ⁸Rehum the commander and Shim'shai the scribe wrote a letter against Jerusalem to Ar-ta-xerx'es the king as follows -- ⁹then wrote Rehum the commander, Shim'shai the scribe, and the rest of their associates, the judges, the governors, the officials, the Persians, the men of Erech, the Babylonians, the men of Susa, that is, the Elamites, ¹⁰and the rest of the nations whom the great and noble Osnap'par deported and settled in the cities of Sama'ria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River, and now ¹¹this is a copy of the letter that they sent -- "To Ar-ta-xerx'es the king: Your servants, the men of the province Beyond the River, send greeting. And now ¹²be it known to the king that the Jews who came up from you to us have gone to Jerusalem. They are rebuilding that rebellious and wicked city; they are finishing the walls and repairing the foundations. ¹³Now be it known to the king that, if this city is rebuilt and the walls finished, they will not pay tribute, custom, or toll, and the royal revenue will be impaired. ¹⁴Now because we eat the salt of the palace and it is not fitting for us to witness the king's dishonor, therefore we send and inform the king, ¹⁵in order that search may be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will find in the book of the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and that sedition was stirred up in it from of old. That was why this city was laid waste. ¹⁶We make known to the king that, if this city is rebuilt and its walls finished, you will then have no possession in the province Beyond the River." ¹⁷The king sent an answer: "To Rehum the commander and Shim'shai the scribe and the rest of their associates who live in Sama'ria and in the rest of the province Beyond the River, greeting. And now ¹⁸the letter which you sent to us has been plainly read before me. ¹⁹And I made a decree, and search has been made, and it has been found that this city from of old has risen against kings, and that rebellion and sedition have been made in it. ²⁰And mighty kings have been over Jerusalem, who ruled over the whole province Beyond the River, to whom tribute, custom, and toll were paid. ²¹Therefore make a decree that these men be made to cease, and that this city be not rebuilt, until a decree is made by me. ²²And take care not to be slack in this matter; why should damage grow to the hurt of the king?" ²³Then, when the copy of King Ar-ta-xerx'es' letter was read before Rehum and Shim'shai the scribe and their associates, they went in haste to the Jews at Jerusalem and by force and power made them cease. ²⁴Then the work on the house of God which is in Jerusalem stopped; and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia. (RSV)

So quite simply, Ahasuerus was petitioned in the court, (also from the Midrash) to stop construction and Artaxerxes who followed him, was also petitioned and according to the Bible in Ezra 4:24, work on the House of God stopped until the reign of Darius the Persian. Now it follows, as night the day, that the Darius the Persian referred to in verse 24 cannot be Darius I who ruled before both king Xerxes and king Artaxerxes. The significance of this is that attempts are made to confine construction of the Temple to the reign of a king, who reigned two reigns before Artaxerxes and prior to Ahasuerus, the king in question here. There is significance in the Book of Esther for, or relating to, the completion of the Temple of King Solomon, which is important.

The concepts of the names are important. There were other kings named Ahasuerus. The Soncino on the rabbinical commentaries gives understanding of what is meant by these texts.

Esther 1:1 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:)

The listing of the provinces is as being over seven and twenty and a hundred provinces. Darius 1 was set up over the kingdom and set the kingdom into a hundred and twenty satraps and the inscriptions list approximately a hundred and twenty-seven nations according to Markus and the Soncino. In Daniel 6:2 the 120 satraps are mentioned, so we are dealing with the possibility that we are looking at a sequence of not 127, but at 7 principle governors and 120 satraps. That might be more evident perhaps later. The areas concerned are from Ethiopia to India, and the India here is from the Hebrew Hodu, which is the Indus Basin. Ethiopia was conquered by Cambyses king of Persia from 529 to 522 BCE. So all these things are set up from Cambyses and Darius. Thus we are looking at Xerxes who has taken over the kingdoms established from Ethiopia by Cambyses and the provinces by Darius. So this king is the one who reigns after Darius and thus must be Xerxes.

Esther 1:2 [That] in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which [was] in Shushan the palace,

Esther 1:3 In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, [being] before him:

Esther 1:4 When he shewed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honour of his excellent majesty many days, [even] an hundred and fourscore days.

Here we are looking at a 180-day party. These feasts of the Persians were commemorative feasts, which were extraordinarily luxurious. One of the reasons for the injunctions against holding birthdays was because the holding of birthdays was a custom of the Persians. The matter is also examined in the paper Birthdays (No. 287). They sacrificed during these great feasts to foreign gods and held all sorts of other activities. The concepts and antipathy between Judah and the Persians in relation to these birthday festivals formed the basis of the abhorrence, which did develop amongst the churches against birthdays. The fact is that this custom is derived from the worship of the Assyro-Babylonian system and the worship of Baal and Istar or Easter system.

Esther 1:5 And when these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king's palace;

Esther 1:6 [Where were] white, green, and blue, [hangings], fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the beds [were of] gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black, marble.

Esther 1:7 And they gave [them] drink in vessels of gold, (the vessels being diverse one from another,) and royal wine in abundance, according to the state of the king.

Esther 1:8 And the drinking [was] according to the law; none did compel: for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do according to every man's pleasure.

In those days they were regulated by toastmasters. The rabbinical comment is that they were allowed to drink of their own wine and that they drank as they pleased (see Soncino). As a consequence all sorts of concepts come out of this. The Persians were great drinkers and Xenaphon said of them, they drink so much they cannot stand on their feet and must be carried out. Ahasuerus feared an uprising should his guests become intoxicated. The records of Xerxes show that he did not have a strong grip on the kingdom, but the concepts are that there is, as we understand it, a rebellion in the heavens and that this problem within the Host was reflected within the empire.

Esther 1:9 Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women [in] the royal house which [belonged] to king Ahasuerus.

Esther 1:10 On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven chamberlains that served in the presence of Ahasuerus the king,

The Midrash says, this refers to Vashti the queen (Vashti means the best). Vashti had prepared the women in the king's house, not in the house of the women, and the purpose of this was to dishonour the women. We are dealing with the proposition that there are spiritual concepts in everything that happens. The females here convey concepts in relation to the Church, or are used to explain or convey the concept of a Church and its relationship with the fallen Host. Vashti was planning to cause the women to sin. According to the Midrash the explanation was that Ahasuerus' plan was to cause the Jews to sin and

… thus he would be assured they would be punished by God and would not be restored to their land. He therefore refrained from coercing them to infract any law of the Torah lest they have any excuse for their sins. He rather tempted them to take of the delicacies served at the banquet, but did not compel them to do so (Soncino fn. to Est. 1:8).

The Jews see this as an example of trying to break their position with God. They see the activities of Ahasuerus in line with Vashti, as improper in the first instance. But that is not the correct intention of the matter. The intention is to show that there was a select female, the queen and her entourage, who was selected as the best and placed in the kingdom as the wife of the king. That was Israel, the congregation, and thus she represents the congregation of Israel set apart to become the elect. Now on the seventh day when the heart of the king was merry, he commanded these seven principal men. Perhaps the concept of the 127 derives from the fact that these seven principal men had administrative command over the 120 satraps; but this is conjecture.

Esther 1:11 To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to shew the people and the princes her beauty: for she [was] fair to look on.

Spiritually, the seven representatives appear to equate with the seven angels of the Churches of God, who were commanded to bring Israel before God. Israel did not come before God. Israel rebelled and sinned.

Esther 1:12 But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by [his] chamberlains: therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him.

These seven who appeared before the face of the king appear to relate to the prophets who saw the face of God; the presence or the Angel of God. Seven prophets (Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel), who literally stood before the face of God through the Angel of the Presence, were commanded to prepare Israel after Moses, from the occupation onwards, to bring Israel before God in right order, so that Israel might be crowned as the leading nation of the world – as the queen of the world. Israel had a responsibility to prepare itself and did not.

Esther 1:13 Then the king said to the wise men, which knew the times, (for so [was] the king's manner toward all that knew law and judgment:

The Talmud understands this as astrologers, but the phrase is parallel with all that knew law and judgment. The Law and the judgment are derived from the knowledge of the Law through the Holy Spirit. This was given in the first part through the prophets. The Soncino says with all that knew law and judgment and probably means those who are familiar with historical precedents having the power of the law. This derives from Ibn Ezra's commentaries. For so was the king's manner toward all that knew law and judgment, because all those who are righteous have the power of judgment; that is the function of righteousness. So those who know the Law and judgment are righteous. The king was disposed - that is the power of God is well disposed - to those who know righteousness, law and judgment.

Esther 1:14 And the next unto him [was] Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, [and] Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, which saw the king's face, [and] which sat the first in the kingdom;)

These are the principal prophets who stood before the face of God, as mentioned previously.

Esther 1:15 What shall we do unto the queen Vashti according to law, because she hath not performed the commandment of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains?

