The
King's Feast
By
Frances Metcalfe
The
hour is at hand for the King of Glory to show forth to His subjects the “riches of His glorious Kingdom, and the honor
of His excellent majesty.” He is preparing a great feast, and will assemble His own to His table, where He will feed
them upon the riches of His Living Word, and give them to drink of the new wine of the Kingdom. This feast is not a feast
for those still in the highways and by-ways of worldliness and sin. It is a feast for those of His own household, His servants
and subjects. It must take place before His great worldwide Harvest feast of ingathering.
The
Lord's own royal line, the Kingdom saints, are now being prepared to rule and reign with Him, when the Kingdom of Heaven is
openly established on the earth. They are to be given a “Preview,” as it were, of the riches and power and glory
of that reign. They are to “taste of the powers of the age to come.” The mysteries of the Kingdom, so long hidden,
are now being unlocked, and revealed to humble, simple-hearted believing ones. Jesus spoke of these as “babes,”
and thanked the Father that He had hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes. The Spirit
is now revealing these mysteries of the Kingdom to those who are willing and able to receive them. Of them this word may be
truly spoken, “Blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears for they hear. For verily I say unto you, that many
prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things
which ye hear, and have not heard them.” Matt. 13:16, 17.
"The Banqueting House"
A
beautiful poetic picture of the King's feast, is found in the first chapter of the book of Esther. The King Ahasuerus, (Xerxes)
who reigned over a great and far-reaching kingdom, made a special feast for his princes and subjects. There was a great desire
in his heart to reveal the riches and glories of his kingdom, and the honor of his excellent majesty. (Esther 1:3, 4). This
royal feast was held in the court of the garden of the king's palace. In the Song of Solomon this court is referred to as
the “banqueting house,” or “house of wines.”
What
a privilege to enter into the king's hidden garden! The rich exotic beauty of a Persian garden is redolent with rare oriental
perfumes. The rioting color of the flowers, the song of the birds, the floating strains of a beautiful melody, played upon
stringed instruments, all tend to entrance the one whose feet tread the paths of the sacred, hidden, enclosed garden of the
king! “The King hath brought me to His banqueting house, and His banner over me was love.”
Entering
the house itself we find curtains of fine linen, white and green, and blue, fastened with cords of purple silk, to silver
rings on pillars of marble. The couches were fashioned of gold and silver, placed upon a pavement of mosaic marble of mother
of pearl. This beautiful picture in Esther is all symbolic of the ravishing beauty and refreshing rest to be found in the
King's house.
"The Golden Vessels"
The
vessels chosen for the king's table were of pure wrought gold. “And they gave them to drink in vessels of gold, the
vessels being diverse one from another, and royal wine in abundance, according to the bounty of the King.” (Esther 1:7).
No other vessel is fit to receive the royal wine. How significant that in the Hebrew this reads, “The wine of the Kingdom!”
God's people are fainting for the strength, and joy, and love, and life which is to be poured out in the new wine of the Kingdom.
The dispensation of grace which began with the outpouring of the physical life of the Son of Man, typified by the communion
cup, is to end with the outpouring of the divine life of the Son of God! The “Latter Rain” is nothing less than
the effulgence of the resurrection life of the Sun of Righteousness, poured out in abundant, overflowing measure, first upon
His own household and servants, and then upon the multitudes. As Jesus took the cup upon that memorable night of the Last
Supper, He spoke these significant words. “But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine,
until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's Kingdom.” (Matthew 26:29).
"But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some
to honor and some to dishonor. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and
meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work." (2 Tim. 2:20, 21). The King will choose only golden vessels
for the royal feast. Vessels put through the fire, melted and molded and fashioned by His own hand, thoroughly purged and
prepared. For many years He has been seeking out these vessels. What suffering and tribulation these have known. What anguish
and pain, what refining fires. But they have stood upon His Word. “He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried
me I shall come forth as gold.” Only those who are willing to be thus separated and prepared can be chosen to receive
the wine of the Kingdom.
"Come and Dine"
"And the drinking was according to the King's order, without compulsion." (Esther 1:8, Leeser translation). All
were freely bidden to the feast, all were given in abundance according to the bounty of the King, but none were compelled
to eat or drink. It is difficult for us to realize that many who come to the Lord's table will go away empty! The King enjoins,
“Drink, yea, drink deeply beloved,” but many will only taste and sip! Some will not heed the invitation to all,
and will even despise the Lord's table, and consider it unholy.
"Also Vashti the queen made a feast." At the same time that the King was feasting his subjects, Vashti, a type
of the organized worldly church, was also feasting many at her table. The King commanded that she come to His feast, but this
she refused to do. Because of this she was set aside, and lost her right to reign with Him. The modern church is feeding the
multitudes upon man-made philosophies and doctrines, upon stale bread, mouldy and tasteless; the wine of the Spirit is spurned.
Turn from this table, and feast with the King!
The
Kingdom of God is at hand! The King is even now calling us to a great feast. The vessels of gold are being placed upon the
table, ready for the outpoured wine! All glory to His Matchless Name. “Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory
forever.”
