Purim for Christians?
Chag Purim Sameach! or Happy Purim!
There remains untapped significance of Purim for both Christians and Jews. Its origin is in Persia, which is now modern day Iran. Purim means “lots” and was a method of choosing by elimination. That is how Haman and his cohorts chose a certain day to begin the twelve months of extravagant preparation needed to eliminate the Jews from existence. The king agreed with Haman, his second in command, and added his signet to the edict. And then…
“… the king and Haman sat down to drink…”
Esther 3:15a
No big deal. After all, it was only the Jews. However, the verse goes on to say;
“…but the city Shushan was perplexed.”
Perplexed?
Is that the best they could come up with? In one year all the Jews from India to Ethiopia will vanish, and all they are is perplexed?
Why not outraged, infuriated, or at least shocked? After all, these were not criminals or terrorists. The Jews had been living peacefully in that land for centuries. They were neighbors. Could they have been that horrible that their leaders devised a systematic genocidal plan to destroy them all in one day?
I guess that’s the point. They were bewildered, but it was not personal enough to get involved.
Let’s fast-forward about twenty-five centuries and ask ourselves the question;
“Why is it that the Jews remain the most hated people group in the world?”
Every empire that trampled Jerusalem under foot until Jesus’ day, and every nation to follow have either tried to destroy the Jews, remove them from their homeland, or evict them from the lands in which they settled.
But why are they still here? Are the nations that bad at being bad? Or is it true what Mordecai told Esther?
“For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish.” Esther 4:14a,
I actually respect the Persians who were perplexed that day when they read the decree detailing the execution of their Jewish neighbors and their children who played in their streets.
Being perplexed indicates they were thinking.
It didn’t make sense to them. Why were the Jews so hated? And why was Mordecai so sure that they would be preserved, regardless of the Haman’s in this world?
Anti-Semitism has not gone away, even though dozens of Haman’s have come and gone with the same ambition, but the Jews are still here. In fact, they are back in the land of their origin where “the desert has blossomed with the rose.”
Are you perplexed? Is the church?
Strangely Israel is not, nor are most Jews. They walk around though, with an invisible question mark hovering over their heads. The question is not “if they come?” It is “when?” I know it because I am one of them.
Though some hide their heads in the sand, we know that the Jews are still hated throughout much of the world, including America. What they don’t know is that there is a growing number of Christians, who love us. It is the love that comes from the One whom Mordecai trusted, even though He didn’t name Him.
For He who keeps Israel—which refers to both the land and the people—neither slumbers nor sleeps. When God said the Jews would always be a people, and always have the land of Israel, He meant always. Mordecai believed it, and those who know God today, believe it also. If God’s promises fail at any point, He can no longer be trusted.
Since God never fails, we need to turn our attention to another player—not the seed of the serpent—as was Haman, but the serpent himself.
He is the one who is the murderer from the beginning and has always set his sites on the seed of the woman, which genealogically became the Jewish people.
But why not give it up after all his failed attempts? Do the Jews really pose a threat to Satan? So few of us even believe in Jesus—who is His only threat.
Is it possible that the Jews do pose a threat to Satan? If he hates them so much for so long, it seems likely. Then shouldn’t Christians think directly opposite of how Satan does?
What if Christians began to love the Jews for who they are, not for what they represent? Too many want to see Jews return to Israel so that all Israel can be saved, sounds nice, but their reason seems a bit self-serving. Here is what I hear;
“ Yes, it will be during the tribulation, but the church will have ascended by then in the rapture.”
I am also meeting and hearing from Christians who have begun to catch a supernatural sense of God’s love for the lost sheep of the House of Israel and began to act on it.
But still, it seems that Satan knows something that many Christians are unaware of.
He has the vantage point of history where he witnessed real-time events. The event that frightened him was in the first century, not the crucifixion, not even the resurrection, but the joining together of Jews and Gentiles to form the “one new man.”
Ephesians calls the one new man God’s masterpiece, revealing the manifold wisdom of God to spirits of darkness, and destroying the ancient hostility, thus making peace. It was the finest hour of church history when there was no longer the hostile separation of Jew and Gentile, neither male nor female, slave nor free. All were on equal status before God and reflected it. The church has never been so wholesome since, or so fruitful and effective.
When Satan saw what was happening he had no defense.
He was perplexed.
So he began to rebuild the ancient enmity century after century until he smelled success in the most Christianized country in history on the most Christianized continent in history. It looked like this 20th century Haman was to be his crown jewel, but the God of Israel finally intervened when the church did not.
In Israel, there is a bit of Jewish humor that summarizes all of their history, which they celebrate on feast days throughout the year.
“They tried to kill us, God protected us, let’s eat!”
It’s funny, but it is not a suitable way to end a tale of great sorrows. Purim is celebrated because the Jews were protected. The hatred part they try and overlook. That can no longer be the case, not for the Jews, or the Christians.
The enemy was perplexed,
But now he is infuriated. Here is why.
He went after the Jews knowing that if they came to faith in Yeshua, the one new man will return in force and his time is up.
He has not given up on destroying Jews, but he has turned forcefully to the spiritual seed of the woman, the Gentile Believers. The result is that Christian persecution is higher than it’s ever been, even though it has yet to reach America’s shores. Students of the Bible have come to expect this, though.
Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. (Rev 12:17)
Like it or not, the story of Esther is no longer just a Jewish story. It is now even more incumbent for Jewish and Gentile Believers to join forces as God has eternally purposed to destroy the works of the devil and build the Kingdom of God in the souls of Jews and Gentiles throughout the nations.
Yes Satan, like Haman of old, is not perplexed he is…
“… filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” v.12
But instead of wishing it would all go away, why not consider that you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Esther 4:14
Shalom and blessings as you follow God’s leading.
B’Shem Yeshua, Paul
Check out what we have coming and consider it an invitation.
B’Yachad Tour in July https://www.comfortmypeople.com/
Melody of One event in April https://www.comfortmypeople.com/melody-of-one-returns/
