Part 2 — A People of Destiny

The book of Esther is a wonderful prophetic picture of the end-time body of Messiah. It is like an allegory intended to convey a hidden and yet profound and prophetic truth. Esther went down in Jewish history as a woman of destiny. Her very act of love and intercession for her people altered their destiny as a people who were sentenced to death. In a very prophetic way, God has also chosen us as Jewish and Gentile believers to be modern day Queens Esthers to love and intercede for our people, so that we can have a part in altering their eternal destiny.

Just as Queen Esther was chosen by God to be a woman of destiny, so too we have been chosen by God to be a people of destiny. That is what I believe the Lord wants to impress upon us this year. We are a unique generation, to be alive today at this time in human history. It is no coincidence that you and I have come into the kingdom for such a time as this. It is no coincidence that God is raising up messianic congregations of Jewish and Gentile believers today. We have been called to be a people of destiny.

In fact, Shaul said in Eph. 1:4,5, that we were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love, God predestined us to adoption as sons, through Yeshua the Messiah according to the kind intention of His will. And that He made known to us the mystery of his will, a mystery that was hidden in ages past, which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men as it has now been revealed to us. To be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body of Messiah.

This truth has great relevance to the story of Purim. Esther was a beautiful young Jewess who was adopted into a Jewish family. She was an orphan who grew up under the love and direction of Mordecai, her cousin. Esther was a beautiful young virgin who had never been defiled. We know that through a series of providential circumstances, she was exalted to a place of honor and royalty to become Queen over the entire Persian Empire.

What was the chance of Esther, an orphan, an unknown, a common, ordinary person who did not even reveal her own identity, becoming queen of the land? This is a beautiful story of one who went from rags to riches. But because God was with her and chose her to be a woman of destiny, she found favor with the king: She was a woman of great virtue and integrity who was totally obedient and submissive to Mordecai and the King. Esther is a beautiful picture of the Bride of Messiah. We, too, were adopted into royalty as Jews and Gentiles.

We have found favor with the King, not because of our outward beauty or anything that we have done; because of God's great love, mercy and grace, He saved us and delivered us. When God looks upon us, we are His radiant bride who has been created in His image and likeness, a beautiful bride who will one day be without spot or blemish.

Is. 61:10- "I will rejoice greatly in the Lord. My soul will exalt in my God, for He has clothed me with garments of salvation. He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness. As a bridegroom decks himself with garlands, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels, so the Lord will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations."

Our Bridegroom and King has extended his golden scepter of authority to us and invited us into His presence to dine and dwell with him and has promised to share with us all the riches of his kingdom. Who are we to deserve such honor and glory that we should be called sons of God?

At the beginning of this story, we read that Queen Vashti was rebellious - in fact, her very name means rebellious. She lived up to her name. In ancient Persia, the queen had to be subject to the will of the king. No exceptions. The law was the law. Esther 1:16-18. Wouldn't husbands love that this would be the law of our land? Shaul said in Eph. 5 if you want to experience this, then, husbands love your wives (as you would your own body, be willing to love her sacrificially and she will honor, respect and be submissive to you). Because Vashti was unwilling to submit to the will of the King, she was removed from her place of royalty and honor and a search began for a new queen.

This is a prophetic picture of the Jewish people, who were rebellious and disobedient, and because they were unwilling to submit to God, they were removed from their place of royalty and honor and another people, the Gentiles -- who were the wild olive branches -- were grafted in as royalty with them.

Rom. 11:17-20 - Shaul said, in Eph. 2, of the Gentiles, "you were a people who were separate from Messiah, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God, but now in Messiah you who were formerly far off have been brought near by the blood of Yeshua, and have become joint heirs of the promises of God. But God gave a destiny as part of His purpose to the Gentile believer" - Romans 10:19-21.

God did not call the Gentiles to replace their elder brother, but to provoke them to love and jealousy. Through the mercy shown to them by their Jewish brethren, they would, in turn draw them back and deliver them from the hand of Haman (who was a type of Satan, whose purpose was to destroy God's people). God is bringing the destiny of the Jew and Gentile together in our generation.

The story of the prodigal son in Luke 15 is really a picture of the Jewish and Gentile believer living in their Father's house. The Jewish people as a nation abandoned their destiny and chose to go and live among the nations, and they lost sight of their destiny and inheritance as a people. They have suffered greatly because of it. That is why Jonah the prophet is likened to Israel, a prophet who disobeyed God and chose to go his own way. When he disobeyed God, He was thrown in the sea -- a type of the nations. Yet, God miraculously preserved His people in the sea of the nations. It wasn't until the great sea monster threw up Jonah on the shore, that he returned to fulfill his calling, and because he brought the Gentiles to repentance, salvation came to the Gentiles.

The prodigal son is beginning to return. He is realizing his futility among the nations. But as he is returning to the Father's house, his Gentile brother is becoming jealous and angry with his elder brother the Jew, who has lived unfaithfully among the nations. But even the Father reminded him that "everything that I have is yours". The Gentile brother shares equally in the blessings of the kingdom of God. Luke 15:31,32 - "My child ,you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to be merry, and rejoice, for the brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found." The Jewish people are returning and it is causing quite a stir in the house of the Father.

