Go Ye Into All the Empire: A Theology of Missions From The Book of Esther |

by CBTS Student | Dec 3, 2024 | Missions, Old Testament

Editor’s Note: This is a portion of a CBTS student paper. Since portions of the original paper were removed to make this work more readable for a blog format, the footnotes have been divided into two sections, at the very bottom of this blog. 

Introduction

The purpose of this blog is to draw a theology of missions from the biblical Book of Esther. To some, this may seem like a strange choice because it is well known that Esther never explicitly references God. However, as Matthew Henry wrote in his introduction to the book, “…though the name of God be not in it, the finger of God is, directing many minute events for the bringing about of his people’s deliverance.”^[1] Esther is an account of God redeeming His people and judging His enemies through ordinary acts of providence.^[2]

It is my assertion that this book is also a microcosm of the conflict between the old humanity in Adam (the seed of the serpent) and the new humanity in Christ (the seed of the woman). Esther shows us that in the end, the woman’s offspring will triumph over that of the serpent. Therefore, Esther should not be overlooked as we seek to form a biblical understanding of both missions itself, as well as the telos of missions.

Typology in Esther

As I asserted in the introduction, Esther serves as a microcosm of the enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. This conflict is spoken of by God Himself, after the fall of Man, as He curses the serpent. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15). The story of Esther ends in the same way that the story of the whole cosmos will end– the salvation of the woman’s seed and the judgment of the serpent’s seed. But in this age, the serpent’s seed persecutes the woman’s seed. We see examples of this in Cain’s murder of Abel and Saul’s pursuit of David. We also see this enmity in Haman’s plot against the Jews.

Jesus is, of course, the great and climactic Seed of the Woman. He is the One Who was born of a virgin and came in ultimate fulfillment of Genesis 3:15 to crush the head of the Serpent on the cross.^[1] But, those united to Him by faith are also in a sense, as Matthew Poole explains, “…the seed of this woman; and all these are the implacable enemies of the devil, whom also by Christ’s merit and strength they do overcome.”^[2] This is why in his apocalyptic vision of the war between the woman and the dragon that John describes the woman’s other children as “those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus” (Rev. 12:17).

Esther typologically points to these truths. Francis Foulkes writes the following about a Christological reading of the Old Testament scriptures:

We may look at this in two different ways. First, we may look at it from the point of view that history is itself prophetic. It is prophetic in the sense that all history, if understood sub specie aeternitatis, teaches us the principles on which God rules and will rule as Lord of history. Moreover the Old Testament record of history is prophetic in the particular sense that it describes a revelation and divine action which are shown to be incomplete. A divine purpose of judgment and mercy is revealed in the history; but it is yet to be fulfilled or fully wrought out in history. Alternatively, we may look at it from the point of view of God preparing the world, granting partial revelation as preparatory to the incarnation of the Word himself, instructing a people in his ways of dealing with men, working towards the fulness of time when he would send forth his Son to be the Savior of the world and the One by whom he will judge all men. We may interpret the Old Testament typologically from either point of view, and, of course, fundamentally the two are one. Revelation is wrought out in history, and to the eyes of faith history is revelation.^[3]

Esther herself serves as a shadow of Christ in the narrative. In chapters 4 and 5, prior to her appearance before the king, Esther fasts for three days. John Gill rightly says that fasting is, “expressive of affliction and humiliation of soul.”^[4] Much like Jonah’s three days and nights in the belly of the fish, Esther’s fast is a picture of Christ’s three days in the tomb. After her time of humiliation, Esther ascends, as it were, into the King’s presence with her royal robes. After this, she intercedes for her people’s salvation. Esther follows the pattern of humiliation and exaltation. This pattern finds its ultimate fulfillment in Christ’s own sufferings and glory.

Mordecai also can be seen in a Christological way.^[5]Ahasuerus honors him in chapter 6 by dressing him in royal robes and setting him upon a royal horse. The fact that this is done in such a way that it thwarts Haman’s plot for Mordecai’s execution means that we should also view this event as a type of death and resurrection. Although Mordecai and Esther are Benjaminites associated with the family of King Saul, their depiction is in keeping with the expectation of the coming Davidic King, Who would establish relief and justice for the covenant people.

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins. (Is. 11:1-5)

Mordecai and Esther’s respective exaltations which result in blessings on the people served to set the parameters for Israel’s Messianic expectation.^[6] The Jews themselves saw this event as significant for their history,^[7] instituting Purim for its commemoration  “as the days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday” (Est. 9:22a).

Haman is clearly depicted as the serpent’s seed. Like the dragon of Revelation 12, he seeks to wipe out the chosen race. Five times he is referred to as an Agagite. This means that Haman was descended from the royal line of Amalek. This was the evil nation of whom God had said, “I  will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven” (Ex. 17:14b). King Saul (Esther and Mordecai’s ancestor) failed to kill Agag in 1 Samuel 15^[8]; he failed to crush the serpent’s head. But in Esther, two of Saul’s descendents accomplish that work by opposing this ancient adversary.^[9] In this way, Esther and Moredcai act as a new Adam, doing what the old one (represented by Saul) failed to do.

