the story of Purim

People wear costumes on Purim. Dressing up is considered fun and merry, a perfect way to celebrate an exceptionally joyous festival.
Another reason given by Jewish tradition is that they remember that Purim—described in the Book of Esther was done “in disguise”. Esther hid her true identity, so Jews say that they too are in disguise.

What is noteworthy that there is no mention of God’s name in the entire story despite God’s role in the event. That is another reason Jews celebrate God’s “disguised role”.

Another possible reason is that when King Achashverosh honored Mordechai for saving his life in the Purim story, he ordered that Mordechai was to be paraded around town wearing the king’s clothing.
 

It’s a topsy-turvy day where Jews consider that they are meant to dress up as something they are not!

We do not need to pretend. We wear robes of righteousness. We wear the bride’s apparel. We are crowned as priests and kings as royalty, sitting and reigning with Christ. Our garments are spiritual, but are seen where it really counts because we are being watched! We are being observed by the great cloud of witnesses the book of Hebrews speaks about and one thing that is being looked for is blood!

He knew that it would be through Abraham that the seed-promise of his own destruction would come. Before Jesus therefore, the enemy desired to sabotage the messianic line which came through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but his plan has not worked and it has not changed. There have been multiple efforts post Jesus to wipe out the Jewish nation to nullify the prophetic utterance that the Jews as a distinct group would welcome Him at His Second Coming.

The enemy knows that not one of God’s words can fall to the ground. He also knows that the Church has the potential to destroy his plans and one strategic approach is to nullify the word of God and remove the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our midst.
The latter prevents us from receiving truth, correctly dissecting the word of God and renders us impotent and ineffective.

The devil does not care if we engage in any religious pursuits, providing that we do not act and talk like Jesus. He does not care if we read a bible and then debate things from a theological viewpoint, because he does that himself. He tempted Eve that way and tried the same tactics with Jesus. What he does not like is that we see truth, put truth to work and act like Jesus!
Despite those attempts to destroy the Jews and The Church, Jesus told us that this cannot happen.

Jews have encountered anti-Christlike figures in Pharaoh (Passover), Haman (Purim), Antiochus Epiphanes (Hanukkah), Queen Isabella (the Spanish Inquisition), Russian Tsars (Pogroms), and Hitler (the Shoah), to name but a few. The saddest thing is that many of these efforts have come through people that called themselves “Christians”, because their perception of Jews is incorrect, as is their true understanding of Scripture.

Some of those attempts are designed to divide Christians from Jews—and Christians from Christians. Whilst it is “correct” that Jews generally do not accept Jesus as their promised Messiah, they are still waiting for Him, but that is not the end of the story—many are not. Whilst the media does not report this, many Jews are discovering that the Jesus we believe in and worship is their Messiah. I do not wish to digress here, but because of the intensity or depth their depth of Torah study, there seems to be a “deeper understanding”. It has been said that only Greeks can  speak Greek like the Greeks and the same goes for Jews.

Only Jewish people can speak Hebrew properly. I am Jewish by natural birth but was raised in the Church of England so I never practiced Judaism. I am now starting to learn Hebrew however from such places as the Israel Bible Institute and University at Jerusalem. What I am discovering never ceases to amaze me. There seems to be a “depth” that most “Christians” do not seem to understand or experience. I studied extensively for ministry in bible colleges and for a doctorate and never saw the Lord as I do now. After what shall be 56 years this September, 2024, I am finally starting to learn—to see why Jesus did things the way He did.
It is amazing and it has enhanced my relationship with God in remarkable manner.
When you meet a Jew who has found the Lord, he or she is still a Jew and may still observe many of the ordinances such as Shabbat, but not be embroiled in the legalism we often accuse them of having, without knowing the facts.

Other extreme teaching  centres around keeping laws and observances, the universality of the brotherhood of man, earning our salvation through religious observances and performing good and charitable deeds etcetera, or belonging to a particular organization, denomination or religious group and following their beliefs.

The scriptures are very clear and specific about such matters.

Salvation is a free gift that is made available only one way—through the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is no such thing as a “Christian country”.

