The Jewish feast of Purim [pronounced poorem] points to Jesus just as all Jewish feasts do. Purim means “lots”. Purim sometimes is known as the feast of Lots. This feast is held on the fourteenth day of Adar which is the twelve month in the Jewish calendar and which is usually in March of our calendar, but is sometimes in February. In Jerusalem and other ancient walled cities it is celebrated on the fifteenth of Adar. Purim is not one of the seven God ordained Jewish feasts, but like Hanukah is a rabbinical added holiday. Just because it was added by the rabbis does not mean that God was not behind the feast and its meaning.
Purim comes from the book of Esther and the Jewish victory over evil Haman and the preservation of the Jews. Esther was a Jewish girl who became queen of the Persian Empire. The Jewish people were under the authority of the Persian Empire after the Persians conquered the Babylonian Empire who had taken the Jewish people captive because of their sin. The Persian king Ahasuerus had a wife, queen Vashti who disobeyed him so he removed her as queen. He then had a beauty contest to pick a new queen. Esther whose Hebrew name was Hadassah was chosen as the new queen, but the king did not know that she was Jewish. Esther means “star” and Hadassah means “myrtle”. Esther was raised by her cousin Mordecai. The king had a man Haman that was second in command to the king and all were expected to bow to him. Mordecai as a Jew refused to bow to Haman. Haman hated Jews and wanted them all killed especially Mordecai since he refused to bow to him. Haman did not know that Esther was a Jew and related to Mordecai. Haman encouraged the king to sign a law that he had made which allowed the people to attack and kill the Jewish people on the thirteenth day of Adar. (Esther 3:9 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.) The Persians had a stupid law that once the king signed a law then it could not be overturned. We see the stupidity of this law also when the Median king Darius, who the Medes were part of the Persian Empire, was tricked into throwing Daniel into a den of lions. Mordecai, who always hung out by the kings palace in Sushan, one day overheard a plot against the king to kill him. Mordecai warned the king but he was never rewarded for his loyalty. One day after the king signed the order to have the Jews killed, Haman came to the king with a plan to kill Mordecai. Haman had gallows built on which he wanted to hang Mordecai. About the same time God had prevented the king from being able to sleep and the king had people bring the chronicles to him so they could read them to him. The king read about Mordecai and asked if he was ever honored for his loyalty. He was told he was not. In the morning when Haman came to the king with his plan to hang Mordecai, the king asked Haman how he should honor a man that was loyal to him. Haman thought the king was talking about him and so he told him to have him arrayed with the kings clothing and driven around town. The king told Haman to do as he said to Mordecai. This infuriated Haman. When Mordecai had found out about Haman’s plan to kill the Jews he told Esther to plead with the king and told her that she would not be exempted from the death order just because she was queen. Esther said she could not go before the king without being asked. Mordecai said God had put her in this position of queen for such a time as this. (Esther 4:13-14 Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king’s house, more than all the Jews.
14For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?) Esther agreed to go before the king and said if I perish, I perish. (Esther 4:16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.) All Christians need to have this attitude and boldness to be willing to die for what is right. Esther went to the king with a plan to destroy Haman. She held a banquet for the king and had Haman invited. The king said he would grant her request even to the half of the kingdom. On the second day of the banquet Esther told the king that she was a Jew and Haman’s evil plot to kill her people and pleaded for the king to do something. The king had Haman hanged on the same gallows he had built for Mordecai. Those who plot to destroy the Jews will always bring about their own destruction. Mordecai was promoted to second ruler in place of Haman as Esther told the king her relation to Mordecai. A new law was passed that allowed the Jews to defend themselves against attack on the thirteenth of Adar. The Jews in Shushan (modern Susa, Iran) were allowed to continue to kill their enemies also on the fourteenth. Mordecai established that the fourteenth day of Adar was to be celebrated as a feast as well as the fifteenth day. (Esther 9:17-22 On the thirteenth day of the month Adar; and on the fourteenth day of the same rested they, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.
18 But the Jews that were at Shushan assembled together on the thirteenth day thereof, and on the fourteenth thereof; and on the fifteenth day of the same they rested, and made it a day of feasting and gladness.
19 Therefore the Jews of the villages, that dwelt in the unwalled towns, made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.
20 ¶ And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far,
21 To stablish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly,
22 As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor.) God is never directly mentioned in the book of Esther, but God clearly had his hand in the whole matter from making Esther queen to placing Mordecai in the right place at the right time and the victory of the Jews over their enemies. The Jews have a saying that their feasts are about “They tried to kill us. We won. Let’s eat”. This definitely applies here with Purim. The feast was given the name Purim from the name Pur which means lot. (Esther 9:26 Wherefore they called these days Purim after the name of Pur. Therefore for all the words of this letter, and of that which they had seen concerning this matter, and which had come unto them,) The lot referred to here is the lot cast by Haman to determine the date to kill the Jews. (Esther 3:7 ¶ In the first month, that is, the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that is, the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, to the twelfth month, that is, the month Adar.) In Jewish leap years where they add a second month of Adar then Purim is always celebrated during the second Adar month.
