Colors That Made Them Weep
As we open the first chapter of Esther, we are brought right into the lavish lifestyle of the King of Persia, King Ahasuerus. Reading the account, we are surprised by the highly descriptive words used in detailing all the items found in the king’s sumptuous palace. One might even wonder if this is really the Bible they are reading or an account from the chronicles of the history of Persia. There is a strong message in this narrative.
There is, as well, a sad part to all these palatial elements listed. The Targum says that when the Jews who were in Persia and in Diaspora read the words from the Esther account, they began to weep. Why? It is because these descriptions reminded them of something they had just recently lost. In Esther 1:4 we read that this king had a glorious kingdom. This is a very familiar term for Hebrew Bible readers with glorious and kingdom, kavod and malchuto, being used together in the scriptures to describe God’s kingdom.
Furthermore, two other Hebrew words used together, tiferet gedo-lato, the Splendor of His Majesty are used in the Scriptures to refer only to God yet here this same splendor is attributed to a foreign king. In addition to this, the account continues by giving us a grand tour of the splendor of his kingdom–pinpointing many specifics details in this lavish palace. In Esther 1:6 we read of white and blue linen curtains fastened with cords of fine linen and purple on silver rods and marble pillars. But weren’t these the same colors and curtains of fine linen used in the Temple in Jerusalem, which was destroyed just prior to the Jews taken into captivity? The blue, purple, and white were some of the primary colors of the Temple. We take note of that from the Book of Exodus where Moses gave instructions to build the Tabernacle of God. These same three colors are mentioned together at least 30 times.
What are they now doing here embellishing the palace of a foreign king who is living in peace and prosperity? The Second Targum of Esther, Targum Sheni has a lot to say concerning this story. Targums are translations from Hebrew to Aramaic which were done not too long after the time of Esther. This Targum introduces the kingdom of Ahasuerus by saying that this throne was neither his nor his father’s but rather King Solomon’s. They were very perceptive to recognize the same elements found here. The Targum adds (as mentioned earlier) that when some of the people of Israel saw the vessels of the Temple, they cried and lamented because they recognized here their own lost temple.
This is when we meet a man named Haman an Amalekite, who loved all honor. Yet we learn of Mordecai, a Jew from the tribe of Benjamin who would not bow down to him. Now pay close attention to what Haman does next. His words in Esther 3:8 sum up what anti-Semites have always been saying. Haman said, There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from all other people’s, and they do not keep the king’s laws. Therefore, it is not fitting for the king to let them remain. The Hebrew has it as, it is not worth for the king to let them live.
Haman was not only to take revenge on Mordecai but now includes all the Jews from the Kingdom, from all the 127 provinces of Persia as well as those living in Judea. And in vs.13 he asks that letters be sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces to destroy, to kill and to annihilate all the Jews.
We see how far this attempt to kill all the Jews went. It was actually a demonic attack to stop the first coming of the Messiah for at the same time Ezra and Nehemiah had gone back to Jerusalem to prepare the city and the Temple for what would be Messiah’s coming. There we had Zerubbabel and prophets like Malachi who encouraged the people in the rebuilding of the Temple. Haman’s threat of Jewish annihilation was an attempt to prevent the coming of the Seed of the Woman, Yeshua Himself. This is how far reaching this attempt was.
Furthermore, we can see a strong correlation between Haman, Hitler, Pharaoh and the nations in the end times. Haman, like Pharaoh in Exodus attempted to wipe out the nation and more recently Hitler made anti-Semitism and Jewish extermination a state organized law. This annihilation is something the prophets of the Old Testament pointed to (i.e. Psalm 83, Ezekiel 38). In the New Testament, John pointed to a new world leader, the antichrist, who would also attempt this annihilation before the return of the Messiah.
There is still another correlation between these four events: In wanting to wipe out the Jews, right after Pharaoh, Israel entered the promised land and the nation was born. After Haman, Israel went back to the land in greater numbers and rebuilt Jerusalem and the Temple. Right after Hitler, Israel was reborn in 1948. Right after the antichrist, Israel will be reborn a third time but this time Yeshua will forever be at their head. See, God is at work always, even though we don’t always see Him.
It is interesting how some characters in this narrative were led to see the divine protection Israel had. When Haman told his wife Zeresh and all his friends everything that had happened to him, his wise men and his wife Zeresh said to him in Esther 6:13, “If Mordecai, before whom you have begun to fall, is of Jewish descent, you will not prevail against him but will surely fall before him.” That is quite a statement coming from the mouth of those who are not Jewish and who had the Jews as captives in their own country. And this appears to come out of nowhere because just before, Zeresh and Haman’s advisors told Haman to make gallows for Mordecai. Why this change of mind, we don’t know, but we definitely see God’s presence here.
What they are saying is that if you fight the Jews you will fall. This is the story of Balam all over again. He wanted to curse the Jews but he could only bless them. The same thing happened with Zeresh and Haman’s friend; they could not curse the Jews but instead warned that anti-Semitism would not prevail but would surely make them fall. Do we realize how much this hidden book is opened for us to see the hand of God? This Bible speaks of Israel’s struggle and shows how God is so involved in protecting her. If this is true for Israel, it is true for everyone who has Yeshua as his or her personal Savior.