My readers know that one of the most important words in my writings is “hidden”. I have written many articles here about Hidden Messiah; I also wrote about the hidden, secret meaning of scripture at the last level of the PARDES technique –Sod. Today, as we approach Purim, it is a great joy and blessing for me to write about the book of Esther, because there are a lot “hidden” elements in this book.
THE STORY: EVIL REVERSED
I suppose you all know the story: expelled from the Holy Land, many Jews settled in the different towns of the Persian Empire. Some lived in the capital of Persia, Shushan. The king of the Persian Empire, the emperor Ahasuerus, was looking for a new wife and thus the beautiful and pure Esther – Haddasah, an orphan raised by her cousin, a godly Jewish man named Mordechai – became a queen of this world empire. Obedient to Mordechai’s command, she did not reveal her background to anyone. (This is our first “hidden”, by the way: a righteous Jewish girl with God’s light inside of her heart, is hidden inside this dark heathen place – the King’s palace)
As the story goes, Mordechai refused to bow his head in honor of Haman, who was Prime Minister to the emperor Ahasuerus. Infuriated, Haman pays off the King to decree a genocide of all Jews: “to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day.”[i] The day selected by Haman’s pur (lottery) was the 13th of Adar.
We then have an amazing conversation between Mordechai and Queen Esther: Mordechai tells her about Haman’s plot and the King’s decree, and asks her to save her people. She is full of doubts at first, and he speaks these well-known words to her:
“Do not think in your heart that you will escape in the king’s palace any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?[ii]”
Mordechai rallied the Jews to fasting and prayer, Esther also fasted and prayed for three days, and as a result, the miracle happened and the evil was reversed. Esther was able to convince Ahasuerus to hang Haman and to allow the Jews to defend themselves. On the 13th of Adar, battles were fought throughout the entire empire between the Jews and those who sought to destroy them. The following day, Adar 14, became a day of celebration of the ensuing Jewish victory. Since the battle in Shushan went on for two days, the celebration there was held on Adar 15. Thus were these two days instituted as the festival of Purim – Adar 15 in walled cities, and Adar 14 in unwalled towns.[iii]
MEGILLAT ESTER: THE REVELATION OF THE HIDDEN
Now, what is so unique about this book? The answer to this question might surprise you at first: The book of Esther is the only book in the Bible that does not explicitly mention God! What?! So why is it in the Bible, anyway? Why was it included in the canon in the first place?
And here we come to a point of great importance. This book was included in the canon because, in fact, it is all about God. The word “God” doesn’t appear openly in the Book because oftentimes God remains hidden in our lives until we recognize Him and His handwriting in the circumstances and events that unfold. Yes, it sometimes happens that God’s salvation comes as a miracle, defying natural laws (like in the book of Daniel for instance). However more often than not, divine salvation is “disguised” in ordinary events – “hidden” in what can be perceived as a series of “coincidences” – like what happens here in the book of Esther. Even the name of this book – Megillat Esther (the Scroll of Esther) – is very profound and reflects this amazing dynamic between hidden and revealed: the name Esther (אסתר) is related to the word “nistar”: “hidden”, “concealed”; while the word Megillah is related to the word “megaleh”: “reveal”. So, the words “Megillat Esther” can literally be translated as “the revelation of the hidden” – and this is the meaning of the name of this amazing book!
We’ve encountered a very similar dynamic between hidden and revealed previously. Do you remember when we spoke about Joseph recognizing his brothers and at the same time, making himself strange to them? We discovered that the verb for ‘he knew them’ (וַיַּכִּרֵם), and the verb for ‘he made himself strange unto them’ (וַיִּתְנַכֵּר אֲלֵיהֶם) are derived from the same root. These two actions, not only very different, but in a sense, completely opposite – “to recognize” and “to disguise” – are expressed by Hebrew verbs coming from the very same root. Even though the eyes of the brothers could not recognize Joseph, their hearts were burning under the touch of God’s spirit – their hearts perceived what their eyes did not.
