Purim is one of the happiest holidays in the Jewish calendar for it commemorates a mighty deliverance for the ancient Jewish people. The biblical book of Esther recounts the story and the origins of the celebration.
The historical setting is 473 B.C.E., near the end of the 70 years of Babylonian exile, when many Jews were living in exile in Persia. Powerful King Ahasuerus had a right hand man named Haman who hated Jews and longed to see them exterminated. His implacable hatred of all Jews was conceived in his utter disregard for one Jewish man - Mordecai. Determined to rid himself of Mordecai, and every other Jew in the empire, Haman devised a scheme to enlist the support of the King himself. In chilling words, all too familiar to the Jewish community, Haman prevailed upon the King with these words:
“There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your realm. Their laws are different from every other people’s and they do not observe the king’s laws; therefore it is not befitting the king to tolerate them. If it pleases the king, let it be recorded that they be destroyed…” (Esther 3:8-9 - The Stone Edition Tanach, Artscroll Series).
King Ahasuerus gave Haman permission to carry out his evil plot, even providing his signet ring to Haman, ensuring that the Persian people understood the King was in full agreement with Haman’s plan. The biblical text identifies Haman as the “son of Hammedatha the Agagite” (Esther 3:1 The Stone Edition Tanach, Artscroll Series). Students of the Bible will recognize “Agagite” as hearkening back to the days of King Saul.
During Saul’s reign in Israel, God had commanded him to utterly destroy King Agag and the Amalekite people. Saul failed in that responsibility, a failure that cost him and his descendents the throne of Israel. We should not miss the fact that Haman’s presence is a direct consequence of Saul’s failure to carry out God’s directive concerning the Amalekites. Haman was a descendant of Agag. Had Saul been obedient, there would have been no descendants of Agag to pose this threat to the Jews.
The biblical book of Esther tells the story of God’s (though he is never mentioned once in the text) sovereign control of history. By providentially bringing Esther, a beautiful Jewish woman, into the Persian King’s household as his queen, God ensured that Haman’s plot would fail. I encourage you to get a Bible and read the story for yourself.
Haman’s evil plot failed, God preserved his covenant people, and Mordecai proclaimed an annual celebration whereby Jewish people would remember their mighty deliverance from annihilation.
“…these days are recalled and observed in every generaton: by every family, every province, and every city. And these days of Purim shall never cease among the Jews, and the memory of them shall never perish among their descendants” (Esther 9:28 - Tanach, Jewish Publication Society).
As history readily shows, the dramatic deliverance in ancient Persia, was just one of many divine interventions, ensuring the survival of the Jewish people. The survival of the Jewish people, along with the presence of the modern state of Israel, is a testimony to God’s faithfulness. Millennia ago, he declared through the prophet Jeremiah:
“Thus said the LORD, Who established the sun for light by day, The laws of moon and stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea into roaring waves, Whose name is LORD of Hosts: If these laws should ever be annulled by Me - declares the LORD - Only then would the offspring of Israel cease to be a nation before Me for all time. Thus said the LORD: If the heavens above could be measured, and the foundations of the earth below could be fathomed, only then would I reject all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done - declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 31:35-37 - Tanach, Jewish Publication Society).
As long as creation stands, the King of the Universe will ensure the survival of the Israelite people. Jewish people have faced many enemies throughout their long history, and from them all God has given faithful deliverance.
I believe God’s promise to preserve the Jewish people is a promise for this life. However, there is an afterlife, an eternity where every man, woman, boy and girl will dwell - either in the presence of God or in a place called Hell, forever separated from Almighty God.
Yeshua (Jesus), God’s anointed Messiah, came to earth nearly 2000 years ago. Isaiah prophecied that Messiah would come to bear the sins of his people (Isaiah 53), and this is exactly what we see in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. He was the one that John the Baptizer said was “the Lamb of God” (John 1:36). As the Lamb of God, Jesus came to bear the sins of all who would believe in him. He is the perfect sacrifice - he is the only one who could identify with us and bear our sins before a just and holy God. Of him, the writer of Hebrews said:
“…we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:15-16 - Holy Bible: New International Version.
How tragic then, if at the end of this life, the greatest deliverance God will ever provide should be missed. It is right and proper to celebrate Purim - it was a divine intervention of miraculous dimensions. It was the faithful arm of a promise-keeping God.
But this same God has declared that salvation - deliverance from an eternal death - can only be found through faith in his Messiah - Yeshua. We read of Jesus in the New Covenant book of Galatians:
“[Jesus] gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (Galatians 1:4-5 - Holy Bible: New International Version).