2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
There are always good reasons for looking into books like that of Esther to see the roots of our faith. While Christians don’t celebrate Purim, the Jewish Festival of Lots, they can see from the lessons discussed in this book many important issues that apply to modern day life. As a Jewish believer in Christ, I’m very blessed to be able to enjoy the riches of both the Jewish and the Christian cultures. I would wish that for every believer whether Jewish or not.
You will remember that when I left off, Haman had been hung on the gallows that he had built for Esther’s cousin, Mordecai, and the latter had been elevated to a position of respect and favor with regard to King Ahasuerus. The problem of the evil proclamation that Haman had convinced the king to issue establishing the fourteenth day of Adar as the day the Jews should be exterminated still existed. In response, Esther convinced the king to issue another proclamation allowing the Jews to defend themselves against any anti-Semites who should try to put the first proclamation into effect. Many people chose not to fight, but some did against the Jews. No one from the royal house of King Ahasuerus did. In fact, they helped the Jews [ES 9: 3]. Because God was behind them, the Jews defeated their enemies.
The fighting that took place was very unique in that there was never any looting after the enemies of the Jews were slaughtered. The fighting lasted over the thirteenth day of Adar only in Susa. Hundreds of enemies of the Jews were killed in Susa. Over both the thirteenth and fourteenth days of Adar, seventy-five thousand enemies of the Jews were taken out in the provinces without any looting [ES 9: 15-16]. ES 9: 18 -19, “The Jews of Susa, however, made the fifteenth a holiday, since they had slaughtered their enemies on the thirteenth and fourteenth and had stopped on the fifteenth. This is why Jews who live in small towns observe the fourteenth day of Adar as a joyous holiday, a time for feasting and giving gifts of food to one another.”
Purim is called the Festival of “Lots,” because Haman had thrown lots to determine the day the Jews should be killed. That justice prevailed in the form of Haman being hung and the enemies of the Jews being vanquished provides the reason why this is celebrated as joyous holiday of giving gifts to family, friends, and to the poor. Mordecai issued a letter explaining all that had happened and proclaiming these two days, the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar, to be holidays to always be observed [ES 9: 20-23]. Queen Esther followed up with a letter of her own, putting the official authority of the royal family behind Mordecai’s letter. ES 9: 32, “Esther’s command, confirming the rules for Purim, was written down on a scroll.” The latter is probably the chronicles of the kingdom referred to in ES 2: 23, 6: 1, and 10: 2.
ES 10: 3, “Mordecai the Jew was second in rank only to King Ahasuerus himself. He was honored and well-liked by his fellow Jews. He worked for the good of his people and for the security of all their descendants.” It is interesting to note that there seems to be no record of Mordecai’s death. Carl Armerding mentions this in his book, “Esther: For Such A Time As This,” suggesting that we are left with the impression of him living on and on. Many books of the Scriptures, especially Kings and Chronicles, distinguish particular men as good or evil based on their willingness to obey God. Such is also the case here with Mordecai. 1 JN 2: 17 sheds light on this. “He that doeth the will of God abideth forever.” In this sense, Mordecai is a type of Jesus, Who, upon His throne of glory, seeks not His own, but spends His power for His people.
As I end this series of messages on the book of Esther, I want to recall two more memories from my childhood to share with you. That was of the noisemakers we had, called groggers, which we made out of empty cans and twelve pennies. We would put them in the can and shake it which is said to make “quiet dogs bark, barking dogs quiet, and absolutely drown out Haman.” We decorated these cans with the star of David and crowns. The other memory I have is of eating wonderful cookies, called hamantashchen, which were named after Haman’s pockets, but are really triangular-shaped cookies that looked like the hat Haman wore. These are filled with poppy seed, fruit jam, or prune filling.
PRAYER: O Lord, through the Scriptures You reveal the basic truth that obedience and loyalty to You are rewarded with respect, success, long life, and lasting impact on the good of mankind. You also show us that prejudice, cruelty, stubborn ignorance, and unbelief are punished. We see in the OT many examples of archetypes of Christ in preparation for the fulfillment that Christ is when He comes on the scene. My prayer today is that all of us, including traditional Jews, might one day see that our Messiah has come and will come again. As time grows short, we ask You to grant opportunities to us to reach out to those who do not yet believe that He is the Messiah in a way that will help them to recognize this powerful and essential truth. We dedicate ourselves to patterning our lives into lives of service to You carrying with us the values and courage of faith that both Esther and Mordecai had. We should always recognize Your hand in their story and in our lives and be grateful for it. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, we will begin a new series of messages on James, the Apostle-Parent of the Bible. I hope you will enjoy it. In the meanwhile, reflect on how much we are loved by our Father in heaven. After much prayer and consideration, the Lord has directed me to be more mindful of observing the Sabbath. That is why I have come to the decision to send you daily devotions five, rather than seven, days a week. It will prevent me from getting burned out and allow me to send you only first quality devotions. I hope this decision won’t disappoint you and that you will find it in your heart to understand how important it is for me to keep a balance in my life, so that Peter and our friends can have some of my time. God loves you and so do Peter and I.
Grace Be Yours Always,
Lynn