PURIM, 5784

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    בס״ד

Although the Festival of Purim is not mentioned in the Torah, it nevertheless contains a great deal of revelation for the people of God. The enemy of the Jewish people in the Scroll of Esther is Haman. His objective was to totally destroy the people of God. In the end, he was not successful and received the judgment of God. The primary verse I would like to focus upon for this brief article is Esther 8:1a,

בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא, נָתַן הַמֶּלֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ לְאֶסְתֵּר הַמַּלְכָּה, אֶת-בֵּית
הָמָן, צֹרֵר היהודיים (הַיְּהוּדִים)…

“On that day, King Ahchashverosh gave to Queen Esther the estate (house) of Haman, the enemy of the Jews….”

The Hebrew phrase בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא “On that day” relates specifically to judgment. The Scroll of Esther, and the events which are discussed in it, all took place in the past; however there are clear implications to the End Times. It is significant that the Hebrew term for the antichrist is צֹרֵר המשיח which is derived from the same word which is used to describe Haman in this verse. This teaches the reader that the antichrist will not be successful, as also Haman failed in his objective to exterminate the Jewish people.

Another important truth which is contained in this verse is that Esther received all the wealth from Haman’s estate. This reveals that believers will also receive an inheritance at the end of the world. This is supported by the well known verse,

וַעֲנָוִים יִירְשׁוּ-אָרֶץ    וְהִתְעַנְּגוּ עַל-רֹב שָׁלוֹם

“The humble ones will inherit the earth and they will delight in abundant Shalom.” Psalm 37:11

This Psalm states that those who are humble will inherit the earth. The word which means humble is frequently translated as the “meek”. This same word is used to describe Moses as the most humble man and this relates to him also being called the servant of the Lord. Hence, a true servant of God must be humble and God will reward His faithful servants, this is the meaning of the phrase, “The humble ones will inherit the earth….” The second part of this verse teaches that the inheritance will be a source of great delight in abundant Shalom.

The Hebrew word שָׁלוֹם directly relates to the will of God being fulfilled and the outcome of His will being fulfilled. One should understand that the fulfillment of the will of God will bring about great delight for His people. What is frequently ignored by many believers is that it is the judgment of God which will bring about the destruction of evil and the fulfillment of God’s will. The Festival of Purim should remind the people of God that in the same way, Haman and those who participated in his plan to exterminate the Jews were defeated.
This should provide the sure expectation that in the End Times, God will judge not only the antichrist, but all who participate in his purposes. In other words, there is a direct relationship between the judgment of God, the victory of His people and the will of God being fulfilled.

This is why John states in the book of Revelation, 

“From afar standing on account of the fear of her torment, saying Woe, woe the great city of Babylon, the strong city, for in one hour your judgment has come, and the merchants of the earth are weeping and mourning for her because their cargo no one buys anymore. 

Cargo of gold and of silver and of precious stones and pearls and fine linen and of purple and of silk and of scarlet and of all citron wood and every vessel of ivory and every vessel of most precious wood and of bronze and of silver and of marble and cinnamon and spice and incenses and myrrh and frankincense and wine and oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep and of horses and of chariots and of slaves and the souls of men. And your ripe fruit of desire of the soul which departed from you and all the rich things and the
splendid things which have departed from you and no longer will they ever be found. 

The merchants of these things, having been enriched from her, they will stand from afar because of the fear of her torment. They are weeping and mourning, saying, Woe, woe the great city, the one having been clothed with fine linen and purple and scarlet, and
having been adorned with gold and precious stones and pearl. For in one hour she has been brought to desolation, such great wealth. And every captain and everyone which sells to a place as many as do business by the sea, they stood from afar. And they were
crying seeing the smoke from her burning saying, What is like this great city? They cast dust upon their heads, they were crying out, weeping and mourning saying, Woe, woe the great city in which were made wealthy all those having ships in the sea from her wealth.
For in one hour she has been destroyed. Rejoice over her, O Heaven, and the saints and the apostles, and the prophets, because God made judgment for your vindication from her.

And one angel lifted up a strong stone as a great millstone and cast into the sea saying, Thus the violence of Babylon, the great city, will be cast down and will never be found any longer. And the sound of harpists and musicians and flute players and trumpeters will
never be heard in you any longer and the craftsmen of all crafts shall never be found in you any longer and the sound of a millstone shall never be heard in you any longer. And the light of a lamp will never shine in you any longer and the voice of the groom and the
bride will no longer be heard in you any longer, for your merchants the ones that were great of the earth because of your sorcery, they deceive all the nations and in her was found the blood of the prophets and the saints and all those having been slain on the
earth”.  Revelation 18:10-24

Notice there is a strong dichotomy between those who were mourning and grieving over Babylon’s destruction and how Heaven and the saints, apostles and prophets were rejoicing. What were they rejoicing over? God’s judgment being poured out upon the
Empire of the antichrist. In conclusion, the Scroll of Esther reveals a past victory of God’s Old Covenant people over an empire which desired to destroy them, which gives His New Covenant people assurance that the antichrist will not succeed in his evil desire to destroy
first believers, and then Israel. God’s judgment will provide the Kingdom victory for His people. Praise the Lord for His Righteous Judgment.

May you have a joyful and significant observance of Purim.