Purim: The Feast of Deliverance
By
Robert O. Miller
“…observe the fourteenth of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting , a day for giving presents to each other… These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family, and in every province and in every city. And these days of Purim should never cease to be celebrated by the Jews, nor should the memory of them die out among their descendants. (Esther 9:19, 28)”
Purim (Hebrew: פּוּרִים Pûrîm “lots”) is the Scripturally mandated holy day that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish Israelites of the ancient Persian Empire from Haman’s plot to annihilate them by the courageous acts of Mordecai and Queen Esther’s, as recorded in the Book of Esther (Megillat Esther). One must plum Scripture to understand how profound were their deeds and its effect on world history, and eternity.
The Reversal
In the light of Spiritual Warfare, I think it is important for us to look at this story in particular. The whole point of the ministry of “deliverance” is to have “nahafochu” נַהֲפוֹךְ reversal, to turn around, to overturn or overthrow the effects of the evil inclination or the sinful nature and to return to at-one-ment with Yahweh which is the byproduct of “teshuvah” תָּשׁוּבָ translated as repentance.
The two main Hebrew Characters are Mordecai מָרְדֳּכַי which means “little man” speaking of the insignificance of man: “What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man (human being) that you care for him? (Psalm 8:4)”
In answer to this Yahweh says of man: “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of Yahweh, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my Elohim, in whom I trust.’ (Psalm 91:1, 2)”
The earnest seeker of righteousness that truly wants deliverance replies: “Hear my voice when I call, O Yahweh; be merciful to me and answer me. My heart says of you, ‘Seek his face!’ Your face, Yahweh, I will seek. Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O Elohim my Savior. (Psalm 27:7-9)”
“For Yahweh so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)” “LOVE” is the reason that Yahweh’s mind is on mankind.
“Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is grounded in the Torah: ‘The man who does these things will live by them.- Lev. 18:5’ Moreover the righteousness that is grounded in faith says: ‘Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?”-’ (that is, to bring Messiah down) or ‘”Who will descend into the deep?”’ (that is, to bring Messiah up from the dead). But what does it say? ‘The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,- Deut. 30:12’ that is, the Word of Faith we are proclaiming: That if you pledge allegiance with your mouth, ‘YahShua is King,’ and believe in your heart that Yahweh raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you allegiance and are saved. As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.- Isaiah 28:16’ For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Sovereign is sovereign of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.- Joel 2:32’ (Romans 9:5-13)”
“…for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as Yahweh has said, among the survivors whom Yahweh calls. (Joel 2:32)”
And Hadassah הֲדַסָּה which means “myrtle” one of the Four Species used as a wave offering during the Holy Day of Sukkot – Feast of Tabernacles. The leaves of the hadass grow in tiers of three leaves each speaking of the three manifestations of Yahweh – Ayn Sof, the Incomprehensible One; Adam Kadmon, the Express Image of Yahweh, the only begotten Son and the Ruach HaKodesh, the Spirit of Yahweh. Together with the etrog, the Species are waved in all four directions, plus up and down, to proclaim Yahweh’s mastery over all of creation. Hadassah would be used as a wave offering in Persia to declare, “There is no Elohim but Yahweh!”
“See now that I myself am He! There is no Elohim besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand. (Deuteronomy 32:38-40)”
The stage on which this “object lesson” was played was the Persian Achaemenid Empire (559 BCE–330 BCE), the first of the Persian Empires to rule over significant portions of Greater Iraq & Iran, the famous arch-nemesis of Greece.
Persia פָּרַס Pä·ras’ meaning “pure” or “splendid” is the goal of every Believer to become that purely righteous individual we were created to be which can never be found in the false idolatry of the World.
As the story opens up we are introduced to Ahasuerus אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ Akh·ash·vā·rosh’ meaning “I will be silent and humbled.” By the end of the story that is exactly what happens to Xerxes Khashayarsha I as his name is in the Persian dialect of Farsi.
The Rebellious Wifeomitt MurderAse listing Haman’
The book commences with a feast organized by Ahasuerus, initially for his court and dignitaries and afterwards for all inhabitants of Shushan שׁוּשַׁן (meaning “lily”). Shushan was one of the places within the inheritance of Shem and his eldest son Elam (Book of Jubilees 8:21 & 9:2). Thus, Shushan was the primary capital of the Elamite Empire. It became the winter residence of the Persian kings because of its picturesque location on the river Ulai. Both Daniel and Nehemiah lived in Shushan. The tomb of Daniel is located in the area, known as Shush-Daniel. The tomb is marked by an unusual white pyramid, which most scholars believe is one point of a Star of David.
