Celebration of Purim
The feast of Purim commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people from
destruction by an evil schemer named Haman during the days of their captivity
by the Persians. It took its name from the Babylonian word put, meaning “lot”,
because Haman cast lots to determine when he would carry out his plot against
the Jews (Esther 3:5-6,8-10) “when Haman saw that Mordeai bowed not, nor did
him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath. And he thought scorn to lay
hands on Mordecai alone; for they had showed him the people of Mordecai,
wherefore Haman sought to destroy al the Jews that were throughout the whole
kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai. And Haman said to king
Ahasuerus, there is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among
the people in all the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws are diverse from
all people, neither keep they the king’s laws, therefore it is not for the king’s
profit to allow them.
If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed, and I will pay
ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the
business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries. And the king took his ring from
his hand, and gave it to Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’
enemy”. And the king said to Haman, the silver is given to you, the people
also, to do with them as it seems good to you”.
Haman was a descendent of king Agag. King Agag was the king of Amalek, who
fought with Israel as they came out of Egypt, going through the wilderness
(Exodus 17:8-14). Moses told Joshua to choose men and go out and fight with
Amalek, and it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, th Israelit prevailed,
but when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. Moses hands were heavy,
and Aaron and Hur took a stone, and put it under Moses, and he sat thereon,
and they held up his hands. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people;
verse 14 says “and the Lord Yahweh said to Moses, write this for a memorial in
a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua for I will utterly put out the
remembrance of Amalek from under heaven”.
Israel requested a king and Samuel was told by God to anoint Saul of the tribe
of Benjamin; God told king Saul to wipe out Amalek, killing all the people, even
the animals, but Saul disobeyed and kept the choice animals and the king alive
(I Samuel 15:1-9), even thought this seemed burial God knows the hearts of
mankind, and a thousand years later, Haman purposed to kill all the Jews in all
of Persia (Esther :1-11).
Esther was chosen queen, her background was kept secret, so no one knew
that she was a Jew. This she did at the request of her uncle Mordecai.
Mordecai heard of the plot to kill all the Jews, and told Esther persuading her to
seek mercy from the king, her husband. Esther was afraid because their law
was that no one came into the king’s court without being summoned, and she
had not be summoned. After Mordecai reminded her that she too was a Jew
and would not be spared, she fasted and asked Mordecai to have all Israel fast
with her, and after three days she determined to go in; and said “if I perish, I
perish”. As she went in, she found favor from the king and he asked her what
was her desire. She later told the king, that Haman wanted to kill her and
revealed that she was a Jew.
Esther ask the king that Haman’s wicked device, which he devised against the
Jews, return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on
the gallows. The gallows is the same that Haman sought to hand Mordecai on.
The feast of Purim took place on the 14th and 15th day of Adar, which is the
10th and 11th of March according to our calendar. During the celebration the
book of Esther is read as a reminder of their deliverance. Another decree was
made that the Jews could defend themselves (Esther 8:13), and they were
delivered.
Many have tried to kill all the Jews, from the Crusaders, Hitler, and now the
president of Arak says that he will wipe out the Jews, pushing them into the
sea. All attempts against the Jews have failed, God prophesied in Ezekiel 37:25-
28) “and they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob, My servant,
wherein you fathers have dwelled, and they shall dwell therein, even they, and
their children, and their children’s children for ever and My servant David shall
be their prince for ever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it
shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will place them, and multiply
them, and will set My sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My
tabernacle also shall be with them, yea, I will be their God and they shall be My
people. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord Yahweh do sanctify Israel,
when My sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore”.
Many people say that this is all Old Testament, and have nothing to do with us
today, but if Haman had been able to succeed his plot, there would have been
no Christ, because Jesus was born a Jew and came from the line of king David.
Psalms 89:34-37 says “My covenant will I not break, nor alter, the thing that is
gone out of My lips. Once have I sworn by My holiness that I will not lie to
David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before Me. It
shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven,
Selah”. God said that He would bring His people back to their land and Israel
was born in a day in 1948. Even though Israel is such a small place, and all
that are around them, hate them, they are still there. It is obvious that it is not
by their power or might, but the Spirit of the Lord Yahweh. The devil has been
trying to get rid of Israel, trying to cause one of God’s words to fail.
The reason that I celebrate this feast, is because I have been adopted into the
family of God. Purim is called to be a reminder of the devil’s attempts to destroy
the Jews. If we remember it, it will avoid another Holacrus like Hitler committed
during world war II in which over 6 million Jews were killed. Psalms 82 is one of
my favorite Psalms, in verses 2-4 it says “how long will you judge unjustly, and
accept the persons of the wicked? Selah. Defend the poor and fatherless, do
justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy, rid them out of
the hand of the wicked”.
Also it makes the promises of God more profound, Psalms 121 says “I will lift up
my eyes to the hills, from where comes my help. My help comes fro the Lord
Yahweh, which made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be
moved. He that keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord Yahweh
is your keeper; the Lord Yahweh is your shade upon your right hand. The sun
shall not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord Yahweh shall
preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord Yahweh shall
preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth; and even for
evermore”.