Making decrees and imposing laws does not make anyone a Christian. Theodosius I declared Christianity to be the Imperial religion of the Roman empire in AD 380—but there was no conversion involved. Christianity was just another religion added to the existing list and the false gods and idol worship continued!

Some “Christians” become enamored with Orthodox Judaism and Orthodox Rabbis who do not know Jesus as we do and being discipled by them. Perhaps Madonna is an example by popularizing Kabala, that is nothing other than eastern mysticism with Jewish terminology. Learning about such things is an extreme that’s really dangerous because at the root of that particular Rabbinical Judaism is a rejection of Jesus.

Paul spoke extensively in Romans about Israel and The Church whereby he stated that God has not finished with Israel and if anything, wants us to reveal to Jews that our Jesus is their Messiah and because of our relationship with Him, provokes them to jealousy. In Ephesians, he said that we were once alienated and not part of the Commonwealth of Israel, but because of the Lord have been accepted—grafted in. The fact of the matter is that both Jew and gentile are now brethren and part of the mystical body of Christ.  Christians need to learn what Jews have, just as much as Jews need to learn what we have!

“…that’s part of our call and it is part of the call of this ministry—to wake up the Church to her “Esther” role.

The Church is Esther.”

At some point in time, there shall be a generation that will be alive when Jesus comes for His bride. By all indications, we may well be that generation, but I shall not delve into all of that here. Assuming that we are, then we are the last days church and that in itself is a massive topic.

Suffice it to say that not all who call themselves “Christians” are indeed Christians and an open and honest analysis affirms that. According to Paul in Ephesians chapter six we are in a battle, waged against a very highly motivated and organized spiritual foe who uses every strategy he can to take us all out. We need not fear of course, but I share that to reveal that those who are not informed, ill equipped and not prepared, will—not “might” be overcome. That is a statement of fact and is not being negative or critical. Men like Gideon proved that God refines certain people for His purpose. David slew a Goliath, but was prepared to deal with his four brothers, whilst God’s people cowered in fear. They went through the motions, but never did a thing. There are enough scriptural illustrations to verify my statements.

We are not fighting flesh and blood, but evil in all its forms. Spirits like Jezebel and those that motivated Haman are here and very much alive and active in the world right now. We can recognize them by their fruit and by discernment. Our arsenal is spiritual; not intellectual, formalism, or forms of religious observances. Some of those weapons are words of knowledge, words of wisdom, discerning of spirits and so on and they are listed in 1 Corinthians chapters 12 to 14.
Where such things are discounted, the people in the churches are not much different to the people who watched David slay Goliath.

We are at a point in history when game playing cannot continue. The enemy is serious and relenting in his pursuits and objectives. The pure evil—the lowering moral standards, strife, anger, violence and hatred that existed prior to the flood is becoming more open and prevalent today. We do not learn from history and history is repeating itself.

Haman could only have become a threat because one man did not obey God!
Saul was commanded to eradicate all evil by killing all of the enemy, men, women, children and animals, but he did not. He left a seed or a root behind and one day Haman was born.  This may sound severe, coming from a “God of love” but love took His only Son to the cross.
We are still learning that obedience is better than sacrifice...

In line with our message on Purim, antisemitism is the highest it’s ever been since World War II and it is spreading across the entire planet. Do not fall for the con tricks concerning the Palestinians. They are groomed for hatred and have been so groomed since Haman’s days. Anywhere they migrate, they take that spirit with them! It is part of a well orchestrated plan and if you doubt what I say, follow the media. Check on the protests and you will see the open hatred and violence simmering beneath them.

Another Haman is on the scene and he does not want any form of religion! Please see what our politicians are doing right now. As I have done, go into the chambers during setting and it is like a circus. What is alarming however are the decisions made in private and suddenly made law—ungodly law. Check it out.
The recent Voice referendum that rightly failed is being ignored. The peoples’ wishes are being swept aside and the Labor governments are going ahead anyhow. It has already happened in South Australia! Check that out. Readers in other countries face the same things because this is part of a global agenda. It has little to do with the “rights”of our indigenous population at all because it is a spiritual issue. The false gods have returned and that is another matter, but it is a universal and global trend to have “sacred places” and worship other gods such as the “rainbow serpent”. The word “serpent” is warning enough. Soo to is “rainbow”. The flag and colours of the LGBT people mimic the rainbow!