King Ahasuerus orders his wife Vashti to “show off her beauty” before the partiers. The name Vashti וַשְׁתִּי has been translated as “beautiful” but in reality it comes from the Persian word “vashishta” literarily meaning “a looker.”
Vashti or “Stateira” in Farsi was born to Babylonian royalty. Her grandfather was Nebuchadnezzar, who had destroyed Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem and driven the Jews into exile. Her father was Belshazzar, the last in a line of great Babylonian kings whose dramatic death is described in the Book of Daniel.
The Talmud (in Megillah 12) tells us Queen Vashti would have young Jewish girls abducted, force them to strip, having them molested and coerce them into working for her on Shabbat. Why did Queen Vashti hate the Jewish women so? Jewish women represented a threat to Vashti because they were, in the most profound sense of the word, pure. By observing Shabbat, they demonstrated that there is a ruler who is beyond the reach of any monarch. By maintaining their modesty they proved that they defined themselves internally rather than superficially. They were pure. For this she wanted to break and soil them. By doing so she sealed her own doom.
Vashti refuses to submit to her husband and king. Memucan, מְמוּכָן (meaning “dignified”) advise the king that he had to protect the dignity of his office. King Ahasuerus dethrones her as queen.
“Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which Yahweh has established. The authorities that exist have been established by Yahweh. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what Yahweh has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is Yahweh’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is Yahweh’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are Yahweh’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. (Romans 13:1-8)”
Upon the advice of his personal counselors, King Ahasuerus then orders all young women to be presented to him, so he can choose a new queen to replace Vashti. One of these was Hadassah whom the Persians renamed Esther אֶסְתֵּר (meaning “star” in Farsi but means “concealed” in Hebrew), who was orphaned at a young age and was being fostered by her cousin Mordechai. He was a linguist (see any parallel to the Holy Spirit?!), and a member of the Sanhedrin.
She finds favor in the king’s eyes, and was made his new wife, without revealing that she is Jewish.
The Conspiracy to Commit Murder
Shortly afterwards, Mordechai finds out a plot by courtiers Big·tän’ בִּגְתָן (meaning “in their wine-press”) and Teh’resh תֶרֶשׁ (meaning “strictness or legalistic”) to kill Ahasuerus.
The first thing one must be willing to do to receive deliverance is to let go of the false belief system of “legalism,” which is the endeavor of trying to earn salvation by legalistically applying your own interpretation of religion. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of Yahweh— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are Yahweh’s workmanship, created in Messiah YahShua to do good works, which Yahweh prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10)”
Next, renounce any tie to oppressor. “The Spirit of the Sovereign Yahweh is on me, because Yahweh has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of Yahweh’s favor and the day of vengeance of our Elohim, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of Yahweh for the display of his splendor. (Isaiah 61:1-3)”
“For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ (Romans 8:15)”
“For Yahweh did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. (2 Timothy 1:7)”
The conspirators were apprehended and executed, and Mordechai’s service to the king is recorded.
“And the thing became known to Mordecai, who told it unto Esther the queen; and Esther told the king thereof in Mordecai’s name. And when inquisition was made of the matter, and it was found to be so, they were both hanged on a tree; and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king. (Esther 2:22, 23)”
“Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful manis death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mindis hostile to Yahweh. It does not submit to Yahweh’s Torah, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please Yahweh.
You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of Yahweh lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Messiah, he does not belong to Messiah. But if Messiah is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised YahShua from the dead is living in you, he who raised Messiah from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death (execute) the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of Yahweh are sons of Yahweh. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.And by him we cry, “Abba,Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are Yahweh’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of Yahweh and co-heirs with Messiah, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Romans 8:5-11)”
Mordecai ben Yair was the descendant of Shimei. Those who are students of Scripture might remember Shimei: “As King David approached Bahurim, a man from the same clan as Sha’ul’s family came out from there. His name was Shimei ben Gera, and he cursed as he came out. 6 He pelted David and all the king’s officials with stones, though all the troops and the special guard were on David’s right and left.
As he cursed, Shimei said, ‘Get out, get out, you man of blood, you scoundrel! Yahweh has repaid you for all the blood you shed in the household of Sha’ul, in whose place you have reigned. Yahweh has handed the kingdom over to your son Absalom. You have come to ruin because you are a man of blood!’
Then Abishai ben ZeruYahu said to the king, ‘Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and cut off his head.’
But the king said, ‘What do you and I have in common, you sons of ZeruYahu? If he is cursing because Yahweh said to him, “Curse David,” who can ask, “Why do you do this?”