Esther is a beautiful picture of the Gentile believer who was willing to pray and intercede and, if need be, to lay down her very life for the sake of her Jewish brethren. When Esther was chosen as one of the candidates to be queen there was much preparation involved. She had to bathe for six months in oil of myrrh. As a plant, myrrh is not so sweet on the outside, but once it is crushed a sweet and fragrant aroma emanates from it. God is preparing us to be his glorious bride.

As part of His purpose, He allows us to go through many trials and testings in our faith, as part of our preparation to become a bride without spot or blemish, so that one day we will stand in the presence of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords as a radiant bride.

That is why the scriptures say, "Do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal which comes about for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you, but to the degree that you share in the sufferings of Messiah, keep on rejoicing... that the proof or your faith being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire may result in praise, glory and honor at the revelation of Yeshua." Rom. 8 - "All the suffering of this present life is not worth being compared to the glory that will one day be revealed to us..."

God has called us as His bride to be a fragrant aroma. As the trials and pressures of life weigh us down and at times crush and discourage us, as we learn to cast all our anxiety upon God, he will lift us up and we will come through smelling like roses.

"For we are the fragrance of Messiah among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one the aroma of death, to the other an aroma of life."

Esther did not become queen right away. It is believed it took well over a year before she was prepared to go into the presence of the King. It takes time for God to prepare us to be able to enter into His presence. It has taken 6000 years. Through many trials we will enter the kingdom of God, but one day, as the glorious bride,we will sit down with our bridegroom, King Messiah, at the marriage supper of the lamb.

The name Esther means "star", which brings to mind Rev. 22:16, 17 - "I am the offspring of David, the bright and morning star... and the Spirit and the Bride say come...And let the one who hears say, come, And let the who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes to take the water of life without cost."

Every Jewish person has two names. One is from the culture in which he or she lives, and the other is a Hebrew name. Esther's Hebrew name is Hadassah, which means myrtle. Myrtle is figurative of the gospel. Esther the star, Hadassah the gospel, are you beginning to see our destiny based on these names?

Ph. 2:15 says - "Prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as stars (Esthers) in the world, holding fast to the word of life (Hadassah - the Gospel).

Dan. 12:3- "Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars (Esther's) forever and ever."

When we begin to fast, pray and intercede for our people, God will begin to accomplish His purpose in our lives. It has been said, prayer without evangelism is an arrow that is shot nowhere. It is one thing to pray, but we must be willing to reach out and share this good news of life. The time has come for the body of Messiah to stand up and begin to reach out to the Jewish people with the gospel.

We can be comfortable attending Shul every Shabbat, singing our messianic songs, celebrating our appointed feasts, enjoying great fellowship and ministry, but if we are not sharing the good news of the gospel we are failing to be obedient to the destiny God has called us to. The words that Mordecai told Esther are very prophetic to the New Covenant believer.

"Do not think that because you are in the King's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain SILENT at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your family will PERISH. And who knows but that you have come to a royal position for such a time as this?"

As long as we are quiet and spiritually unengaged, things go along smoothly enough, but when we make a strong commitment to the Jewish people, or to Messiah, or share our faith, we encounter all kinds of trouble. We should not be discouraged when you do right and encounter opposition and difficulty. It goes with the territory.

As long as Esther and Mordecai were silent, they were safe, but when Mordecai took a stand - identifying with his Jewishness - it unleashed a ferocious attack. We may discover this same reality in our own lives. Mordecai refuses to bow to Haman, not because it is wrong to honor earthly authority in this way, but because of what Haman represents. He was an Agagite, descended from Agag king of Amalek, the tribe that attacked Israel at the beginning of the Exodus, and against whom the Lord declared war forever (Exodus 17:16). Amalek embodies the unseen spiritual forces that oppose God's purposes of redemption.

Mordecai, in contrast, is of the tribe of Benjamin, a descendant of King Saul, who was told centuries earlier to destroy Amalek. The encounter between Mordecai and Haman reflects the encounter between the godless powers dominating human history and the chosen people Israel. Further, the Midrash tells us that Mordecai refuses to bow because Haman is wearing an idolatrous image on his chest, so that anyone bowing to him thereby bows to the false gods who empower him. Mordecai takes his stand in the age-old struggle between the redeemed people and the powers of this world. Shema Israel...

We are drawing close to the end of the age. God is preparing to fulfill his destiny through us. On March 9, 2001, I went to a special community transformation meeting conducted by George Otis, Jr. He shared about the miraculous way God is transforming entire communities. There are now at least fifty documented cases of this. Calgary is a city that is ripe for community transformation. We are on the verge of spiritual awakening in our city. God is calling us be prepared for this great harvest that is coming.

One day, God will not only transform a community, but the scriptures promise that one day God will transform an entire nation. Romans 11:25 - "All Israel will be saved..." The prophet Zechariah prophesied that one day God will pour out on the House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication, and they will look upon Him whom they have pierced, and they will mourn bitterly over Him as one mourns for an only Son. This is our prayer, that one day Israel will be saved as a nation!

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written and / or assembled by Cal Goldberg, Messianic Leader, Beth Shechinah