Cast a lot Catch a Purim

 

Have you ever noticed the book of Esther doesn’t mention God?

Of course He’s in the underlining story or it wouldn’t be in the Bible, but God himself is not talked about directly. It’s like He’s hidden.

Guess what Esther means in Hebrew, “hidden.”

Let me start this jewel by giving you the “Gena translation” of the book of Esther.

Esther is a Jewish girl raised by her uncle Mordecai. She is seriously beautiful. The king at the time is Xerxes and his wife, the also beautiful queen, is Vashti.

Now Xerxes is having a huge banquet with the leaders from all the countries that are under his command and after many days of partying he tells one of his servants to go get Vashti.

He wants to parade her in front of the men so they can all see how beautiful she is and wish they were married to her.

Well Vashti is having a party of her own with the women and when the servant shows up to bring her before the king she refuses to go. She has no intentions of parading in front of a bunch of drunk men. As you can imagine the King is not happy that he’s been disrespected in front of his kingdom so he asks his “advisers” what he should do.

They tell him he better replace her quick because if the rest of the wives hear about this they might start disrespecting their men and the whole kingdom will be in an uproar.
They also come up with this great idea to find all the beautiful virgins in the kingdom and let him pick a new bride.

  In comes Esther. Her uncle tells her not to let her new husband know that    she is Jewish.

  Mordecai used to visit with Esther in the courtyard and they would keep      each other updated on what was going on.

  One day Mordecai overheard a couple of the kings officers planning to        kill the king so he told Esther who in turn told the king, giving credit to     Mordecai.
  The officers were hanged and the whole issue was recorded in the official    books in the presence of the king.

Now in order for any story to be suspenseful we need a villain. As luck would have it, we have one. His name is Haman.
Haman is your typical egomaniac and to make matters worse he’s the king’s top advisor!
He was so stuck on himself that he passed a law that everyone had to bow down to him. 

Mordecai refused because the only one a Jew was permitted to bow before was God. This ticked Haman off so bad that he decreed that all Jews would be killed on a certain day that of course he would pick.

Haman was very superstitious so he drew lots to find out which day to carry out his plan.
Now interesting enough the word for “lots” in Persian is purim.

It was decided that the plan would begin the month of Adar, which was the same month that Moses died. Haman figured that was a good omen, he would wipe out the Jews the same day a famous Jew died. Kind of an in your face thing.

What Haman didn’t know was in Jewish tradition great men die on their birthdays because their lives are complete. Moses was born and died in Adar so this was not a time of misfortune for the Jews but a month they considered blessed.

Back to our story. Haman tells the king there's a group of people scattered among your kingdom whose customs are different from ours and they don’t obey the kings laws and it would be in the King's best interest not to tolerate them.

He tells the king of his great plan to destroy them. The king figures it’s a good idea and uses his signet ring to seal the orders and make sure there carried out to the various provinces to annihilate all the Jews and to take all their goods.

When Mordecai found out what had been done he of course is greatly troubled and the bible says he is wailing loudly and bitterly. In every province there was great mourning among the Jews when they were told what was going to happen.

Esther sends one of her servants to ask Mordecai what’s wrong?  why is he so upset? Mordecai tells him the whole story and sends her a copy of the edict for their annihilation which was published. He tells Esther to go talk to the king and beg for mercy for her people.

Now you have to understand, in those days if the king didn’t invite you and you showed up and he wasn’t in the mood to talk to you, you would be killed. Esther lets her uncle know it’s been over a month since the King asked for her.

When the servant told Mordecai what Esther said he sent back this answer?

“Do not think that because you are in the King’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to a royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:13-14

He was letting her know God’s plan would be carried out with or without her help but if she chose not to help she was still going to die.

I want to move away from our story for a minute. Sometimes we may not “see” God in our circumstances but that doesn’t mean He’s not behind the scenes doing His thing. We may be right where we are supposed to be when God needed a person in a strategic place to work out His will. However, if we do not do what is asked when we know we are the one called, He will replace us.

Esther let’s Mordecai know that she will do her part and asks that all the Jews in Susa would fast and pray for her for 3 days and nights.

When you have a huge job before you I can’t imagine doing it without serious prayer and or fasting. Not just you praying but making sure you have prayer warriors praying with you.
Esther let’s them know she will go before the king and if she dies, she dies.

In our lives God asks us to do things that at worse might hurt our feelings and possibly our pride but I don’t know many people that are doing what God asks with the possibility of death.