David then said to Abishai and all his officials, ‘My son, who is of my own flesh, is trying to take my life. How much more, then, this Benjamite! Leave him alone; let him curse, for Yahweh has told him to. It may be that Yahweh will see my distress and repay me with good for the cursing I am receiving today.’
So David and his men continued along the road while Shimei was going along the hillside opposite him, cursing as he went and throwing stones at him and showering him with dirt. The king and all the people with him arrived at their destination exhausted. And there he refreshed himself. (2 Samuel 16:5-14)”
It was true King David was “a man of blood” that is why he could not build the Temple but he was not a man of pride. If he were he would have let Abishai ben ZeruYahu cut off his head. Instead he looked beyond the carnal into the spiritual. Had David got into the flesh, there would be no Mordecai to act as an agent of deliverance in this story.
Prime Minister Haman ben Hamedätä’
King Ahasuerus then appoints Haman הָמָן (meaning “magnificent” or “one who stands alone”) בֶּן-הַמְּדָתָא (son of Ha med·ä·tä’ – meaning the double), a descendant of Amalekite עֲמָלֵקִי (meaning “people of lapping”) king Agag אֲגַג (meaning “I will overtop”), as his prime minister. Haman cared only for himself and he had a double dose of Agag’s iniquities.
“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44)”
Who said, “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of Elohim: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. (Isaiah 14:13, 14)”
The Israelite King, Sha’ul had been commanded to destroy the Amalekites: “I am the one Yahweh sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from Yahweh. This is what Yahweh Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’ (1 Samuel 15:1-3)”
King Sha’ul tried to out mercy Yahweh and preserve the House of Agag along with the choicest live stock. “But Sha’ul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed. (1 Samuel 15:9)” He thought in political terms that this would be good leverage with the surrounding nations. But that was not Yahweh’s will: “I am grieved that I have made Sha’ul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions. (1 Samuel 15:11)”
King Sha’ul went and erected a monument to himself and then headed to Gigal, there Yahweh’s prophet, Samuel met up with him. “Sha’ul said, ‘Yahweh bless you! I have carried out Yahweh’s instructions.’ (1 Samuel 15:13)”
Samuel knew he was lying, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear? (1 Samuel 15:14)”
King Sha’ul reasoned: “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to Yahweh your Elohim, but we totally destroyed the rest. (1 Samuel 15:15)”
Samuel said, “Let me tell you what Yahweh said to me last night.(1 Samuel 15:16)”
King Sha’ul’s curiosity was aroused, “Tell me! (1 Samuel 15:17)”
Samuel inquired: “Why did you not obey Yahweh? (1 Samuel 15:19)”
King Sha’ul’s immediately got defensive, “‘I did obey Yahweh,’ Sha’ul said. ‘…I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to Elohim, in order to sacrifice them to Yahweh…’ (1 Samuel 15:20, 21)”
“But Samuel replied: ‘Does Yahweh delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of Yahweh? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the Word of Yahweh, he has rejected you as king. (1 Samuel 15:22, 23)”
King Sha’ul had been exposed. “As Samuel turned to leave, Sha’ul caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore. Samuel said to him, ‘Yahweh has torn the Kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors—to one better than you. He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind.’ (1 Samuel 15:27-29)”
“Then Samuel said, ‘Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites.’
Agag came to him confidently, thinking, ‘Surely the bitterness of death is past.’
But Samuel said, ‘As your sword has made women childless, so will your mother be childless among women.’ And Samuel put Agag to death before Yahweh at Gilgal. (1 Samuel 15:32, 33)”
Had King Sha’ul done what Yahweh had told him to do, there would have been no Haman. Everything we do and say has consequences. “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is Adonai’s will, we will live and do this or that.’ As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins. (James 4:13-16)”
“Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.’ Moses built an altar and called it Yahweh is my Banner. He said, “The hand is on the Throne of Yah. Yahweh will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.” (Exodus 17:14-16)”
Notice that in Exodus 17:16, יָד עַל-כֵּס יָהּ “Yad `al- kes Yah.” “The hand is on the Throne of Yah.” Only the yod יָand the heh הּ, one half of Yahweh’s name יְהוָה is used. This is because the Amalekites wanted to stop the name of Yahweh from being fully implemented in this world. Yahweh’s influence is not complete as long as the seed of Amalek is in this world. He wants to stop the unity of Yahweh’s name from descending to earth. The constant attribute of the seed of Amalek is that he tries to exterminate all Israel from off the face of the earth so there is no one to proclaim the name of Yahweh.
