Tag: Purim

For Such A Time As This

No storm can prevail
against a person or a nation
whose King is Jesus!

Lone Cross atop a mountain in east central California, hope of a sunny day breaking through.

An ordinary woman, strategically placed before an extraordinary time in the history of a nation, finds her life’s purpose in a small, courageous act. A nation is saved from extinction.

Selected to compete in a beauty contest, Esther was pampered and prepared for some time. Esther won! Her prize was to marry a King. Life, indeed, was good! Until it wasn’t.

Esther’s story has it all. Good guys. Bad guys. Heroes and Villains.

One of my favorite lines in this story is when this sheltered queen is told to risk her life to save her people.

“Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:13,14)

The celebration of the events in the Book of Esther begin at sundown March 6, 2023, The Feast of Purim.

Links to more about the Book of Esther and the Feast of Purim

Pastor Alistair Begg’s series on Esther
“God is never mentioned by name in the book of Esther—but that doesn’t mean He isn’t present! The unlikely selection of a young Jewish woman to become Persia’s queen and gain influence with a powerful king is one of many improbable turns in a story that now, over two thousand years later, is still memorialized by the Jewish people. And behind that story’s every movement, if we look closely, we can discern the invisible God faithfully at work.

“In this series, Alistair Begg walks us through Esther’s engrossing narrative, introducing us to its vibrant cast of characters and moving step by step through its surprising and dramatic twists and turns. Along the way, we’re challenged to trust in God’s guiding hand over the details of our everyday lives and to rest safely in His providence. For the unseen God, no circumstance is too insignificant to go unnoticed, and no situation is beyond His sovereign power.” (from Truth for Life)

Previously posted on JonahzSong

Hadassah

Purim at Sundown

Purim

Priestly Blessing
Priestly Blessing

Purim

Here’s some history on the celebration of Purim, which is today.

The Persian empire of the 4th century BCE extended over 127 lands, and all the Jews were its subjects. When King Ahasuerushad his wife, Queen Vashti, executed for failing to follow his orders, he orchestrated a beauty pageant to find a new queen. A Jewish girl, Esther, found favor in his eyes and became the new queen—though she refused to divulge the identity of her nationality.

Meanwhile, the antisemitic Haman was appointed prime minister of the empire. Mordechai, the leader of the Jews (and Esther’s cousin), defied the king’s orders and refused to bow to Haman. Haman was incensed, and convinced the king to issue a decree ordering the extermination of all the Jews on the 13th of Adar—a date chosen by a lottery Haman made (hence the name Purim, “lots”).

Mordechai galvanized all the Jews, convincing them to repent, fast and pray to G‑d. Meanwhile, Esther asked the king and Haman to join her for a feast. At the feast, Esther revealed to the king her Jewish identity. Haman was hanged, Mordechai was appointed prime minister in his stead, and a new decree was issued granting the Jews the right to defend themselves against their enemies.

On the 13th of Adar the Jews mobilized and killed many of their enemies. On the 14th of Adar they rested and celebrated.

(from Chabad.org

 

Numbers-6-24-26 - 1

Hadassah (continued)

“When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry. . .” Esther 4:1 KJV

“. . .and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, and the exact sum of money that Haman had promised to pay into the king’s treasuries for the destruction of the Jews. Mordecai also gave him a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for their destruction, that he might show it to Esther and explain it to her and command her to go to the king to beg his favor and plead with him on behalf of her people. And Hathach went and told Esther what Mordecai had said. Then Esther spoke to Hathach and commanded him to go to Mordecai and say, “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law–to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.” And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:7-14 ESV

Okay, so undoing Mordecai’s disobedience of the king, his not reverencing Haman, is now the responsibility of Hadassah? Oh, that’s right, we are not considering Mordecai to have disobeyed, but to simply have obeyed G-d. So it is G-d that has made a mess that Hadassah must risk her life to turn around, right? Why? Why ever would G-d cause a situation in which His own people would be put into harm’s way? As I see it, G-d’s people were already in harm’s way. And it was just a matter of time that something else would have triggered a massacre of His people. G-d foresaw it coming, prepared people in the right places. Look at what Mordecai tells Hadassah: “Who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

G-d is wise. We try. One thing I notice throughout the Bible is that G-d has the end in sight. He has a plan. And as rough as it is for me to take, G-d allows suffering if it produces what is necessary for G-d’s plan to succeed, for G-d to succeed. For if G-d succeeds, we succeed. He is our Victory. His Victory, is our victory. It can be no other way. We are too short-sighted. We haven’t the end in sight. We live too much in the present. Oh, sure, that’s what the New Age is all about—living in the present, not the past, not the future. And certainly, in some instances this may seem prudent. But we must have hope, and G-d’s Victory is our True Hope.

We must remember that in taking a look at various scriptures within the Book of Esther, or any Book of the Bible, it is easy to loose sight of the whole picture. Esther shows us there is persecution of those who would belief the One Lord, the One G-D. And we are shown that in the end, the Goodness of G-d prevails against His enemies. That’s right. Haman isn’t just the enemy of G-d’s people; Haman is the enemy of G-d. As I’ve said, and say again, G-d is Victorious. We are victorious in Him. Thank G-d for Y’shuaJesus, through Whom we come to G-d, the Father, and have right to be called Sons and Daughters of the Living, Holy G-d.

Still curious about connivance? Maybe next time. And remember the military academy cadet? Perhaps we shall discuss this event, too.

Until then, let us keep the Feast, and think of the Feast with Y’shua to come. Maranatha, Lord, Maranatha!

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .