The Book of Esther, or the Story of the King's Bride

I believe that the Book of Esther is a book of prophecy for the last days. Here are a few things to think about when studying this book.

Who is the king?

What is the feast?

Who did the king specifically invite to his feast?

Who is the queen?

What does it mean if the king’s bride lost her standing?

What does it mean if the king was searching for a new queen/bride?

Is it significant that Esther was an orphan?

Mordecai took Esther under his wing when she had no one to take care of her. Does he represent anyone?

What are the things Esther was given for purification? Do those things mean anything today?

Is it significant that Esther was given seven maidens and given the best place in the house of women?

Why did it take twelve months for Esther to get ready before seeing the king?

Is it significant that Esther took nothing with her except for what was given her?

Esther “obtained grace and favor in [the king’s] sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen”. Is that supposed to relate to something today?

Is it significant that Haman was promoted “above all the princes that were with him” right after Esther is made queen?

Mordecai refused to bow down to Haman, thus putting his life, along with the lives of all the Jews, in jeopardy. Will that have a real-world application?

Mordecai implored Esther to intercede on behalf of the Jews, raising the possibility that she might have “come to the kingdom for such a time as this”. What does this tell us about the purpose of being the bride of the King?

What is Esther’s “royal apparel” that she put on?

Has anyone else ever found themself in the presence of the King without being invited? If so, were there any common threads that allowed them to be in that situation?

Is it significant that it took five years before Mordecai was finally honored for what he did for the king?

Is there anything to learn from the way Mordecai was honored?

Haman faced the wrath of the king and lost his life. Is it significant that neither Esther nor Mordecai demanded any kind of punishment for Haman, even though they were directly threatened by him?

Is it significant that the plot against Mordecai and the Jews was turned against the enemies of the Jews?

What power protected the Jews on the day they were supposed to be killed?

“Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a garment of fine linen and purple, and the city of Shushan rejoiced and was glad.” The Jews had light, and gladness, and joy, and honor.” What does that mean for us in the last days?

The Jews, under the direction of Mordecai, held annual feasts to remember and celebrate their deliverance. Has that happened before? Will it happen again?

Out of Captivity, Part V

Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV

D&C 65 [RE] contains "laws which…are sufficient for both here and in the New Jerusalem.” So we can be sure that whatever we are told in that revelation will apply when the New Jerusalem is actually built or being built. In other words, these are not lower laws that bring condemnation and death. Among the many laws in that revelation, it says, "Thou shalt not take thy brother's garment, thou shalt pay for that which thou shalt receive of thy brother." While that particular commandment is perfectly consistent with everything else the Lord has commanded, something about it bothered me at first. Maybe I’m very different from other people but, in my mind, it was kind of out of place. The revelation already commanded the saints to not steal so it appeared redundant. And, for a revelation that talks a lot about consecration, that one part seemed a bit overly concerned with trade and economic gain. What’s the deal?

Directly before that commandment, it says, “Thou shalt stand in the place of thy stewardship.” When taken in context, this is a new thought so, unless this statement is supposed to stand completely alone and unrelated to the rest of the revelation (unlikely, in my opinion), our stewardship is somehow related to the idea of paying our brother for his garment. What is our stewardship? If you go a bit further back in the revelation, we find a clue. “I will consecrate the riches of the Gentiles unto my people which are of the House of Israel.” That is a fantastic description of the Gentile stewardship that is prophesied throughout the Book of Mormon and other books of scripture. This relates to the major Book of Mormon theme of the Gentiles delivering the Gospel to the Lamanites and assisting in gathering in the rest of Israel. We are rich while Israel is poor, pertaining to the knowledge of spiritual things. Thus the need to consecrate our riches unto them (or risk getting drunk off of our riches).

As Gentiles (of the tribe of Ephraim), we have a stewardship. It is to bring the Gospel to the Lamanites (of the tribe of Manasseh, who is Ephraim's brother). This land is already promised, by covenant, to the Lamanites since they are descendants of Lehi. We Gentiles are seeking a covenant upon this land. Those who hold title to this land (i.e. Lamanites) are still around, even if they are not currently exercising their rights upon the land. That means they will necessarily be involved if any of this covenant land gets promised to Gentiles. If, in scripture, a garment is related to a covenant status, whose garment do we seek to wear as a covenant people? If we want to be established upon this land of promise, are we not seeking the garment of our brethren, the Lamanites? Are we not aiming to be numbered among the seed of Lehi? So the big question is, are we seeking to take our brother's garment without paying for it? Of course, such an act would go against the laws pertaining to the New Jerusalem. What exactly would be the payment? What could we possibly offer to Lehi’s family that would be an acceptable payment for permanent residence on their land they have a promise to by covenant?

According to its title page, the Book of Mormon was “written to the Lamanites, who are a remnant of the house of Israel…to come forth in due time by the way of Gentile; the interpretation thereof by the gift of God…which is to shew unto the remnant of the house of Israel what great things the LORD hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the covenants of the LORD, that they are not cast off forever.” An acceptable payment to Lehi’s family, so that we may justly receive our “brother’s garment,” may be as simple as showing them the great things the Lord did for their fathers, teaching them the covenants of the Lord, and letting them know that they are not cast off forever. We have a stewardship. We have the Book of Mormon in our possession. We can indeed “pay for that which [we] shalt receive of [our] brother.” All of this can and should be done, “by the gift of God,” if we are not of little faith.

Part VI | Part VII

An Invitation to Go to Work