So Israel did not obey the prophets. Israel did not prepare itself to come before the king. Israel had rendered itself naked by their behaviour, as Vashti by her behaviour had also done. The Midrash commentaries say that she was naked and the comments refer to the fact that she had only the crown on. She refused to come because of the way she was attired and that she personally saw her nakedness.

There are a couple of the commentaries which say that she had on nothing, but she was asked to appear naked wearing only the crown, which is why she refused. But when she looked in the mirror she saw she was leprous in the face, but nobody else saw it, and she refused to come because she saw her own nakedness through her rebellion. The rabbinical commentators get this far, but do not make the connection that it was Israel through its rebellion that was unfit, having rendered itself naked and could not go before God. This is of enormous significance. The rabbis have understood this for a long time, yet continue to try to tie it down and the Midrash starts to extrapolate into non-biblical positions, in order not to deal with the fact that they rendered themselves incapable of coming before God into judgment. Memucan was the last mentioned of the seven and it is said from that he is an unknown character and the rabbis identify him as Haman. The rabbis try and push the point that he was an ignoramus because he spoke first, because the rabbinical commentaries say that only an ignoramus speaks first. These comments come from Megillah (Meg.) 12B.

Haman had reason to resent Vashti so they are trying to work out who resented Vashti. Haman was an Agagite and Agag was an Amalekite. We are dealing with the concepts of Amalek versus Israel. It was Amalek who came upon Israel before they came into the Promised Land and Moses had to stand there with his arms being held up, in order that Israel would prevail against Amalek, before they went into the Promised Land. So we are dealing with the concept at the very final part before we enter into the Promised Land; dealing with the forces of Satan in the guise of Amalek and that is why Haman the Agagite, an Amalekite, is represented here in the destruction of Judah. There the rabbis say there are two instances – they were ordered to destroy the Canaanites, and the Canaanites referred to incorporated the Amalekites. This is the third instance of the Amalekites trying to destroy the chosen. This event refers to the final destruction; the final wars before we go into Israel under Messiah for the millennial restoration. This will develop as we go through the texts. We are dealing with the final wars of the end. Haman being an Amalekite in this text is not accidental. The Book of Esther is talking about entities under Satan and under Christ, the Church against the world to go into judgment and take control of the world. This is the argument of the battle of the Last Days. It is quite sweeping in its impact. From comments from the Midrash and the Megillah there are various comments as to why Haman had a dislike of Vashti, but there is no doubt why the dislike of the Jews was extant among the Amalekites. The Amalekites were the most ancient enemies of Israel and we are dealing with the concepts of the enemies of the elect right up to the Last Days. The Wars of the End are examined in the various papers on the topic and the 141 series from 141C to 141H.

This judgment of Vashti was according to law. The rabbis say that Memucan added “according to law” because he knew that Ahasuerus did not want to kill Vashti. That is true. God did not want to destroy Israel for its rebellion. The Law was given to Israel and Israel is judged according to law. So Vashti is judged according to law. For as much as she has not done the bidding of king Ahasuerus by the Chamberlains, Israel did not obey the Law through the prophets. They did not obey God.

Esther 1:16 And Memucan answered before the king and the princes, Vashti the queen hath not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all the people that [are] in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus.

Esther 1:17 For [this] deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes, when it shall be reported, The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not.

What is being said is that the rebellion in one part of the Host extends to the entire Host and that the rebellion in Israel affected all. The restoration of Israel was the primary step in the conversion of the planet. Israel had to be brought in so that all of the Gentiles could be brought in. But Israel in the eyes of Judah did not see the Gentiles as being brought into Salvation. The relationship between God and Israel under the Law is explained in the papers Law and the First Commandment (No. 253); Law and the Fifth Commandment (No. 258) and Law and the Seventh Commandment (No. 260) (cf. also the paper The Law of God (L1) and the other texts there).

Israel saw Salvation as being only for Israel and yet they rendered themselves unfit to come into judgment. That is why Israel has to be punished, because the world will not be converted until Israel is converted. The world will not be brought into the millennial rest until all of Israel is brought into the millennial rest. Judah has to be forced to come into the millennial rest, so that the world can come into the millennial rest. Judah will become Christian at the point of a sword. It will be the sword of God and of truth and God will open their eyes in the Last Days. He will force their understanding and when that spirit is poured out upon them they will understand, but here they did not and they wilfully rejected God and rendered themselves unfit to come into the Kingdom of God.

Esther 1:18 [Likewise] shall the ladies of Persia and Media say this day unto all the king's princes, which have heard of the deed of the queen. Thus [shall there arise] too much contempt and wrath.

Esther 1:19 If it please the king, let there go a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered, That Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she.

The law of the Medes and the Persians was that if the king made a decree, then it was unalterable. In this context the premise comes from the concepts that what issues from the mouth of God does not return empty and that once God has commanded or expressed his will, it is. So that things occur by the divine utterance of God and God does not make mistakes. God issues from His mouth a decree expressing His will and that comes into being by edict, so that divine edicts are irreversible.

Esther 1:20 And when the king's decree which he shall make shall be published throughout all his empire, (for it is great,) all the wives shall give to their husbands honour, both to great and small.

Esther 1:21 And the saying pleased the king and the princes; and the king did according to the word of Memucan:

The honour given to the husbands was that they were to come in to be the bride of Christ and that all people ultimately will come in to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb as the Bride of Christ. This is done in sequence as seen before, through the wise and the foolish virgins in the First and Second Resurrections. That has to be brought in to this concept, so that Israel was dealt with in order that the point could be made. The Marriage Supper was given to other people better than Israel; salvation was to go to the elect amongst the Gentiles. That was the concept.

Esther 1:22 For he sent letters into all the king's provinces, into every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language, that every man should bear rule in his own house, and that [it] should be published according to the language of every people.

The concept of every people after their language is that the letters that were sent to every province and every people after their language was representative of the Bible and the epistles of the Bible. Because of the confusion, they were written in the language of the people concerned, so that salvation can come to everyone, all Gentiles. The rabbinical commentaries have: speak according to the languages of the people. So the relevance of the second part of the decrees is derived. A vast number of languages were spoken in the Persian Empire in the time of Xerxes. The Midrash and Jewish commentators take the phrase to mean that if a husband and wife were of different race and language they were to compel her to speak his tongue. That is the symbolism of us being given a new language when Christ comes. We will all be compelled to speak the language of our husband, the bridegroom.

The intention was that if the customs of the husband conflicts with those of the wife, his customs were to prevail because indeed Christ's customs will prevail in this planet. Perhaps Vashti claimed that it was contrary to the custom of her people that the queen display herself before her subjects (this is according to R. Ralbag). Perhaps this decree was added to the narrative of the incident to conceal the king's disgrace (according to Ibn Ezra). The comments most probably refer to salvation being made available through the epistles of the Bible to all the nations and that every man should bear rule in his own house and speak according to the language of his own people. The world was divided at the tower of Babel and confusion set on the world, so salvation rightly had to come to the world in different languages in order that salvation could be made available to everyone. It was not humanity's intent that different languages occur; it was inflicted on them. Therefore, salvation had to go out in those mediums to restore something that had been inflicted upon them (see also Rev. 14:6-7).

Esther 2:1 After these things, when the wrath of king Ahasuerus was appeased, he remembered Vashti, and what she had done, and what was decreed against her.

This concept of Ahasuerus remembering Vashti was seen by the rabbis as with remorse, realising that she had acted properly in refusing to display herself. This is not correct. This comment of acting properly is that they do not understand what is involved in Israel failing to come before God. The comment is that God will always remember us and there are a number of comments in the Psalms dealing with this, where we will not be forgotten and God will restore us and uphold us and these comments are taken up in the prophets.

Esther 2:2 Then said the king's servants that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king:

Esther 2:3 And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, that they may gather together all the fair young virgins unto Shushan the palace, to the house of the women, unto the custody of Hege the king's chamberlain, keeper of the women; and let their things for purification be given [them]:

Esther 2:4 And let the maiden which pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so.

Now one can see the development as it applies to the Church. It was to send out to all the provinces to call the elect. These people were brought in and prepared, being given to the king's chamberlain. The elect were given to the angels of the churches and officers were appointed to prepare them and that was the function of the shepherds of the Church. They were required to prepare the elect to be presented to the king (i.e. God), free of spot and blemish. These things were not being done, but that was the commandment (cf. the paper Purification and Circumcision (No. 251)). They went out and did it in sequence over a long period and one will see how the period develops.

Esther 2:5 [Now] in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name [was] Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite;

Mordecai has two derivations. Mordecai has the origin, according to the rabbinical commentaries, of mera dachya, which means pure myrrh. It also has a derivative of Marduk, so that which was pure was misused or misapplied, in the sense of misnamed. So the concept is that Mordecai meant pure myrrh and his position has been misused. He was the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish a Benjamite. This lineage raises all sorts of problems. Kish was the ancestor of Saul of the tribe of Benjamin, but Saul is not mentioned here.

