Chapter 6 Purim

We’ve all heard of Marti Gras in New Orleans, and Carnival in Rio. Welcome to the Purim in Persia.
Marti Gras and Carnival like Christmas and Halloween have Christian roots but let’s face it, they really aren’t biblical holidays and by that I mean biblically commanded holidays.
Purim, however, most definitely is! And what a wonderful command it is.
Esther 9:22
Because on those days the Jews rid themselves of their enemies, and it was a month which was turned for them from sorrow in to gladness and from mourning in to a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and rejoicing and sending portions of food to one another and gifts to the poor,Sorrow turned to gladness, mourning turned into a holiday. Purim is a time of feasting, rejoicing, and sending portions of food to one another and gifts to the poor.



As Hanukkah, centers around the bravery of the Maccabees, Purim centers around the courage of a young woman named Esther. A few hundred years before the Maccabee's struggle, during the first dispersion of Israel in 450 B.C., God saved the Jews from the brink of destruction through the intervention of Esther.

The book of Esther begins (quite appropriately for Purim) with a party. King Ahasuerus, who reigned from India to Ethiopia, hosted two banquets in the citadel of Susa. The first banquet was for the noble people and lasted 180 days. But the second banquet was for everyone from the greatest to the least. It lasted seven days and the decorations and drinks were bountiful.
On the seventh day when his heart was ‘merry with wine’ (Esther 1:10), the king summoned his wife, Queen Vashti to come and display herself, for she was beautiful.
But the Queen refused to come. The King decided, with the help of his counselors, that she would never be allowed into his presence again. Her crown would be given to another.
So all the beautiful, young virgins in Susa were brought into the king’s harem and after a time of preparation would be brought into the king. He would choose the most delightful of all to be the new queen.
There was a Jew in Susa named Mordecai, who was bringing up his orphaned niece named Hadassah. Hadassah was known by her Persian name Esther. ‘She was beautiful of form and face,’ (Esther 2: 7). Naturally, she was one of the virgins taken into the king’s palace. Mordecai had warned her not to make known her heritage and she found favor with the eunuch in charge of the harem named Haggai.
Soon there was another party, for the King found Esther more pleasing than all the other women and placed the royal crown upon her head.
Yet Esther still obeyed the word of Mordecai and well she should, for he was quite loyal to the king. Mordecai even discovered a plot against the king’s life and told Esther of it, who told the king and, thus, Mordecai saved the King’s life.
Now a true villain enters our story. Haman (whose name means ‘the rager’ or ‘their tumult’) was promoted to great power in the kingdom. So high was his position that all the king’s servants at the king’s gate would bow down to him, all except Mordecai. Haman soon discovered this fact and his anger raged. He vowed to destroy not only Mordecai, but also all of the Jews.
The king gave Haman his royal signet ring, which Haman used to seal an edict to annihilate the Jews on the thirteenth day of Adar.
Esther heard that her beloved uncle was weeping, mourning, and wearing sack-clothe. She sent him garments but he refused them. Mordecai sent her word of the evil Haman’s plan and ordered her to go to the king and plead for her people.
‘Did Mordecai know what he was asking?’ wondered Esther, for she had not been summoned into the king’s presence in 30 days. Anyone approaching the king in his court unbidden could be put to death unless the king held out his golden scepter signifying that he or she could live.
Mordecai answered his niece’s message with these words:
Esther 4: 13-14
If you remain silent at his time, relief, and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?Now Esther gave herself up for her people. All the Jews of Susa including Esther and her maidens fasted for three days and nights.
On the third day, Esther prepared herself and entered the inner court of the king. The king had mercy upon her extending his scepter towards her. He offered her up to half of his kingdom to which she only requested his presence at a banquet for the king and Haman.
At the end of the banquet, he again made an offer to grant her any request up to half of his kingdom. She once more asked him to attend a banquet the following day for him and Haman.
Well, if Haman was prideful before now his pride overflowed. He decided (after some persuasion from friends and family) to have an enormous gallows made on which to hang Mordecai.
But during the night, sleeplessness and late night reading caused the king to remember that he had never rewarded Mordecai for saving his life.
The king had Haman honor Mordecai by parading him through the streets, on one of the king’s own horses, and announcing the king’s favor upon him.
At Esther’s second banquet, the king learned that the people Haman planned to destroy were the queen’s own people.
Haman was hanged upon the very gallows he had built for Mordecai. But the threat to the Jews still remained. An edict sealed with the king’s signet ring could not be revoked. So a new edict was issued. The Jewish people could defend themselves and on the thirteenth day of Adar. The Jews conquered and destroyed those who hated them. So two days of celebration were established to remember this victory.


And the carnival-like, joyous atmosphere of this holiday continues today. Everyone dresses in a costume. I’ve seen many a lovely Esther and a few dastardly Hamans. When we lived in Tiberius, in the 1990’s most of the teenagers I saw dressed as Americans for Purim. They wore jeans and t-shirts with English words written all over them. I wonder if their parents realized that many of the words were...well, I'm glad my kids couldn't read yet:).