“Hear, O Israel: Yahweh our Elohim, Yahweh is unified! (Deuteronomy 6:4)”
“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10)” Meaning that the Torah as it is applied in Heaven will be applied here on earth.
“And Yahweh shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be— Yahweh Echad, for His name will be unified. (Zechariah 14:9)”
The Prime Minister’s Final Solution
Mordechai, who sits at the palace gates, falls into Prime Minister Haman’s disfavor as he refuses to bow down to him. Having found out that Mordechai is Jewish, Haman plans to kill not just Mordechai but the entire Jewish minority in the empire in one holocaust. He obtains King Ahasuerus’ permission to execute this plan, against payment of ten thousand kikar of silver, he intended to buy all the Jews for slaughter.
It begs the question, “How much is an Israelite worth?” For the answer to that question we must go to Exodus 38:25, 26: “And the silver from those who were numbered of the congregation was 100 kikar and 1775 shekels, according to the shekel of the Sanctuary: a bekah for each man (that is, ½ shekel, according to the shekel of the Sanctuary), for everyone included in the numbering from 20 years old and above, for 603,550 men.”
It goes on to say that 100 kikar of silver for the Adanim – the sockets (one kikar for each socket holding together the fifty beams that formed the skeleton for the Holy Tabernacle, two sockets for each beam, one on top and one on the bottom) plus 1775 additional shekel for the hooks on the pillars. The 1775 additional shekels came the 3550 Israelites over the exact 600,000 figure. Since exactly 600,000 Jews gave 300,000 shekel of silver which equals 100 kikar, we get a conversion factor of 3,000 shekel per kikar of silver. 10,000 kikar times 3000 shekel per kikar equals 30 million shekels. 30 million shekel divided by five shekel per person purchased six million Israelites for slaughter! “‘Keep the money,’ the king said to Haman, ‘and do with the people as you please.’ (Esther 3:11)” Yahweh said that the Son of Amalek’s purchase was valid, but not in that generation. Only a generation just before Messiah would come would need such refining for Messiah to come, as you know that happened in Hitler’s Germany from 1938-1945. From these ashes the Nation of Israel was reborn. Think about that the next time you give your ½ shekel at Purim.
“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that itis near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generationwill certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. (Matthew 24:32-35)”
Two thousand years ago on Purim a man ran to the Temple to pay his ½ shekel offering. The coin fell out of his pocket and rolled into drainage openings at the side of the street and found its way into the drainage channel and there is lay for two millennia. The shekel was finally found this year by Archaeologist Eli Shukron in an archaeological excavation that is being conducted in the Walls Around Jerusalem National Park near the City of David. The coin was minted in the year 22 CE. What is amazing, only seven other Tyrian half shekels have previously been found in excavations in Jerusalem.
Rabbi Elijah ben Shlomo Zalman, the 18th century scholar also known as the Vilna Gaon which means “the (saintly) genius from Vilna”, wrote in his Sifra Ditzniuta (The Book of Hidden Things), “all that was, is, and will be until the end of time is included in the Torah…not just in the general sense, but… (even) the most minute details.”
Haman casts lots (פּוּר pur) to choose the date on which to do this – the thirteenth of the month of Adar. The whole idea of holding a pur or lottery was to announce that there is no body at the helm; everything is chance and happenstance. In Deut. 25:18 we find this passage, “[Amalek] happened (קָרְךָ “karcha“) upon you…” What does this passage mean? The Talmud explains the Hebrew word “karcha” literally means coincidence Amalek’s entire philosophy is that there is no design or providence in the world. Everything is haphazard, dictated by chance, luck and fate, a roll of the dice. Haman’s plan was to break Israel’s spirit as much as to destroy their bodies. He wanted to show them the futility of their religion.
By destroying Israel and the religion of Israel, he would prove the Torah was not absolute and the Talmud says if the Torah, the source of universal truths, was eliminated, then the world would revert to emptiness. That is because humanity simply cannot survive without clear moral direction. Morality holds civilizations together; it’s absence leads to chaos.
But Scripture promises: “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor a Torah Giver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his. (Genesis 49:10)”
Adolph Hitler, Dr. Josef Mengele, Adolf Eichmann and the thousands of priests, ministers, doctors, professors, farmers, teachers, barbers, receptionists, retailers, lawyers, mechanics, shop owners and secretaries who made soap, lamp shades, coat stuffing and ashes out of Jews were not sick! They thought of themselves as Christian. In reality, they were just plain evil. By saying their “Jesus” did away with the Torah, they were abandoning morality, they were able to rationalize genocide as “noble and good.” It is not surprising that the Talmud (Megillah 6b) identifies “Germania” as the descendents of Amalek.