Now Saul is a king of Israel and much more important than was Kish. So why was not Saul mentioned in this? Thus the genealogy does not appear correct. It is important to note the names and what they mean. These names have spiritual significance. We read what the Talmudic commentaries say is the Midrashic approach to Esther from the Soncino page 128,

Note 6: Mordecai. Midrashically the name is associated with the Aramaic mera dachya......pure myrrh. Just as myrrh is the chief of the spices, so was Mordecai the chief of the righteous men of his generation.

So we are talking about the Prince of Righteousness. Torah Temimah explains that according to the Talmud his name from birth was Pethahiah. The name Mordecai was given to him later. Since this is a Gentile sounding name the Talmud and Midrash seek a Jewish origin to account for this appellation. As mentioned elsewhere, the man called Jesus Christ at birth was Joshua, or Jehoshua, which means righteousness. The name Jesus is a derivative of the Greek Iesous. The form was also found among the Hyperborean Celts, as a third of a trinity as Esus. It is not Hebrew but was used in the Septuagint. The name of the Messiah was changed. Now we go to son of Jair, which means: a son who enlightened the eyes of Israel with his prayer. Some of the rabbinical commentators say that these were taken from the lineage of Mordecai, but were his immediate lineage. This is probably the correct interpretation. It was done for a reason; to point towards Messiah as a son who enlightened the eyes of Israel with his prayer.

The son of Shimei means: a son whose prayer God heard and the son of Kish means: a son who knocked on the doors of mercy. This is a derivative of Jesus Christ - I stand at the door and knock. He was knocking at the doors of mercy in order that mercy could be extended to all mankind through Israel (cf. also the paper Christ and the Koran (No. 163) for the meanings of Al Tarikh, the Morning Star). So these names are not just names. They point to Messiah and his effect. Mordecai is a prototype in Esther of Messiah. The Talmud takes these names to have homiletic meanings, since Scripture does not trace his entire lineage back to Benjamin from Megillah 12B. So they have a homiletic meaning – the Talmud says so – but they don't take the next step that it is talking about Messiah, because there are all sorts of problems in this book.

The reason the rabbis can't take Esther to its logical extension is that they stand condemned by it. We need to deal with the omission of Saul. If it was a lineage back to Benjamin, Saul was taken by Manoth Halevi to be intentionally omitted since by his clemency to Agag he was responsible for Haman being born. It was Saul who spared Agag the Amalekite, when God told him not to, and because he did so we have the entire Agagite-Amalekites ready to destroy Israel in the reign of Xerxes. We read in Samuel, where Saul’s act appears to be an act of clemency to one man, but this has a repercussion hundreds of years later, which almost results in the entire destruction of part of the Israelite people, the Jewish people. Now that is taken back to the parallel of the clemency displayed to the Canaanites and the Amalekites in the first instance and will almost destroy our people in the end. Before we enter the Promised Land and enter the millennial structure, we will go through near destruction, because we did not purge unrighteousness from our people from the start. We did not obey the commands of God totally and it will almost destroy this planet. That is the concept that is being issued. So that little passage in 2:5 is a lot more profound than just a list of names.

Esther 2:6 Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity which had been carried away with Jeconiah king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away.

Who was being carried away; was it Mordecai that was carried away from Jerusalem with the captives, which had been carried away with Jechonias, king of Judah? If so, it makes him of extended age. So we would be dealing with Mordecai being of approximately 120 odd years, and we would deal with Zerubbabel who was also established with the temple of nearly 120 years. So we are talking about the same time-frame of the life of Moses and we are talking about the Plan of Salvation applied in three elements.

The Soncino says: To whom does the relative pronoun refer; to Mordecai or to Kish? This is one of the most controversial questions in the Book of Esther. They are assuming that Kish is a direct ancestor in the line – that is his father, his father's father, and his grandfather’s father – that is carried away, and not Kish the ancestor of Saul. Hebrew usage seems to demand that it refer to Mordecai, but Mordecai's age becomes a difficulty. If he had been carried away in captivity even as an infant with Jeconiah or Jehoiachin in 15/16 March 597 BC (cf. Reading the Law with Ezra and Nehemiah (No. 250)), he would be 122 years of age when he became prime minister in the 12th year of the reign of Xerxes in 474 BC. He apparently enjoyed office for a considerable time afterwards from 10:2. This difficulty has led many to identify Ahasuerus with Cambyses, Darius or one of the earlier kings of Persia. Others refer the relative pronoun to Kish, who would then be an immediate ancestor of Mordecai, his great-grandfather and not the Kish of the Book of Samuel. Many commentators think that “carried away” means only that his ancestors were exiled by Nebuchadnezzar and he lived in captivity because of the exile. The rabbis, however, ascribe unusual longevity to Mordecai, who was a member the great Sanhedrin during the existence of the first temple and lived to see the second temple according to Yoseph Ibn Nachmiash. So they are talking about mythological lineage and time periods for these people. Certainly we are dealing with concepts of extended age periods, which relate to the life of Moses, the construction of the temple and the restoration of the people and they all deal with time-frames, which relate to the Jubilees and the Plan of Salvation.

Esther 2:7 And he brought up Hadassah, that [is], Esther, his uncle's daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid [was] fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter.

The rabbis try and muddy this up a bit and say he was actually married to her. That is not what it says. This whole process is that Hadassah was prepared and brought up as the daughter of Mordecai. Esther, as she came to be called, was his uncle's daughter and the uncle of the son of the Jews of the line of David and was the daughter of Israel. That tells us we are dealing with a concept that extends beyond Judah. There are a number of things about Hadassah, or Esther. Hadassah was a Hebrew name, according to the Soncino commentaries and Esther a Persian name given to her by the Gentiles. Hadassah is derived from the Hebrew word for Myrtle and Esther is derived from the Persian stara, (i.e. star from Meg. 13a) (Ostara is Istar or the goddess Easter goddess of Ostarricchi or modern Austria from 996 CE). According to some this is the planet Venus (Yalkut Shimoni), and according to others it is the moon (Rashi, Aruch). So we have the name being applied to the moon and Venus. This is not an accident. The Church is given of the Morning Star and the Church is the moon, which waxes and wanes and is married to the son that is Christ. That is why these names are applied. The star is in fact the Messiah that comes out of Israel and out of the lion of David, but it is given to the Church so that they are both the moon and share in the Morning Star, which is the rulership of the planet. That is what it means.

Esther 2:8 So it came to pass, when the king's commandment and his decree was heard, and when many maidens were gathered together unto Shushan the palace, to the custody of Hegai, that Esther was brought also unto the king's house, to the custody of Hegai, keeper of the women.

Esther 2:9 And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her her things for purification, with such things as belonged to her, and seven maidens, [which were] meet to be given her, out of the king's house: and he preferred her and her maids unto the best [place] of the house of the women.

Ointments here refer to special food. From the Soncino it is not cosmetics but special foods, which were part of the preparation (see Dan. 1:5; The Hebrew word is the same as that for portions (of food) in 9:19, 22 according to Ibn Ezra). The comments on the portions and ointments were that they were given specific food and were thus prepared. The food is of course the word of God and the knowledge of the Law through the Holy Spirit.

The next point is in relation to the seven maidens given to her out of the king's house.

So there were seven maidens given to the Church and those seven maidens were the seven eras of the churches under the seven spirits of God, the seven angels of the Churches of God. The “house of women” is a function of the Church or the religious function of Israel.

Esther 2:10 Esther had not shewed her people nor her kindred: for Mordecai had charged her that she should not shew [it].

Most of the Church, Israel, remains hidden until the Last Days. It has not been made known properly. For Mordecai has charged her, she should not tell. This whole process is a charge of the Mysteries of God. There are a number of things of the Church concealed as the Mysteries of God until the Last Days. Some of the commentaries are quite interesting in relation to seven maidens and then the names. The rabbis explain from Meg. 13a that with these maidens she would count the days of the week in order to determine when the Sabbath fell. Rashi explains that she designated one maiden for each day of the week and when the maiden designated for the Sabbath appeared she knew that it was the Sabbath. They then turn that into an application on a weekly basis. They have the key, but do not unlock the door. The key is for the restoration to the millennial rest, to the Sabbath rest of Christ, but they do not take it through in a messianic context.