Study by: Harriet Bond
Date: March 10, 2009
The feast of Purim commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people from
destruction by an evil schemer named Haman during the days of their captivity
by the Persians. It took its name from the Babylonian word put, meaning “lot”,
because Haman cast lots to determine when he would carry out his plot against
the Jews (Esther 3:5-6,8-10) “when Haman saw that Mordeai bowed not, nor did
him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath. And he thought scorn to lay
hands on Mordecai alone; for they had showed him the people of Mordecai,
wherefore Haman sought to destroy al the Jews that were throughout the whole
kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai. And Haman said to king
Ahasuerus, there is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among
the people in all the provinces of your kingdom, and their laws are diverse from
all people, neither keep they the king’s laws, therefore it is not for the king’s
profit to allow them.
If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed, and I will pay
ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the
business, to bring it into the king’s treasuries. And the king took his ring from
his hand, and gave it to Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’
enemy”. And the king said to Haman, the silver is given to you, the people
also, to do with them as it seems good to you”.
Haman was a descendent of king Agag. King Agag was the king of Amalek, who
fought with Israel as they came out of Egypt, going through the wilderness
(Exodus 17:8-14). Moses told Joshua to choose men and go out and fight with
Amalek, and it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, th Israelit prevailed,
but when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. Moses hands were heavy,
and Aaron and Hur took a stone, and put it under Moses, and he sat thereon,
and they held up his hands. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people;
verse 14 says “and the Lord Yahweh said to Moses, write this for a memorial in
a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua for I will utterly put out the
remembrance of Amalek from under heaven”.
Israel requested a king and Samuel was told by God to anoint Saul of the tribe
of Benjamin; God told king Saul to wipe out Amalek, killing all the people, even
the animals, but Saul disobeyed and kept the choice animals and the king alive
(I Samuel 15:1-9), even thought this seemed burial God knows the hearts of
mankind, and a thousand years later, Haman purposed to kill all the Jews in all
of Persia (Esther :1-11).
Esther was chosen queen, her background was kept secret, so no one knew
that she was a Jew. This she did at the request of her uncle Mordecai.
Mordecai heard of the plot to kill all the Jews, and told Esther persuading her to
seek mercy from the king, her husband. Esther was afraid because their law
was that no one came into the king’s court without being summoned, and she
had not be summoned. After Mordecai reminded her that she too was a Jew
and would not be spared, she fasted and asked Mordecai to have all Israel fast
with her, and after three days she determined to go in; and said “if I perish, I
perish”. As she went in, she found favor from the king and he asked her what
was her desire. She later told the king, that Haman wanted to kill her and
revealed that she was a Jew.
Esther ask the king that Haman’s wicked device, which he devised against the
Jews, return upon his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on
the gallows. The gallows is the same that Haman sought to hand Mordecai on.
The feast of Purim took place on the 14th and 15th day of Adar, which is the
10th and 11th of March according to our calendar. During the celebration the
book of Esther is read as a reminder of their deliverance. Another decree was
made that the Jews could defend themselves (Esther 8:13), and they were
delivered.
Many have tried to kill all the Jews, from the Crusaders, Hitler, and now the
president of Arak says that he will wipe out the Jews, pushing them into the
sea. All attempts against the Jews have failed, God prophesied in Ezekiel 37:25-
28) “and they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob, My servant,
wherein you fathers have dwelled, and they shall dwell therein, even they, and
their children, and their children’s children for ever and My servant David shall
be their prince for ever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it
shall be an everlasting covenant with them, and I will place them, and multiply
them, and will set My sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My
tabernacle also shall be with them, yea, I will be their God and they shall be My
people. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord Yahweh do sanctify Israel,
when My sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore”.
Many people say that this is all Old Testament, and have nothing to do with us
today, but if Haman had been able to succeed his plot, there would have been
no Christ, because Jesus was born a Jew and came from the line of king David.
Psalms 89:34-37 says “My covenant will I not break, nor alter, the thing that is
gone out of My lips. Once have I sworn by My holiness that I will not lie to
David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before Me. It
shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven,
Selah”. God said that He would bring His people back to their land and Israel
was born in a day in 1948. Even though Israel is such a small place, and all
that are around them, hate them, they are still there. It is obvious that it is not
by their power or might, but the Spirit of the Lord Yahweh. The devil has been
trying to get rid of Israel, trying to cause one of God’s words to fail.
The reason that I celebrate this feast, is because I have been adopted into the
family of God. Purim is called to be a reminder of the devil’s attempts to destroy
the Jews. If we remember it, it will avoid another Holacrus like Hitler committed
during world war II in which over 6 million Jews were killed. Psalms 82 is one of
my favorite Psalms, in verses 2-4 it says “how long will you judge unjustly, and
accept the persons of the wicked? Selah. Defend the poor and fatherless, do
justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy, rid them out of
the hand of the wicked”.
Also it makes the promises of God more profound, Psalms 121 says “I will lift up
my eyes to the hills, from where comes my help. My help comes fro the Lord
Yahweh, which made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be
moved. He that keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord Yahweh
is your keeper; the Lord Yahweh is your shade upon your right hand. The sun
shall not smite you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord Yahweh shall
preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord Yahweh shall
preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth; and even for
evermore”.
Study by: Harriet Bond
Date: March 10, 2009