The Fast of Esther
When Mordechai finds out about the plans he orders widespread prayer and fasting.
“In every province that the king’s command reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing. (Esther 4:3)”
Three particular terms are used here – mourning אֵבֶל ā’·vel or depression, weeping בְכִי bek·ē’ and wailing מִסְפֵּד mis·pād’ or eulogy. This kind of behavior is only used in Israelite tradition for funerals. In other words the Israelite exile community had lost all hope of surviving this onslaught, and already considered themselves to be dead. Because they had lost all hope of deliverance, these Israelites began mourning their own deaths for there would be none to weep for them later. The news shows how despondent these Israelites were over the possibility of overcoming the adversary. They fasted because they had no stomach for food, they were frightened. What they could not do was pray the “prayer of faith”. Fasting is no good without faith!
“‘Why couldn’t we drive it out?’ [Messiah] replied, ‘Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, “Move from here to there” and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.’ (Matthew 17:19-21)”
Mordechai and the rest of the Jews find out about Haman and his evil plans, ironically Esther is the last to find out and the reaction in her is profound.. She wonders should she expose herself as a Jew. There had been an issue in Esther’s family about accepting their heritage. She was born in captivity in Bavel/Babylon where her family chose to remain after the decree of Cyrus which allowed the Jews to return home to Jerusalem to rebuild.
Now, Purim can easily be understood by clearly considering the assimilationist tendencies we have. The Torah predicts that Israel would try to be like the nations they live among. When that happens, Yahweh says “I will hide My face on that day. (Deuteronomy 31:18)” “I will hide” is one word in Hebrew, הַסְתֵּר “hastir.” We get into trouble when as a Believer we still want to be like everybody else, “walk(ing) according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience. (Ephesians 2:2)” Every misfortune stems from our own misbehavior. Yahweh is hidden from us in the Purim story; He operates behind the scenes. There are no overt miracles and His name doesn’t even appear. And even the name of the heroine of Purim is Esther אֶסְתֵּר concealed – hide. Judgment came in the person of Haman ben Hammedata.
Mordechai counsels her “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 royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:13, 14)” Yahweh always prepares a salvation for whatever catastrophe awaits His people. Yahweh’s supervision of His people is ready for all contingencies. Salvation came in the form of a man named Mordechai. Mordechai knows that Yahweh is in control, and he tells Esther, “Relief and deliverance will come to the Jews.” He never wavered from this firm belief for an instant. He had true faith!
Mordechai knew if he could just touch Esther’s heart to bring teshuvah, the power of teshuva bestows on the repentant the merit to approach Yahweh with more confidence than ever before.
“Let us therefore come boldly (NOT COCKY, RATHER WITH CONFIDENCE) unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)”
As the Rambam says in Hilchot Teshuva – The Laws of Return (chapter 7, halacha 7): ‘Last night this one was distant from the Elohim of Israel…,cried out and was not answered…Today, he is attached to the Divine Presence…, and his cries are responded to immediately.’
Esther requests that all Jews fast and pray for three days together with her: “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Shushan, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maids will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:15, 16)” Now the role of Esther changes from a young winner of a beauty contest become Queen into a ba’alat teshuva (master of repentance), the repentant who discovers the way back to Yahweh in a way that brings her even closer than before. She is an instrument of redemption.
On the third day she seeks an audience with King Ahasuerus, during which she invites him to a feast in the company of Prime Minister Haman. During the feast, she asks them to attend a further feast the next evening. Meanwhile, Haman is again offended by Mordechai and builds a gallows for him.
The Man the King Delights to Honor
That night, Ahasuerus suffers from insomnia, and when the court’s records are read to him to help him sleep he remembers the services rendered by Mordechai in the previous plot against his life. It had been Mordechai who had learned of the plot and told Queen Esther who had in turn reported it to the king. King Ahasuerus asked his scribes what had been done to reward Mordechai, and looking it up they discovered that he had received no recognition.
. Haman was arriving in the court of the palace to ask for permission to kill Mordechai just as the king, pondering how to reward Mordecai asked, “Who is in the court?” (Esther 6:4). The answer came back, “Haman,” and they sent him in immediately. And the great reversal for Haman began…
“So Haman came in, and the king asked him, ‘What shall be done for the man whom the king delights to honor?’
