Esther 2:7 – “Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah, whom he had brought up because she had neither father nor mother.  This girl, who was also known as Esther, was lovely in form and features, and Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter when her father and mother died.”

Esther, the wife of King Xerxes of the Persian Empire, is a prophetic symbol of the bride of Christ.  The bride of Christ is the faithful church (See Ephesians 5:25-27; Revelation 19:7; Revelation 21:2; Revelation 21:9; Revelation 22:17).

Esther replaced rebellious Queen Vashti (see Esther 1:12-22), just as the church replaced the physical nation of Israel as God’s people after the Israelites rejected Jesus, their Messiah, and as the faithful church of the Last Days replaces the dead Christianity embodied in the unfaithful church.  Many biblical stories contrast two women in order to give an illustration of faithful church (the bride of Christ) and the unfaithful church (institutional Christianity).

“…neither father nor mother…” Esther was an orphan, raised by her elderly cousin Mordecai (who is a prophetic type of the Holy Spirit).  The faithful church is comprised of people who have died spiritually to their natural background and have a new life that comes from Eternity (2 Corinthians 5:17).  John’s Gospel says, “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (John 1:12-13)  Obviously, we all had a physical father and mother at some point, but spiritually those in the faithful church receive their source of life from eternity, not from earth.

If we want to be participants in the faithful church, the bride of Christ, we need to stop thinking of church as merely a religious organization, and recognize its identity as a spiritual being with an eternal origin.  (Revelation 21:2).  When our members and leaders understand this, they will take the Lord’s church much more seriously, and have more fear of the Lord about hurting it.

People who view the church merely as a human religious entity will often try to control it (imposing human opinions and agendas instead of following the directions of the Head, Jesus).  They will not see the seriousness of using the church to serve their own needs, whether materially (taking assistance or resources from the church), or emotionally, using the church as a way to feel important, superior to others, powerful, etc.  When we understand the eternal origin of the faithful church, which does not owe its existence to any man or woman but only to the Holy Spirit, then we will recoil in fear at the thought of trying to be in control of others in church, or trying to exploit the resources of the church for our own benefit.  We will avoid the sin of competitiveness and self-promotion within the church.

Just as Esther’s physical parents were forgotten, and she was supposed to keep them a secret (see Esther 2:20), the members of the bride of Christ must forget their sinful past and focus instead on their new life in Christ.  “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal…” (Philippians 3:13-14)

Paul explains in 1 Corinthians, “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived: neither . . . the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.  And that is what some of you were.  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter. Esther had an important role or destiny.  Her preparation for this role actually began in her childhood, when Mordecai was raising her to be a faithful and pure servant of God.  Otherwise, Esther would never have qualified to be the new Queen.

The faithful church is under the responsibility and guardianship of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit trains and teaches the bride of Christ.  We need to teach our members that this is an essential attribute of the church as the Body of Christ – the ongoing training, guidance, protection, and development by the Holy Spirit.  In contrast, the unfaithful church is the product of men, who instill their own personalities, opinions, and cultural values into their organizations.  For the faithful church, the Holy Spirit is in the process of instilling eternal values into the members of the Bride of Christ, shaping us and equipping us as time goes on.

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