The commentators extrapolate other texts in the Bible messianically but Esther is not extrapolated messianically because it is clear (but subordinationist). If we extrapolate Esther messianically we come to the concept of the Church and the removal of authority from Judah. That is why they are wilfully ignorant in relation to Esther. The Scribes who became the Pharisees deliberately hide the messianic application of Esther. When we go through that, to 'charged her not to tell', Mordecai must have reasoned something like this. If Esther is chosen as queen it can only be because God desires to make her the instrument of His purpose. That is correct. God desired to make Esther, the Church, the instrument of His purpose. If then, she reveals the fact that she is a Jewess, and therefore a member of a subject people, she'll prejudice her election and therefore with that, the possibility of becoming God's instrument (according to Ralbag, see Soncino). That is why the Mysteries of God were concealed, because if they were explained and exposed early the Church would have been isolated and we would have been killed. So the mysteries of God were to conceal the Church, up until these Last Days. The Mysteries of God are revealed only in the Last Days so that the Church was not prejudiced until it got to this stage and the full number of the elect could be drawn out and allowed to survive. That was the function. This interpretation is suggested in the Midrash. He thought to himself, how is it possible that this righteous maiden should be married to a non-Israelite. It must be because some great calamity is going to befall Israel that will be delivered through her. They understand it! That is as clear as a bell, yet they do not take the next jump. This concealment has been so often condemned, that it would be well to quote some of the many other explanations of it. Rashi comments that she did not declare her royal origin, (i.e. she was descended from the family of King Saul) so that the king might think she was of humble origin and send her away. That is their reasoning. But that is wrong; it was done to protect the elect.

Esther 2:11 And Mordecai walked every day before the court of the women's house, to know how Esther did, and what should become of her.

So this is Christ walking before the Church every day in order to maintain a watch on the Church. He presents it to God without blemish.

Esther 2:12 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;)

Mordecai is derived from the concept of pure myrrh and the Holy Spirit is directed through Christ in order to develop the elect. That is why they were given oil of myrrh for six months and then other sweet odours under the direction of Christ and the Host.

Esther 2:13 Then thus came [every] maiden unto the king; whatsoever she desired was given her to go with her out of the house of the women unto the king's house.

This preparation of the elect over the period is that one is purged, and the concept of cleansing and preparing is done on a continual and progressive basis. There is also another concept in these days from Abib (Nisan) to Adar, because this process goes through edicts from the 13th Nisan to 13 Adar, as we will see. It starts in the beginning of the sacred year and ends at the end of the sacred year. This is not an accident. These directives are all done in order to develop that process over a concept of a millennial plan.

When it comes time for the elect to go into the king's house, what they desire will be given to them. The Holy Spirit is the desired thing taken with the elect.

Esther 2:14 In the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned into the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king's chamberlain, which kept the concubines: she came in unto the king no more, except the king delighted in her, and that she were called by name.

Now that is a concept in itself. According to the Soncino and the commentaries, this second house of the women was where they would remain for the rest of their lives in practical widowhood. They would not be permitted to go into the world and marry after consorting with the king. Ibn Ezra says that. So once one has consorted with the king – once given the Holy Spirit – one does not go out into that world. We are shut off. We are a prepared bride of Christ and we don't go out into that world and we don't sully our garments. The Jews understand that and some of us don't.

Esther 2:15 Now when the turn of Esther, the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her for his daughter, was come to go in unto the king, she required nothing but what Hegai the king's chamberlain, the keeper of the women, appointed. And Esther obtained favour in the sight of all them that looked upon her.

Esther did have a known ancestry here of Abihail, yet in the start it said she had no father or mother. The first instance is a reference to the fact that the elect are without genealogy. Their priesthood is not Aaronic; it is of Melchizedek. This is a reference to Hebrews. The elect have no father or mother. They are not required to be Aaronic priests. They do not require a lineage from Aaron; they are not required to be a Kohanim. They are part of the priesthood of Melchizedek forever. So even though we have lineage, we are not accounted to lineage for the purpose of the priesthood.

When Esther went into the king she required nothing. She said that she had whatever is enough. You have provided all that I need. She wanted nothing. Everything we are given for our salvation to be part of the elect as priests of God and part of the Melchizedek priesthood is given to us by the Eunuch, by the angels in charge of the churches. We are prepared and made ready and it requires our diligence. We are given everything we need. How we prepare ourselves is the lesson. What we do during the week at home is up to us. If we do not study we will not be prepared and we will fall short. We have not got the time to waste on Sabbaths, slowing down the passage of information. We have to work.

Esther 2:16 So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month, which [is] the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.

The significance of the tenth month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign, is imprecisely known. According to the commentaries, the names of the month in the Book of Esther are those adopted by the Jews in Babylonia and still in use (Yerushalmi Rosh Hashanah 1:2). This occurred in the seventh year shortly after his ignominious return from his defeat in the Greek war. So this process was a concept of facing a war and of facing a defeat. There appears to be a time sequence, which might or might not relate to the Bible, but that matter requires further study.

Esther 2:17 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.

So that is the answer. The elect become queen instead, in place of the ancient Israelite and the Aaronic priesthood.

Esther 2:18 Then the king made a great feast unto all his princes and his servants, [even] Esther's feast; and he made a release to the provinces, and gave gifts, according to the state of the king.

This is the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Esther 2:19 And when the virgins were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai sat in the king's gate.

From 18, Esther's feast is the feast called in the celebration of the king's wedding with Esther (from Lekach Tob). The release, according to the Talmud, is that Ahasuerus freed all his provinces of taxes in honour of Esther. He hoped that she would reveal her kindred and her people because of this honour. The point is that release came through the Church. This is the second time. The Soncino says of verse 19 this is one of the phrases in the book, which is really difficult to understand. Why should there have been a second gathering of virgins. According to rabbinic interpretation its purpose was to arouse Esther's jealousy and thereby induce her to declare her kindred and origin. Some have suggested that these were the maidens who had not consorted with the king and they were gathered from the places they were kept and sent home (Yosef Lekach). Others explained that these maidens were the servant girls gathered for Esther's household. It was customary to put on new staff to serve a new queen (that is from Rokeach). This is not what it means at all. The second gathering is of the virgins. One is gathered as the elect, set aside and married and this is done at Pentecost.

As the period of the seven churches developed each of us is pulled out and the second time is the Marriage Supper of the Lamb when the Messiah comes again and develops us. The Marriage Supper itself is in two parts. They are saying that these are the women who were sent home. That is the parable of the wise and foolish virgins that is actually being repeated in the rabbinical commentaries. There were some virgins who were sent home and brought again. It doesn't make Esther, the Church, jealous. It is simply the remainder of the Church being pulled in as the foolish virgins in the Second Resurrection. There are two marriages; there are two resurrections and two positions which are given to Jesus Christ under God. That is why they can not understand it, because they do not understand the function of the elect, but they say it. They understand that these things related to two lots of virgins and they relate to two functions, but the Church is not even comprehended. It appears that Judah cannot open up this book until the Last Days. Judah's understanding of this book appears to be a function of the first angel's message prior to the destruction of the Babylonian system with the second angel and the Last Days of the Beast in the third angel's message (Rev. 14:6-10) (see the paper The Messages of Revelation 14 (No. 270)).

Mordecai sits in the king's gate. The rabbinical commentaries say this means the large fortified entrance to the palace enclosures. Such gates have always been used in the East as courts of justice and meeting places of discussion and the exchange of news. They were the village pumps of the orient according to the Midrash. Esther advises Ahasuerus to engage Mordecai as the royal confidant following the priests of the previous kings, who had appointed Daniel to this post. Why was Christ made the Messiah? It was for us. God nominated Christ and set him as High Priest and revealed the Mysteries of God for us. This whole process or meaning is that Christ sat in the king's gate for the elect’s sake.

Esther 2:20 Esther had not [yet] shewed her kindred nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her: for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him.

We obey the commandment of Jesus Christ. The rabbinical commentaries say that Esther had not made known her kindred, the purpose of the parenthetical statement in this place, was to make it plain that Mordecai was not known to be a relative of the queen and, therefore, conspirators were not likely to be on their guard against him (Yalkut Me'am Lo'ez). The rabbis explain that in spite of Ahasuerus' efforts to rouse her jealousy, Esther did not make known her kindred. The fact of the matter is that the full relationships of the elect are not known in the Last Days and are deliberately disguised and the rabbis do not understand that comment. But they get to one point. It can be seen just how close they get and then they pull back from the conclusions.

Esther 2:21 In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king's gate, two of the king's chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, of those which kept the door, were wroth, and sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.

We are talking about the rebellion of the Host. We are talking about two of the Covering Cherubs who rebelled. Those are reflected in Satan and the Aeon, the lion headed system.

Esther 2:22 And the thing was known to Mordecai, who told [it] unto Esther the queen; and Esther certified the king [thereof] in Mordecai's name.

Esther 2:23 And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found out; therefore they were both hanged on a tree: and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king.

In other words they were removed from the book of life of the king. They were cursed. He who is hanged on a tree is cursed. That is the concept involved. They were removed from office.

Esther 3:1 After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that [were] with him.

This takes us back into the concept of the promotion of the servants of Satan, Haman and the Amalekites, the forces of the world which are actually Haman himself – Haman becomes the adversary in notation. So we have the adversary's descendants and the adversary becoming synonymous. The king of Tyre becomes synonymous with Satan. We get the Babylonian system synonymous with Satan. So here Haman becomes the adversary and we will see later on, how he becomes the adversary and he is referred to as the adversary in this text.