Now Haman thought in his heart, ‘Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?’ And Haman answered the king, ‘For the man whom the king delights to honor, let a royal robe be brought which the king has worn, and a horse on which the king has ridden, which has a royal crest placed on its head. Then let this robe and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king’s most noble princes, that he may array the man whom the king delights to honor. Then parade him on horseback through the city square, and proclaim before him: “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!’”
Then the king said to Haman, ‘Hurry, take the robe and the horse, as you have suggested, and do so for Mordecai the Jew who sits within the king’s gate! Leave nothing undone of all that you have spoken.’” (Esther 6:6-10).”
And Haman did so. But when it was all over he made his way home quickly in utter humiliation. According to the Aggaddah, when Haman was leading Mordechai in the parade of honor, Haman’s daughter thought it was Mordechai leading her father on the horse so she leaned out of her window and dumped a chamber pot on his head. “Afterward Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman rushed home, with his head covered in grief (Esther 6:12)” When she realized her mistake she lost her grip and plunged to her death. Whatever party and festivity was underway was broken up, and the friends and hangers-on began to quietly slip out through the back door.
“His advisers and his wife Zeresh said to him, “Since Mordecai, before whom your downfall has started, is of Jewish origin, you cannot stand against him-you will surely come to ruin!” While they were still talking with him, the king’s eunuchs arrived and hurried Haman away to the banquet Esther had prepared. (Esther 6:13,14)”
There is an ancient prophecy, “The angel of Yahweh called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares Yahweh, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be mixed, because you have obeyed me. (Genesis 22:15-18)”
Israel likened to the sands and the stars implying that by the Last Days the majority of people would be from the Abrahamic bloodline – through your offspring all nations on earth will be mixed. But there’s another meaning, when Israel strays from their Elohim and disobey His commandments, they can be oppressed and humiliated, and trodden upon like sand by the nations of this world. But when they return to their Elohim and serve only Him with true devotion, they become exalted like the stars in heaven! Because of this truth all who comes against them like wicked Haman seals their own doom.
“I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. (Genesis 12:3)”
Celebrating Under the Influence
That evening, Ahasuerus and Haman attend Esther’s second banquet, at which she reveals that she is Jewish and that Haman is planning to exterminate her people. Ahasuerus orders Haman hanged on the gallows that had been prepared for Mordecai.
Here’s a mystery: When Elohim asks Adam and Chava (Eve) whether they ate from the Tree of Knowledge (Genesis 3:11), the Torah uses the words הֲמִן-הָעֵץ “hamin ho’aytz” (“from the tree…?”) That can also be read -הָעֵץ הָמָן “Haman ho’aytz” “Haman on the tree” for he was hanged on the gallows, which is also called an aytz in Hebrew. “Cursed is every man hanged on a tree (Deuteronomy 21:23)”
The previous decree against the Jews cannot be annulled, but the king allows the Jews to defend themselves during attacks. As a result, on 13 Adar, five hundred attackers and Haman’s ten sons are killed in Shushan. Throughout the empire an additional 75,000 are slain. On the 14th, another 300 are killed in Shushan.
“The king said to Queen Esther, ‘…Now what is your petition? It will be given you. What is your request? It will also be granted.”
“‘If it pleases the king,’ Esther answered, ‘give the Jews in Shushan permission to carry out this day’s edict tomorrow also, and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged on gallows’ (Esther 9:12, 13)”
Wait a minute, the ten sons of Haman were killed in battle. They’re already dead. Why does she want them hung? I believe the secret lies in their names:
Parshandata פַּרְשַׁנְדָּתָא the first born son of Haman, means “of noble birth” representing the Work of the Flesh pride thinking better of oneself than he out to – selfish ambitions.
Dalphon דַּלְפוֹן meaning “dripping” representing the ‘weeping self, self pity of the Work of the Flesh drunkenness.
Aspata אַסְפָּתָא meaning “the enticed gathered” representing the Work of the Flesh contentions & sedition.
Porata פּוֹרָתָא meaning “frustration” representing the Work of the Fleshof outbursts of wrath, hatred & murder.
Adalia אֲדַלְיָא meaning “I shall be drawn up of Yah” representing the Work of the Flesh idolatry.
Aridata אֲרִידָתָא meaning “the lion of the decree” representing the Work of the Flesh sorcery.
Parmashta פַּרְמַשְׁתָּא meaning “superior” representing the Work of the Flesh dissensions -self/insistent on having one’s own way.
Arisai אֲרִיסַי meaning ”like a lion” imprudent representing the Work of the Flesh adultery& being abusive spending people for your own pleasure.
Aridai אֲרִידַי meaning “the lion is enough” representing the Work of the Flesh fornication– sex without ties – without self-control.