The Book of Esther is also about this mystery: the mystery of the God being hidden – disguised – revealed – recognized. In the story of Esther, just as in the story of Joseph, the evil is reversed – and that’s how God reveals Himself in these stories. And that is how He is recognized in these stories.
THE HIDDEN BEGINNING
Before we finish this article, let us reveal one more hidden theme in this book – one which is hidden so deeply that it is often overlooked. However it is also, like all the events of this book, “the revelation of the hidden” – and one more reason to see God behind all the events of Purim; one more reason to know that he is the One who has orchestrated these events.
In 1 Samuel 15, we read: Samuel also said to Saul…. 3 Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them…
7 And Saul attacked the Amalekites, from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt.… 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them…
We see that Saul spared Agag, and by so doing, he clearly disobeyed God and His commandment. That’s why we read in the same chapter: 10 Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, 11“I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments.” Saul spared Agag, and right after that he was rejected as King. Agag had to be destroyed – and it seems that his destruction was very important in God’s eyes. Now bear with me please:
Esther 3:1 After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite…
Esther 2:5 In Shushan the citadel there was a certain Jew whose name was was Mordecai the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite.
1 Sam. 9:1 There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power. 2 And he had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul.
Can you see “the revelation of the hidden” here? Saul was commanded to destroy Agag – but he didn’t do it. In fact, the story of Purim started here – but it was a hidden beginning. The line of Agag and the line of Kish would have to meet again in the future. According to Jewish tradition, Mordecai had to destroy Agag’s descendant, Haman, because Saul didn’t destroy Agag. And this is just one more profound lesson found in this fascinating book.
[i] Est.2:13
[ii] Est.4: 13-15
[iii] Today, the only city in which Purim is celebrated on the fifteenth of Adar is Jerusalem.
Julia, I have a copy of the Talmud (selections) translated by H. Polano and it has several pages of extra text from the book of Esther and God is mentioned several times in this text. I would be interested to know what you think about this text in relation to your post.
I read this text, Joan, and I think, these are typical Rabbinic insertions ( we have many of them, especially in Midrashim). They fill in the gaps that the Scriptures leave, they are very nice to read – but this is not the Scripture.
Check out Esther 5:4 in the Hebrew text and find the tetragrammaton in an acronym.
God’s name is hidden in Esther 5:4 in an acronym in the Hebrew text. There are four words in a row that spell Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey.
Actually God’s name is in the book of Esther hidden in 5:4. The first letters of the words: yavo=yod, ha melek=hey, ve haman=vav, haiyom=hey. Thus you have yod, hey, vav, hey, God’s name in an acronym.
Thank you, Arlene, this is one more “hidden detail” of this amazing book : Megillat Ester, “The Revelation (or the Revealing, I would say) of the Hidden”.
Arlene
Interesting but help me understand. The Hebrew words are Yavo , Ha Melek , Ve Haman , and Haiyon. Are these the English word Equivalents : THE KING TOGETHER WITH HAMAN.?
………YHVH
THANKS
Also, Purim or the story of Esther is about the Day of the Lord and the Antichrist (Haman), the people (House of Judah and House of Israel.
Jardalkalatgmail.blogspot.com– Purim and the Connection to the Day of the Lord).
Thank you for sharing. : ) ✌
I think there is another hidden meaning as well. When Mordechai says, “For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” [ii] Relief and Deliverance can be interpreted as Salvation. Place can be interpreted as Macomb. Yeshua means God is Salvation and Salvation is Help, Deliverance and even Rescue when used as a verb. Macomb may refer to The Place when it is used as HaMacomb which is a Name for God. So I believe that Mordechai is saying to Esther in a sense “Yeshua (The Son) will arise or come for the Jews from HaMacomb (The Father)!” I do not know Hebrew but deliverance and Yeshua must come from the same root word. The same root for place and HaMakom must come from the same root. Therefore, I think sod is in Mordechai’s statement to Esther. God is in this statement, revealed and not revealed or “hidden in plain sight”. Me being an African American might say Mordechai spoke in code so if anyone (the enemy or a turn coat) might be listening in on the conversation without Mordechai and Esther knowing, they would think he was talking about help from a human army, as opposed to God. I consider myself a Messianic Gentile studying the roots of Christianity which are Hebrew/Jewish/African. I am grateful for and I appreciate you and your teachings. Please let me know if what I wrote makes sense. It is the first time I have written something like this to you. Thank you for providing this opportunity. May you always have Shalom in Yeshua and may He always bless and order your footsteps!