Esther 3:2 And all the king's servants, that [were] in the king's gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did [him] reverence.

This concept then takes us to the war in the desert, when Christ was put before Satan and he refused to bow down and worship Satan, even though the rulership of the planet has passed to Satan. Satan was the Morning Star of the planet. He was the ruler of the earth from Ephesians 2:2 (cf. 2Cor. 4:4) but Messiah as Mordecai was sent by God in order to deal with Satan, and he assumed rulership of the planet through his activities. His failure to be overcome by Satan is reflected in the concepts involved here.

Esther 3:3 Then the king's servants, which [were] in the king's gate, said unto Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king's commandment?

Esther 3:4 Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand: for he had told them that he [was] a Jew.

Esther 3:5 And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath.

Esther 3:6 And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had shewed him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that [were] throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, [even] the people of Mordecai.

Esther 3:7 In the first month, that [is], the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that [is], the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, [to] the twelfth [month], that [is], the month Adar.

This casting of pur, the lot, has a religious significance. It is not a gambling activity. The casting of lot was in fact a religious exercise and they were casting lot against the people of Mordecai. They were casting lots against the Church and it is a process which goes from Abib (Nisan) to Adar, through the entire sacred year. Every month of the sacred year they were under lot; they were under spiritual attack to determine when they could be destroyed.

Esther 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.

So this authority, which is set up under the power of God, and all authority proceeds from power of God, is being asked to wipe out the elect. Some comments required about the casting of lots and diverse laws according to the rabbinical commentaries. The Soncino says of “pur” that there was no such word for lot. It (pur) has been traced in Persian, but in Accadian pur is indeed a lot, usually cubes of wood, which the diviner would cast before the enquirer and determine the auspicious time for an undertaking by the signs that came out on top of the cubes (Daath Mikra). Such cubes were found in the ruins of the palace of Suza. Each one was 1 centimetre wide and four and a half high. Even numbers indicated an affirmative reply and the odd ones a negative one (Soncino; Marcus). Now they seem to have gone from day to day and from month to month. Haman seems to have gone through the process of trying to cast for each day for the successive month. So in other words there is a continual process of attack from day to day and from month to month, undertaken in advance. The time-frames thus had been set from the beginning.

Haman rejoiced saying: “my lot has fallen on the month that Moses died”, but he did not know that Moses was also born in the month of Adar, from the Talmud. This concept has significance for the argument they were trying to make regarding the death of Moses. The destruction of Israel relates to the death of Moses because Israel will introduce the Law under Messiah, and Moses was the symbol of the Law as its instrument.

Satan, through the world systems symbolised by the Amalekites, had been trying to destroy Israel from the time of Moses. Moses died in that last period before they went into the Promised Land and Israel mourned 30 days.

So we are talking about the lot of the death of Israel and the Messianic system. The last 30 days is the war of the Amalekites, in order to destroy Israel. The concepts were that the destruction was established by lot, and in the Last Days there is an attempt to destroy Israel from a perversion of the understanding of the allotted time-frames and prophecy. The rabbinical commentaries talk about these comments of Haman; about a certain people scattered abroad as a slander. His hatred of Mordecai became a slander against all Jews so, in other words, the elect were killed for Mordecai's sake. It’s hatred for the Messianic kingdom that causes the activity against the elect. There would be no requirement against the elect if there was no Messiah and if there was not a new kingdom and a replacement. The Talmud says of Haman that no one knew better than he how to slander. There is only one who is the epitome of slander and that is Satan. He is the maker of railing accusations and these are the concepts that are being addressed. The concept here that their laws are diverse concerns the regulation of the people under the law, which is quite different to the laws that Satan had set up to regulate the planet. We have a concept of a divergence in law and that the accusations are made that these people are under a different law than that which issues from the Law of God. Haman is saying these people won't obey the laws that have been set up and Mordecai has issued, if you like, a set of laws. More correctly, Israel and hence the Jews have been issued a set of Laws by the Angel of the Presence, which proceed from the nature of God and of course they are different from the surrounding world. It is a statement of fact, not an accusation of condemnation.

Esther 3:9 If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring [it] into the king's treasuries.

This payment is quite a staggering amount. Ten thousand talents of silver was, according to the Soncino when it was written, three million, six hundred thousand pounds. The comments regarding this were that this sum, many times more valuable than it is today, owing to the much greater purchasing power of money, was equal to the annual revenue in silver of the whole Persian Empire according to Herodotus. Perhaps Haman expected to obtain this sum from the plunder of the Jews they expected to exterminate. For which reason he expected to take the spoil of them for a prey. It is also possible he would pay this amount from his own assets, since he was known to be fabulously rich (according to Ralbag). The rabbis have also come up with a numerological equivalent of the money to the equivalent of 165, which is the mathematical construction of the gallows, so that there was an equal weight for the destruction of the people. The rabbinical studies may perhaps become absorbed in mathematics and numerological sequences.

Esther 3:10 And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy.

So this ring was his signet ring. The Soncino says: “the possession of which gave Haman full authority to act on the king's behalf”. He did have authority to act on the king's behalf and this is later transferred to Mordecai and the work. The signet ring was given to Satan, by God. He was given power over this planet, he was made god (theos or elohim) of this earth.

Esther 3:11 And the king said unto Haman, The silver [is] given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee.

The silver is given back to him. The king gave him back his money.

He said you have got them and you have the money, you deal with them as seems good to you. For if he had taken the silver he would have sold the people. The payment was not accepted. It was a judgment and he gave the lot to Haman, to Satan, in order to demonstrate the effect. God judged Satan by the way he dealt with the people. That was why there was no transference of money in this story. God also gave Job’s children to Satan and allowed them to be destroyed over their idolatrous use of birthdays under the early Assyro-Babylonian system (cf. the paper Birthdays (No. 287)). In the story here, the rabbinical commentators say that Ahasuerus disliked the Jews as much as Haman. He allegedly thought along the lines of: you might as well keep the money and do us all a favour. But that is not the spiritual significance of it.

Esther 3:12 Then were the king's scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors that [were] over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and [to] every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king's ring.

Esther 3:13 And the letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, [even] upon the thirteenth [day] of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and [to take] the spoil of them for a prey.

So we have the concept of casting lots. They have gone through every day of the sacred year and they have not found a favourable lot. Yet it was set aside by lot that it was at the end of days, the end of the sacred year at the thirteenth day of the month that the destruction would occur. So the whole process has been set aside from the beginning of the world that these people might not affect us until the Last Days and that is the tribulation and the 5th seal (cf. also Outline Timetable of the Age (No. 272) and Significance of the Year 2000 (No. 286)).

Esther 3:14 The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, that they should be ready against that day.

Esther 3:15 The posts went out, being hastened by the king's commandment, and the decree was given in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city Shushan was perplexed.

Shushan was an ancient city which preceded the Medes and Persians (see the paper The Fall of Egypt (No.036): The Prophesy of Pharoah’s Broken Arms, Phase 1 - Part 1 & 2). The Soncino say that the statement the king and Haman sat down to drink is the most effective piece of literary contrast. Orders have been issued to destroy tens of thousands of human beings, but the king and his chief visier callously enjoy a banquet (Dera Pashra).

Esther 4:1 When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry;

Esther 4:2 And came even before the king's gate: for none [might] enter into the king's gate clothed with sackcloth.

One can not go into the king's gate in sackcloth. Mordecai stood for the elect and he humbled himself. He put on the clothing of a human being. He became a man and humbled himself even unto death. This is the story of Messiah. Nobody can go before the king's gate. Nobody can go before God as a human being. It is impossible to see Him, or go anywhere near Him because the apparel, the sin and mortality, renders us incapable. God is spirit and can't be seen as Paul says at 1Timothy 6:16: Only God is immortal. No man has seen or ever can see God. John 1:18 also says that: No man has ever seen God.

Esther 4:3 And in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, [there was] great mourning among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.

Esther 4:4 So Esther's maids and her chamberlains came and told [it] her. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved; and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him: but he received [it] not.

Esther 4:5 Then called Esther for Hatach, [one] of the king's chamberlains, whom he had appointed to attend upon her, and gave him a commandment to Mordecai, to know what it [was], and why it [was].

Esther 4:6 So Hatach went forth to Mordecai unto the street of the city, which [was] before the king's gate.

Esther 4:7 And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and of the sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them.

Remember that Christ said to Peter that Satan has asked for him that he might sift him. Satan had the capacity to deal with the elect. Christ is telling Peter that Satan has asked God that he be given Peter in order that he might sift him and refine and deal with him, thus showing him to be inadequate. That will tell us that Satan is not simply a nonentity. He has access to God and is the accuser of the brethren and Christ stands for us. He says these people God has given him will do this task and he can get these people there. Satan is saying no he can't, these people are unfit to rule and be part of the system. That is what the argument is all about. They are diverse and they should not be part of the system. God is mistaken. That was what the rebellion was all about in the first place.