If Esther is an expression of the woman’s triumph over the serpent, then there are clearly implications for missions. Our Lord Jesus understood His own work, in part, as a defeat of Man’s ancient adversary: Satan. Jesus says “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” The church goes forth to declare the good news that the Seed of the Woman has crushed the serpent’s head. This is also what we see in Esther. To this we now turn our attention.

Salvation and Judgment in Esther

Esther and Moredcai’s triumph over Haman made the way for the Jews to be saved. The author of Esther writes,

The king’s scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day. And an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language. And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed it with the king’s signet ring. Then he sent the letters by mounted couriers riding on swift horses that were used in the king’s service, bred from the royal stud, saying that the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included, and to plunder their goods, on one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. A copy of what was written was to be issued as a decree in every province, being publicly displayed to all peoples, and the Jews were to be ready on that day to take vengeance on their enemies. So the couriers, mounted on their swift horses that were used in the king’s service, rode out hurriedly, urged by the king’s command. And the decree was issued in Susa the citadel. (Est. 8:9-14)

As the decree for destruction had been universally disseminated, so too is the decree for deliverance. The writer makes reference, as he did in Chapter 1, to all 127 provinces, showing the vast extent of Ahasuerus’s dominion.^[10] The heralds go into all the empire and spread the good news. This is reminiscent of the words spoken in regard to the end of the Babylonian captivity. “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns’” (Is. 52:7). The people of God defeat their foes and respond to their deliverance with celebrations. Mordecai, like Joseph in Egypt before him, has become the second most powerful man in a pagan kingdom, and uses his position to bring blessing to the progeny of Abraham.

The salvation of God’s people in Esther is closely tied with the judgment of the wicked. Christians understand that there is a final day of judgment coming. This is when the church will, at last, be delivered from all the persecution of her enemies. The Apostle John describes thus:

Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.” And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh. (Rev. 19:17-21).

The destruction of Haman’s allies was but a foretaste of this eschatological judgment. What we find in Esther is a paradigm for the unfolding of history after the humiliation and exaltation of Christ. As the good news goes forth into every part of the globe, the elect are saved from the wrath to come. This is how the world draws ever closer to its appointed end^[11] when, “The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” (Matt. 13:41-43a).

However, that day has not yet come. God, Who is patient and merciful, continues to hold out His hands to sinners. The church should consider herself to be, not on the day of the slaughter as it were, but on the day of joyful proclamation. This is the day of salvation, when the good news of Christ’s victory over sin and the grave goes to every tribe, tongue, people and nation. Those who respond in faith and repentance are like the Jews in the diaspora– they gladly receive the message of salvation.

In this age, the church is an instrument of God’s mercy prior to the final day of judgment. “…we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Cor. 5:20a). Our war is spiritual, not physical. Paul writes, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). Ian Duguid says in his commentary on Esther,

We live in the era of the outpouring of grace, in which we fight with spiritual weapons to bring the gospel to the nations, defeating God’s enemies by seeing them graciously transformed into his friends. Now we fight with the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, which instead of turning live foes into dead corpses can transform dead sinners into live saints. Now we wrestle in prayer, seeking God’s enlivening work in the hearts and souls of our friends and neighbors.

What gives urgency to our task, though, is the fact that God’s nature hasn’t changed and his edict of death against rebellious sinners still stands. All men and women, young and old, must ultimately bow the knee before Christ or be eternally damned. There is no middle ground: we are either part of the Lord’s people or among his enemies, and the wrong allegiance will be eternally fatal. The Mosaic-era practice of holy war was itself a foreshadowing within history of the last judgment, a warning to men and women everywhere not to presume upon God’s grace and mercy, just as the physical blessings of the Promised Land foreshadowed the blessings of the age to come. There is still a judgment to come, when Christ himself will go out dressed in a blood-stained robe as the rider on the white horse, armed with a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations (Rev. 19:11-15). Holy war is not obsolete; it has just been temporarily suspended during this era of grace.^[12]

Perhaps some may think that there is a contradiction between Christians having hearts which break for the lost, while also acknowledging that in the age to come we will rejoice in their destruction. And yet, both are the scriptural teaching. We will rejoice in God’s justice, even as we labor in this life to see the lost become objects of God’s mercy. Jesus, Himself the judge of all men, looked with compassion upon the rich young ruler so blind to his own sin. Mark tells us that Jesus “looking at him loved him” (Mark 10:21). We must follow our Lord’s example.^[13]

Believers should frequently call to mind the fate of those unreached peoples who have never heard of this serpent crushing Savior. Augustine hauntingly describes their end as, “…the uniting of both (soul and body) in death eternal…men will not be before or after death, but always in death; and thus never living, never dead, but endlessly dying.”^[14] May the church have the compassion of Paul, who could wish himself cut off from Christ for the sake of his kinsmen. Surely it will ignite the fires of missions when the church acts like she truly believes that the Day of the Lord is coming– that Day of which the slaughter of the Jews’ enemies was only a faint shadow.

