An Exhortation to the Church
from the Book of ESTHER
T
h e story of Esther is a tale of the triumph of the Jewish
people over their sworn adversary, Haman. It’s a story that
has been repeated many times throughout history.
Many generations have dealt with their own “Haman”
in one form or another. Today, once again from Persia, Haman
is arising to threaten the existence of the People of Israel and
God is looking for “Esther” to rise up against this evil and stand
triumphantly with His People.
Who is the “Esther” of this generation, and will she rise
to her calling?
“…there have been
multiple efforts to wipe
out the Jewish nation so
that Yeshua’s prophetic
utterance, that the Jews
as a distinct group would
welcome Him at His
Second Coming, would
be nullified. The enemy
knows that not one of
God’s words can fall to
the ground.”
ANTI-SEMITISM THROUGHOUT HISTORY
Contrary to popular opinion, anti-Semitism is not an unnatural hatred of the Jewish people,
a hatred which says, “I’m just gonna pick on the Jewish people because God loves them.” No, it’s
much more calculated, systematic, strategic and demonic than that. It’s an allout plan of the enemy to destroy the Jews. Since the time that Abraham was established by God as the father of a
nation, satan has sought to destroy the Children of Abraham because he understood that it would
be through Abraham that the seed-promise of his own destruction would come. Before Yeshua
(Jesus), the enemy desired to sabotage the messianic line, the line which came through Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. Post-Yeshua, there have been multiple efforts to wipe out the Jewish nation so
that Yeshua’s prophetic utterance, that the Jews as a distinct group would welcome Him at His
Second Coming, would be nullified. The enemy knows that not one of God’s words can fall to the
ground.
There have been attempts to destroy the Jews both prior to Yeshua and after him. Prior, we
have encountered anti-Christlike figures in Pharaoh (Passover), Haman (Purim), and Antiochus
Epiphanes (Hanukkah). After Yeshua’s first coming, there has been Queen Isabella (Spanish Inquisition), Russian Tsars (Pogroms), and Hitler (the Shoah), to name but a few. The saddest thing
is that many of these efforts have come through people that called themselves Christians, or who
were identified as Christians. That’s what’s so horrific and that’s what we fight against as a Jewish
ministry, because the perception of Jews is that Christians hate the Jews. And that Jesus, the leader
of Christianity, teaches this hatred.
UNDERSTANDING WHO’S WHO IN THE BOOK OF ESTHER
We read the book of Esther, called the Megillah (some of you may remember the cartoon “Magil-
la Gorilla.” It was written and created by - you guessed it - Jews). The cast of characters includes a couple
of heroes: the King, he’s the one who makes the decrees, so he’s a type of Lord; and Mordecai, who
represents the Jewish people. Esther is the heroine who saves the day by her courage and self-sacrificial behavior. Haman, the villain of the story, is a type of anti-Christ who is used to carry out the
plot to destroy the Jews. He has the ear of the King; he is diabolical. Interestingly enough, Esther is
the only book in the Bible where the Name of God is not mentioned once, but He is clearly behind
the scenes, controlling everything.
MORDECAI AS THE JEWISH PEOPLE
Mordecai is a devout man of God who’s praying, who’s in sackcloth and ashes. He’s a
representation more of the observant wing of the Jewish community, which is about ten percent
worldwide. But the interesting thing about Mordecai is that he never has access to the King. He’s
devout, he’s praying, but he’s stuck at the gate. He can’t go beyond the gate.
How do we understand the Jewish people today, the ones that really love God? Well, Chris-
tians have gone to two extremes. One extreme are Christians who become enamored with Orthodox Judaism and are actually getting involved with Orthodox rabbis and being discipled by them.
I think that Madonna has had an influence for popularizing Kabala, which is really eastern mysticism with Jewish terminology. Many Christians will sit at the feet of the rabbis, learning about
Kabala and/or Orthodox Judaism. That’s an extreme that’s really dangerous because at the root of
Rabbinical Judaism is a rejection of Jesus.