Your Comment was profoundly acknowledging here on my end. Thanks for sharing. I have been seen this Ha word in Hebrew makes a big difference. Was recently studying Isaiah 7:14 and it came up .
Is that what you call an active Hebrew participle as my source says In Verse 14 (above) when use with the word Behold it refers and must point to a future event ( birth of Messiah)
thanks MM
Dear Rev. Wendell, thank you for your very deep comment, I’ve been thinking about it ever since I read it. As you point out, there is a very profound truth, sod, secret in Mordechai’s statement to Esther. You are correct regarding the word : HaMacom (place), it is used as God’s name (or maybe , as a replacement for God’s name) in the Jewish tradition, so in this sense, indeed, “God is in this statement, revealed and not revealed or “hidden in plain sight”. However, the word for Deliverance here (in this particular verse) is coming from a completely different root than Yeshua, so your second suggestion: “Yeshua (The Son) will arise or come for the Jews from HaMacom (The Father)!” would not be correct (at least, with the literal reading of the text). The idea itself however, is very very beautiful, and I was really impressed and blessed by it. Thank you!
Saul didn’t kill Agag but Samuel did, so where did the relatives come from? I’ve read a couple of takes on it was wondering what was really true? Also the connection of the 10 Nazis hanged on the last day of Sukkot.
Jim
Hi Jim , Jesse asked the same question, and I just replied, so you can see my answer above. The story of the Nazis hanged on Purim, is amazing indeed, and there are many more stories like this, about God’s victories on Purim ( Stalin’s death, the end of the Gulf war etc. ).
Dear Julia
That was an amazing one, and intriguing research findings. God bless you, for your effort to confirm the fulfillment of God’s word over the history. Shalom!
Julie,
I’m struggling to connect the two lineages, Agag & Kish. The text says Saul and his troops “…utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.” (1 Sam. 15:8) only sparing “…Agag as well as the best of the sheep, the cattle, even the fatlings and the lambs, and all that was good…” (1 Sam. 15:9). After God reveals Saul’s disobedience and thereby declares His judgment Samuel confronts Saul about the matter. When Saul claims to “…have carried out Adonai’s command.” (1 Sam. 15:13) Samuel replies by only describing the “…bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” (1 Sam. 15:14). Once Samuel conveys “…Since you have rejected Adonai’s word, He has also rejected you as king.” (1 Sam. 15:23) to Saul the scene ends with Samuel cutting “…Agag into pieces before Adonai in Gilgal.” (1 Sam. 15:33)
How does the line of Agag survive to confront the line of Kish centuries later if all the Amalekites and Agag (by the hand of Samuel) were destroyed?
Forgive me if I seem confrontational … that isn’t my intent at all. I highly respect your work and enjoy reading your commentary! I’m probably missing something and do not realize it. Thanks & God bless!
Hi Jesse, that’s a very good question. The Scripture doesn’t tell us how the line of Agag survived, but it does make clear that it survived: Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite…. I suppose, there are several options we can think of, yet it all would still be our guess. The Jewish tradition, for instance, believes that during that night that was between Saul sparing him, and Samuel killing him, Agag fathered a child; after all, he did say to Samuel: “Surely the bitterness of death is past“. (1 Sam. 15:32 KJV)- it might mean that he didn’t really feel himself a captive because he was not treated as a captive. But once again, we can guess and suppose different things; the only thing we do know for sure is that “the line of Agag survived to confront the line of Kish”.
Thanks Julie! I’m not Jewish so my understanding of the celebrations and holidays are limited … it is of great interest to me and helps bring clarity of the Jewish culture at that time while studying. Your posts help me tremendously! God bless