Fulfilling the Feasts of Esther
(week 24, 2007)
Olubi Johnson
The plan and purpose of God for the New Testament Church is hidden symbolically in the Old Testament.
This is particularly true of the feasts of Israel:
1.The feast of Passover typifies our born-again experience
2. The feast of Pentecost typifies our experience of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and its attendant gifts.
3. The feast of Tabernacles typifies our experience of the perfection of the love of God to grow into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians. 4.13-16) and the attendant glory of God and harvest of nations that it will bring (Isaiah. 60.1-5).
We are now living in the time of the fulfillment of the feast Tabernacles.
Details of the fulfillment of the feast of Tabernacles are hidden in the story of the feasts in the book of Esther. Esther typifies the bride of Christ: the glorious church without spot, blemish or any such thing (Eph. 5.26) that will be made manifest in this 21st. century or 3rd. day.
In the book of Esther we see 3 sets of feasts:
1. The feast of the leaders:
Esther. 1:1-4(NKJV): 1:1 Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus (this was the Ahasuerus who reigned over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, from India to Ethiopia), 2 in those days when King Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the citadel, 3 that in the third year of his reign he made a feast for all his officials and servants–the powers of Persia and Media, the nobles, and the princes of the provinces being before him– 4 when he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the splendor of his excellent majesty for many days, one hundred and eighty days in all.
This typifies the spiritual feast of the wisdom of God (Proverbs 9.1-5) that will bring the first of the first fruits of the church, who are already walking in the principles of perfection, into the experience of the perfection of the love God.
2. The feast at the Shushan palace:
Esther 1:5-8(NKJV): 5 And when these days were completed, the king made a feast lasting seven days for all the people who were present in Shushan the citadel, from great to small, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace. 6 There were white and blue linen curtains fastened with cords of fine linen and purple on silver rods and marble pillars; and the couches were of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of alabaster, turquoise, and white and black marble. 7 And they served drinks in golden vessels, each vessel being different from the other, with royal wine in abundance, according to the generosity of the king. 8 In accordance with the law, the drinking was not compulsory; for so the king had ordered all the officers of his household, that they should do according to each man’s pleasure.
This typifies the spiritual feast of the wisdom of God that will bring the first fruits of the church who are present at the Shushan palace: the place of baptism of the Holy Spirit and revelation knowledge, into the experience of the perfection of the love of God.
3. The feasts of Esther: a. Her marriage feast (Esther 2.17-18); b. Her feasts to expose and destroy Haman (Esther 5.1-8; 7.1-10); c. Her feasts to destroy the sons of Haman and the enemies of the Jews (Esther 9.1-13).
The feasts of Esther typify the feast of the wisdom of God made by available by God (Isaiah 25.6-7) to all nations by a universal outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Joel 2.28), that will cause the harvest of the nations bringing many people who are not yet born-again at this time (John. 10.16) into the experience of the new birth, the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the perfection of the love of God. Haman, his sons and the enemies of the Jews represent the carnal mind and the sin nature in the flesh that will be completely exterminated in the church by the wisdom and power of God through these feasts and so bring about the emergence of a glorious church without spot, blemish or wrinkle (Ephesians 5.26) that will preach and demonstrate the gospel of the Kingdom to every tribe, tongue and kindred and so cause the return of Christ at the rapture (Matthew. 24.14).
In our article next week we will see which stage of the feasts in Esther we are presently in and how to prepare for the next stage.