The other extreme is replacement theology, which states that God’s finished with the Jewish
people, there’s nothing left for them, they’re of no importance to God at all, have actually been
rejected by God. These are two extremes.
Mordecai however represents a devout Jew, one who loves God
but doesn’t have access to the holy of holies because Yeshua is the way,
the truth and the life and no one can come to the Father except through
him. He’s stuck at the gate, though, and it’s us, as believers, who do have
access and need to help those who don’t.
ESTHER AS THE CHURCH
The heroine of the story, Esther is the one who has access to the
King; she’s his bride. Her real name, however, is Hadassah, though she
has changed it to a gentile name. She’s a Jew, raised by a Jew, but changes
her name to hide her identity. Neither the King nor his court recognizes
her as being Jewish. The Church has access to the God of Israel but has
hidden its Jewish roots. The roots of our faith are Jewish, but when a
“Esther, like
Joseph, has lost
her Jewish roots,
her Jewish
appearance, and in
the moment of
crisis reveals her
true identity to the
King and goes into
him as an
intercessor on
behalf of Israel.”
Jewish person looks at the Church, they see a distinctly different religious institution. So Esther, like Joseph, has lost her Jewish roots, her Jewish appearance, and in
the moment of crisis reveals her true identity to the King and goes into him as an intercessor on
behalf of Israel.
“…that’s
part of the call of
this ministry is
to wake up the
Church to her
“Esther” role.
The Church is
Esther.”
When it says that the blindness will come off of the eyes of the Jewish
people in Romans 11:25, when the fullness of the Gentiles comes in, the
Church will also fulfill her “Esther” role of
going before the King. There’s a risk involved in this. Esther says, “If I perish, I perish.” But the charge from Mordecai was, “You’ve been called to the
Kingdom for such a time as this, and if you don’t fulfill this, God will raise up
another.”
This is a Last Days Call to the Church: You’ve been called for
such a time as this. There’s a risk involved when you stand before God
and say, “take me.” You see it with the story of Abraham and the slaying of Isaac. Esther comes to
that place where she says, “I’ll do it. If I perish, I perish, but I’m gonna do it.” And that’s part of the
call of this ministry is to wake up the Church to her “Esther” role. The Church is Esther.
LAST DAYS CHURCH
The spirit of Haman is alive and well in the world right now. Anti-Semitism is the highest
it’s ever been since World War II. So, there’s another Haman on the scene. Not just in the possible
form of a specific being, but the spirit of Haman is alive and well
and we need “Esthers” to go before the King on behalf of Israel.
The Book of Esther is a great picture of the time in which we currently live. When you see Haman, think of the anti-Christ in the
world and pray, pray for Israel! But especially pay attention to
Mordecai who’s in sackcloth and ashes and you hear this outcry
in Israel: “Messiah, Messiah, Messiah! He’s coming - get ready!”
He’s stuck at the gate. He stands at the gate and his only way to
the King - his ONLY way - is through Esther.
Read the book of redemption that never mentions the
Name of God once, but see yourself as an “Esther” that has an
intercessory role to go before the King, because we’re told we can
go boldly into the throne room of grace.
“You may all want to be
Jewish now. You may
love the Jewish people
now and even want to be
Jewish, but how will you
feel when there’s
another Holocaust?
When there’s another
Adolph Hitler and Nazi
Germany? Will you
want to be Jewish then?”
Consider also that some of the gravest threats are rising against him and against Israel—
right now. What will you do?
One of the most powerful responsibilities of the Last Days Church is connected to the full-
ness of the Gentiles coming in—is an “Esther” Church that says, “My uncle’s Jewish. My Messiah
is Jewish and I have a responsibility to go before the King on their behalf.”
Art Katz once said to Christians, “You may all want to be Jewish now. You may love the
Jewish people now and even want to be Jewish, but how will you feel when there’s another Holocaust? When there’s another Adolph Hitler and Nazi Germany?
Will you want to be Jewish then? And will you help the Jewish
people even if they don’t appreciate you for it?”
That’s the call—to be an “Esther Church”—to go before the
King and say, “I’m a Jew, save my people!”
By Jonathan Bernis