Purim 2011
By Jackie Newman
This weekend is the time the Jewish historical feast called Purim is celebrated. It commemorates a time when the Jewish people were saved from extermination by an evil leader. Sound familiar?
This account is in the Old Testament book of Esther and so this whole book is read in one sitting at Purim celebrations all over the world. The purpose of reading the book of Esther is to explain the background and purpose of why the Jewish people celebrate Purim each year.
There is not one mention of God’s name in the book of Esther, but He is everywhere in this book as we will see. As you read the book of Esther you see Him working behind the scenes fulfilling His covenant with His people as so many times in history. God continues to save the Jewish people from extinction and from evil leaders. And so, the book of Esther shows that God doesn’t need to be mentioned to be present.
I suggest that you read the whole book of Esther this weekend and get the full account of what God is saying through this Biblical book. But I would like to give you the basics, some history and some points to ponder as you read it.
The book of Esther opens up telling us about the king of Persia about 500 years prior to the birth of Jesus. King Ahasuerus (Ah ha zoo air us), also called Xerxes, was the son of a marriage between Darius 1, and Atossa (daughter of Cyrus the Great). This seems to be a political marriage. Darius & Cyrus were the leaders of the Medo-Persian Empire. This was the Empire that conquered the Babylonian Empire. When Ahasuerus became king, the empire was in a struggle with Greece for world domination. (BTY-eventually Alexander the Great does conquer Persia) The Persian Empire at the time of King Ahasuerus was from India to Ethiopia with Susa as the capital.
As the book of Esther opens King Ahasuerus holds a six month celebration to build support for his kingdom. Herodotus, a historian of this time, tells us it was a military planning session to discuss the “Greece problem”. This celebration was political and included much heavy eating and drinking.
It is at this point the book of Esther begins to get interesting. Queen Vashti (whose name means “beautiful”) is commanded by the king to come into this celebration, apparently, to show her off in front of all the king’s political leaders. This marriage may also been a political marriage. Vashti was the daughter of King Belshazzar of Babylon (grandson of King Nebuchadnezzar, the one who saw “the writing on the wall” in Dan. 5). In other words: Vashti came from a “feisty family”. Maybe the king wanted to insure the kingdom’s political strength by having Vasti come in and make a point: “See, we conquered Babylon, we can also conquer Greece”. Whatever the reason, she flatly refuses to do what the king wants and is promptly removed as Queen, never to be heard of again.
But King Ashsuerus finds himself with a problem. When the celebration is over, when everyone goes home, and when he wakes up from all the drinking, the king finds himself with no Queen. A problem Indeed! So, the search for a new queen begins. And this is where we clearly see God working in the background, sovereignly moving in the hearts and minds of people and causing situations that will assure the protection of His people. After all He is a covenant keeping God.
As history unfolds….we are introduced to the “Good Guy”, Mordecai, the great grandson of one of the exiles that were taken from Jerusalem to Babylon. Mordecai had lived in Suza his whole life. He was loyal to the king to the point that when he overheard a plot to kill the king, he exposed it, saving the king’s life.
Then there is “The Heroine”, Esther, who was an orphan. Mordecai was her cousin and became her guardian after her parents died. It becomes apparent that God’s favor was upon her when she is picked by King Ashsuerus as his next queen.
Both Mordecai and Esther were Jewish. And no one knew.
The plot thickens when we are introduced to “The Bad Guy”,Haman, the Agagite.
Haman had a position of authority in the kingdom and expected everyone to bow down to him, and all did….except Mordecai. Why? There is only one reason Mordecai gives for not bowing to Haman…Mordecai was a Jew. So, what kind of reason is that? To understand this, you need to understand the relationship between the Amalekites and God’s people.
In Gen. 25:19, the Bible tells us that Isaac & Rebekah had twins named Jacob & Esau and that these twins represented two nations: The people of Israel and the the people of Esau. Amalek was Esau’s grandson (Gen. 36:10-12, 16). Amalek’s descendents made up a group of people called the Amalekites.
Ex. 17 tells us that the Amalekites were the first enemies Israel faced after Red Sea and on way to Mt. Sinai. This is where as Joshua was fighting, Aaron & Hur held up Moses arms causing Israel to win this battle. This account tells us that the Lord was furious with the Amalekites. Why? Deut. 25:17-19 tells us that one main reason was that they actually attacked the weak, the stragglers. They were probably the ill, weak, faint, weary; possible woman and children. The very ones that are always on God’s heart-Deut. 14:29, Ps. 146:9, Is. 1:16-17. The outcome? The Bible tells us that “The Lord will have war against Amalek from generation to generation.” There would always be a type of “war” between God and His people and the descendants of Amalek.