Esther 4:8 Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to shew [it] unto Esther, and to declare [it] unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people.

That is the role of the Church. We are to prepare ourselves to go before the throne of grace with boldness. The twenty-four Elders from Revelation 4 and 5 are given responsibility for monitoring our prayers. It is they that place our prayers in the golden bowls. They place them before God and it is we who intercede for our people. When we stop interceding for our people they will be destroyed.

Esther 4:9 And Hatach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.

Esther 4:10 Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment unto Mordecai;

Esther 4:11 All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, [there is] one law of his to put [him] to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.

This concept is the calling of the elect. We cannot enter into the holy of holies unless we are called and if we go into the holy of holies without being called we will die. That was the punishment inflicted on Israel. Only Aaron could go in and only once a year and he atoned for the people of Israel. We have been called and chosen and nominated and prepared and we can enter the holy of holies on a daily basis to intercede for the people. However, we have to prepare ourselves and if our garments are not right and if we are not spiritually correct and we go before God we will die. Those who take the Passover unworthily without discerning the Body will die sometimes literally (1Cor. 11:28-32).

Esther 4:12 And they told to Mordecai Esther's words.

The thirty-day periods we find throughout the texts are not without significance. There was the thirty days mourning for Moses, which related to the Last Days.

Christ was not fit to come in to prepare the word of God and to proclaim the message until he was thirty. He preached three years, that is he was a year during the ministry of John the Baptist and two years in his own ministry (cf the paper Timing of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection (No. 159)).

Esther 4:13 Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews.

There is no place of safety (see the paper The Place of Safety (No. 194)). One is not going to escape in the king's house more than any of the other people. That is what Christ (Mordecai) is saying to the elect (Queen Esther): You are not going to get away with this. You are not going to be there while these people die. You are going to have to work and pray and fast to save your people. That is why the message that came out of sects teaching a place of safety or rapture was heresy (see also The Millennium and the Rapture (No. 095)). Such teaching failed to prepare our people and we didn't do our job and we didn't save our people. We have to work.

Esther 4:14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, [then] shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for [such] a time as this?

God will raise up somebody else. The stones of that street will cry out if we do not. If we do not do our job God will simply destroy us and raise something else up as He will do and is doing now. How do we know that we were not called to do just this: that we came to our royal kingdom; that we were made kings and priests; that we are part of the Melchisedek priesthood for this time?

Esther 4:15 Then Esther bade [them] return Mordecai [this answer],

Esther 4:16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which [is] not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.

So there is a process which is set up such that to the structure of this planet and contrary to the will of the world, we have to go into God in order to deal with the problems. If I perish, I perish - is a simple way of saying so be the will of God.

Esther 4:17 So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him.

This is not that the word here is commanded, but the concept is that Christ is there working daily, according to the requests of the prayers of the saints. As we work and ask and seek and direct each other and request of Christ, so the angelic Host assist us. It places a power in our hands that has hitherto not been understood. This is why Christ said we could pick up mountains and throw them in the sea if we have the faith. We did not put the mountains there, but we can throw them in the sea if we have the faith. So it means we can change the established order of things through faith.

Esther 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.

These concepts are of the establishment also of the Sign of Jonah where we see the three days of Messiah's ministry as the concept of the Church being prepared. Also in the Last Days there is another period during the Witnesses, upon which the salvation of this planet depends. The first, second and third angels messages set up a sequence of activity of the Last Days (cf. the papers The Sign of Jonah and the History of the Reconstruction of the Temple (No. 013); The Witnesses (including the Two Witnesses) (No. 135); The Messages of Revelation 14 (No. 270) and The Last Pope: Examining Nostradamus and Malachy (No. 288)).

The Church is not going to be sitting back in the Last Days while the Witnesses are speaking in Jerusalem; the Church is not going to be away somewhere on a holiday. We are going to be on our knees in sackcloth and ashes fasting and praying and getting this planet ready so we are not destroyed. It is hard work. It is not much fun and it will not be fun. The point is that it is not a one-man band. Christ did not do it on his own and the Witnesses will not do the work on their own. The future of the churches depends on the elect and not just the ministry. The nation depends on us, and our prayer and fasting and study. There is precious little being done of it.

Esther 5:2 And it was so, when the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, [that] she obtained favour in his sight: and the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that [was] in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre.

It was through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that we became able to enter and touch the golden sceptre. We entered the holy of holies and touched the golden sceptre. Up until that time, that had not been allowed to be done.

Esther 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.

This is taken as being a point of largess, a grandiose complementary gesture not intended to be taken seriously according to the Soncino and the rabbinical commentaries. However, that is not what it means at all. Half of the kingdom had been removed through the rebellion. Twelve of the elohim had fallen and it was half of the kingdom that was going to be given to the elect. The Church was to inherit that part of the kingdom that the fallen Host had obviated. So a third of the kingdom had fallen under the elohim, but at the highest positions it was even to the half of the council. The additional point is that the human race makes up an additional amount to the angelic Host, so that it is not an idle statement. We do not know what the numbers are; we don't know what the census is because we have not taken it. We are not privileged to know, but this comment even to the half of the kingdom indicates the size involved. The physical creation will be superimposed on the spiritual creation as explained in the paper The City of God (No. 180).

Esther 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.

Esther 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.

Esther 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.

Esther 5:7 Then answered Esther, and said, My petition and my request [is];

Esther 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 to morrow as the king hath said.

So we have two functions. They come the first day to a banquet of wine, and there is another banquet the second day. So we are looking at two days involved in the invitation. This process over two days, the Marriage Supper into two banquets, covers the concepts again of the resurrections. It also covers the concept of the judgments. At the second banquet, the second phase, we are dealing with the resurrection of the dead, the judgment of the angels and the judgment of the entire Host. The Church then has the process ready and Satan is being summoned under the direction of God. This is explained in the papers The Resurrection of the Dead (No. 143); Heaven, Hell or the First Resurrection of the Dead (No. 143A); The Second Resurrection and the Great White Throne Judgment (No. 143B); The Judgment of the Demons (No. 080); The Fallacy of the Third Resurrection (No. 166); The Soul (No. 092) and Lost Sheep and the Prodigal Son (No. 199).

Esther 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.

Esther 5:10 Nevertheless Haman refrained himself: and when he came home, he sent and called for his friends, and Zeresh his wife.

Esther 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.

The ten sons are probably only the sons of Zeresh, according to the rabbinical commentaries. He probably had a multiplicity of children through concubines as well.

Esther 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 to morrow am I invited unto her also with the king.

These comments are to build the story of what is happening to Haman. The significance is that this sequence is being developed so that the Church will deal with these people on demand. Know thee not that ye shall judge angels (1Cor 6:3). This is a concept that those people will come under direction of us (cf. also paper The Pre-Existence of Jesus Christ (No. 243)).

Esther 5:13 Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate.

Esther 5:14 Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends unto him, Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high, and to morrow 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.

Esther 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.

Esther 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.

Esther 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.

Esther 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.

So we are talking basically about the concepts here of the elect and the fact that Israel had become idolatrous. Satan was joyous that Israel had become idolatrous. There is also a long-term aspect of the invitation. The point is that Satan was continually undermining Israel and Israel had been sent into captivity. Israel was dispersed completely. Messiah was also part of the Loyal Host. Satan was one of the two leaders of the Fallen Host whom he caused to rebel and fall from Grace. We see Israel had been sent into captivity and then Judah again was sent into captivity for idolatry. The concept is that they had been invited in. Satan also had been invited in. Mordecai was placed then as Christ was placed. This is represented by the fact that Haman was going to destroy Mordecai. This is a parable about the destruction of Jesus Christ by Satan by hanging him on a stake, on the cross.

Esther 6:5 And the king's servants said unto him, Behold, Haman standeth in the court. And the king said, Let him come in.

Esther 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?

This shows arrogance and a position of saying that there is no one around who is better than self. That was the position that Satan held as the covering cherub. He put himself above every other member of the council of the elohim. He was made the covering cherub, but he tried to ascend the mount of God. He tried to make himself equal with God. Christ did not do that. This is the concept of the arrogance involved (and is reflected in Phil. 2:6).

Esther 6:7 And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honour,

Esther 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:

This horse that the king rides upon is the power of God, and Messiah comes on a white horse in the Last Days, symbolising the power of God through the Holy Spirit.

All these people existed on crowns of God, thrones of God, and they were appointed by God.

Esther 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.

Esther 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.

Esther 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.

We have a concept here that Messiah has qualified to replace Satan as the Morning Star. He has been honoured by the King above Satan and He has made Satan acknowledge the fact that Christ has qualified to replace him. There is no doubt that Satan now knows that Christ is going to be the new Morning Star and that his time is short. That is a function of the rebellion of the Host, and he has been made to acknowledge that fact. That angers the dragon.

