Did PSL Johnson ever speak of Esther as a type?

I noticed that Clayton Woodworth suggested this in R.4018 in a letter to Bro. Russell, but it doesn't seem that Bro. Russell ever wrote on this himself.


WV

Hello WV! I found one place where Bro. Russell wrote about Esther. You'll find it here: In R4900 page 391:

GOD'S PROVIDENCE RE TWO QUEENS

--NOVEMBER 5.--`ESTHER 4:1-5:3`.--

"The Lord preserveth all them that love Him."--`Psalm 145:20`.

TODAY'S STUDY has Queen Esther for its topic. She was a Jewess, noted for her beauty, and on this account she was chosen of Ahasuerus, King of Persia, to be his queen. It is presumed that she received the name Esther, which signifies a star, because of her beauty, Hishtar being the Chaldaic equivalent for Venus. She succeeded Vashti, the former queen, who had displeased the king and been divorced.

In the opposite course of these two queens we find a lesson bearing on the Suffragette question of today. The king had a banquet with the lords of his empire. It may be assumed that it was a revel, and that the king and his guests, at the height of the revel, were more or less under the influence of wine. Giving Queen Vashti the benefit of the doubt, this was probably her reason for ignoring the king's request.

Many will say that she did just right in asserting her womanhood, in "standing up for her rights," etc. We will not dispute that all women have rights, and that Queen Vashti had hers and that she exercised them. We merely offer the suggestion that in a question of "rights," along lines of force and compulsion, Queen Vashti won a victory which cost her dearly.

In Queen Esther's procedure, which is the subject of this lesson, we see the opposite course pursued--the queen won a great victory with happy results by a totally different procedure, and one which in our judgment recommends itself to the wisest and best of men and women.

Vashti could have taken a similar course but did not. However much she might have felt that the king's requirement of her presence would expose her to jest or rudeness, she should have relied upon her charm and tact and purity and upon her husband's love and care. While it was not hers to intrude into the banquet, once invited, her presence should have been a hallowed one, a sweet perfume, a rebuke to any immodesty. Like many another well-meaning woman, Queen Vashti was unwise; she abandoned the most potent defense of pure womanhood when she met command with refusal. But then we must remember that Vashti was neither a Christian nor a Jewess, and was therefore without any Divine instruction or guidance.

ESTHER STOOPED FOR VICTORY

Queen Esther was not a suffragette. When invited to become the queen she did not decline and see to it that she stood on the same ground as Vashti. She accepted her accession as of Divine providence. She clothed herself with humility and with the most becoming of her fine apparel. She made herself as agreeable to the king as possible. It is presumed that at this time she was in her fifteenth year. Haman, the king's favorite, took a dislike to the gate-keeper of the palace, Mordecai, a Jew, because the latter did not bow before him, as did others. Mordecai was so faithful that Haman could not hope to find a fault with him, and thus to cause his removal. His hatred extended to the entire Jewish race. He prevailed upon the king to issue a decree that all the Jews of his kingdom should be set upon and killed as enemies of the country. This, of course, would include Mordecai, his special enemy, whom he would then feel free to kill.

As the time for the enforcement of the decree drew nearer and nearer, Mordecai and all the Jews throughout the empire were in great distress and fear, yet not without hope that their God would work some deliverance. This matter is detailed in our lesson.

Queen Esther was cousin to Mordecai, although the latter was old enough to be her father. She was, indeed, his adopted daughter. He appealed to her to use the influence of her position to have the king rescind the order. She delayed because, strangely enough, at this very time, the king had shown a coldness toward her, and had not called for her for a month.

LOVE AND BEAUTY CONQUERED

Mordecai pressed the matter more urgently, assuring her that she was about to lose a great privilege of service for her people; that God had evidently raised her to this position in the kingdom for this very hour and for this very purpose of bringing to the Jews relief and that, if she failed to note and to use the privilege, God doubtless would use some other agency and still bring deliverance in harmony with His promises. The appeal was sufficient. The queen merely delayed for three days more, requesting that Mordecai and all the Jews of the royal city join with her in a three-days' fast before God, which of course included petitions to God for the deliverance of His people, and for wisdom to guide Esther in her endeavor to use her talent and opportunity wisely.

