The Heavenly Calling

        The Old Testament book of Esther is the other book that does not directly refer to God. Unlike the Song of Solomon, it is an historical book. The documented past events chronicled in the book foreshadow the future events that will take place during the last half of Daniel’s 70th week. That is, the first 3½ years of the Day of the Lord.
In the shadow, Christ is typified by King Xerxes, the king who sought a wife to replace the former queen. His former queen, Vashti, refused his invitation to a banquet. Vashti is a type of the apostate Jewish nation. Christ’s Bride is typified by Esther, the queen whose timely intercession foils the plot of the wicked Haman, a type of the Antichrist.
        Not surprisingly, the similarities between the shadow and what Revelation shows us about our heavenly calling are remarkable. In the shadow, Esther completes two equal periods of beauty preparations before being called to the palace. In the revelation of the mystery-plan, the Church must fulfill two great Days of preparation (Today and Tomorrow) on the earth before being called to appear before the King.
        Esther is taken to the king’s palace in the seventh year of his reign. The Bride is taken to Heaven on the 7th Day of God’s prophetic great Week. On the third day, Esther puts on her royal robes and stands in the inner court of the king’s palace, wherein she finds favor and is offered half the kingdom. Similarly, on the 3rd great Day, the Bride of Christ will be clothed with immortality and caught up to stand in the inner court of Heaven, wherein she will find favor and become a joint-heir with Christ.
        In Esther, the wicked Haman devises a plot to destroy all of her people (the captive Jews) throughout the Persian kingdom. Soon after Esther is selected to become the king’s wife, she learns of Haman’s plot to annihilate her people. Talk about going from a great high to a tremendous low! . In Revelation, the Devil conspires with the Beast to destroy God’s people.
        All at once Esther has a decision to make. Does she hide her identity or risk her life by pleading her case before the king? To approach the king without being summoned is punishable by death, queen or not. Remember, she is the new replacement for the previous queen. The king had no qualms about getting rid of his former wife. Remember, too, that all of this is happening in the context of the Jews in captivity. In the natural, it looks as if God has given up on His people. But we know better!
        Esther’s uncle, Mordecai, reminds her: “perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this.” Her timely intercession inside the palace foils the plot of Haman and saves her people. Likewise, now seated before the throne as joint-heirs and co-rulers with Jesus, we sing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb in Revelation, which directs the seven angels to pour out God’s wrath to take away, consume, and destroy the dominion of the Antichrist.
            The Chronos Lesson: On one level, the book of Revelation was given to confirm the truths revealed by the apostles in the New Testament. On another level, the vision was given to reveal another great truth, the story within the story. That is, how the King and His heavenly Esther will intercede to thwart the plot of the Beast.
The events portrayed in the book of Revelation are the counterpart of the events in Esther. Esther is a mirror image of the heavenly Bride and the role she must fulfill at the end. The events portrayed in the book of Revelation are the end-time realities or objects that cast the ancient shadow of Esther.  
            In this sense, the book of Revelation portrays the intercession of the heavenly Esther: how she is prepared and selected, how she is taken to the heavenly palace to become the King’s wife, how she receives half of the kingdom, and how her timely appearance before the throne and intercession on the sea of glass contributes to the destruction of the Beast and the deliverance of her people.
        This explains why those who overcome keep reappearing throughout the Revelation vision. Their new song of intercession is emphasized in chapter 14, so that we can glimpse the truth that the heavenly trumpeters (the seven angels) and the singers (the heavenly Esther) will make one sound to be heard in praise and thanksgiving to the Lord, so that the glory of God can be manifested on the earth. By the seventh bowl, a loud voice is heard from the temple of Heaven, saying, “It is done!”
            On a personal note, this revelation of our heavenly calling radically changed my perspective and life’s pursuit. It changed how I viewed the end-times. It got me really excited about my future. Of course I looked forward to my full sanctification. But now I see the higher purpose—pun intended—of being caught up. We have a part to play. We get to bring vengeance against our accuser—Satan—and all his despicable lies played out in the lawless culture around us. I don’t mind admitting that I love to win!
            It likewise brought me comfort in that God chooses us and places us in our time for a reason. Even though things in my life didn’t turn out the way I expected, I now have great hope. I know that when I am finally perfected and conformed completely to the image of my Savior and Lord, I shall perfectly complete my assignment, along with my brothers and sisters in the Lord. It is the hope of our heavenly calling as the heavenly Esther—aka: the Church, His Body, His Bride!