RECEIVE THE SCEPTER OF AUTHORITY!

Over the days of Purim, in a devotional time with the Lord, He began to open certain aspects of Esther’s story to me. I have taught many times on the story of Esther as have many, and have tended to focus on certain chapters, as in chapter 4, where she courageously makes the decision to go before the king, despite protocol stating that unless the king put forth his scepter, her death would be guaranteed. Esther made the decision to risk her life for the cause of her people and said those famous words, “If I perish, I perish!”  Both Esther and Mordecai received great favor because of their obedience to God.  That morning however, God began to highlight to me the process Esther went through before she was chosen to be Queen.

Esther was greatly favored by Hegai the king’s eunuch and was given a special room in the king’s house with seven women from the king’s courts to serve her. Hegai is a picture of the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives, to prepare us for our King Jesus. The Holy Spirit is there to love on us, teach, prepare, equip, heal, and refine, to bring us forth in Glory.

Esther was prepared for twelve months in oils—twelve representing governmental authority. For six months she was prepared with the oil of Myrrh and for six months with oils to beautify her.  Myrrh was the oil used to anoint Jesus for burial. Nicodemus brought one hundred pounds of Myrrh and aloes with which they anointed Jesus’ body and wrapped it in linen after His death on the Cross. Myrrh represents the willingness to offer one’s life as a sacrifice for the greater good, and for the Kingdom of God.

Esther was soaked in these oils representing the anointing of the Holy Spirit.  She was being prepared in purity, to go before the King. She was being prepared for her position as a representative of the Royal kingdom. Esther was prepared in purity for intimacy and relationship with the King. She was prepared in wisdom to carry the scepter of the kingdom’s authority, and she was prepared in character to write the Royal decrees.

In my time with the Lord, I saw a picture of myself being clothed in the Royal garments of the Kingdom and saw God handing me His scepter. I believe this picture is representative word for all who have paid the price and made the choice to remain in His Fire through the refining process.

As I pondered this picture, I suddenly felt led to check the definition of the word Scepter and discovered that it meant to invest with authority. I was then led me to check the definition of the word invest and was surprised that both these words were confirmed the meaning and significance of the picture God was revealing to me.

The word invest means to provide or endow someone with a quality or with an attribute; to formally confer a rank or office on someone; to invest something or confer a right or power to someone; to endow with authority. Invest also means to clothe or cover with a garment; to clothe with the insignia of a rank.

God is presently investing and endowing many with great authority, this includes many of His daughters called to the frontlines. He is clothing with Royal garments all those having come through the fires of purification and having been soaked in the oils of the Holy Spirit. He is placing His overcoming ones in the rank He has prepared for them. He is putting Royal garments on His Bride who will wield the scepter of righteousness and decree the demise of the enemy campaign against His people and the destruction of their strongholds.

There are many who have persevered in intimacy, who have persevered in prayer, and have continued to believe to see the salvation of the Lord against present tyranny.  Esther is now rising to be presented and seen before the courts and before the world stage, truly prepared for such a time as this! Esther represents those who have been called to stand in authority in the courts of Heaven and legislate the heavens in Christ as described in Zechariah 3:7:

“If you will walk in My ways, And if you will keep My command, Then you shall also judge My house, And likewise have charge of My courts; I will give you places to walk Among these who stand here.” Zechariah 3:7

When king Ahasuerus summoned Vashti to come forth and show her beauty she refused. Vashti represents the religious and disobedient wife. Esther was brought forth to replace her.  Esther was on the edge of making the same mistake of not rising to her place in her hour, to stand in the place of destiny created for her.  Mordecai declared to Esther that if she chose to remain silent, deliverance would arise from elsewhere.  When she hesitated, Mordecai wisely admonished her with these words:

“For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish.”  Esther 4:14

Esther made the wise decision to be courageous having understood that she was called and created for this moment of history. Today we are living in a time of great trouble on earth and may be approaching times of even greater trouble and God is now calling for His Bride to arise and present herself!  As  Mordecai admonished and warned Esther to take her place, God is calling His Bride to come out from their dressing room and is saying to her: ‘Arise and shine for your light has come! Come forth into the Glory I have prepared for you.”

God has been at work carefully preparing His Body as the vessel that will give birth to the establishment of His Kingdom on Earth.  We have been in a long season of learning and growing in maturity.  During this time of growth, we have been kept by God within the confines or parameters of His protective shield.  This shield has acted like a giant incubator where God has been transforming us, as in the case of a caterpillar, from one form of species into a brand-new creature.