Conclusion

Like Esther and Mordecai, Jesus has triumphed over the serpent. Like those couriers who spread the good news of the Jews’ salvation, so does the church spread the gospel to the whole world. As the Jews were spread throughout 127 provinces, so are the elect spread to the four corners of the globe. The church should feel a holy motivation to missional work as she considers, with compassion, the destruction which will fall upon the ungodly. She also should act with the knowledge that her carrying of the gospel to all peoples is a means to the end of God destroying her enemies and vindicating the righteous.

The benevolent rule of Esther and Mordecai serves as a picture of the reign of Christ, Whose reign will never end. In missions, we tell all people how they might enjoy perpetual peace and comfort. We tell them how they might escape the future judgment, and live under the smile of this kind and glorious King. “He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight” (Ps. 72:14). For the nations to avoid the impending slaughter, we must go and publish the blessed decree of the gospel.^[15] This is Esther’s theology of missions.

About the Author: Quinn Privette

Quinn is a B.Div. student at CBTS, and a North Carolina native, who God graciously saved at a young age. Since 2022, he has had the blessing of being married to his wife, Rose. In 2023, under the oversight of Emmanuel Baptist Church (Verona, VA), Quinn worked to plant Providence Reformed Baptist Church in Boone, NC, where he now serves as a pastor.

Footnotes for introduction:

^[1]  Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 643.

^[2] See Karen H. Jobes, The NIV Application Commentary: Esther (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 1999), 41-42.

Footnotes for body & conclusion:

^[1]   It should not escape our attention that Jesus crushed Satan’s head upon a hill called “Place of a Skull”.

^[2]  Matthew Poole, Annotations upon the Holy Bible, vol. 1 (New York: Robert Carter and Brothers, 1853), 10.

^[3] Francis Foulkes,  “A Study of the Basis of Typology in the Old Testament,” in The Right Doctrine from the Wrong Texts?: Essays on the Use of the Old Testament in the New, ed. G. K. Beale (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 1994), 366.

^[4]  John Gill, An Exposition of the Old Testament, vol. 3, The Baptist Commentary Series (London: Mathews and Leigh, 1810), 174.

^[5] The Puritan Thomas Watson uses Mordecai as an illustration of our future beatific vision of God’s glory in Christ. He writes, “If his (Jesus’) transfiguration was so glorious, what will his inaguration be? what a glorious time will it be, when, as it was said of Mordecai, we shall see him in the presence of his Father, ‘arrayed in royal apparel, and with a great crown of gold upon his head,’ Esth. 8:15. There will be glory beyond hyperbole; if the sun were ten thousand times brighter than it is, it could not so much as shadow out this glory; in the heavenly horizon we shall behold beauty in its first magnitude and highest elevation; there we shall ‘see the King in his glory,’ Isa. 33:17.” See Thomas Watson, “Discourses upon Christ’s Sermon on the Mount,” in Discourses on Important and Interesting Subjects, Being the Select Works of the Rev. Thomas Watson, vol. 2 (Edinburgh; Glasgow: Blackie, Fullarton, & Co.; A. Fullarton & Co., 1829), 266.

^[6] I am indebted to the work of Dr. Richard Barcellos on this point.

^[7] See Foulkes, “Acts of God,” 351.

^[8] The Prophet Samuel had to kill Agag himself.

^[9] See Iain M. Duguid, Esther and Ruth, Reformed Expository Commentary: A Series (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing Co., 2005), 33-34, 106-107. See also Jobes, Esther, 42, 119-121.

^[10] Bryan Gregory writes, “The narrator could have simply noted the number of satrapies within the empire (a satrapy is a regional area that encompasses several provinces), of which there were never more than thirty-one, but opting for the larger number more clearly impresses upon the reader the extensive scope and power of the empire over which Ahasuerus was king.”

See Bryan R. Gregory, Inconspicuous Providence: The Gospel according to Esther, ed. Iain M. Duguid, The Gospel according to the Old Testament (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2014), 24.

^[11] Bavinck describes missions as that which gives meaning to this period between Christ’s first coming and second coming. See Bavinck, Missions, 32.

^[12] Duguid, Esther and Ruth, 108-109.

^[13] For an extended treatment of Jesus’ interaction with the rich young ruler, see Walter Chantry, Today’s Gospel: Authentic or Synthetic? (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1970).

^[14]  Augustine of Hippo, “The City of God,” in St. Augustin’s City of God and Christian Doctrine, ed. Philip Schaff, trans. Marcus Dods, vol. 2, A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, First Series (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Company, 1887), 250.

^[15] Jobes writes, “God’s irrevocable decree of death and destruction has been countered by his decree that all who believe in his Son should not perish under his wrath but be delivered into eternal life.” See Jobes, Esther, 191.

CBTS Student

This blog post is authored by a student of Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary.