In the Bible Haman, the person on the right leaning back in the chair, plots to have Queen Esther and all the Jews killed. Esther uncovers the plot, and exposes that treason before the king. Haman is eventually hanged on the gallows that he built to kill Esther’s guardian Mordecai.
Likewise, the Devil wants to kill the bride of Christ and all those associated with her. Fallen Lucifer wants to eliminate God’s family. However, like Haman, Satan’s evil plans will end up being His demise. This is the greater spiritual truth that Esther’s life portrays to us.
Esther, a woman in the court of king Ahasuerus, had no real power. She could not command any one to do anything. However, King Ahasuerus did love Esther. Therefore, when Esther approached the King unexpectedly, a crime punishable by death, he allowed her to come forward into His presence. It was her feminine qualities, her submission and love that won the heart of the most powerful man in the kingdom.
We are a reflection of the world to come
Everything on Earth and in the Heavens is a reflection of a greater spiritual reality. The closer you align yourself with the Almighty the clearer the picture you represent becomes. This is why Esther became a type of the Bride of Christ defeating the devil. As you walk with God you naturally fall into such types and your life becomes a picture of His family in heaven.
Jesus Christ was the express image of the Father because he totally submitted to His will in all things. Therefore, when you looked at Jesus, God looked back, when Jesus spoke it was the word of God, and when Christ touched you it was the hand of the Father. Jesus, through submission, became the greatest picture of God there ever was and will ever be.
Furthermore, Jesus loved children. Christ was about family and loved including everyone in God’s family. Jesus says,
“And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.”
Matthew 12:49,50
To me, it has always been rather odd that some of the greatest men in the scripture were polygamists. Polygamy is the type of marriage where you have more than one wife. Holy men of God, like Abraham, Jacob, King David and Solomon, are held up to as examples even having many wives. Likewise, some of the greatest women in the Bible we co-wives. Why is this so? What picture did God want to show us through these men and women of faith?
The spiritual lesson of polygamy
I believe that if we are willing to open our minds and hearts there is a great lesson about the nature of God and His kingdom in polygamy. If we can get past our cultural bias and ethnocentric values, perhaps we can glimpse something about our Father that will help us understand his heart and motives.
To begin with God is one. That is to say, there are no gods beside him, before Him, or after Him. There has always been, is, and will always be only one Lord God Almighty. Conversely, the apostle Paul speaks of a many member Body of Christ. Literally millions of people make up the future wife of God. Solomon, who had 1000 wives, was a shadow of the real family of king in eternity. Likewise, the Bride of Christ is many, yet they all share the same heart of love and adoration towards their king. Also, within the Bride there are many different types of relationships, but one marriage. As Solomon had three score queens, fourscore concubines, and virgins without number, many people make up they “wife” of our great King. However, everyone within the definition of wife has that special type of relationship with God.
It is a matter of the heart
I believe that at least part of what God is showing us, through polygamy, is that the Bride of Christ is made up of many different people who share they same heart towards Him. Just like Jacob had four wives that loved and obeyed him, God has many members of Christ’s body who love and obey Him too.
Within these plural family we also see the effects of submission and un-submission on the families of the patriarchs. When wives willing took their places as help mates they brought great joy, peace, and happiness to their husband and their families. However, when wives decided to scheme and misbehave, as some did, then all suffered. Moreover, when wives were not of the covenant of Israel, but worshipped graven images, they did irreparable harm to the kingdom as a whole.
The constant in the kingdom of heaven is perfect order through perfect submission. In fact, the only time that order was broken, there was war in heaven. Likewise, in the Body of Christ, as we submit to the Holy Spirit we restore peace in His kingdom. Our joy is in submission because that allows the kingdom of heaven to be born in and through us here on Earth.
Perfect love casts out fear
God does not give us a Spirit of fear. Fear is the basis of so much selfishness in our lives and in the church as a whole. When you fear you mostly think about yourself and therefore become self-centered. When we focus upon our problems we cannot do the work of the Holy Spirit. Fear robs us of peace and takes us down a road that only ends in self-destruction. In reality, where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. I we allow God to love through us, God liberates us because perfect love casts out fear. Whatever God does in our lives is for the best and if we trust Him He will take care of us.
In conclusion, God needs each one of us to show forth His glory through. No one is expendable or incidental in God’s plan. God creates each and every soul in His image and likeness. Each one that turns away from God is one less facet of the Almighty that we can see. We don’t fully understand what that means, but I am certain that it is a loss beyond anything we can imagine.
God’s family is made up of many different people
Finally, when we submit we please God. Willing submission creates order and allows us to fulfill our highest calling. God joins the Body of Christ together in one wife who submits out of love to the one true King. The kingdom of God that Christ spoke about is true submission to the will of God in the heart of all men. Amen.
Picture this as God conducting the Bride of Christ from all over the world and event throughout time. God paints a picture of the church joined together in unity and love. This was the glory that was set before Christ and why He willingly endured the cross.