On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood before the king and her God behind the scenes was standing with her.

The king allowed her to come to him and he asked what she needed, he even offered to give her up to half the kingdom. Talk about God’s favor.  As part of  Esther’s strategy to reveal Haman's evil plan she invites the King and Haman to a banquet she’s throwing and they both agree to come.

Now remember Haman is a total ego maniac so you can only imagine how big his head is right now that HE was singled out as an honored guest from the queen.

At the party the King asks Esther again what she wants and she says come back tomorrow night for another banquet with Haman and I’ll tell you then. So Haman leaves thinking he’s all that but he runs into Mordecai at the gate and as always Mordecai didn’t even stand up when he sees him and to really tick him off he’s not even showing any fear!

Haman blows him off for now because he wants to tell his family and friends all about his night and how he was the only one Esther invited to the parties. He tells his family about everything but then he says “but all this still doesn’t satisfy me as long as I see the Jew Mordecai sitting at the king’s gate.”
Esther 5:13

Isn’t it amazing when we become obsessed with something, we just can’t let it go. It torments our minds and no matter what else is going on we can’t totally enjoy it because we are hanging onto something destructive, anger and rage.

His wife, trying to be helpful, tells Haman to build a huge gallows 75 feet high and have Mordecai hanged on it before you go have dinner with the King and Queen Esther.

Women can be brutal! Go hang a man before dinner and then eat and enjoy yourself. The really sick part is this delighted Haman and he had the gallows built.

Well once again our God from behind the scenes is at work.

That night the king can’t sleep so he ordered the book of chronicles be brought and read to him.
Get a good legal book to put you right to sleep.
He’s reminded of what Mordecai had done for him, letting him know about the planned assassination. He asks his officers if he ever did anything to repay him and they say no.

Now here comes the best part. The King asks if there’s any one in the courtyard and they say yes Haman. Of course Haman's there to ask if he can hang Mordecai!

Before Haman can speak the kings ask him “what should be done for the man he delights to honor?” Haman of course thinks the king's talking about him, remember ego maniac, so he tells the king all these great things that should be done, ya know royal robe, beautiful horse, parade him around town and let everyone know how great he is.

The king says great idea! Go ahead and do all those things for Mordecai. I’ll even let you be the one to parade him around!

Talk about a plan gone wrong....

After doing all this Haman still has to go to the banquet Esther invited him to. This is where it gets really ugly because now when the king asks Esther what she wants, remember up to half the kingdom so he really likes her, she tells the king that she and all her people are scheduled to be annihilated in a few days. The king asks, “who is the man who dares do such a thing?”
Guess who?

As you can imagine things did not get any better for Haman.
You can read the story for all the details but the gist of it is because the king signed the first ruling he could not go back on it. He made a new ruling telling the Jews they could fight back. They did and of course won not only their lives but the plunder as well. As for Haman he was hung on the very gallows he made for Mordecai not only him but his family as well.

Sometimes even if God is not mentioned directly you can see His hand all through a story. In the Bible and in our lives as well. It may appear He’s hidden at times but He is always in control.

Jews have events to celebrate things God did for them and they want remembered by future generations. The feast of  Purim is one of  those celebrations.

Purim commemorates the victory of the righteous over the wicked. God did not use any supernatural events to save His people in this story. No floods or plagues, like I said His name doesn’t even appear in the story. It was the coincidences of the story beyond all statistical probability and even possibility that makes you know it was directed by God. Purim is a record of “hidden miracles”.

When a lottery is drawn, the chosen name seems to be an accident, but the result is divinely predestined. It may seem they were all coincidences but I know there is no such thing. These things happen all the time we just don’t take notice of them. A coincidence is nothing more than God’s way of choosing to remain anonymous.

Purim is a feast where wine freely flows because that is when the king decided to get rid of his wife making way for Esther. It was also a party with lots of wine that Esther revealed she was a Jewess to her husband.

Every year on the anniversary of Haman's death the Jews read the story twice both on Purim night and morning. Every time Haman’s name is mentioned, which is quite a bit, the entire congregation is expected to boo, make a noise and try to wipe out the memory of this villain. The thought behind this ritual is a powerful way to teach Jews from childhood that they should never remain silent in the face of those who want to destroy them. In addition, it is customary to send out gifts of food or drink, and to make gifts to charity. There is also a small fast done before the celebration to signify the fast Esther arranged.

