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 Purim
The Feast of Purim shows
God working “behind the scenes”.
It is also called the “Feast of Esther” and the “Feast of
Lots”, names that will make sense as this appointed time is studied.
The best way to learn about Purim is to read through the book of
Esther in one sitting. It is an exciting story, full of intrigue, plotting, last
minute turns of events, and irony. The
book of Esther was originally written on a small one handle scroll called
a “megillah”, which is still read from in traditional synagogues. It is one of the five short books in the Tenach which are
associated with feasts: Ecclesiastes
with Sukkot, Song of Solomon with Pesach, the book of Ruth with Shavuot,
and of course Esther with Purim. Esther
is unique in that it never overtly mentions God, the Torah, nor the
Temple. None of the main
characters, Esther, Mordecai, nor Haman are mentioned again in the Bible. However, it points out clearly God’s hands orchestrating
everyday events that seem to be unconnected, but yet work together to
bring about His will.
The name “Purim” is
Hebrew for the plural of “pur”, or lots (similar to dice) used by the
enemy of the Jews, Haman, to discern the day and month best to destroy the
Jewish people in fifth century Persia.
This date fell on the 13th of Adar in the Jewish calendar, usually
mid-March.
The events of the story take place during the reign of King
Ahasuerus, a.k.a. “Xerxes”, who reigned during the peak of Persia’s
power. Among his lands was a
sizable Jewish population dispersed earlier to Babylon.
The Jews in Esther had chosen to live comfortably in the Diaspora
rather than return to the homeland promised by God.
Some had even taken Persian names such as the hero, Mordechai, from
the Persian “warlike”, derived from the pagan god Marduk.
Even the namesake for this book, Esther, is from the Persian “Ishtar”,
or star. It seems these Jews, in assimilating, had detached themselves
from God’s program and perhaps this is why He does not identify Himself
with His name in this book.
Briefly, King Ahasuerus was looking for a replacement for his
queen, Vashti, after her refusal to indulge him at a great party.
This search led to a Jewish girl, Hadassah, being chosen as the new
queen. She was being raised by her cousin Mordecai who convinced her
to hide her Jewishness and take the Persian name Esther. Mordecai was given a post outside the palace where he foiled
a plot on the king’s life. This
deed was recorded, but no reward was given.
Meanwhile, the king’s prime minister, Haman, became perturbed
with Mordecai when, honoring the one true God, he refused to bow down to
Haman. While the Persians
considered court officials to be worthy of worship, a Midrash holds that
Haman wore an image of his favorite idol on his clothes, so bowing to him
would mean that Mordecai bowed to an idol.
Haman’s reaction was typical of anti-Semites throughout Jewish
history:
Esther
3:13
Dispatches were sent by couriers to all the king's provinces with
the order to destroy, kill and
annihilate
all the Jews--young and old, women and little children--on a single
day, the thirteenth day
of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods.
Haman
had the decree sent out a full eleven months before the action was to take
place. Perhaps it was his
sadistic way to have this death sentence hanging over the Jews.
However, this providential timing allowed God to orchestrate events
to save His people. He gave a
timid young lady holy boldness to intervene for her people.
Esther’s position seemed safe in the king’s court, but Mordecai
reminded her:
Esther
4:14
For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for
the Jews will arise from another place,
but you and your father's family will perish.
And who knows but that
you have come to
royal
position for such a time as this?"
Esther is given the choice
to remain comfy or take a step of faith to be a part of God’s team.
God had put her in a position where she could be used to glorify
His name by doing something to save His people.
Due to court etiquette, Esther could not just go before the king to
ask a favor. She would have
to have his royal scepter extended to her or face death for intruding.
Her solution to this dilemma gives us good advice if we find
ourselves in similar situations:
Esther
4:16
"Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast
for me. Do not eat or drink for three days,
night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is
done, I will go to the king, even
though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish."
It is understood that accompanying their fast, these Jews would be
praying to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and repenting of any
sins. They understood that
this is what moves the heart of God:
2
Chron. 7:14
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble
themselves and pray and seek my face and
turn
from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive
their sin and will heal
their land.
