The Blessing of Purim
The Feast of Purim this year starts at sunset on Saturday, March 23, and ends on Sunday, March 24. In Israel and among Jewish communities worldwide, there will be feasting, celebration, exchanging gifts, donations to the poor, wearing masks and costumes, parades, recitations, and reading the Scroll of Esther in synagogues.
There are numerous lessons one can glean from Esther's astonishing story. An orphaned Jewess raised by her cousin Mordecai, Esther, with her beauty and favor, becomes the Queen of Persia. King Ahasuerus’ (Xerxes I) royal vizier, Haman, hated the Jews, particularly Mordecai, who would not bow or pay homage to him.
Haman’s plan to convince the King to order the elimination of the Jews and the hanging of Mordecai ends with an incredible twist of divine intervention. Haman himself hangs on the gallows he built, and the Jews are permitted to kill those thought to pose a threat to them preemptively. Mordecai is promoted to second in rank next to King Ahasuerus, and an annual commemoration of the delivery of the Jewish people from annihilation is instituted.
One cannot help but draw parallels between the Purim story and today’s unfolding events in Israel. The murderous spirit of Haman, originating in Persia (or modern-day Iran, who are known to be backing Hamas and Hezbollah), has been on full display from October 7, 2023, until today. Calls worldwide, ’From the river to the sea,’ echo the annihilation of all Jewish presence in the very land the Lord gave them, dating back to the Abrahamic Covenant. When all seems to be against them, as in the days of Esther, the Lord will raise up His secret weapon - His praying, fasting people - to help empower warfare against the enemies of His firstborn Israel.
It behooves us to remember that in Purim, the heroine is a woman who risks her life to appeal to the King for the life of her people. As Mordecai so aptly states, “Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14). I believe the Lord is causing many women today to rise with authority in places of prominence as intercessors and voices of justice ‘for such a time as this.’ Lou Engle has called for a million women to Washington, DC’s Mall on The Day of Atonement, October 12, 2024. Lou states, “This Esther movement must progress from a million women on the Mall to a million Esthers virtually on the Wailing Wall for Israel… also for a mass mobilization of intercession against the Haman spirit at work through Hamas and through global anti-semitism…let’s arise as a global Esther… contending for the peace of Jerusalem.”
Photo: Esther, Ahasuerus, and Haman, courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
The power of fasting and prayer is a key insight from the Purim story. Called The Esther Fast, three days of no food or drink with prayer led to an incredible turnaround in the King's heart and subsequent events. Although God’s name is conspicuously never mentioned in the Book of Esther, His intervention is undeniable. His divine protection, power to deliver, and love for His people are fully displayed.
As we celebrate Purim, let us give thanks, worship, and pray to the God of the great turnaround. His omnipotence, His omnipresence and His omniscience are secure. His love and power to defend His people is sure.
Twenty-five hundred years after the time of Esther, we are the ones called to make a difference for the Jewish people and the land of Israel “for such a time as this!”
We are in a critical time in history for the nation of Israel. Want to engage more?
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Five generations after David, King Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, faced the formidable armies of Moab, Ammon, and Mt. Seir. Outnumbered and doomed to destruction, King Jehoshaphat led the people of Judah in an admirable response. He humbled himself, called a fast, and gathered all to pray and seek the face of the Lord, saying, “O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.” (2 Chronicles 20:12).