The only way evil can triumph is for good men to stand by and do nothing. To illustrate, I refer to a real to life situation in Orange, Australia. A colourful Rainbow Festival was held to prey on the young and innocent  to celebrate sexual immorality in the public square. The church retreated into its own four walls, despite the evidence presented to them of the harm to the minds and bodies of children that are lured into the transgender cult. No one in “the church” spoke out against it.

“It is not our job” some said,” we preach the love and grace of Jesus”, “there are a diverse range of opinions in the church” others proclaimed, therefore we cannot take a stand and declare that this is sin.

The church in Orange abrogated its Christ given Spiritual Authority and rendered itself impotent, having lost its saltiness according to Matthew 5:13. Abraham was a “friend” of God, but he had to leave his comfort zone and walk into the unknown by faith.  Moses spoke to God “face to face” and great miracles were performed through him, but he had to face Pharaoh.  God called David “a man after my own heart” but David had to face Goliath.  The prophets of old confronted Kings about wrong doings against God. John the Baptist called out Herod’s sin of taking his brother’s wife. We could go on, but the modern church appears to have missed these teachings.
A small group came together to stand for the truth and a vote was taken in a council meeting. The initial decision was to ban the meeting—but the transgender activists and campaigners, including some Councilors became apoplectic, hurling insults and abuse at the believers who had enough intestinal fortitude to stand for the truth. The media went into a frenzy, criticizing, misrepresenting and belittling the Christian group because of their faith, but they pressed on regardless.

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Matthew 5:11

The day before the vote, support for the motion to cancel the festival appeared to crumble. At a time when lies are more believable than truth, the shouts of the enemy were easier to believe for those without discernment. The final vote by Orange City Council was to support the Rainbow Festival nine to three. One of the arguments was the loss of business to the City.

One concession was made to not have a Drag Queen read the story time.
In Matthew 12 Jesus said a house divided against itself cannot stand. Sadly this was the case in Orange where the Minister’s Association wrote to the Council distancing themselves from the brave believers who stood for truth. Sadly, this is not an isolated instance, because it is happening everywhere.

I’ve stood in the private chambers in parliament and observed the antics of our political leaders. If I did not have a relationship with the Lord, know who I am in Christ; know the word of God and know my future, I would be scared and rightly so.

I do not hold with “conspiracy theories” because we can start chasing smoke and mirrors and still not obtain truth, but I will state that we are facing life changing issues that will threaten all that we treasure. We cannot pretend all is well, hide from truth, sweep things under the carpet, naively believe that it is not our problem and live in our own fantasy land. We need to get some backbone and stand up! The Jewish boys were told to bow or burn, but they did not bow and they did not burn.

We will burn if we bow!

We need “Esthers” to go before the King. The Book of Esther is a great picture of the time in which we currently live.

When we think of Purim, we often think only of Esther and Haman and to a lesser extent to Mordecai—but do not forget that the king himself and Vashti had a part to play. When you see Haman, you may think of the anti-Christ in the world, but he is only as effective as those who allow him to do what he wants to do.

Mordâkay was the Esther’s cousin and adopted her. He was her nearest kinsman and that has prophetic implications to us.

His name means little man and strangely also means worshiper of Mars (but I doubt if he did that). Little man is significant however because God often uses the “little men”—the unknown men, people we often want to overlook thinking that they did nothing important. Today we hold certain people in higher esteem because they have a big church, sell ministry resources or appear on television, but often times, an important task is fulfilled by what the bible only says is “a certain man”.

Mordecai’s father was Jāʹer and that name means may he shine, or may he arouse. Jesus told us to let our light to shine!

We are the only light this world has and it will be a sad thing to know that because we didn’t glow in the dark, someone may go to hell.

