Purim

Purim, feast of lots, is the yearly Jewish celebration of deliverance from annihilation on the Hebrew date of Adar 14, which was this past Friday. Pur is the Hebrew word for “lots”, and “casting lots” was an ancient tool used by rulers to make difficult decisions. We find the story of Purim in the book of Esther.

Esther was a Jewish girl who grew up in the exiled land of Babylon/Persia around 474 B.C.E.. Persia’s King Ahasuerus became unhappy with his Queen Vashti and ordered that all young, beautiful, virgin girls be brought before him in a “beauty pageant” so that he may choose a new queen. The girls who didn’t make the cut after the year of training became part of the king’s harem. We would call this “sex trafficking” today.

Esther was blessed by God to be chosen as the new queen!

During this same time, evil Haman, an Agagite, and longtime rival of the Jews, tricked the King into legalizing the slaughter of all Jewish people. Haman cast lots to decide on the date to deal with “the problem of the Jews”, designating Adar 13.

Learning of this wicked plan, Queen Esther called for all Jewish people to fast and pray for God’s deliverance. Esther’s uncle Mordecai encouraged her to risk her life and go before the King to beg for his intervention, after all, she had “come to the kingdom for such a time as this”! Miraculously she gained the King’s permission to devise a plan of her own which resulted in Haman being hung on the very gallows he had built to hang the Jews!

Therefore, Adar 14 was ordered by Queen Esther to become a day of celebration, thanksgiving, and joyous feasting for God’s deliverance and provision in persecution.

Whether you are a Jew, who has accepted Jesus as Messiah or not, or a Christian who has been adopted into God’s chosen people by the saving sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we are all facing perilous times of hate and persecution from other nations. We must come together, put aside bigotry, deny all antisemitism, and fast and pray for God’s deliverance!

“For you are all children of God, through faith in Christ Jesus… There is neither Gentile nor Jew, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to promise.” Galatians 3:26-29

May we seek our life’s Godly purpose to share the gospel of Christ to everyone that we can, in every way that we can! Let us take a stand for what is right in the eyes of God and for His chosen people, the Jews, as we live in perilous times.

Who knows, maybe God brought you into His kingdom for such a time as this?