God
showed Esther favor in the eyes of the king...
Proverbs
21:1
The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD;
he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.
He
was open to her suggestion for a banquet, part of a plan to avert the
Jew’s destruction by revealing her identity and Haman’s evil intent.
It is interesting to
note, according to a rabbinical commentary,
that after seeking the Lord in fasting, prayer and repentance, a
hint of God’s name appears in the story:
Esther
5:4
"If it pleases the king," replied Esther, "let the
king, together with Haman, come today to a banquet
I have prepared for him."
The
Hebrew for these words, which mark the turning point in the fate of the
Jews, is “ye’bow hamelech ve’Haman hayom”.
The first letters of each of these words spell out the sacred name
of God “Yod Hay Vav Hay”.
Just
when the situation looked very grim for the Jewish people, God used a
seemingly insignificant event to change the course of history.
The night before Haman and
the king were to meet, the king could not sleep.
This king who ruled over 127 provinces could not command his eyes
to close in sleep...an even greater King
was staying up with him:
Psalm
121:4
indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
He
decided to have his diary read to him:
Esther
6:1
“So
he ordered the book of the chronicles, the record of his reign, to be
brought in and read to
him.”
In
this record the king heard the recounting of how the Jew, Mordecai, had
foiled a plot against the king’s life
and it sparked him to ask:
Esther
6:3
“What
honor and recognition has Mordecai received for this? The attendant
replied: “Nothing has been
done for him.”
This
bothered the king and he decided to do something for Mordecai right away.
He summoned whoever he could find in his court at this early hour,
who “happened” to be Haman, to bestow an honor upon his forgotten hero
Mordecai. It could only be
God’s irony that Haman must now lead Mordecai through the streets on the
kings horse, wearing the king’s robe, announcing: “This is what is done for the man the king delights to
honor.” Doubly ironic is
that Haman himself suggested these honors thinking the king was going to
bestow them on him! Adding
insult to injury, a Midrash says that Haman’s daughter looked out of the
window and saw the procession below.
Assuming the one leading the horse was Mordecai, she emptied the
chamber pot on him (who, of course, was her father!).
Later at the banquet
Esther revealed that she was a Jew, and that Haman had plotted to kill her
and her people. The king
became so enraged that he had Haman and his sons hanged on a huge gallows
Haman had constructed to use on Mordecai.
With Esther’s intervention, another decree was sent out allowing
the Jews to protect themselves from their enemies.
The Jews were victorious, Mordecai was promoted to a place of high
honor, and Esther sent out a decree:
Esther
9:19-22
“...make
the 14th day of the month of Adar a holiday for rejoicing and feasting
and sending portions of food to one another...”
The holiday of Purim was
established and the appointment with God was made.
The holiday was to be observed forever....
Esther
9:27-28
“The
Jews established and made a custom for themselves, and for their
descendants, and for all
those who allied themselves with them, so that they
should not fail to celebrate these two days according to their regulation,
and
according to their appointed time annually. So these days were to be remembered
and celebrated throughout every generation, every family, every province,
and
every city; and these days of Purim were not to fail from among the Jews,
or their
memory fade from their descendants.”
Esther had asked only
for the right of self-defense in the face of destruction, but the king
gave them the right to plunder the spoil of their enemies.
However three times the Jews refused:
Esther
9:10
...but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.
Esther
9:15-16
The Jews in Susa came together on the fourteenth day of the month
of Adar, and they put to death in
Susa three hundred men, but they did not lay their hands on the
plunder.
[16]
Meanwhile, the remainder of the Jews who were in the king's provinces also
assembled to protect
themselves and get relief from their enemies. They killed seventy-five
thousand of them but
did not lay their hands on the plunder.
Why
is this so important to be mentioned three times?
The answer reveals the antecedents to this story of Purim...
