Jesus’ Hebrew Bible is tripartite, divided into three sections: 1st: The Pentateuch (other names for it are “The Torah,” “Book of the Law,” or “Moses”): Genesis through Deut; 2nd: The Prophets: Joshua through Malachi (made up of the “Former prophets” and “Latter Prophets”), 3rd: The Writings: Psalms through Chronicles. The word “TaNaKh” is often used to describe the entire Jewish Bible or all three divisions.

 

The Hebrew Bible is Messianic

Jesus’ three-sectioned Bible also is messianic in nature. Meaning what? Meaning that each of the three separate divisions announces in a variety of ways a coming King, a future Messiah, or “Anointed One.” Further, the order of the individual books in each of the three sections is canonically arranged to be messianic. So, from its beginning all the to the end, Jesus’ Bible pointed ahead to him and is intentionally filled with clues encouraging Messianic hope.

In the Hebrew language, this future king is known as the Messiah. In the Greek language of the New Testament, this future ruler is referred to as “the Christ”. Both in Hebrew and Greek, the meaning of the two words is “the one anointed by God.”

But the idea that Jesus’ Hebrew Bible is messianic in nature has fallen on hard times in this generation, even among evangelicals. For example, one recent evangelical commentator, writing on Psalm 22, the first verse of which was quoted by Jesus while hanging on the cross,

“My, God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Matt. 27:46; Mark 15:34

states the following: “it is tempting to treat this psalm as messianic, predicting our Lord’s suffering.”

It should be far more than mere tempting to do so. The literary context in which Psalm 22 sits—Psalms 20-24—shows that messianic hope was the clear intent of the original author. Both Matthew and Mark interpreted Psalm 22 as messianic because they understood the larger context of the Psalm itself (Psalms 20—24). Under inspiration, they interpreted Psalm 22 as pointing ahead to the crucifixion of Jesus. I am certain that Matthew and Mark, 1st century Jews who saw and heard Jesus first-hand, knew what they were doing when they cite Jesus’ cry on the cross from Psalm 22:1. And I am doubly certain that it was no accident that Jesus himself understood that Psalm 22 was about his death on a cross.

So, before we dive into Esther and follow the clues to Good Friday inherent in the story, let’s first observe where Esther sits in the third section of the Hebrew Bible, known as “The Writings.”

 

Esther in the Third Division of the Hebrew Bible: The Writings

 The order of the books in the third division is not haphazardly arranged but canonical and messianic in configuration. The order is as follows (Keep an eye out for the spot where Esther is placed):

The Writings: Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ruth, Canticles, Qohelet, Lamentations, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles.

Esther comes immediately after Lamentations but before Daniel.[1] Why? Did some Rabbi just shuffle the deck of the twelve books and the book of Esther just happened to slide into place after Lamentations?

Well, when we closely examine Lamentations and Esther, we discover numerous cases where a particular Hebrew word is used once in Lamentations and then a second or even a third time in Esther. This technique is called “dislegomena” a signal that the author of Esther wants us to connect with the prior book, Lamentations.

 

The Links that Connect Lamentations and Esther

Here are two of multiple examples of this technique: The Jewish young lady, Esther, the adopted niece of Mordechai, is described as an adopted orphan in 2:7. This same description of orphan is used twice of the nation of Israel in the prior book of Lamentations (5:3,7). So, both Esther and Israel in exile are described as orphans. See the connection?

The people of Israel lost the crown on their heads in Lamentations 5:15, but Esther regains the crown that was lost (Esther 2:17). Esther represents the restoration of the crown to Israel in the future. She is Israel’s representative in Esther 2:17. She is crowned as Queen. Due to being in exile, Israel lost its position of royalty, but it will be restored and regain its crown in the future, as represented by Esther’s coronation.

The term “maiden” is applied to the nation of Israel (Lamentations 1:4; 5:11) and also applied to Esther (Esther 2:17, 19).

What purpose do these connections between Esther and Lamentations serve? Lamentations is a sorrowful prayer (a “lament”) at the outset of the long 70-year exile. So, the book of Esther describes God’s answer to His people throughout that same exile.  In Lamentations, God appeared to be silent in answering the prayers of God’s people. But Esther provides hope. The long silence in Lamentations is broken in Esther by the answers given through providential circumstances,[2] not direct verbal revelation. 

 

Messianic Clues

 Other messianic clues that point to a messianic future are as follows. Both Mordecai and Esther are brought into a Gentile king’s palace. That palace is surprisingly adorned with temple materials and vessels found in the Jerusalem temple (Esther 1:6-7). The grounds of the Gentile palace have an Edenic garden (1:6-7) and the social life within its walls includes seven days of feasting at a banquet (1:5).

So, the book of Esther appears to look back and answer the questions raised by Lamentations. How does it answer those questions? It does so by assuring the people of God that though they are in exile from their homeland, they are not utterly rejected.  Even while living under Gentile hegemony, they are nevertheless under his care.  And the next book after Esther, the book of Daniel, continues on to describe the eventual end of Gentile rule and the appearance of God’s own king and kingdom. The Messiah will come!  

Taken together, these various clues demonstrate that Queen Esther and her adopted uncle Mordechai are harbingers of the future, royal Messiah, pointing ahead to a restored king.

Coming up in Part 2: Mordechai (Esther), Joseph (Genesis), and Daniel (book of Daniel) overcome a death plot and rise to second to the throne in a Gentile kingdom.

 

Thank you for reading.

NOTES:

[1] Daniel comes after Esther for good reason. Observe the stark similarities between Esther and Daniel. Both books are set in the exile during the Persian rule. Daniel is set under both Babylonian and Persian empires. Daniel is brought into the court of Babylon for his good looks (Dan.1:4) as well as intelligence and understanding.  Esther is likewise brought into the palace not only for her good looks (Esther.2:2) but also by impressing the eunuch Hegai (2:4) with her general goodness (Esther.2:9).  Daniel and Esther find favor before the eunuch in charge of their upkeep (Esther.2:3, 9; Dan.1:9). Both Daniel Esther are obligated to experience a time of testing, the former of food/diet, and the latter of beauty treatments before being chosen above all others. Daniel was found to be superior than all the other young men (Dan.1:19) before the king, and Esther was loved by the king more than all the other women (Esther.2:17). 

[2] How does one explain Esther’s choice as queen after Vashti’s dethronement? How do we explain the anomaly that occurred when Mordechai discovers the plot to kill the Persian king, an oversight occurs and he is not rewarded. After the hanging gallows was built by Haman upon which to hang Mordechai, that very night, sleep was kept from the thing. Motivated by unnatural insomnia, the king calls for the reading of his chronicles. While reading the chronicles, the loyal act of Mordechai, exposing two traitors, intent on killing the king, was read. The king, discovering that Mordechai had not been rewarded, determines to grant the reward for loyalty. Then, at the exact same moment when he seeks how to reward Mordechai, who should enter his room but Haman, the very one who sought to kill Mordechai? How, then, do we explain these events? The providence of God.