Vaizata וַיְזָתָא meaning “strong as the wind” representing the Work of the Flesh of self-righteousness, lovers of themselves – having a form of godliness but denying its power – Torah!
Esther wanted to hang the 10 sons of Haman as a wave offering telling the world here are the embodiment of the Works of the Flesh conquered by obedience to Yahweh – there is no Elohim but Yahweh!
“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery,fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders,drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of Yahweh. (Galatians 5:19-21)”
“Flee the evil desires of immaturity, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on Yahweh out of a pure heart. Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And Adonai’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that Yahweh will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will. But mark this: there will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of Yahweh — having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. (2 Timothy 2:22-26 – 3:1-5)”
“…by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live…(Romans 8:13)”
“Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: ‘Now have come the salvation and the power and the Kingdom of our Elohim, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our Elohim day and night, has been hurled down.
They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short. (Revelation 12:10-12)”
Why did Esther, when she could have gotten anything she wanted up to half of Persia ask for the ten sons of Haman, who are already dead to be hanged? The answer is spiritual. Esther could see down through the corridors of time to when the same anti-Christ spirit that possessed Haman’s family would be at work again.
“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9)”
The prophesied in the edict of the King: “And the king commanded it so to be done: and the decree was given at Shushan; and they hanged Haman’s ten sons. (Esther 9:14)” The phrase in Hebrew, “and they hanged” isוְאֵת עֲשֶׂרֶת “ve’et `eseret” “they WILL hang,” alluding to the ten sons of Haman being hung in the future.
We see that the same spirit that was in Haman dwelt in Hitler. From 1938-1945 he tried to exterminate the Jews. His right hand man was a transvestite Hermann Goering who committed suicide when he was a disgrace to his Fuehrer like Haman’s daughter. “Originally 11 were to have the death penalty imposed if found guilty. Everybody in those days thought that they would be shot – as is customary in military executions – or get the electric chair – as was common in the United States. But when the judges announced the verdict of guilty, they also said that hanging would be the method of execution.” “Hermann Wilhelm Goring, lying on his small iron cot in Cell No. 5 and wearing black silk pajamas and a blue shirt, crushed between his teeth a glass vial of potassium cyanide, gasped, twitched, and died. (Newsweek, October 28, 1946Foreign Affairs Section, page 46)” That left 10 generals to face the music at Numburg for trying to exterminate the Jews. “Then, in 90 minutes in the early hours of Oct. 16, they followed each other to the gallows.” When you look at the names of the 10 sons of Haman listed in Esther 9:6-10 you see three small letters and one large letter. Nachmanides asserted that any change, from the normal, in a word or letter of the Scripture, indicates some hidden meaning. The letters are changed in the Scripture verse listing Haman’s sons are a large vauv וַ and three small Tavתָ, Shinשְׁ, and Zayinזָ, The large Vauv (equals 6) signifying the 6th millennium (from the years 5001 to 6000). The remaining 3 letters Tav (400), Shin (300), and Zayin (7) – equal 707 of the 6th millennium, or, the Hebrew year 5707, corresponding to the year 1946-47. On October 16, 1946 (21 Tishrei, 5707) ten convicted Nazi war criminals were hanged in Nuremberg. The last man to go was Julius Schtreicher (may his name be blotted out) – editor of Der Sturmer (The Stormer), the anti-Semitic Nazi propaganda newspaper and also the host of the yearly Nazi party congresses at Nuremberg.
Schtreicher wrote, “If the danger of the reproduction of that curse of God in the Jewish blood is to finally come to an end, then there is only one way–the extermination of that people whose father is the devil… Whoever does what a Jew does is a scoundrel, a criminal. And he who repeats and wishes to copy him deserves the same fate, annihilation, death.”
Yahweh turned that last judgmental statement around onJulius Schtreicher. “Only Julius Streicher went without dignity. He had to be pushed across the floor, (kicking), wild-eyed and screaming: ‘Heil Hitler!’ Mounting the steps he cried out: ‘And now I go to God.’ He stared at the witnesses facing the gallows … Then to the American officer he cried ((and) spat in (his) face): ‘The Bolsheviks will hang you one day.’ “ When asked for his name, he roared, ‘You know it well.’ – out of nowhere, with the rope around his neck, he shouted out with flaming hatred in his eyes, just as the trap door opened, ‘Purimfest 1946’!” “A groan came from inside the scaffold.” Streicher was not a member of the military and was not part of planning the Holocaust. He was the Nazi Scribe. His pen slowly and methodically seduced and incited Germany into exterminating the Jews. For this Yahweh made his death a slow strangulation rather than by the quick death of having his neck broken. It is believed that the executioner had to intervene under the gallows to silence and finish Streicher.