Many are now experiencing the sense of being on the edge of breakthrough, as the Body outgrows this place and pushes against the confines. There is a sense of having been trained as a prize stallion to run a race yet waiting in the stall for the trumpet to blow.

When the trumpet sounds, we will be given a window of time to do the work of building the Ark to contain and gather in the harvest.  We must be ready to run, with everything we have in us, when the trumpet sounds. God will sound His trumpet through His leaders who have been prepared to forge ahead and lead His tribes; those who have ears to hear Him and who have the anointing to marshal the army.

The Lord declared out of our belly would flow Rivers of Living Water (John 7).  This Greek word koilia sometimes translated as belly or heart, also means womb or a hollow cavity. The womb of the Bride is the container filled with all the treasures of God prepared for this hour. As the Bride comes forth in Glory, she will begin to birth God’s treasures in the Earth.  She is being cleansed and prepared as the womb that will give birth to the most glorious hour of all history.

The River flowing from the womb of the Bride will birth Life where death once reigned. Where the River flows there will be life! In the times surrounding the Day of the Lord, the Bride will enter the travail to bring forth birth the Harvest and God’s Kingdom on Earth. This travail and intercession will be aggressive and sometimes violent.  It is a determined travail that will not settle for anything less than the new life. What does this new life look like in the Bride? It looks like Isaiah 61; it looks like Jesus:

“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD\’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion– to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. Strangers will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards. And you will be called priests of the LORD, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours.

\”For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing. In my faithfulness I will reward my people and make an everlasting covenant with them. Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the LORD has blessed.\”

I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.”  

The Bride’s water is about to break and gush forth, the baby is coming, and God will ensure that nothing will get in the way of the delivery.  The waters of the Holy Spirit will break forth over the Earth, ushering an intense and painful time of travail.  We will get through this time because of the joy of knowing the baby is coming and will arrive on time.

The Lord will cleanse His Body and make His Bride Glorious. This is the work the Lord must do in His Bride as He makes her harmless to humanity and dangerous to the enemy (Matt. 10:16). This season of circumcision and healing we have been in must have taken place before the Bride could be released to bring transformation in the Earth.

The Lord is seeking out those who will humble themselves and submit to His ways to release them to go and conquer lands for His kingdom. God is asking us if we love Him enough to take the risk and trust Him enough to believe that through Him, we can overcome all hindrances in us and all obstacles on the path ahead. 

There are two prominent revelations in Esther 4:14, the ‘time’ we are called to, and the ‘cost’ of holding back, “…you will perish.”  Our attitude must become that of Esther’s—she drank the Lord’s cup and declared, “If I perish, I perish.”  I believe that this is the name of the aged bottle of Wine reserved to be served in the last days, for the Day of the Lord!

When Esther chose to come before the king in boldness, the sceptre of the authority of the kingdom was lifted toward her.  She was given great favour and her requests granted, up to half the kingdom!  Esther touched the head of the Sceptre of the kingdom, representing an act of union with the king.

The Hebrew word for top is rosh, which means head.  Under the governance of the king—the head of the kingdom, sanctioned by the full weight of his rule, Esther was granted power and right in the kingdom!  Esther was given great authority and the liberty to write any decree on behalf of her people to foil the plots of the enemy! As the number eight represents new beginnings, Esther 8:8 ushered a new season  and beginning for the people of God:

“Now write another decree in the king\’s name on behalf of the Jews as seems best to you, and seal it with the king\’s signet ring—for no document written in the king\’s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked.\” Esther 8:8 

The King told Esther to write another decree, taking into consideration the decree Haman had already written to destroy the Jews. The king tells Esther to write a new decree that would eliminate Haman’s decree. Esther wrote one that gave her people the right to rise up and defend their rights, property and families, and completely annihilate their enemy.

Esther completed the job given by God to Saul, to destroy the amalakite enemy. Saul like Vashti represents the religious in this hour, who through sin, deception or disobedience are working against the purposes of God. The Lord declared in His Word that if we were not for Him we were against Him.

\”Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” Matthew 12:30 

Like Esther, God is now calling forth His leaders to now present themselves; this includes His daughters who play significant roles in the government of His House. They are to be granted great authority, power, and right to thwart the worst plots of the enemy in these last days. They will be anointed to write new decrees to drive them out, and release great blessing for the people of God!