Like all Jesus’ stories and all the historical accounts of the Bible, the book of Esther tells a prophetic parable. Christians teach that Jesus used parables to simplify truth. Not so. He used parables to hide the truth so that people who did not really seek God nor love his ways would be always seeing, but never perceiving, and always hearing, but never understanding. Esther is the last of the historical canon of Scripture for a reason. This book concerns the end times, the times we now live in.

Many clues lead me to say this. The book begins during the reign of King Ahasuerus who rules over 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia, that is, from the Far East to the shores of the western continent of Africa. This was a world-wide empire. According to The Bible Wheel the number 127 represents “The King of Glory,” the LORD God himself. Ahasuerus thus represents God the Father, the King of Glory, who rules all creation.

Next we see that the events told of occur in “the third year of his reign.” Usually Scripture speaks of “the third day,” which prophetically foretells the third millennium after Christ’s birth, crucifixion, and glorification, the exact time we now live in. I believe “the third year” referenced here in Esther 1:3 speaks of the same thing. This idea is reinforced by the king’s banquet which lasted seven days that we see in verse 5. Prophetically, the 3rd day and the 7th day speak of the same millennial “day” reign of Christ. Just as we have now entered the 3rd day after Christ’s earthly appearance, so have we entered the 7th day after God’s creation of Adam and the entire world. Thus Esther begins with a prophetic picture of God ruling the world at the beginning of the seventh thousand years of earth’s history. But, in addition to this, I believe that the Day of the LORD began in the spring of 2010 with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. If that is true, then we are now in the “third year” of the Day of the LORD and the things foretold in the Book of Esther are about to be fulfilled. (This is not a “Thus says the LORD;” this is my perspective of where we are in time based upon 35 years of Bible study, prayer, seeking the LORD, and observing the events of these days)

It is at this time that God calls his queen, his bride, to come into his presence and show herself to all his subjects. This is to be a time of rejoicing, a wedding feast, but the bride, represented by Vashti in the parable, does not appear. Why not? She has become arrogant and presumptuous, even to the point of taking her husband for granted and disobeying his direct commands.

And so is it today with the multitude who call themselves by the name of Christ and presume to be “the Bride of Christ.” Christians have given themselves to every sort of harlotry, just as prophesied by all the prophets. See especially Isaiah 28 and Revelation 2:18-29 which speak of the church at this time in history. Biblically Vashti equates to Jezebel who leads the church  astray with her lawlessness, fornication, and following demons and demonic manifestations in the name of Christ and his Holy Spirit. Most of those today who presume to be the Bride actually consist of the harlot who rides the beast that we see in Revelation 17-18. Because she refuses the LORD’s call to holiness and purity he banishes her from his face.

Esther herself, then, represents the true bride of Christ, the one who replaces Vashti, the false and proud one who presumes to be his bride. But, who is Mordecai? Mordecai represents God’s overcomers, the manchild, the son of God who we see birthed in Revelation 12. This group’s commission soon begins when he will teach and prepare the true bride, Esther, who will at the same time be divided from her false brethren and moved to a secure place in “the wilderness.”

¹³ And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued ^(A)the woman who had given birth to the male child. ¹⁴ But the woman was given the two ^(B)wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent ^(C)into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished ^(D)for a time, and times, and half a time. (Revelation 12:13-14)

The manchild nourishes the woman with all she needs, with respect both to natural provisions and spiritual truth regarding her calling which she so long ignored. God divides the faithful woman, Esther (the true Bride of Christ), by his own spiritual sword. We see a picture of this in Ezekiel 21:1-5. All of Ezekiel 21 is about to be fulfilled.

21 ^[a] The word of the Lord came to me: ^2 (A)“Son of man, ^(B)set your face toward Jerusalem and ^(C)preach against the sanctuaries.^[b] Prophesy against the land of Israel ³ and say to the land of Israel, Thus says the Lord: ^(D)Behold, I am against you and will draw ^(E)my sword from its sheath and ^(F)will cut off from you both righteous and wicked. ⁴ Because I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked, therefore my sword shall be drawn from its sheath against all flesh from south to north. ^5 (G)And all flesh shall know that I am the Lord. I have drawn ^(H)my sword from its sheath; ^(I)it shall not be sheathed again. (Ezekiel 21:1-5, ESV)

Satan, of course, attempts to destroy all of God’s people he can find on the earth at this time and is represented in this end-time parable by Haman. First, he tries to destroy the manchild, represented by Mordecai. Then he devises plans to destroy all God’s people. As the book progresses we see Haman hanged by his own devise of destruction and the people of Israel, who represent faithful Christians, rout and destroy all of their enemies who intended to kill them instead. And so shall the end of this age be as God fulfills his promises to his servant David and makes all of his enemies ashes under his feet.