Esther answered, “give the Jews in Shushan permission to carry out this day’s edict tomorrow also, and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged on gallows, (Esther 9:13)” Now, the Hebrew word for “tomorrow”, מָחָר “machar” can refer to the distant future. The Sages comment: “There is a tomorrow that is now, and a tomorrow which is later.” (Tanchuma Bo 13 and Rashi on Exodus 13:14).
October 16, 1946 corresponds to 21st of Tishrei, 5707 which was Hoshana Raba, the day when Yahweh’s Yom Kippur judgments are sealed and made final.
“…On the 7th day of the Sukkot (Tabernacles) festival, the judgment of the nations of the world is finalized. Sentences are issued from the residence of the King. Judgements are aroused and executed on that day.” (Zohar Vayikra – 31b)
The Tausendjähriges Reich “Thousand Year Reich”, as it was intended by its founder, Adolf Hitler, believed it was the reincarnation of the Holy Roman Empire and as such would last a thousand years but only lasted 12 miserable years (from 1933 through to 1945).
There is another tomorrow coming in the time of the end when the spirit that motivated the ten sons of Haman will rise again at the behest of the Beast like Haman. “The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. (Revelation 17:12)”
Streicher did not know about the three small letters in the Book of Esther; he did not know that these letters corresponded to the year in which he was being hanged, and even had he known, he would have had no motivation to reinforce the validity of the prophecies of Scripture of a people he detested. No, this was the ranting of the spirits that tormented the Amalekites having to admit another millennium of failures. One could not ask for a more independent confirmation of the all-encompassing knowledge to be found in the Yahweh Word.
So the king commanded that this be done. An edict was issued in Shushan, and they hanged the ten sons of Haman. The Jews in Shushan came together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they put to death in Shushan three hundred men, but they did not lay their hands on the plunder.
Meanwhile, the remainder of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also assembled to protect themselves and get relief from their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand of them but did not lay their hands on the plunder. This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy. (Esther 9:12-17)”
Eat, Drink and Be Merry — We Almost Died
From that time, on the thirteenth day of Adar, the day before Purim there is the Fast of Esther to emulate Israel’s repentance and coming out of assimilation, the fourteenth day of Adar is consecrated as the festival of Purim, to commemorate the great miracle of the last remnant of Israel’s salvation. Those of us who live in the Diaspora, like those who lived in Shushan, consecrate also the fifteenth day of Adar as “Shushan Purim.”
“Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor… the Jews took it upon themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should without fail observe these two days every year, in the way prescribed and at the time appointed. These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family, and in every province and in every city. And these days of Purim should never cease to be celebrated by the Jews, nor should the memory of them die out among their descendants… Esther’s decree confirmed these regulations about Purim, and it was written down in the records. (Esther 9:20-22, 27,28, 32)”
Mordechai assumes a prominent position in Ahasuerus’ court, and institutes an annual commemoration of the delivery of the Jewish people from annihilation. “Nahafochu” accomplished!
When it comes to receiving “deliverance” we must not lose hope. We must enter the conflict with faith. Israel’s national anthem is “Hatikveh” translated as “The Hope.” תִקְוָה tik·vä’ comes from the root קַוֵּה kä·ve’ meaning to wait, look for, hope, to expect. It comes from Psalms 27. In the midst of a reality that seems stark – “When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall…Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence (Psalms 27:2, 12)” King David isn’t relying on some vague “hope”, rather he has an earnest expectation of deliverance.
קַוֵּה, אֶל-יְהוָה: חֲזַק, וְיַאֲמֵץ לִבֶּךָ; וְקַוֵּה, אֶל-יְהוָה.
Yahweh –’el veqavu’eh libeka veya’amets chazaq Yahweh –’el Qaveh
“Expect Yahweh (and His intervention)! Be strong and courageous! Expect Yahweh (and His deliverance)! (Psalms 27:14)”
The Hebrew month of Adar is a time for ´increasing joy´. Purim is a time for celebrating our salvation from enemies who plot our destruction. Adar falls at the end of the calendar for months and the end of the winter.
And after Adar comes Aviv , meaning springtime. Springtime is a time of rebirth and regeneration after a long dark winter of our souls.
“I am Elohim, and there is no other; I am Elohim, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done. (Isaiah 46:9-10)”
Originally written by Rabbi Robert O. Miller on March 26th 2008
(Robert Owen Miller 1957-2021)
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