25 min
Purim (Part A) - Festival of Lots - Esther 9:23-32 Feast Days - Minor Festivals - The Harvest
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- Religion & Spirituality
The events surrounding the Purim story have long since been attributed to divine intervention—and rightfully so. For even though the name of God is not mentioned anywhere within the book, surely it is his mighty hand which delivers the Jews from the evil plot of Haman. Consider these four “coincidences:” 1. If Amalak hadn’t aligned themselves against God’s chosen people, the bitter ongoing war with them would not have produced a people who would forever be identified as the “enemies of the Jews” (read Exodus 17:8-15). 2. If king Sha’ul had destroyed all of the Amalakites (whom the sages teach was completely assembled together that day) as HaShem had ordered him to (read 1 Samuel chapter 15), then there would not have even been born a Haman, descendant of that wicked King Agag (see Ester 3:1,where we learn that Haman is a descendant of Agag). 3. If Ester had not have been in the right place at the right time, the demise of the Jews might have been certain (read Mordekhai’s statement in Ester 4:12-14). 4. If Mordekhai had not been in the right place at the right time, the Jews’ demise might have been certain (read Ester 2:21-23; 6:1-13). So we see that even though God is not specifically mentioned—surely he was with his people! For, the God we serve does not leave circumstances to chance! He is always leading, guiding, instructing and protecting those who are his own—even in the midst of disobedience (remember that Y’hudah was exiled for her gross idolatry; reference the entire book of Jeremiah)! But Haman the Jew-hater could have learned a thing or two from reading the Torah of Moshe! If he had read, he would have learned that to align himself against God’s chosen people is to align himself against God! Indeed every single wicked nation that has plotted to destroy the Jews has met with the wrath of HaShem, and has consequently all but been wiped from the face of the earth. Bible prophecy tells us of 8 famous, wicked kingdoms. Here is a summary of those kingdoms; it’s ruler or main leader, and the Bible reference: 1. Egypt: the Pharaoh (Exodus 1:8-16; 5:2) 2. Assyria: Shalman’eser (2 Kings 17:1-6) 3. Babylon: N’vukhadretzar (Jeremiah 25:9; 39:1) 4. Medo-Persia: Haman (Ester 1:1-3; 3:10-13) 5. Greece: Antiochus Epiphanes (Daniel 8:11; 23-25) 6. Rome: Herod (Matthew 2:1-16) Now these above-mentioned six are recorded for us in the Bible so that we might know that the word mentioned to Avraham (read Genesis 12:1-3) is true. The Bible also alluded to the seventh—and even soon to come eighth evil empire, which both sought and will seek to destroy the Jews. In Revelation 17:10 and 11 we are given a glimpse of the past, present, and future of the evil anti-Christ and his wicked kingdoms. Verse 10 states, concerning his wicked kingdoms, that five have fallen, which correspond to 1-5 above; one is (that is, yet exists in John’s day), which corresponds to #6 above; and that one is yet to come. I believe that, by using the criteria mentioned in Rev. 17:10b, that the seventh wicked kingdom very well might have been Nazi Germany and it’s wicked ruler Adolph Hitler. Certainly this kingdom (like the previous six) persecuted the Jews! Certainly this ruler (like the previous six) hated the Jews, and aligned himself against them! Even though Hitler himself boasted that his Third Reich would last for 1000 years, this kingdom only lasted a “short space (KJV)”—a scant 12 years. Thanks be unto God that the holocaust only lasted that long!
The events surrounding the Purim story have long since been attributed to divine intervention—and rightfully so. For even though the name of God is not mentioned anywhere within the book, surely it is his mighty hand which delivers the Jews from the evil plot of Haman. Consider these four “coincidences:” 1. If Amalak hadn’t aligned themselves against God’s chosen people, the bitter ongoing war with them would not have produced a people who would forever be identified as the “enemies of the Jews” (read Exodus 17:8-15). 2. If king Sha’ul had destroyed all of the Amalakites (whom the sages teach was completely assembled together that day) as HaShem had ordered him to (read 1 Samuel chapter 15), then there would not have even been born a Haman, descendant of that wicked King Agag (see Ester 3:1,where we learn that Haman is a descendant of Agag). 3. If Ester had not have been in the right place at the right time, the demise of the Jews might have been certain (read Mordekhai’s statement in Ester 4:12-14). 4. If Mordekhai had not been in the right place at the right time, the Jews’ demise might have been certain (read Ester 2:21-23; 6:1-13). So we see that even though God is not specifically mentioned—surely he was with his people! For, the God we serve does not leave circumstances to chance! He is always leading, guiding, instructing and protecting those who are his own—even in the midst of disobedience (remember that Y’hudah was exiled for her gross idolatry; reference the entire book of Jeremiah)! But Haman the Jew-hater could have learned a thing or two from reading the Torah of Moshe! If he had read, he would have learned that to align himself against God’s chosen people is to align himself against God! Indeed every single wicked nation that has plotted to destroy the Jews has met with the wrath of HaShem, and has consequently all but been wiped from the face of the earth. Bible prophecy tells us of 8 famous, wicked kingdoms. Here is a summary of those kingdoms; it’s ruler or main leader, and the Bible reference: 1. Egypt: the Pharaoh (Exodus 1:8-16; 5:2) 2. Assyria: Shalman’eser (2 Kings 17:1-6) 3. Babylon: N’vukhadretzar (Jeremiah 25:9; 39:1) 4. Medo-Persia: Haman (Ester 1:1-3; 3:10-13) 5. Greece: Antiochus Epiphanes (Daniel 8:11; 23-25) 6. Rome: Herod (Matthew 2:1-16) Now these above-mentioned six are recorded for us in the Bible so that we might know that the word mentioned to Avraham (read Genesis 12:1-3) is true. The Bible also alluded to the seventh—and even soon to come eighth evil empire, which both sought and will seek to destroy the Jews. In Revelation 17:10 and 11 we are given a glimpse of the past, present, and future of the evil anti-Christ and his wicked kingdoms. Verse 10 states, concerning his wicked kingdoms, that five have fallen, which correspond to 1-5 above; one is (that is, yet exists in John’s day), which corresponds to #6 above; and that one is yet to come. I believe that, by using the criteria mentioned in Rev. 17:10b, that the seventh wicked kingdom very well might have been Nazi Germany and it’s wicked ruler Adolph Hitler. Certainly this kingdom (like the previous six) persecuted the Jews! Certainly this ruler (like the previous six) hated the Jews, and aligned himself against them! Even though Hitler himself boasted that his Third Reich would last for 1000 years, this kingdom only lasted a “short space (KJV)”—a scant 12 years. Thanks be unto God that the holocaust only lasted that long!
25 min