Esther 6:12 And Mordecai came again to the king's gate. But Haman hasted to his house mourning, and having his head covered.

Christ went away to the house of the King.

This concept of Haman hastening to his house, mourning and having his head covered is a sign of mourning from 2Samuel 15:30. The Targum notes that fact. What is represented is that Haman, having his head covered, is being cut off. So Haman hastened to his house, had his head covered and was placed and bound as he is bound in the Millennium (Rev. 20:2).

Esther 6:13 And Haman told Zeresh his wife and all his friends every [thing] 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.

So if you are a son of God, if you are of the line of David, you can do X, Y and Z. Satan used those words against Christ in the desert.

Esther 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.

Esther 7:1 So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.

Esther 7:2 And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What [is] thy petition, queen Esther? and it shall be granted thee: and what [is] thy request? and it shall be performed, [even] to the half of the kingdom.

Esther 7:3 Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request:

Esther 7:4 For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. But if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage.

This is a very difficult text. The rabbinical commentators say it is a very difficult text to interpret, because we are talking about the adversary here. We will examine the concepts. The petition here is that Esther is saying that we (the elect) are sold to be destroyed. If we had been sent in to be bondmen and bondwomen, to be servants, I (she representing the Church) would have said nothing, because our role is to be servants to God. We are slaves of God. We, through the adoption, are being made sons of God, where Israel was simply a slave of God. Moses was a servant of God, where Christ was a son of God and, therefore, Christ had a higher rank than Moses in the structure. We are given sonship as is Moses on the resurrection. Now if the sonship was taken off us as the Church and we were simply put back to be bondservants, then who is to object? Why would we object to being put into the second resurrection because we would simply be bondservants of God? That is not a valid objection. However, the aim is not to put us in the second resurrection, but to destroy us as a spiritual force. That is why we battle with Satan. The adversary's aim is to destroy us as a force and to overthrow God and take command of the universe. That is the meaning of the text: I would have held my peace for the adversary is not worthy that the king be endangered. We do not hold our peace because the adversary is less than our God and we serve our God. The adversary is not worth that position and thus we fight him in order to protect the system and our God. So we go before and establish our relationship with God through Jesus Christ in order that the adversary is overthrown.

Esther 7:5 Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so?

Esther 7:6 And Esther said, the adversary and enemy [is] this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.

Esther 7:7 And the king arising from the banquet of wine in his wrath [went] into the palace garden: and Haman stood up to make request for his life to Esther the queen; for he saw that there was evil determined against him by the king.

In the end the demons make requests of us because we judge them. They are judged by what we do from 1Corinthians 6:3: know ye not that ye will judge angels. They will petition and plead clemency from Jesus Christ and us. That is what it is all about. The issue of clemency will be at our request.

Esther 7:8 Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon the bed whereon Esther [was]. Then said the king, Will he force the queen also before me in the house? As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.

Falling on couches is a significant point. Satan has taken the couch of Esther and become part of the couch and that is what Christ is saying in Revelation to the Thyatirans, that he will throw those of that Church on a couch with Jezebel. Hence we are dealing with a mixture of false religions.

The view of Haman forcing Esther is that of forcing the Church, raping the Church.

Esther 7:9 And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon.

The place of Harbonah as the Angel of the Lord charged with confining Satan is discussed in the paper Commentary on Esther Part II: Purim in the Last Days (No. 063B).

Esther 7:10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king's wrath pacified.

So, the fate sought for Christ and the Host is suffered by Haman, or Satan, the adversary.

Esther 8:1 On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews' enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he [was] unto her.

The whole house, the whole part of the Morning Star, the planet, is given away. It is taken from Satan – one Morning Star – and given to Christ and the Church and we share in the Morning Star and the rulership of the planet.

Esther 8:2 And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.

Christ is set over the house and given the signet ring of the rulership of this planet for the elect. That is what Paul is saying and that is what John is saying. The New Testament's whole purpose is that Christ is made Morning Star and he achieves position as the High Priest for the elect.

Esther 8:3 And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews.

Esther 8:4 Then the king held out the golden sceptre toward Esther. So Esther arose, and stood before the king,

Esther 8:5 And said, If it please the king, and if I have found favour in his sight, and the thing [seem] right before the king, and I [be] pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews which [are] in all the king's provinces:

Esther 8:6 For how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?

Esther 8:7 Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews.

Esther 8:8 Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king's name, and seal [it] with the king's ring: for the writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may no man reverse.

This action issues from the will of God. This is when Revelation says: those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, I will make them bow down and worship you. (Worship here is prostration in the sense of acknowledgment of authority).

The actions will reveal the concept of what true Judaism is; what the true salvation and the position of Israel are. It is the circumcision of the heart, and is through the Holy Spirit and the elect. It is not through the Talmud.

Esther 8:9 Then were the king's scribes called at that time in the third month, that [is], the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth [day] thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded unto the Jews, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies and rulers of the provinces which [are] from India unto Ethiopia, an hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to the writing thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language.

It is not an accident that this is in Sivan. The thing that falls in Sivan is generally Pentecost and this is a function of the Church after its preparation. Whether there are any other concepts which develop from Sivan is uncertain.

Esther 8:10 And he wrote in the king Ahasuerus' name, and sealed [it] with the king's ring, and sent letters by posts on horseback, [and] riders on mules, camels, [and] young dromedaries:

Esther 8:11 Wherein the king granted the Jews which [were] in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, [both] little ones and women, and [to take] the spoil of them for a prey,

This is the concept of riders being despatched on horseback. We are dealing with the concept of this development up to the final destruction in Revelation.

Esther 8:12 Upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, [namely], upon the thirteenth [day] of the twelfth month, which [is] the month Adar.

Esther 8:13 The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province [was] published unto all people, and that the Jews should be ready against that day to avenge themselves on their enemies.

Esther 8:14 [So] the posts that rode upon mules [and] camels went out, being hastened and pressed on by the king's commandment. And the decree was given at Shushan the palace.

We are getting ready; the situation has changed. The letters, which are the epistles of the New Testament and the Book of Revelation, have told the end from this position. After the Church is given its position and given the apostles and the prophets, Revelation is developed as the last work. The whole structure is shown, as is how the plan of salvation is changed. Messiah is to come at the end of the heavenly signs and take over. The position is reversed. The day of the wrath of the Lord is a concept being developed here where the destruction sought to be inflicted on the elect is in fact used to deal with the planet (cf. also the paper The Day of the Lord and the Last Days (No. 192)).

Esther 8:15 And Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad.

Blue and white is not accidental. Blue and white symbolise truth and purity as royal apparel. Dressed humbly (sackcloth and ashes) symbolised by the linen of the Atonement sequence, Messiah humbled himself as the Messiah of Aaron and was killed. Whereas he sacrificed himself to be crucified, he now goes forth as the king Messiah with the sword of truth on the horse of the power of God. We are also dealing with the great crown of gold and the robe of fine linen and purple being the symbols of his kingship as the king Messiah.

Esther 8:16 The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honour.

Esther 8:17 And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king's commandment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.

We are dealing with the prophecies in Isaiah; we are dealing with the concepts of the Gentiles coming into Judah. All of Israel comes back to the problem where ten men grab hold of the robes of a Jew, saying: “We hear the Lord is with you”. These concepts were that they become Jews in their understanding; they become members of the elect.

Esther 9:1 Now in the twelfth month, that [is], the month Adar, on the thirteenth day of the same, when the king's commandment and his decree drew near to be put in execution, in the day that the enemies of the Jews hoped to have power over them, (though it was turned to the contrary, that the Jews had rule over them that hated them;)

Esther 9:2 The Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their hurt: and no man could withstand them; for the fear of them fell upon all people.

They will be spread through the peoples and will emerge in the Last Days as young lions as the texts suggest. Judah will fight at Jerusalem (Zech. 14:14). Isaiah 66 shows how the restoration of the Last Days will occur in the world. Israel will be sought out and returned. The Sabbath and New Moons will be restored (Isa. 66:23), as will the Feasts be restored (Zech. 14:16-19).

Esther 9:3 And all the rulers of the provinces, and the lieutenants, and the deputies, and officers of the king, helped the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them.

Esther 9:4 For Mordecai [was] great in the king's house, and his fame went out throughout all the provinces: for this man Mordecai waxed greater and greater.

So of Messiah's kingdom there shall be no end.

Esther 9:5 Thus the Jews smote all their enemies with the stroke of the sword, and slaughter, and destruction, and did what they would unto those that hated them.

Esther 9:6 And in Shushan the palace the Jews slew and destroyed five hundred men.

Esther 9:7 And Parshandatha, and Dalphon, and Aspatha,

Esther 9:8 And Poratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha,

Esther 9:9 And Parmashta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Vajezatha,

Esther 9:10 The ten sons of Haman the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews, slew they; but on the spoil laid they not their hand.

