Last weekend was Purim on the Jewish calendar, and while I’m way too goy to have a real megillah, I did open my Bible and read the book of Esther. Down through the ages, Esther hasn’t drawn a lot of attention from Christian commentators, but there is an extensive literature of Jewish commentary on it. It would be interesting to know what the church fathers and the medievals would have done with the rich imagery of this book, but the paper trail just isn’t big. Where would these ingenious Christian interpreters have found Jesus in Esther? How would they have located Esther in the history of salvation culminating in Christ? We’re mostly on our own here.

There is, however, one powerful Christian interpretation of the book of Esther produced in the the twentieth century. The author is Bible teacher W. Ian Thomas, in his 1967 book If I Perish, I Perish: The Christian Life as Seen in Esther. It is an unashamedly allegorical interpretation, for which Thomas gives a brief justification in the first chapter: “…allthough there is in my mind absolutely no doubt as to the historical accuracy or divine authorship of the Book of Esther, I shall be using the story as an allegory to clarify and illustrate spiritual truths soundly established and substantiated elsewhere in the Bible, and all of which must be entirely compatible with the total revelation given to us by the Holy Spirit in the whole of the Scriptures.”

I recommend the book because Thomas’ simple and direct writing style is something I find constantly cheering. Also, Ian Thomas is a treasure, and this book presents his characteristic teaching on the Christian life exceptionally well –it’s a well-balanced variety of Keswick holiness teaching.

But here is the allegorical core of the book: The kingdom of Ahasuerus is you. Its 127 provinces are your body in its extension, and the city of Susa is the control center. King Ahasuerus on the throne is your soul in command of all you are, and Queen Esther is your human spirit. Stay with me here. Haman the Agagite (descendent of Amalek with whom God has sworn to be at war from generation to generation) is what the New Testament calls the flesh, that carnal “perverted principle which perpetuates in man Satan’s proud hostility and enmity against God.” Mordecai is the Person of the Holy Spirit.
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