Shalom Aleichem,
Purim
As many have seen in the news lately, Israel continues to bear up under the attack of its enemies… Hamas, Hizballah, Iran etc. The one thing all of Israel’s enemies have in common is the desire for Israel and its covenanted people to be destroyed forever!
Having recently celebrated the feast of Purim we were reminded of God’s providential hand in the lives of His people, even to the Jewish people today, who for the majority are not believers, due to the fact “
blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in
”
Romans 11:25b
.
The book of Esther is a story of God’s providential hand working to save His people through whom would come the Savior of the world – Yeshua Ha’Mashiach (Jesus the Christ). In the story of Esther, we never see God mentioned by name or see His people praying and yet we see the evidence of God’s protective direction throughout the story. We see the courage of Mordechai and his cousin Queen Esther following God’s leading by faith to do what was necessary to preserve the lives of their people and the line of the Messiah.
Mordecai and Esther realize they cannot remain silent when they become aware of the evil plans of Haman, the great enemy of Israel, attempting to destroy God’s covenanted people. Mordecai advises Esther to bravely go to the king to plead with him for their lives. Going in to see the king may, of course, seem like the logical thing to do, but it will put Esther’s life in immediate danger. Even though she is queen, Esther cannot come into the king’s presence without him first summoning her. She tells Mordecai that she may be put to death if she shows up uninvited. But Mordecai reasons with her:
Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this
?
Esther 4:13–14
Esther realizes the wisdom in Mordecai's advice and says, “
I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish
.”
Esther 4:16
— which is to say, “God’s will be done.”
Though the name of God is not mentioned in the Book of Esther, she commits her ways to the Lord by calling her people to a three-day fast before entering the king's presence:
"
Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise;
"
Esther 4:16
Esther fasts for three days before going to the king, and when she enters his presence, she finds his grace, instead of his wrath. As the story goes the courage and faith of two servants of the Lord change the course of history providing salvation for God’s people.
As we live in Israel today, under the constant threat of our enemies, and with two of our children serving in the Israeli Army, this feast of Purim is especially meaningful to us. We too, as we are here in the Land, are attempting to bring salvation to the Jewish people by way of the showing and telling of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are beginning to recognize we may be here “
for such a time as this
” and need to maintain the attitude of Esther
if I perish, I perish.
We are in the presence of danger from our enemies and even from the very people we are trying to save, the Jewish people, as the majority continue to reject the gospel of our Savior who was able to come because of the victory seen in Esther.
We remember the Days of Purim because the Scripture commands both the Jew and “all such as joined themselves unto them” …i.e. those Christians from the nations who put their trust in the Jewish Messiah, King, and Savior.
The Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to their writing, and according to their appointed time every year
;
Esther 9:27
This month we will be celebrating another feast in Passover remembering the deliverance of the Jewish people and all who would come to have faith in the coming Lamb of God!
Please continue to pray with us for the salvation of the Jewish people and stand up against any form of antisemitism as God has an enduring promise for all those who stand with this people:
And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed
.
Genesis 12:3