I’m sharing this with you because I believe the Jewish culture is wise in remembering feast and special Holy days. It is a constant reminder to their families of how great our God is, the God we serve.
I think if we remembered more of His miracles we wouldn’t get so freaked out when life took a bad turn on us because we would know how God is able to take care of His children whether behind the scenes or in your face.

Gems we don't know when God will call us for a situation He needs a warrior in.

I hope you enjoyed the story of Esther and I think it would be OK, Jewish or not,  to join in on the celebration as all believers are part of Israel! 

Teach Your Children Well

 

"And you (Can you hear?) of tender years (And do you care?)

Can't know the fears (And can you see?)

That your elders grew by (We must be free)

And so, please help (To teach your children)

Them with your youth (What you believe in)

They seek the truth (Make a world)

Before they can die (That we can live in)"

Lyrics Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is older he will not depart from it.

I have quoted this scripture to myself when I desperately needed a reminder and have used it to encourage many parents with prodigal children. However, this week I realized a whole new meaning to the outcome of not training up a child in the way he should go.

We need to go back to the beginning when God tells Moses to have 12 spies search out the promise land and bring back a report. Now remember, the children of Israel have been taken out of Egypt, experienced first hand all the plagues that God personally did, walked through the Red Sea and watched Pharaoh and his army drown, ate heavenly food daily called manna, saw water come from a rock and if all that wasn't enough, personally saw the cloud of God by day and the fire by night to know when and where to go!!!

You can read all this for yourself in Exodus.

Move onto Numbers 13 to see the outcome of the spies who were sent out and the fearful, faithless report they bring back to the children of Israel.  Only Hoshea son on Nun, whom Moses called Joshua and Caleb still believed in the miracles of God, even though they all directly saw the events.

Numbers 14:6 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; 7 and they spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying: “The land we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. 8 If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, ‘a land which flows with milk and honey.’ 9 Only do not rebel against the Lord, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the Lord is with us. Do not fear them. ”10 And all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Now the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle of meeting before all the children of Israel.

God's response:

22 because all these men who have seen My glory and the signs which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have put Me to the test now these ten times, and have not heeded My voice, 23 they certainly shall not see the land of which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who rejected Me see it. 24 But My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it.

29 The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above.

30 Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in. 31 But your little ones, whom you said would be victims, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised.

To sum it up, God is saying that even though you saw with your own eyes that I AM all powerful and I alone saved you, yet you still don't trust me, you will not enter the land I promised you.

Moving forward God tells His children to have nothing to do with the following people and the reason why.

Exodus 34:10 And He said: “Behold, I make a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord. For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you. 11 Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I am driving out from before you the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. 12 Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you are going, lest it be a snare in your midst. 13 But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images 14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), 15 lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifice to their gods, and one of them invites you and you eat of his sacrifice, 16 and you take of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters play the harlot with their gods and make your sons play the harlot with their gods.

God is teaching His children from the beginning of Exodus to this point what He needs them to learn and know. How their decisions will effect their future and that of future generations. He warns them against marrying people who will turn them into whores for other gods. 

Moses is on the journey with them all the way up to the book of Joshua, teaching the children of Israel the laws of God.  Because of his own disobedience God has forbid him from entering the Promise Land with Joshua, however, Moses passed the mantle of leadership to Joshua.

Deuteronomy 34: Now Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him; and the sons of Israel listened to him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses.

We will pick up now in the book of Joshua as they enter the new land.  God speaking:

Joshua 1:7 Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Interestingly enough God does another miracle with water for His children as they crossed the Jordan River. Read Joshua Chapter 3 for the details.  After the entire nation finished crossing the Jordan the LORD spoke again telling Joshua to take one man from each tribe, and remove a stone from the middle of the Jordan as a sign.

Joshua 4:6 "Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying, "what do these stones mean?" 

OK where am I going with this you ask? I know I'm taking the long way but I need YOU Gems to know the facts before I make my humble point.

Think about it, every man from 20 years and above died in the wilderness before they crossed over to the promise land right? So other than Moses, Joshua and Caleb I don't think there were many old people with them, Elders if you will. The real issue here is other than Joshua and Caleb at this point in history they are the only two eye witnesses of God's past miracles.

