esther 9-10

Read Esther 9-10 at Bible Gateway.

We have learned that in the teaching tools of Scripture, the chiastic structure is one of the thumbprints of the Holy Spirit on the Scriptures, declaring that He is its author. We are seeing that chiastic structures fill the Scriptures in an unbroken chain from beginning to end.

We have furthermore seen that the lives of the patriarchs form a chiastic structure. The life of Yeshua forms a chaistic structure (He is the Word of God made flesh, so it stands to reason that the thumbprint on the written Word would likewise be a thumbprint on His life). Now let me suggest that the history of Israel forms a chiastic structure.

I do not have the full structure worked out yet. But the life of Mordecai/ Esther, as a unit, is the matching pair for the life of Joseph. Both Joseph and Mordecai/ Esther live in a powerful Gentile nation, under the rule of the most powerful Gentile king of the known world in their day. They both occupy the lowest rung of the social ladder, Joseph as a slave or prisoner, and Mordecai/ Esther as a foreign captive. Not by their own doing, but by the favor and gifts of the Spirit that the LORD bestows on them (Joseph: wisdom and dream interpretation; Mordecai/ Esther: wisdom and beauty), they are advanced to great rank within the king’s household. They each face the death of their people, God’s people (Joseph by famine and Mordecai/ Esther by enemies) and must use their rank which God has bestowed, self- sacrifically, to save their people. Their sorrow is turned to joy and their fasting to feasting as they experience victory over death (a type of resurrection; Joseph when his family is removed to Egypt and he provides for them himself from his own wealth of provision; and Mordecai/ Esther when they replace Esther’s fast with the feast of Purim).

And King Ahasuerus imposed tribute on the land and on the islands of the sea. Est 10:1

This is the Scripture’s way of saying, that Darius the Great ruled with power over all the known world, not just the land, but the islands of the sea also, i.e., the furthermost reaches of the dwelling places of men.

Now all the acts of his power and his might, and the account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? For Mordecai the Jew was second to King Ahasuerus, and was great among the Jews and well received by the multitude of his brethren, seeking the good of his people and speaking peace to all his countrymen. Est 10:2-3

Both Joseph and Mordecai/ Esther hold the rank of second only to the powerful Gentile king, where they use their rank to seek the good and the peace of God’s people. I find it interesting that one of the details the Holy Spirit includes, is that Mordecai was well received by the multitude of his brethren: a distinct and unmistakable thematic connection to Joseph and his brothers.

The history of the life of Joseph prophesies of the coming of Messiah Yeshua, His first and second comings; first: as self- sacrificing and suffering Servant, and second: as Ruler of all, second only to One greater than Himself (He holds the kingdom only to lay it at the feet of His Father). And the history of the life of Mordecai/ Esther prophesies of the same, only in their case, the two comings of the Messiah are split among two people. Esther’s history is that of the self- sacrificing and suffering servant, for she is the one who must lay her life down for the sake of her people; and Mordecai’s history is that of the ruler of all, second only to one greater than himself.

Knowing this, that the history of both Joseph and Esther prophesy of Messiah, and the victory of God’s people over the enemy at His coming as King of kings, we should pay attention to it when listening to end time teachers tell us how things will be in the end. Listen, we do not need to fear: danger and fear will rise up before God’s people, but victory is decreed for them, from the hand of Messiah Himself!