The book of Esther is a prophetic parallel of the bride being made ready for the King. It also shows how the pride of man releases wrath against God’s people. Pride comes before a fall and it opens the door to judgment. When Satan can move men to pride, the Lord is forced to allow judgment as we see when King David numbered his army in pride:
And the Lord caused his anger to burn forth again in Israel, and Satan stirred up David against them, saying, Go, number Israel and Juda. (2 Samuel 24:1 Brenton LXX)
The Woman
There was a woman named Vashti who was the queen of the Persian empire and who was untied to her husband king Xerxes (Ahasuerus). The king commanded that the queen should come to him:
“But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command brought by his eunuchs; therefore the king was furious, and his anger burned within him.” (Esther 1:12 NKJV)
Vashti demonstrated her lack of love and friendship for the king by her disobedience. She did not obey his commandments.
““As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.” (John 15:9-10, 14 NKJV)
The woman proved to the king that she did not really love him and therefore was not fit to be his bride. The king issued this false woman a certificate of divorce just as the Lord divorced His first wife, Israel:
“Then I saw that for all the causes for which backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also.” (Jeremiah 3:8 NKJV)
The king desired a new wife and thus Esther began “to be made ready” for the king. She went through a purifying process that would cleanse her so that she might find favor in the king’s sight:
“Each young woman’s turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus after she had completed twelve months’ preparation, according to the regulations for the women, for thus were the days of their preparation apportioned: six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying women.” (Esther 2:12 NKJV)
The other women didn’t take the preparation process seriously just as many in our time will choose not to be made ready to approach the presence of the great King of Kings:
“Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” (Revelation 19:7-8 NKJV)
Esther, the bride, used her time to be prepared for the king:
“So Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus, into his royal palace, in the tenth month, which is the month of Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.” (Esther 2:16-17 NKJV)
So the woman who abided in the grace of God and allowed herself to be prepared, was selected to become the bride. The others were not. The other women were not cast out of the kingdom or into some deep dungeon (Hell), but they were not permitted to sit next to the king on his throne or rule with him (Revelation 2:26-29, 3:12, 21:2)
The Pride of Man
Everything appeared to be going well in the kingdom but the self-life of Mordecai had not been dealt with. So will it be in our day at the end of the age (which we are at). The pride of man will come out in full force as Satan will move men to sin in pride:
“After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him and set his seat above all the princes who were with him. And all the king’s servants who were within the king’s gate bowed and paid homage to Haman, for so the king had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai would not bow or pay homage. Then the king’s servants who were within the king’s gate said to Mordecai, “Why do you transgress the king’s command?”” (Esther 3:1-3 NKJV)
The king had given a command that everyone should bow when Haman passed. There was not anything sinful about this command as bowing was a cultural sign of showing respect. This was not any kind of worship. Yet Mordecai resisted in pride and refused to bow. This enraged Haman and caused him to set his heart on killing all of God’s people (at that time). Haman then had the king sign a decree that God’s people should be judged.
Haman was not the source of this evil. The pride of Mordecai was the source and it put all of God’s people in jeopardy. If Mordecai would have humbled himself and bowed before Haman, there would never have been any need for Esther to petition the king on behalf of her people. God’s people always want to blame Satan for evil released when the true source of evil originates in the heart of man. Satan didn’t force Adam and Eve to sin, they chose evil.
So pride opened the door for the destruction of God’s people. So will it be in our day. The pride of ‘Mordecai’ in the house of God will leave many believers unprotected from the wrath of Satan that is coming. In the last days people will be proud and arrogant (2 Timothy 3:1-2). When Satan is confined to the earth, he will began to destroy God’s people (believers in Jesus):
“And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (Revelation 12:17 NKJV)
This is the group of believers who will not be protected from the wrath of Satan. Many of these believers will be killed by the dragon because they did not walk fully with the Lord. These people got born again by believing in and confessing Jesus, but they never made Christ there life. This group of believers keeps the commandments of God but choose not to be made ready as the bride. They never knew the Lord intimately as they did not have oil in their lamps. This group only has an ‘inner court’ relationship with the Lord.
The bride are those believers who picked up their crosses and followed Jesus as disciples. The bride spent time with the Holy Spirit and allowed Him to fill their vessels with His fresh oil. Their lamps are burning. These saints will be protected when the wrath of Satan begins on the earth. This group of believers has a ‘Holy place’ or ‘Holy of Holies’ type relationship with the Lord. They sit under the shelter and covering (protection) of the Almighty (Psalm 91):
“But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.” (Revelation 12:14 NKJV)
The third group of believers will be those who are born again but still live in unrepentant sin. They will not have a solid foundation when the storms come and will fall away from the faith. This group could be considered part of the ‘outer court’ because they will actually return to the outer court from the inner court. These are the ‘apostate ones’ Jesus spoke of:
“And in the same way the ones sown upon stony ground are those who, when they hear the Word, at once receive and accept and welcome it with joy; And they have no real root in themselves, and so they endure for a little while; then when trouble or persecution arises on account of the Word, they immediately are offended (become displeased, indignant, resentful) and they stumble and fall away.” (Mark 4:16-17 AMPC)
The great persecution will come globally. Many will fall away from their faith in Jesus Christ because they did not allow Christ to go deep into the soil of their hearts, take root, and grow to maturity. Christ is the living Word. When Satan releases extreme persecution, carnal believers will deny Christ to escape suffering, torture, imprisonment, and death. Jesus prophesied of this:
“Then they will hand you over to suffer affliction and tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. And then many will be offended and repelled and will begin to distrust and desert [Him Whom they ought to trust and obey] and will stumble and fall away and betray one another and pursue one another with hatred.” (Matthew 24:9-10 AMPC)
Jesus did not preach a ‘once saved, always saved’ false Gospel. He preached a ‘fall away from the faith’ Gospel for certain people who do not allow the Word to penetrate into the soil of their hearts’. That’s if we choose to actually believe Him and His words instead of false teaching circulating in the church. Jesus gives us free will to believe what we choose, whether that be deception or truth. The ‘inner court’ is not a safe place to be at in the days ahead. Believers will either be at great risk of being killed (in a way that God did not intend) or fall away from the faith.
The Bride
Protection comes by becoming the bride in these last days before Christ’s return. Esther stood before the king in his presence and was protected from the wrath of Satan that would have been released through Haman. In Esther’s time, she was able to petition the king so that all of her people would be spared. However, we are in a different time. Esther will only be able to save herself in these last days. Believers now have a choice to become Esther (the bride) so that they can be divinely protected in the wilderness by the hand of God, or experience a different fate.
“Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour out My wrath upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast, Though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they would deliver neither son nor daughter; they would but deliver their own lives by their righteousness (their moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation).” (Ezekiel 14:19-20 AMPC)
The righteous bride will find favor with the great King in the perilous times ahead. She will not be able to save others, but her own life will be spared. It is time that we become the bride and take our rightful place next to the great King.
-Ty Unruh (May 2023)