The book of Joshua goes through battles and the giving out of the inheritance of land to each tribe of Israel.  The book ends with Joshua once again recapping all that had happened in the Nations history with God from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He goes over the events with Moses and the exodus from Egypt.  After the recap he asks a question of the people, who will you serve as  you enter the land of the Amorites? These were the people inhabiting the land they were entering.  He let's them know as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Joshua 24:16 So the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; 17 for the Lord our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed. 18 And the Lord drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.”  19 But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the Lord, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. 20 If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good.”  21 And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord!” 22 So Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord for yourselves, to serve Him.” And they said, “We are witnesses!” 23 “Now therefore,” he said, “put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord God of Israel.”  24 And the people said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!”  25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.  26 Then Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God. And he took a large stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. 27 And Joshua said to all the people, “Behold, this stone shall be a witness to us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord which He spoke to us. It shall therefore be a witness to you, lest you deny your God.”

First off I find it intriguing he says the stone has heard and will be a witness....

Joshua was the last of the prophets, now enter the era of Judges.

Chapter 1 opens with Israel asking who will fight for them against the Canaanites and the Lord says Judah.  He let's them know He has given the land into his hand and they would win the battle.

However, each following leader in Judges does not drive out the Canaanites like they were commanded by God to do. The chapter begins with God's judgment against the Canaanites and ends with God's judgment against Israel.

When the last generation who saw what God did died the next generation did not follow God's rules. Why?

They didn't know God. 

Joshua 2:7 And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the LORD which He had done for Israel.

They served God while Joshua and the elders were alive. Where the people failed was not continuing to teach the children about God and His laws, the blessings in following them and the curses for disobedience. 

We see that by Judges 2:10-11 When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel. Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals;

They failed their children. This whole generation of Israel didn't just decide not to follow God anymore they didn't have a relationship with Him. They followed the god's of society that were available to them at the time. Baal was a god of fertility in your family, land and harvest. It was an attractive god to them, they were never farmers, they were slaves they "needed" a god of soil for their crops. They would "believe" in God they were just adding other gods to the list. They didn't know the part about “You cannot serve the Lord, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins, If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods!

When I was in Haiti leading vacation bible school we did a program at the end for the parents and to my surprise, the local witch doctor came. There he was seated in the front wearing all his garb. I asked a local Haitian about it because I thought the witch doctor forbid believing in God. He told me it was ok for them to believe in "our god" as long as he, the witch doctor was still the main god.

Same concept here in the history of the Israelites.   The story gets pretty gross with all that went on with the children of Israel, not much different than how gross we have become as a people who say we believe in God.

An angel calls them out and let's them know that because of their disobedience God would no longer drive out their enemies from  them, they would become as thorns in their sides and their gods shall be a snare to them. The people wept BUT they did not repent, conviction is not the same as repentance.

Gems back to the beginning of this jewel, teach your children well...  Most people today don't know God, they know about Him. The generations still have not been faithful in sharing the truths of God's love. The blessings and the curses that we choose by being obedient or disobedient. We still don't understand the only way to the Father is through the SON.

I remember years ago I was leading multiple bible studies and decided to join a group at the local church. As soon as I sat down I felt the Holy Spirit say "you keep sharing with friends and strangers but how much do you share with your own children and grandchildren?"  I went home and started testifying to my family about all the miraculous things God did in the past for me and them and how He was still moving in my life. Do I do it all the time? God forgive me the answer is no.

Train up a child in the way he should go so he won't depart from it generations later! Nothing blesses me more than seeing my sons teach their kids about God. When we praise together as a family and I see my grandchildren watching their parents sing to God I about explode with joy. I pray daily that they will marry believers and all my grandchildren after them will know God and be known by HIM!

When we lose sight of God's glory we lose sight of our need for forgiveness. People don't think they need Yeshua (Jesus) when they can just serve the gods of society. 

What gods are we showing our children are important to us? What gods do we turn to in times of need or trouble? Who do we cry out to for help? Do we understand there is a difference between being sorrowful and repentance? 

God definitely disciplines those He loves but honestly Gems most of what happens to us is the consequences of choosing sin over God's commands. This is why we have to know what God's commands are. He sent His son Yeshua so we have the perfect role model. Yeshua said "If you love me keep my commands."

Children love nothing more than hearing you read a story.  My grandsons can tell you the names of most Pokémon and what their super power is. Most men can tell you the name of NFL teams and the quarterbacks stats and most women can give you a play by play of their favorite movie. My point is we learn what's important to us. 

We are so blessed to have an abundance of teaching recourses for children and adults. It's not to late to start teaching or learning!

I have no greater joy than this, to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

3John:4