One common smear against God in recent times is that He is “an absentee landlord” or “a blind watchmaker” Who may have set everything in motion but now doesn’t care or doesn’t get involved. Many then blame Him for the evil and suffering that goes on in the world, particularly to those who it appears to us don’t deserve it, such as a dying family member or a starving child. A common slight against the book of Esther is that it doesn’t directly mention the name of the LORD, as the other books of the Bible do. However, the clear totality of the account is that He is very much at work in making evil plans turn back upon themselves to bring the promise of a blessing for the whole world — Messiah — through Abraham’s descendants. This would happen, even when the promise seemed to have been abandoned along with the people of Israel in Persia.
Category: Purim
Hallel Fellowship celebrated Purim with a fun take on the deadly serious account of the thwarted genocide of the Yehudim (Jews) living in exile in Persia in the fifth century B.C.E.
Hallel Fellowship has been celebrating Purim, the Feast of Lots recorded at the end of the Bible book of Esther, with a dramatic reading of the book with pantomime. The fellowship has developed an hourlong version of the book.
In the Book of Esther, Mordecai encourages Esther to stand up for her people in the face of powers bent on destruction of the Jews (Esther 4:13-14). This article takes a historical look of various attacks against the community and the nation and compares these assaults to the patterns shown in the Book of Esther.
The “Preacher” in Ecclesiastes said “there is nothing new under the sun.” The hatred against Yehudah, the Jews, has persisted throughout time, and the spirit of Amalek has taken many forms, including Haman, Antiochus IV, etc. Yet the LORD has kept Israel in the form of mostly Yehudah intact. Through Yehudah came the Messiah, the Seed of Eve Who crushed the serpent’s head and the Seed of Abraham Who brought God’s blessing to the world. That preservation of Yehudah above all odds through the eons, in the face of concerted genocidal efforts, is testimony that indeed the LORD is the one at work.
Many think Purim, the festival connected to the Bible book of Esther, is a minor Jewish holiday, but it speaks even more loudly to believers in Messiah Yeshua. It’s about the past and our future.
Just as Esther is the “hidden Jew” in the account recorded in the Bible book by the same name, Purim, or the Festival of Lots, is the hidden holy day with massive Messianic meaning for the Day of YHWH.