Esther
describes Haman as a descendant of
king Agag:
Esther
3:10
So the king took his signet ring from his finger and gave it to
Haman son of Hammedatha, the
Agagite,
the enemy of the Jews.
Agag
was king of the Amalakites, Israel’s and God’s enemy:
Exodus
17:16
He said, "For hands were lifted up to the throne of the LORD.
The LORD will be at war against
the
Amalekites from generation to generation."
This
leads to why Haman and his ten sons were done away with.
In 1Samuel 15 the Lord promises to punish Amalek, and commands Saul
to wipe them out. Saul
disobeys, spares Amalek and even takes some of the spoil.
It took 500 years to correct this, but finally Mordecai finishes
what his ancestor did not do...for Mordecai is described as from the tribe
of Benjamin:
Esther
2:5
Now there was in the citadel of Susa a Jew of the tribe of
Benjamin, named Mordecai son of Jair,
the son of Shimei, the son of Kish,
This
explains why the Jews were reluctant to take any of their enemy’s
spoil...perhaps they were reminded of Saul’s downfall.
Some
Purim traditions are:
1. “grogers”, or
noisemakers, sounded each time Haman is mentioned...a reminder of God’s
instruction to “blot out Amalek”:
Deut.
25:18-19
When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and
cut off all who were
lagging
behind; they had no fear of God. [19] When the LORD your God gives you rest from all
the
enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an
inheritance, you shall blot out
the
memory of Amalek
from under heaven.
Do not forget!
2. celebrating with food and games...a reminder of deliverance from
annihilation...
Esther
8:17a
In every province and in every city, wherever the edict of the king
went, there was joy and
gladness
among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating.
3.
dressing up in costumes...a tradition related to those who dressed
up to look like Jews in fear of retribution for Haman’s decree:
Esther
8:17b
...And
many people of other nationalities became Jews because fear of the Jews
had seized them
4. delivering “mishloah manot”, plates of food, to neighbors and
those in need...
Esther
9:22
He
wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving
presents of food to one
another
and gifts to the poor.
The
idea of giving is further connected with Purim since a descendant of King
Ahasaurus, Darius, gave provisions from the royal treasury to rebuild the
Temple (as told in Ezra)...could he be the grandson of Esther?
5.
eating “hamantaschen”, German for “Haman’s pockets”, triangular
pastry filled with fruit; associated
with the three cornered
hat supposedly worn by
Haman
6. mocking Jewish
liturgy and Torah tradition; the
Talmud says that we fully accept Torah only on Purim, for only when we can
mock tradition can we fully
accept it...otherwise we may be in danger of elevating our traditions to a
level of idolatry
7. celebrating Purim on
different days, the 14th or 15th of Adar:
Esther
9:18-19
The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and
fourteenth, and then on the
fifteenth
they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.
[19]
That is why rural Jews--those living in villages--observe the fourteenth
of the month of Adar as
a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other.
It
has been interpreted that since Shushan (“Susa”) was a walled city,
all cities known to be walled
since the days of Joshua (for example, Jerusalem) were to celebrated Purim
on the 15th. In
the Diaspora it is celebrated on the 14th.
In a “leap year” with two months of Adar, it is celebrated
during Adar II.
8. fasting on the 13th of Adar...in remembrance of Esther’s decree to
fast before she went to see the king.
Purim shows us once again that Satan will use whoever he can to
destroy the Jews. Even Hitler
knew the story of Esther and ordered synagogues barred on Purim.
On Purim in 1942 Poland ten Jews were hanged in a sadistic parody
of the fated of Haman’s sons. However,
as we saw with Hanukkah and Pesach, God is faithful to miraculously save
His people.
In the Purim story we see a picture of Yeshua in the King’s
scepter held out to Esther, allowing her to enter his presence.
Numbers 24:17 describes “a scepter that will rise out of
Israel”, a prophecy of the Messiah.
Hebrews 1:8 (quoting Psalm 45:6) speaks of Yeshua as the
“righteous scepter”...God has extended His Scepter to us, Yeshua, so
that when we acknowledge Him, we can come into His presence.
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