Queen Esther risked her station, and even her life in going into the king's presence without a summons; but, attired in her royal apparel, she risked everything for her race. She charmed the king, who extended to her his royal scepter, which she touched. He perceived that she had a request to make, and urged her to speak. Wisely she refrained and asked the king and Haman, his prime minister, her enemy, to partake of a special dinner with her in the court garden. After the visit the king again urged her to say what wish of his attractive queen he could gratify. This was Queen Esther's opportunity, and she replied, asking why, if he loved her, he would issue an edict that she should be killed, and all of her race, the Jews.

Her case was immediately won. The king perceived that he had been inveigled by Haman into making an unjust decree. A bad law stipulated that no decree of a Persian king could be changed. This decree had been stamped with the king's seal, and the king, angry at Haman, made another decree, namely, that Haman should be hanged, and that the Jews everywhere should be notified that they had royal consent to use force against their enemies in defending their lives.

Also. Bro. Johnson wrote about Esther in Epiphany volume 10. I hope this is of help.

Bro. Harold

Thanks Bro. Harold,

I appreciate you taking the time to look up this reference, so don't think I don't appreciate your efforts.

However, this article does not suggest that the account of Esther shows a type/antitype relationship. I recently heard someone suggest a type/antitype relationship in the Esther account, with Ahasereus picturing Christ, Esther a type of the Church, and Mordecai a type of the Ancient Worthies.

I was wondering if PSL Johnson ever wrote about this - I don't find that Bro. Russell ever suggested that Esther was a type.

WV

WV: I understand that you are looking perhaps for Bro. Russell having written about Esther typing something. I did find that C.W. Woodworth had an entry in a Reprint as follows and this is perhaps what you referred to earlier.

R4018, page 199 TYPES IN THE BOOK ESTHER

Permit me to suggest that Ahasuerus, meaning "King," is a type of the "Sun," Christ; that Vashti typifies those that were bidden to the feast and would not come; that Esther, meaning "The Planet Venus," typifies the Bride of Christ (Venus is the most glorious of all our planets, reflecting more of the rays of the sun); that Mordecai the Jew, meaning "Dedicated to Mars," typifies the Ancient Worthies (Mars is, I believe, nearer to the earth than any other planet, and is between it and the sun); and lastly that Haman, the Agagite, the last Amalekite mentioned in the Scriptures (see last sentence of Young's Concordance, article "Amalekite"), typifies the class that tries to take the power out of the hands of the Ancient Worthies in the end of the Millennial Age. Please take a mental review of the story of Esther, and see how well this picture fits. If this application is correct, the meaning of the word Mordecai would be one more suggestion in line with your present thought that the Ancient Worthies may, after the close of the Millennial Age, attain heavenly honors and stations.

I seriously doubt that Pastor Russell would have allowed this to appear in publication without his sanctioning the content. There are no comments made by Bro. Russell as to his disagreement with the thoughts given. I guess that you could say that though Pastor did not give the thoughts as to the types in the book of Esther, he nevertheless seems to have agreed with the.

Again, you will find much more abouth Esther and types in Bro. Johnson's Epiphany volume 10.

Bro. Harold

Thanks Bro. Harold,

I heard a talk this weekend on Esther being a type, and it looks like the R.4018 is the reference that the brother got the thought from.

Personally, it does not seem to me to be a genuine type, even though the brother giving the talk thinks that it is. If something from the Old Testament is spoken of and pointed to as a type by one of the New Testament writers, then we can be sure that it was intended as a type. Types were given in the Old Testament, but those who acted out those types did not understand their typical nature. Our Lord of course recognized the types of the Old Testament after Jordan, but it was not until the Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost that any others could recognize type/antitype relationships.

In R.4437 (col. 1, par. 1), Bro. Russell says: "We are loath to give any explanation of types not directly or indirectly referred to in the New Testament."

I have found that this is a safe method for determining whether or not something was intended as a type by the Lord.

BTW - I did obtain a copy of PSL Johnson's explanation of Esther as a type, but it did not appeal to me as correct because of the above stated reasoning on how to identify types.

Thanks so much for your efforts.

WV

That talk can be heard at http://www.antiochecclesia.com . Choose conventions/ 2008 and listen to the talk.

Enjoy!

Hi Jim, and everyone...

Do us a favor and please post any websites (like the aforementioned) that are not included on the list already, or send them to my email. I'd like to enable more people to know abou them. Thanks if you would.

Regan