Queen of the Persians #3

Introduction

Now if you have been following how this story has unfolded thus far, we have to this point seen that Vashti was likely courageous, that Ahasuerus was feckless and easily manipulated, that Haman was evil, ambitious, and too clever by half, and so on. But there is much more to all of this, as we shall see shortly. 

The Text

“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. Then said the king’s servants that ministered unto him, Let there be fair young virgins sought for the king: 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: And let the maiden which pleaseth the king be queen instead of Vashti. And the thing pleased the king; and he did so . . .” (Esther 2:1–23).

Summary of the Text

When the king calmed down, he recalled what had happened, what he had done (v. 1). The king’s servants then proposed that a search be made (v. 2), with special officers appointed to gather beautiful virgins up into Hege’s custody (v. 3). The king would sleep with each of them until he found Vashti’s replacement (v. 4). Now a certain Jew named Mordecai lived in Shushan, and he was descended from Kish (v. 5)—and he was therefore a Benjamite. He had been carried away in the time of Jeconiah (v. 6), which creates a chronological problem, see below. He was a great deal older than his cousin Hadassah, or Esther, whom he had raised as his own daughter when her parents died (v. 7). As it happened, Esther was among those who were conscripted and was brought under the care of Hegai (v. 8), likely the same eunuch as Hege. Take note of how Esther is sort of a female Joseph, gaining favor wherever she would go (v. 9). She was given everything she needed, including seven servant girls, and the best quarters (v. 9). She had not revealed she was a Jewess, following Mordecai’s instructions (v. 10). Mordecai came to visit her quarters daily to see how she fared (v. 11). After twelve months of purification, the women would go into the king by turns (v. 12). Each woman was given whatever she wanted to take with her (v. 13). She would go in the evening and the next day she would be relegated to the house of the concubines, under the care of another eunuch named Shaashgaz. And there she would remain, unless the king sought her out again by name (v. 14). When it came Esther’s turn, she deferred to Hegai concerning what she should take with her (v. 15), exhibiting a truly humble and winsome attitude. Her spirit won everyone over who dealt with her (v. 15). And so Esther went to the king in the seventh year of the king’s reign, which was four years after Vashti was deposed (v. 16). She pleased the king far more than the other virgins had, and so he placed the crown upon her head (v. 17). And the king sponsored a feast for Esther, gave tax relief to the provinces, and sent out gifts (v. 18). There was then another gathering of virgins, and that marked the time when Mordecai was seated in the king’s gate, indicating that he had gained some sort of official position (v. 19). Esther continued to hide her Jewish identity, as Mordecai had charged her to do—she remained a dutiful “daughter,” even though she was now a queen (v. 20). Now at that time, two of the king’s chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, got angry with the king and were looking to kill him (v. 21). Mordecai got wind of it, notified the queen, who passed it on to Ahasuerus, with Mordecai’s name attached (v. 22). An investigation was opened, the charge was found to be the case, and so the two conspirators were hanged (v. 23). The account of what happened was then recorded in the king’s official chronicles (v. 23).

A Small Timeline Problem

If Mordecai was taken into captivity in the time of Jeconiah, that would have been in 597 B.C.—and that would make him well over a hundred years old by this point (v. 6), making it pretty unlikely that his cousin would be a nubile young beauty. So we are likely dealing with a shortened genealogy, and it was Mordecai’s father or grandfather who was brought into captivity. We know the genealogy of v. 5 is telescoped in some way because his great grandfather Kish actually lived about 4 centuries before this. Mordecai was brought to Susa when his family had been.

Typology is Not Tight Allegory

When Jesus pointed to the wisdom of Solomon before the Queen of Sheba (Matt. 12:42; Luke 11:31), He was indicating that Solomon was a type of Christ. But this did not include the 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11:3), or the groves to Moloch and Chemosh (1 Kings 11:5-8), or the multitude of prohibited horses (Dt. 17:16; 1 Kings 10:26-29). And the eight people on the ark are types of those being saved (1 Pet. 3:20-21), but this included Ham, who disrespected his father Noah (Gen. 9:20-27), and whose son, Canaan, was cursed. And Esau was a type of those who are rejected and damned by God (Mal. 1:2-3; Rom. 9:13). And yet when Jacob wrestled with God, saying afterwards that he saw Him face to face and lived (Gen. 32:30), he immediately after that says to Esau that seeing him was like seeing the face of God (Gen. 33:10). 

So when we are told that Christ will come like a thief in the night (1 Thess. 5:2), we are not claiming that He is going to steal something. So in typology, meanings resonate without being mathematically tight.  

Christological Patterns and Echoes

So without treating it like a tight analogy . . .

A disobedient queen is removed, and is replaced—just as the old Jerusalem was replaced by the New Jerusalem. Esther goes through a year of purification, so that she might be presented to the king without spot or wrinkle (Eph. 5:27). The king appoints designated officers to go out and gather in the virgins (Matt. 24:31). Esther is given seven maidservants, as though she were a character in the book of Revelation (Rev. 1:20). Esther was appointed “for such a time as this” (Est. 4:14), and her path had clearly been prepared for her. Like Joseph (Gen. 39:2-6, 21-23; 41:37-40) and like Jesus (Luke 2:40, 52), she is granted favor in all she touches (Est. 2: 9, 15). She is a wonderful example of how the humble are exalted (Matt. 223:14), not so much a type of Christ, but rather a type of the feminine Church when she walks in the Spirit of Christ.

We have already noted that God is not mentioned anywhere in the book, but that does not make it a godless book. God’s hand is everywhere in it. And even though Christ is not mentioned by name either, that does not make it Christless. But just as Solomon’s majesty over a Jewish kingdom was a type of the one to come, so also the glory of this Gentile kingdom manifests something of God’s intention for us all.