Hitler used the writings of Martin Luther to justify what he was doing. The spirit of Amalek is among us today and we need to recognize it so that we can stand against it. In order to do that, we need to learn, so we are going to take a look at the Book of Esther and Haman. This will be linked to what we have learned in our study of Amalek. The major key in understanding the False Messiah will be the study of Amalek, personified by one of his descendants, Haman.
Before the Messiah comes, we will have a time period called the “Chevlai Shell Mashiach” or “Birth-pains of the Messiah.” The Lord will have signs we can look for. History has had many models of the False Messiah and these will give us a profile of what the False Messiah will look like when the Birth-pains come. We have had personalities in history like Napoleon and Hitler to help us. As we study the Book of Esther, you will come across a festival called Purim. This ancient festival plays a role in modern history, and we will point out a very significant example of that in what happened in 1953.
We have already gone over the cast of characters, but we are going to add more detail. King Achashverosh will be a picture of the Lord. He is king over all and his actions are regulated by “the law.” Many will know this king by his other name, Xerxes, who invaded Greece after the events in Esther, and fought against the Spartans and other Greeks at the Battle of Thermopylae.
We also have Mordechai, who will be a type of the Messiah. He is descended from the tribe of Benjamin and Shimei, the man who cursed David when David was fleeing Jerusalem ahead of Absalom. He is also from the family of Kish, the same family as King Saul. His name means “myrrh of life” which alludes to Yeshua. Then we have Hadassah, or Esther. Hadassah means “myrtle.” She will be a type of the believer, married to the king.
Then we have Haman, a type of the False Messiah. He is related to Amalek and his name means “noisy, tumult.” A good source for a study of Esther is “The Megillah” by Artscroll, which is a commentary on Esther, and a smaller book called “Prophecies in the Book of Esther” by Joseph Good of Hatikva Ministries. We are not going to do a verse by verse study of Esther, but we will highlight certain portions.
In Esther 1.1-16 we have a banquet being given by the king for all his princes and attendants, his army officers who would fight Leonidas and the Spartans/Greeks at Thermopylae, the nobles and other dignitaries in Susa (Shushan) the capital. He displayed the riches and splendor of his kingship for 180 days. At the end of that period he held a seven day banquet. Drinks were served and the king’s bounty was on display. The drinking was done according to the law, which meant nobody was forced to imbibe. His wife, Queen Vashti, also gave a banquet for the women of the palace.
On the seventh day, the king commanded seven eunuchs to bring Vashti to the king. He wanted to display her beauty before everyone, and many believe he wanted to have her presented naked, wearing only her crown. But, Vashti refused, and the king became angry. The king discussed what was to be done to Vashti. In Esther 1.14-16 we are introduced to a man named Memucan who began to speak ahead of everyone present before the king. Memucan is thought by some to be another name for Haman. In “The Megillah” (meaning “the Scroll”) commentary it says, “A Tanna taught:’Memucan is Haman. Why was he called Memucan? Because he was destined (“mucan”) for destruction.’ Rav Kahana said: ‘From here we see that an ignoramus always thrusts himself to the forefront.’ Memucan is mentioned last in verse 14 and speaks first in verse 16. Everywhere else he is referred to as Memucan (spelled with a mem, mem, vav, chof, nun in Hebrew) but in verse 16, his name is spelled different in Hebrew (with a mem, vav, mem, chof, nun). It is a combination of two words, “mum can” which has the meaning of “a blemish is here.” The blemish is his discourtesy in speaking out of turn. The Torah is not tolerant of boorishness.” In Esther 1.17-22, God’s name (YHVH) is hidden in verse 20, meaning he is “behind the scenes.” In fact, Esther is the only book where God is not mentioned openly. It was the only book of the Tanak not found in the Dead Sea Scrolls because they did not need to put this book into Genizah for that reason. The word “law” is mentioned three times in Chapter 1, and we learn that Vashti is banished from the presence of the king and she lost her royal position.
In Esther 2.1-5 we learn that Mordechai was called a “Jew” and this term would eventually be used for anyone from any of the tribes. The king has a “beauty search” and overseers are sent throughout the kingdom to find beautiful women to replace Vashti. We also learn that Mordechai was the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish from the tribe of Benjamin. So, let’s pick up some information about these names. In 1 Sam 9.1-2 we learn that there was a man from Benjamin named Kish, and he had a son named Saul. In 2 Sam 16, David is fleeing from Absalom. In verse 5 we learn that there was a man from the family of Saul named Shimei who came cursing David. He was really getting on everyone’s nerves and finally Abishai said “Let me go over and cut off his head” but David would not let him. David said in verses 11-12, “Behold, my son who came out from me seeks my life; how much more now this Benjaminite? Let him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has told him. Perhaps the Lord will look on my affliction and return good to me instead of his cursing this day.”
David’s mercy produced a Mordechai (Esther 2.5). King Saul, as we have seen, had mercy on King Agag, the Amalekite (1 Sam 15.8-20). His misplaced mercy produced a Haman. These two, the descendants of Agag and Shimei, will confront one another in the Book of Esther through Haman and Mordechai. Agag was the recipient of misplaced mercy, and Shimei was the recipient of God-placed mercy. The teaching here is this. Proper mercy will produce a Mordechai (life) and misplaced mercy will produce a Haman (death). Mordechai is a picture of the Second Adam (Yeshua), while Saul is a picture of the First Adam (Adam) who failed.
In Esther 2.6-15 we are introduced to Hadassah (that is Esther). She is the niece of Mordechai and he raised her because her parents had apparently died. Her name means “myrtle” and Esther is from “Ishtar” which means “beautiful as the moon.” She was gathered up, along with other women, and taken to the king’s palace. She was instructed by Mordechai not to let anyone know that she was Jewish. This decision will play out in God’s plan as the chapters move on, ultimately leading to the downfall of Haman.
In Esther 2.16-23, Esther finds favor with all who saw her. The king loved Esther more than all the other women that were brought and she found favor with him, too. She was made queen, but did not reveal her identity to anyone. Mordechai finds out about a plot to kill the king and he tells Esther, and she tells the king about it. An investigation ensued and what Mordechai found out was proved true, and the culprits were hanged on a gallows. An account of this plot and the results was written into the Book of the Chronicles in the presence of the king. This account will come up later in the story and have a role in the downfall of Haman and the elevation of Mordechai.
In Esther 3.1-2, we find out that Haman is a descendant from Agag, the king of the Amalekites. The perpetual enemy of the Jews has a high placed official in the court of the king, and the kings servants who were at the king’s gate would bow down to Haman, as the king commanded. But Mordechai wouldn’t do it. He refused to bow to Haman. But why? It was because Haman wore an image of a false god around his neck, according to the Midrashim. John Gill in his commentary on Eshter 3.2 says, “it was a kind of reverence to a man, and worship of him, which is contrary to his conscience, and the law of his God.”
In Esther 3.3-10 we find out that Haman doesn’t like this “insolence” and he begins to plot against Mordechai and all the Jews. Lots, or “purim”, were cast cast daily and from month to month to find out which was the best month and best day to destroy the Jews, and none could be found. Finally, they came to the last month and the thirteenth day of that month, called Adar. The leading of the Lord overruled the lot during this time so that the Jews had time enough through Esther to expose the plot against them and to have the plan of the Lord play out as he wished. We will have a tremendous picture of the redemption play out, as we shall soon see.
We will pick up here in Part 25 with Haman’s plea before the king and his rationale as to why it would be in the best interest of the king to have the Jews destroyed and removed from his kingdom.
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