He goes back to Manasseh. He may have been the father of Elhanan who was a giant slayer as seen in 1 Chronicles 20:5.

Here is another example of the significance of names and genealogy. God had things under control before Esther was born.

As for Vashti I am not going to say much more about her, other than to say that her name means beautiful. One train of thought is that the king asked her to parade naked in that party, but I just do not know if that is so. What I will say however is that for whatever reason she was there, the motivation for her refusal led to Esther’s future role. Everything in such stories, means something.

Now for the king. ʾAchashverowsh, or ʾAchashrosh is of Persian origin. We know him as Ahasuerus. He may also be known as Xerxes and there were several men by that name. The name Ahasuerus means I will be silent and poor. His “silence” allowed an enemy of God and His people to take control. This in itself should speak volumes to the modern day church. We cannot say that we should not get involved in world events and politics. If we want the Judeo-Christian ethic and righteous leaders in our seats of government, we must wake up and get involved. The word of God clearly tells us to pray for our leaders and if that is all some of us do, that is a great starting point.

The lord mayor of Adelaide tried to ban prayer before council sittings and one man stood up, said no and started to pray anyhow. She tried to shut him up and he refused to quit and that decision has been overturned. One man...

I wrote to her when she ordered the Aboriginal flag to be flown at half mast after that evil and ridiculous “voice referendum” failed and she “apologized”, making some feeble excuse that was childish. The South Australia government tried to change the names of our public holidays such as Christmas and Anzac day, removing any ”Christian” reference but backed down after people stood up to them. One person stood up and said no to that policy.

Mordecai rightly told Esther that she could not stand by and not do anything. He said that it was her time and if she did nothing, she would perish anyhow. He told her that deliverance for God’s people would come at the hand of someone else if she did not act. Esther said that she would do everything she could, even risking her own life in the process.

I’ve proved on many an occasion that when taking a stand, we risk having to pay a price. It was not any life threatening sitation, but I encountered mockery, ridicule, ostracism, betrayal, loss of property and slanderous accusations, including some pastors telling me I was deceived and needed deliverance! One such man started coming to my own meetings and took over. I felt the Tabasco sauce rising up inside me, but controlled myself and asked the Lord what to do. He said, “Nothing”. I brushed the dust off my feet and walked away, never to return. That meeting lasted for a month; the people went their own ways and that self-appointed “pastor” quit. We met him a few months later and he was one of the saddest men I had met. My wife and I reached out to him in friendship, but he could not respond. His guilt was evident. The “church” is full of such people.

The lesson we all need to learn, especially these in ministry is that it is not “my ministry”, “my church”,”my sheep” etcetera but the Lord’s! See 1 Samuel 17:47; 2 Chronicles 20:15

We now look at what Esther did.
She prepared herself. She made sure that she was in a fit state to present herself to the king and did nothing else.

We often try to “impress” God; to gain His favor, to earn what He wants to give us freely as a gift; to perform all kinds of religious observances, but what He really wants is our hearts!

She was the queen. She did not have to “prove she was” but she followed protocol. To a certain extent, there are some protocols to follow when we come before God, but the King has aleady extened His sceptre towards us. We are accepted in the beloved. We are royalty because of Jesus, but we do not have to “prove it”—just “live it”.
Esther made sure that her “garments were clean”, that she was in the right place and simply went there on the third day and that is significant to us because we remember that Jesus rose on the third day. He ascended into the Holy of Holies where no man other than the high priest could enter and did that once—never to be repeated.

Esther stood there and waited until the king saw her and when he did, he extended his scepter towards her, because she gained favor in his sight.

We can stand before our King and He finds us acceptable. We have been granted favor in His sight and can now come boldly to the throne of grace.

There is more to this Jewish holiday season after all and I have only but scratched the surface. May I suggest that you start to look more closely into these things and when you do, I am sure that you will be amazed how Jesus and God’s plan of salvation is intriguingly intertwined in them. I shall leave you with this:
 

“You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know.”

William Wilberforce

Our time to stand up and speak out is here...