But to Israel, God reveals Himself as Israel’s protection by giving them one of His names: “The Lord is your banner”. Why did Israel need to know this name right then? Because from then on God’s people would always have the “Amalekite spirit” to contend with. The Amalekites did not fear the God of Israel and would continue to be bitter enemies of God’s people. We see this in Num. 13 where part of the giants in the land that caused the spies to give a bad report were the Amalekites.
How does all play out in the book of Esther? The Amalekites hated Jews and Haman was an Amalekite. Hamen, realizing Mordecai was Jewish, used the refusal of Mordecai to bow to an Amalekite as an excuse to wipe out, at one time, all of Persia’s Jewish population. Sound familiar?
Purim in a nutshell: Mordecai had a plan: Tell the king! The Jewish people are saved from destruction when, as queen, Esther does two things: first she calls for all the Jews in the land to pray and fast. Then she goes before the king, (and that was a big risk) to ask that he come to a banquet and bring Haman with him. At this banquet Esther tells the king about Haman’s plot to kill her people, the Jews, which included Mordecai…the very one who had saved the king’s life from an assassination plot! In the end Haman is hanged and the Jews are free to live life without attacks from their enemies…..well, at least for awhile.
Today the Amalekite spirit lives on as a bitter enemy of Israel and God’s people. How can we recognize it today? The Amalekite spirit is anti-God, anti-Israel and anti-God’s people.
Where do we see an example of this spirit working today? The most obvious is President Ahamadinejad of Iran (historical ancient Persia). He is the leader of the country where the book of Esther took place. Ahamadinejad has publically declared his intent to wipe out Israel. Iran’s spiritual leader Ayatollah Khomeini has declared that Israel would be annihilated soon. They want to use nuclear bombs to do it….and the world seems to be going to let him try.
Iran is not the only enemy who has an Amalekite spirit. Look around and you will see the whole world beginning to give into this spirit. And like the political marriages in world history, spiritual marriages are taking place. The Bible makes it clear that all the nations of the world will eventually come against Israel. It will be a political marriage with the enemy of God. Aligning with God’s enemies may seem political but it will have spiritual consequences. Because when it looks like all is lost for Israel, Jesus will come again and He will judge the nations for how they have treated His covenant nation, Israel. Do not be deceived, the Amalekite spirit is demonic, it is out there and is getting a larger following. Each one of us needs to make sure we are on the right side. Remember we also are in a marriage… a spiritual marriage….we are the Bride of Christ.
What is our part today as we see the Book of Esther being relived in the world today? We need to ask ourselves: Is God asking us to pray…to fast…to stand up even in the face of fear? Initially Esther didn’t want to take the risk. She didn’t want to get involved. She didn’t want to play her part. She didn't want to stand up! But Mordecai challenged her in Esther 4:13-14: "Who knows whether you have come into the kingdom for such a time as this?"
I leave you with this: When radical Palestinians can go into a home of a Jewish family, (Fogel family pictured above) when they can look at an innocent sleeping 4 month old baby and then stab her in the heart, when those filled with hate for Jews, can then slit the throat of two more young children and then the parents, when Gaza celebrates publicly over this slaughter and passes out candy, when we hear hardly anything about it on the news, with things like this happening all over the world, we need to understand what is happening. Lines are being drawn, sides are being taken, and political and spiritual marriages are being formed. Now is not the time for fence sitting! We all have a part... what is yours??? We need to be on the right side, ask God what your part is and we need to NOT be deceived!
Back to pastor Rance;
As stated above in my opening comments, the wars and problems of the middle east today are mere continuing reflections of a devastating family feud that goes back thousands of years to the time of Abraham in the Biblical book of Genesis.
Prophetically speaking, these problems will eventually lead to more wars, all recorded in the Biblical future. The circumstances involved in these yet future conflicts will be far more deadly in nature and scope than anything mankind has ever witnessed from the beginning of time. They will end one day with the final battle of ARMAGEDDON and the second coming of Jesus Christ to rule the world for a period of 1000 years.
Do you have a relationship with Jesus Christ? If not please get yourself a Bible and read Romans chapter 10 verses 9 & 10. Assuring yourself of an eternity with God is only one decision and one prayer away my friends. Write to me if you have any questions about this most important of decisions.
God bless you all in Jesus name!
Pastor Rance.
