Is ESTHER Relevant Today?

By Michael Griego on March 13, 2026 • ( 0 )

Some see the BOOK of ESTHER as simply a nice but obscure Bible story. Yet a real understanding of historical Esther may devastate your tightly held beliefs about the Antichrist and Armageddon. ◊

There are many Christians confused by world affairs. There are some who think they have it figured out and are excited about the upcoming return of Jesus.

Are you confused about today’s Middle East conflict? How about last year? How about the year before?

Do you ever get tired of hearing your favorite pastor or famous pastors constantly tell us that we “may be living in the last days?”

Do you ever call them out for being wrong, again and again? Why not?

At what point do you ask yourself, “What’s really going on here?”

Prophetic Books Summary
There’s an interesting dynamic going on among many Christians, Christian small groups, and churches. I believe it’s actually been going on for most of my lifetime.

To make the point, consider you own alignment with each of the following statements about various “prophetic” books of the Bible?

“I believe Ezekiel includes prophecy about the end of the world (end times).”
“I believe Jeremiah includes prophecy about the end of the world (end times).”
“I believe Daniel includes prophecy about the end of the world (end times).”
“I believe Revelation includes prophecy about the end of the world (end times).”

If pressed, many Christians would admit that they believe each of these statements because that’s what they were taught at home or at church or learned from other Christian friends.

I used to believe these statements for the first few decades of my Christian life. Now I don’t align with any of them.

Here’s my summary take:

Ezekiel was living through and prophesying the following:
- the judgment of a disobedient Jewish nation and destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian Empire in 586 BC (chapters 1-24)
- the judgment of their neighboring enemies (chapters 25-35)
- the dispersion/exile, and eventual restoration of the scattered Jewish people to their homeland after 70-years (chapters 36-37)
- the evil scheme against the scattered Jews by Haman, the chief prince of the Persian Empire in the latter 5th century BC. (chapters 38-39)
  - Note: these chapters are mistakenly held up by many modern pastors and Christians as applying to our 21st century, even the current conflict with Iran. However, this episode is presented in full detail in the Book of Esther – therefore, it is history, not prophecy.
- the figurative temple presence of the kingdom of God in the spirit/heart of all God’s children (chapter 40-48).
Jeremiah, a young contemporary of Ezekiel, was living through and prophesying about the same destruction of a disobedient Jewish nation and destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian Empire in 586 BC. His writing includes more ground-level detail of God’s warnings, the Jewish leaders’ rejection, and aftermath of the devastation.
Daniel, yet another young contemporary of both Ezekiel and Jeremiah, lived through the fall and destruction of a disobedient Jewish people and their capital city, Jerusalem, and was actually exiled to Babylon where he described life in exile and prophesied about the coming sequential kingdoms of Babylon, Medes/Persia, Greece, Rome, and then the everlasting Kingdom of God via Jesus, the Messiah.
John in Revelation, like Ezekiel and Jeremiah, was delivering a final warning and then a resurrected Christ’s indictment and pronounced punishment ending the Jewish age, not the end of the world. John uses Old Testament references, e.g., Gog, Megiddo (Armageddon) as past points of God’s judgment of the Jews. So, now no more temple, or animal sacrifices, or Jewish nation, echoed by Paul the Apostle in his instructional New Testament letters of a new Kingdom for Jews and Gentiles both. Yes, Jesus was coming back, soon – in judgment. John delivered a warning to local Christian churches (chapters 1-3) and, like a legal indictment, prophesied of the soon coming final judgment and destruction of the very disobedient Jewish nation, as they had rejected and killed Jesus, the Messiah. This came to pass in excruciating horror as up to 1.1 million Jews were killed (Josephus) by the Romans in AD 70 – a generation after Jesus accurately predicted it Himself in Matthew 24. Seen in this light, the parables of Jesus about the returning Master make a lot more sense.

You’ll note that none of these books speak of the “end of the world.” They speak of the end of the Jewish era/age and system of temple sacrifice. This happened at the time of absolute destruction of both the Temple and Jerusalem in 586 BC and AD 70. There is never a talk of a rebuilt temple. The latter chapters in Ezekiel are figurative of a perfect new temple, essentially foreshadowing the spiritual dwelling of Jesus, the “temple” now in the hearts and spirit of all believers.

So, What About the Book of ESTHER?
You may be wondering: What does the Book of Esther have to do with this? I believe that a better appreciation of the Book of Esther in historical context and in relation to these prophetic books of the Old Testament will open eyes to a perspective many people may have never heard.

In fact, it may actually devastate some tightly held beliefs about so-called end times, the Antichrist, Armageddon, and even the current Middle East conflict between the US, Israel, and Iran.

The Book of Esther is not a prophetic book in the Old Testament; it is historical. It tells the story of a young 5th century Jewish woman who becomes queen and bravely saves her Jewish people from an evil plot to annihilate them. The Jews have been scattered throughout the Persian empire after their exile by the Babylonians.

Here is a brief summary breakdown:

the Persian king and court intrigues (chapters 1-2)
the struggle between the Jewish Mordecai and the Persian Haman (Gog) (chapters 3-5)
the evil plot and destruction of Haman (chapters 6-7)
the battle and victory of Mordecai and the scattered Jewish people (chapters 7-10)
- Note: these are the chapters that provide the detail of the battle of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38 and 39, so often confused for a contemporary battle/Armageddon. Also, this is a battle conducted with methods of ancient war (horses, bows, arrows, and clubs), not modern-day missiles and rocket launchers.

Just a cursory reading of these chapters in context will raise serious questions about long-held beliefs about modern day end times prophecy. What is clear though in the full reading of all of the Bible, is that God is real, in physical history, our present lives, and in our future.

Have you ever studied Ezekiel 38 and 39 and the Book of Esther?
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And all his acts of power and might, together with a full account of the greatness of Mordecai, whom the king had promoted, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Media and Persia? – Esther 10:2