For Such a Time as This

Purim is a time for giving gifts of food in celebration.

"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 your royal position for such a time as this?" - Mordechai - Esther 4:14

"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May those who love you prosper."  I remember clearly, the first time when I really heard these words, when they didn't just go in one ear and out the other.  Until that moment, my spiritual ears weren't opened.....and neither was my heart.  I had been living with an ideology that put all-things-Jewish off my radar as obsolete and irrelevant.  After all, I was a Christian, and I wasn't Jewish.  I had grown up with a Replacement Theology mentality, believing that the church had replaced Israel as the apple of God's eye.  I believed that we live in a new dispensation, a time of history where the old has gone and the new has come, where grace is in and law is out, because through Jesus, the law has been fulfilled and nailed to the cross.  With this mentality, there was not much reason for me to put a lot of emphasis on Israel. 

The story of one woman's courage.

When I first really heard God instruct me through his Word to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, I had no words of my own, so I simply prayed the words of Scripture.  I knew next to nothing about modern day Israel and Judaism.  In fact, I didn't know any Jews.  Except for one.  I had met a Jewish guy named Mike, who was employed at the recycling center in my neighborhood.  I began to pray for Mike.

When I discovered the Hebrew calendar in my NIV Bible, and began to learn about the Creator's appointed holy days, and the Jewish holidays, I started to look for ways to bless this one Jew, who as far I knew, was the only Jew I knew.  Before each of the biblical holidays, I would study up and learn a bit of the meaning and the background of each occasion, and each time, I would be inspired with one small way to bless Mike. 

My first attempt at Hamentaschen - with rasberry jam filling.

On the Festival of Purim, I was inspired try my hand at a traditional Purim cookie called Hamentaschen.  These three-cornered butter cookies sport a little dash of orange zest in the crust and a sweet center of jam or some other filling.  I thought these treats would be a fitting blessing for Mike and his employer, the owner of the recycling center, whom I had discovered was also Jewish.

Hamantaschen cookies are reminders of Haman, the wicked enemy of the Jews, who was destroyed by his own evil plot, as described in the Book of Esther.  The little pastries are said to resemble Haman's ears or Haman's hat.  In Germanic languages,  the word "tasch" means "pouch" or "pocket," thus the reference may refer to "Haman's pockets," symbolizing the money Haman planned to offer the king in exchange for permission to destroy the Jews.

Purim or lots were cast for date of demise

Purim, or the Festival of Lots, recalls God's miraculous deliverance of the Jews from annihilation during the times of the ancient Persian Empire, after lots (purim) were cast to determine the day of their demise.  God had orchestrated for Queen Esther to be raised up to the right place, at the right time, to be God's instrument of intervention.  Encouraged by her father-figure, Mordecai, Queen Esther risked her life to intercede before King Ahasuerus on behalf of her people, the Jews.  Ultimately the enemy was destroyed, and God's chosen people prevailed.

Celebrating Purim with a woman's Bible study. 

Purim is celebrated by reading the Book of Esther.  When the story is read, the listeners boo or hiss or twist groggers (noisemakers) to drown out the name of wicked Haman.  Some dress up in costume as one of the characters in the story.  It is a time of celebrating and rejoicing when mourning and sorrow was turned to joy and when the Jews obtained rest from their enemies.   It is biblical tradition to give gifts of food to friends and to give gifts to the poor on this day.

The story of Purim is not just an ancient story to be relegated to the annals of history.  Remember Hitler and the Holocaust, and let us say "Never Again!"  Perhaps today, more clearly than ever, we can see the antisemitic spirit rising against the nation of Israel and the Jewish people.  May we not stand on the side of hate and judgement, rather, let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem.


 Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, addressed the US Congress on March 3, 2015 with these words:

"We're an ancient people.  In our nearly 4,000 years of history, many have tried to repeatedly to destroy the Jewish people.  Tomorrow night, on the Jewish holiday of Purim, we'll read the Book of Esther.  We'll read of a powerful Persian viceroy named Haman, who plotted to destroy the Jewish people some 2,500 years ago.  But a courageous Jewish woman, Queen Esther, exposed the plot and gave for the Jewish people the right to defend themselves against their enemies.

The plot was foiled.  Our people were saved.

Today the Jewish people face another attempt by yet another Persian potentate to destroy us.  Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei spews the oldest hatred, the oldest of anti-Semitism with the newest technology.  He tweets that Israel must be annihilated - he tweets.  You know, in Iran, there isn't exactly free Internet.  But he tweets in English that Israel must be destroyed.

For those who believe that Iran threatens the Jewish state, but not the Jewish people, listen to Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, Iran's chief terrorist proxy.  He said:  If all the Jews gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of chasing them down around the world."

Treats for a Purim celebration.

We would be wise to remember that if Haman had succeeded in wiping out the Jewish nation, there would be no Jewish lineage.  If there was no Jewish lineage, there would be no Jesus.  If there was no Jesus, no Yeshua, there would be no salvation.  Salvation is of the Jews.

Just recently, I've come to really understand a biblical principle that I hadn't fully comprehended before.  It is the biblical principle of the priority of the Jews.  I believe it takes humility to understand this, but if we can put ourselves aside, this truth will make a huge impact on squelching antisemitism and Replacement Theology.  The Bible tells us that the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew and also to the Gentile.  Listed below are a few of the ways that show how this is so, and you can read more about it in John Piper's article here. 

• They are the historic chosen people of God.
• They are the guardians of God's special revelation, the Old Testament Scriptures.
• The Messiah and Savior, Jesus, comes to the world as a Jew, to Jews.
• Salvation is from the Jews, since everyone who is saved is saved by being connected to the covenant with Abraham by faith.

 

Purim - when sorrow was turned to joy, when good triumphed over evil.

"I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." - I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." -  God to Abram Genesis 12:31

Let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem.....let us bless Israel!