The book of Esther is read or acted out in a play. This is really fun because whenever Haman’s name is mentioned everyone boos or sounds the noisemakers called groggers. When the names Esther or Mordecai are read, cheers and clapping fill the assembly.
The light-hearted, joyousness is also reflected in the refreshments served at Purim. Cookies called hamantashen or Haman’s ears are a favorite. They do look a bit like an ear or some say a three-cornered hat that perhaps Haman wore.
As for the drinks, well let’s say drinking is encouraged. In fact, it’s supposed to be a mitzvah, “good work” to be so drunk that one cannot tell Mordecai from Haman. I remember watching some rabbi-types reading from Esther on TV while we lived in Tiberias. By the end of the reading their slurring told me that they were certainly full of “good works.”


On the kibbutz, it was little difficult to tell Esther from Haman during the play and not because of any mitzvah drinking. The parents put on a well-rehearsed and hilarious play for the children of the kibbutz. The father of the kids we babysat for, played the part of Esther. It was wonderful seeing the farmer/soldier/ dishwasher (everyone took a turn washing dishes on the kibbutz) prancing around in a lovely pink gown and tiara!


Why call this cheerful holiday ‘Purim’ or in English, 'Lots?' Why name this holiday after something Haman did?

Why?

Because, this day of destruction was turned into a day of rejoicing. This day of doom was turned into a day of triumph, days of fasting into days of feasting.


Haman may have cast the lot, ‘rolled the dice’ but as it says in Proverbs 16:33, “The lot is cast but its every decision is from the Lord.”The first lot mentioned in the Bible (besides Abe’s nephew, Lot – who probably should have used a lot – but that’s another story,) is in Leviticus 16:8 and 9. Lots are used to identify the goat of the sacrifice or atonement i.e. the Scapegoat. This chosen One would symbolically carry off the sins of the people into the wilderness.


Israel’s first king was chosen by lot in I Samuel 14.

Jonah was selected by lots to be cast into the sea and thus spent three days in the belly of the great fish.

Zechariah was chosen by lot to enter the temple, Luke 1:9, where he received news of his son who would be ‘called the prophet of the Most High,’ the herald of the Messiah.


Lot’s were cast at Jesus’ feet as he hung upon the cross, Matthew 27:35. Jesus himself calls attention to this fact by crying out the first verse of Psalms 22, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ That is ‘My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?’ Matthew 27:46.

Perhaps the crowds nearby began to recite this Psalms in their mind. The prophecy fulfilled before them must have left them open-mouthed with wonder especially as they pondered the verses Ps. 22 16b-18…
They pierced my hands and my feet.
I can count all my bones.They look, they stare at me;
They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.Why ‘Purim?’ The evil one had cast his lot but what Haman meant for evil, God used for good.



Like Esther, our chosen One, our Scapegoat, our Messiah willingly sacrificed Himself for the people.

For three days she fasted, crying out as Jonah did from the depths of the watery Sheol, Jonah 2:2.

After three days, Jesus arose from the grave to be our first eternal King.
Even her name is a picture of our Messiah.

Esther means ‘star’ and in Revelations 22:16, Jesus is called our 'bright and morning star.' Her Hebrew name, 'Hadassah' means myrtle. This reminds us of our righteous Branch of the Succoth, Jeremiah 23:5, the tabernacle of His Presence.
Amazingly enough the word ‘God’ is never mentioned in the book of Esther. But His Presence is felt throughout the pages. He is there, orchestrating His divine will over each situation.


What a cause for rejoicing to know that His will is being done!
What a motivation to rise to the challenge of Mordecai, not to remain silent; Esther 4:14.


Cheer for Esther, clack your grogger and boo when Haman is mentioned!
Celebrate this joyous holiday!
‘And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this,’ Esther 4:14.What do I mean by royalty? As George MacDonald says, the child of the king!


Questions for Purim
1. Do you think Queen Vashti was treated fairly? Why or why not?


2. Esther’s decision to follow Mordecai’s leading and Haggi’s advice concerning the king may have shocked some people. She does not at first reveal her heritage and does her best to physically please this pagan king. Have you ever wrongly judged another’s actions?


3. Reread Esther 4:14. Have you ever let an opportunity to bring ‘relief and deliverance’ to someone slip by? When was it? Let's think of ways to be ready.


4. Some believe God is only marginally involved in the events of this life, others believe He ‘allows’ many events to take place; I personally believe He is orchestrating all that happens. Read Proverbs 16:1, 16:9, 16:33. What do you think???


5. You are royalty, a child of the King because God is your Father. How does knowing that you are a prince/princess bring light into your life?
Read ‘The Princess and the Goblin,’ by George MacDonald to explore this notion more intimately.


6. Read Psalms 22 or the book of Jonah. Like Isaac on his way to the sacrifice, Esther counted herself as perishing for her people. Discuss how these people’s situations reflected the Messiah’s sacrifice.


7. When Esther entered into the King's presence, she had nothing to offer him but herself. You know what that reminds me of me... how about you, when you enter into our King's Presence?