"And when those days were completed, the king gave for all the people that were present in the citadel of Susa, both great and small, a banquet in the courtyard of the king's palace garden that lasted seven days... Esther 1:5
Maybe it was all the time i spent pondering the "two women" of Proverbs but this time i came to the book of Esther, i saw in it something i have never seen before. An allegory. A precursor. A story that doesn't just tell of a time when the Jews were in dire peril and needed rescuing but, and this should really not surprise me at all by this point in my education, but a book that points directly to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Duh. All the Bible tells that story! Why wouldn't Esther?
It began not with the two women though, but the thought, which comes from the Holy Spirit who whispers to us when we are fully engaged in studying His testimony, that this celebration of a king points to the banquet we all wait for... the Wedding Celebration of the Lamb. The lavish descriptions of it's opulence, the incredulous length of time and preparation and supply it would have required, the regal generousness of it, the wealth, the liberal length of time for the feasting, the copious amounts of alcohol for merriment. The openness of its guest list. It's extravagant to the point of hyperbole! Which can only point to the true feast which will have no end, to its time, to its food, to its libation, to its joy! The feast which we lack the imagination to describe!
When that image struck me, it gave me a whole new lens to read the rest by.
"On the seventh day, (a symbol of completeness, perfection, "at the fullness of time," "when the time was right,")
when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he said to [his] seven eunuchs attending King Ahasuerus, to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown...Esther 1:10,11
The wife of God, the King. The One who married Himself to His people. He called His people. He has always called. One and not another, His and not another man's wife, the one to whom He bestowed the His own crown of glory. Seth and not Cain. Isaac and not Ishmael. Jacob and not Esau. His sovereign election. "For what great nation has for it a god near to it as YHWH our God, when ever we call upon him? And what other great nation has for it just rules and regulations just like this whole law that I am setting before you today?" Deut 4:7,8
"However, take care for yourself and watch your inner self closely, so that you do not forget the things that your eyes have seen..." Deut 4:9
"But Queen Vashti refused to come at the word of the king...And the king became very angry, and his anger burned in him." Esther 1:12
The Queen, the wife of the king, refuses him. Now much has been made in modern times to excuse her behavior, to validate Vashti and paint King Ahasuerus as the villain and who knows but some of it may be true but i doubt it, not because i don't doubt that the king was a sinner and could have had less than noble purposes for his wife, but because the reason the story is recorded for us is to tell the story of God. And God's queen rejects him for the same reason every time, pride. She knows what's best for her, not Him. It's not enough for her to be queen, she must be king! But what happens when the one chosen by God to be His rejects Him? The world is watching. It does not happen in a vacuum but is witnessed by the nations. The kingdom of priests, consecrated to be ambassadors for the One True God and His salvation through His Son, corrupt their message and teach the nations a lie. The two women of Proverbs comes back to me: Wisdom and the Harlot- the mother of all whores, the one "with whom the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality, and those who live on the earth became drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality." Rev 17:2 One points us always, ever to God and His truth, the other, ever always away from Him.
"Not only has Queen Vashti done wrong to the king, but to all the officials and all of the people who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. For this deed of the queen will be known to all the women, causing them to look with contempt on their husbands, as they will say, "King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him but she did not come!" vs 16,17
The disobedience and faithlessness of God's people not only endangers themselves, but all the nations! For if those to whom the special revelation came teach that God is to be treated with contempt, then who can be saved! This is one reason why God had to so closely guard His holiness before the Ark when he killed Nadab and Abihu, when He broke out against Uzza, and when He cut down Ananias and Sapphira. This is why apostasy cannot be treated lightly by God, it endangers His whole plan to save His people. So God also rejects His queen when she rejects Him...
"If it pleases the king, let a royal edict go out from him, and let it be written among the laws of Persia and Media so that it will not be altered, that Vashti cannot come before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal position to her neighbor who is better than she." v19
When the descendants of Abraham whom God called out of Egypt turned on Him at Kadesh and would not enter into the Land He had prepared for them, "As I swore in my anger, "They will never enter into my rest."" Heb 3:11 He gave them over to die in the desert and took in their children. When Saul would not obey and in his foolishness and fear and persistent unbelief turned on Him, YHWH rejected him as king over Israel and gave his throne to David. And when the "builders" rejected the "stone placed in Zion" they too were rejected and God called others, "And the king was angry and sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, "The wedding celebration is ready, but those who had been invited were not worthy. Therefore, go out to the places where the roads exit the city and invite to the wedding celebration as many people as you find." And those slaves went out into the roads and gathered everyone whom they found, both evil and good, and the wedding celebration was filled with dinner guests." Matt 22:7-10
"Then you will say, "Branches were broken off in order that I could be grafted in." Well said! They were broken off because of unbelief, but you stand firm because of faith." Rom 11:19,20
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