That is a mouthful. By tradition it is said all in one breath and it is listed in the Massoretic texts in this way. The Massorah prescribes the names of the ten sons of Haman be written in the perpendicular column on the right hand side of the page with the vav i.e. the and on the left-hand side. This is probably derived from the tradition that ten sons were hanged from the tall gallows one above the other. It is also customary for the reading of the Megillah on Purim to read the names of the ten sons in one breath because they all died together according to the Targum. That is not accidental. The ten sons of Haman represent the concept of the empirical system of the Last Days. We are dealing with this system right through to the end.

The ten sons of Haman are all listed in one breath, because they form the union of the ten kings in the Last Days. That is why they are all together in the Massorah and why the whole structure holds together. They are all destroyed together as they received their power together at the Last Days in the empire of the Beast. That is what the text is about. That is why these people know at the end that the end result of the satanic system and the empirical structure set up from the Babylonians results, finally, in the Last Days in the union of the ten kings. The rabbinical commentaries quite clearly understand that these texts relate back to the image of the Beast in Daniel chapter 2. There is no question that the rabbis understand that it is that image that is being contemplated through the Book of Esther. So we have a continual process of the development of the empire under Nebuchadnezzar, being the head of gold, through into the silver of the Medes and Persians and on through, so that the Amalekites merely represent the military portion of this system, i.e. the satanic forces involved, occurring under each empire and developing through the empires. Certainly that these ten sons, being the end result of the satanic system, are destroyed in one breath in the Last Days is the understanding of the end destruction of the empire of the Beast and the ten toes of Daniel 2. These are the ten horns that we see in Revelation on the seven heads having ten horns. They both relate to the same thing. They are the last stages of the empire of the Beast, which is of the Babylonian system, which encompasses the entire time of the Gentiles. That is why these comments are made about the outer court. Haman comes into the outer court because he is allowed to come in. Jerusalem is given over to the Gentiles and the outer court is trampled for 42 months. That is another concept which arises out of this text.

The 500 men are traditionally listed as being the personal household of Haman, that is, the personal household of Satan. That relates back then to the recreation of another 500 under the elect who will take their place. These ordinations from Christ to the 12 and the 30, the 70 down through to 144,000 all have a specific relevance to portions of the Host, where they take over the responsibilities and the authority of the fallen Host. All are nominated and all are appointed and ordained as kings and priests within this order.

There is no spoil. None of the satanic system will be taken by the elect into the Millennium. No spoil will be touched. The commentaries said that of the spoil they laid not their hand. The Jews had but one thought, self-protection, and this piece of information stresses the fact (Eshkol Hakofer). That is relevant in that for the self-protection of the elect nothing of the satanic system is taken as spoil to go into the Messianic kingdom. It is all left behind.

Esther 9:11 On that day the number of those that were slain in Shushan the palace was brought before the king.

Esther 9:12 And the king said unto Esther the queen, The Jews have slain and destroyed five hundred men in Shushan the palace, and the ten sons of Haman; what have they done in the rest of the king's provinces? now what [is] thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: or what [is] thy request further? and it shall be done.

Esther 9:13 Then said Esther, If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews which [are] in Shushan to do to morrow also according unto this day's decree, and let Haman's ten sons be hanged upon the gallows.

Esther 9:14 And the king commanded it so to be done: and the decree was given at Shushan; and they hanged Haman's ten sons.

Esther 9:15 For the Jews that [were] in Shushan gathered themselves together on the fourteenth day also of the month Adar, and slew three hundred men at Shushan; but on the prey they laid not their hand.

So on the second day we have another 300 slain and they still did not take the spoil.

Esther 9:16 But the other Jews that [were] in the king's provinces gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives, and had rest from their enemies, and slew of their foes seventy and five thousand, but they laid not their hands on the prey,

We are talking here of the sabbatical rest. Throughout the kingdom they killed 75,000 people.

Esther 9:17 On the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of the same rested they, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

Esther 9:18 But the Jews that [were] at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth [day] thereof, and on the fourteenth thereof; and on the fifteenth [day] of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.

So they came to the full moon. By the full moon of Adar they had achieved their aim.

Esther 9:19 Therefore the Jews of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar [a day of] gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.

This concept of sending portions to one another and of unwalled towns has a relationship back to the settlement of Israel, because the determination of the walled and the unwalled towns is not done, as one would imagine, at the time of Xerxes in the Babylonian captivity. The rabbinical determination of the walled and unwalled towns under this Feast of Purim is determined from what cities were walled and unwalled at the time of Joshua. That is highly significant because it balances up the numbers. The numbers outside of Israel would be greater if it was later than beforehand, but it is not done according to that system. It is done as at the time of Joshua when Israel was first taken. So we are talking about the capture of the holy land in establishment in a secondary phase, using the first occupation of Israel to establish the concepts of the second occupation of Israel. This is an extended time-frame. The understanding of the religious authorities during this period was that it was placed back in the days of Joshua. That is extremely important (cf. also the paper The Fall of Jericho (No. 142)).

Esther 9:20 And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews that [were] in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, [both] nigh and far,

Esther 9:21 To stablish [this] among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,

This is a prophecy that goes out under direction of Christ.

Esther 9:22 As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.

Esther 9:23 And the Jews undertook to do as they had begun, and as Mordecai had written unto them;

Esther 9:24 Because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that [is], the lot, to consume them, and to destroy them;

Esther 9:25 But when [Esther] came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he devised against the Jews, should return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

That is the process of judgment. As you seek to destroy the elect so you will be destroyed. This process extends over the period of the Last Days and is applied directy to the Two Witnesses in the period prior to the commencement of the Millennium. The time will be cut short to save those who eagerly await the Messiah.

Esther 9:26 Wherefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. Therefore for all the words of this letter, and [of that] which they had seen concerning this matter, and which had come unto them,

Esther 9:27 The Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to their writing, and according to their [appointed] time every year;

Esther 9:28 And [that] these days [should be] remembered and kept throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city; and [that] these days of Purim should not fail from among the Jews, nor the memorial of them perish from their seed.

That is a function of the Jews enjoined upon everyone who joins Judah. This tells us what is going to happen to the Feast of Purim when Messiah issues his decrees on the restoration.

Esther 9:29 Then Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew, wrote with all authority, to confirm this second letter of Purim.

Esther 9:30 And he sent the letters unto all the Jews, to the hundred twenty and seven provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, [with] words of peace and truth,

Esther 9:31 To confirm these days of Purim in their times [appointed], according as Mordecai the Jew and Esther the queen had enjoined them, and as they had decreed for themselves and for their seed, the matters of the fastings and their cry.

Esther 9:32 And the decree of Esther confirmed these matters of Purim; and it was written in the book.

Therefore, the Church will enjoin the Feast of Purim upon itself under Messiah. The Feast of Purim will be kept in its entirety during the Millennium, but it will be added during the Millennium.

Esther 10:1 And the king Ahasuerus laid a tribute upon the land, and [upon] the isles of the sea.

Esther 10:2 And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, whereunto the king advanced him, [are] they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?

Esther 10:3 For Mordecai the Jew [was] next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.

The end of the Book of Esther is highly significant. The king laid a tribute upon the land. The commentaries say that from verse 1. This chapter is an appendix or postscript to the book emphasising the power of Ahasuerus and the glory that was thereby reflected on Mordecai as his first minister. This is not extrapolated by either mainstream Christianity or the Jews, because it establishes the absolute subordination of Jesus Christ. The Christian commentators can not deal with it and the Jewish commentators can't deal with it because it establishes Christ as a prime minister on an equality and replacement of Satan. The thought is that Ahasuerus and Mordecai his prime minister succeed in conquering many provinces until he was able to accept tribute from the lands near his kingdom, as well as from the distant isles of the sea according to Malbim.

Since the Hebrew word everywhere else means forced labour a better translation is imposed forced labour (see Or Hachaim, Ex. 1:11).

According to the Targum it refers to the head tax (from Aruk). The Targum says it is the head tax. What is the head tax? It is the tax taken on the Day of Atonement as a temple tax. What happens is that the Church under Messiah issues the temple tax again on the Day of Atonement, on all people in all provinces of the empire. The system of the Atonement taxes means that every person is entered under the Kingdom of God and salvation is extended to all people under payment of the temple tax at Atonement. That tribute means that salvation goes not only to the Gentiles through the elect and the Church but becomes a mandatory levy on all nations when all nations come under the rulership of Jesus Christ in the end. That is the significance of the additional chapter of the book of Esther.

We see now that the Book of Esther is not a story about a woman who becomes the queen of Persia. Once we understand the Book of Esther we understand the sheer magnitude of the Book of Revelation as it develops in the Old Testament. The whole structure, built through Jesus Christ, emerges with the Church hand-in-hand in order to save the planet.

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