During the feast of Purim, the story of Esther is read in the synagogues. The scroll of Esther is known as Megillah. Whenever Mordecai is mentioned, the people cheer and when Haman is mentioned they boo, stomp their feet and shake noisemakers known as groggers. The Jews eat three cornered fruit filled pastry known as Hamantashen which means and represents “Haman’s ears”. Other customs include parades on Purim and dressing up as Biblical characters from Esther and reenacting the story of Esther. Sometimes they wear masks of modern day world leaders that were/are Jewish haters in place of Haman. They also have parties and carnivals. Gifts are usually given to the poor on Purim.
Purim is the celebration of the preservation of the Jews. John 5:1 mentions a Jewish feast, but does not mention which one. (John 5:1 After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.) Many theologians believe this was the feast of Purim as it is the only one that makes sense chronologically. I agree. We see Jesus celebrated this feast giving his approval to Purim just as he did with Hanukah. Many theologians believe and I agree that the name of the feast was intentionally left out by God just as the name God was left out of the book of Esther. Esther is the only book that does not mention God by name. Many people at one time tried to say the book of Esther did not belong in scripture because of the lack of the mention of God, but Jesus by celebrating Purim shows the book belongs in scripture. Jesus in John 5 heals a man who had an infirmity for 38 years. It may be that the thirty eight years is related to the extra 38 years that the Israelites wondered in the wilderness due to their sin. Jesus told the man that his infirmity had come upon him due to sin just as the Israelites wandered for an extra 38 years in the wilderness because of their sin when they rebelled by not obeying the words of Joshua and Caleb. They did not trust God. (John 5:14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.) (Numbers 14:34 After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise.) This man was healed on the sabbath and this was part of the giving of gifts to the poor that is done on Purim. God would later give the greatest gift of all when he gave himself on the cross for all who have or ever will live so that we as sinners may have everlasting life to those who call upon him to be their Saviour. In this chapter on the same day of the feast which was a sabbath, besides healing the man, he also said God was his Father making himself equal with God. I believe Jesus was using Purim which was about God saving the Jews to show the people that God sent him to save all of mankind.
I mentioned how the name God is never mentioned in the book of Esther. This may because Esther and Mordecai were not walking right with God and may not have been saved with God as their Father just like the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day. The events in Esther were most likely about 50 years after the Persian king Cyrus had allowed the Jews to return to Israel. The book of Esther is basically the story of the Jews who refused God’s call to return to their homeland. Those who refuse God’s call are often not identified with God’s name which is why the name of God is never mentioned in the book of Esther. Mordecai told Esther to hide her Jewish identity from the king which she did and continued this for five years until the scheme of Haman. (Esther 2:20 Esther had not yet shewed her kindred nor her people; as Mordecai had charged her: for Esther did the commandment of Mordecai, like as when she was brought up with him.) Esther kept her Jewish identity a secret when Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, but instead chose to be afflicted with the people of God. (Hebrews 11:24-25 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;
25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;) Esther could either identify as one of God’s chosen people or as one of God’s enemy. It was only much later that she chose to identify as one of God’s chosen people. Esther became queen in the seventh year of the king’s reign. (Esther 2:16 So Esther was taken unto king Ahasuerus into his house royal in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign.) The attack on the Jews occurred in the twelfth month of the twelfth year of the king’s reign as we saw in Esther 3:7, so this means she had already been queen for five years. Some other things that show that Esther was most likely not walking right with God include the fact that as queen for five years she most likely was part of the heathen (pagan) ceremonies that the king had as well as he had many false gods. By keeping her Jewishness a secret she probably did not refuse to be a part of these traditions including idol worship whereas Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego went to a fiery furnace rather than bow down to an idol. As a Jew she should have only eaten kosher food, but we know the food of the king was not kosher and nothing is said about her refusing to eat it whereas Daniel and his three friends refused to eat the king’s food. (Daniel 1:8 ¶ But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.) It appears that as part of the selection process for a new queen that the king had each of the women spend a night with him while he had relations with them. It does not seem that Esther ever fought this. Never accept a job that the boss requires you to spend a night with him. (Esther 2:14 In the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned into the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s chamberlain, which kept the concubines: she came in unto the king no more, except the king delighted in her, and that she were called by name.) When Mordecai originally went to Esther to plead with the king, she was more worried about her own life than the lives of the Jewish people of which she belonged to. This is similar to how many Christians are glad they are saved, but have no desire to warn the unsaved about their predicament. They would rather be quiet and “safe” just like Esther, but the truth will always come out. It was only when Mordecai told her that she was not exempt from the death decree on the Jews that she changed her mind. She said she would fast for three days before going to the king and asked Mordecai to do the same. It makes no mention of prayer to God which is who she should have turned to instead of doing a ritual. It is possible that Esther and Mordecai did get right with God, but this is never mentioned. Even after the victory over the Jews enemy, no glory was given to God for the victory. At the very least Esther at least at first was not as righteous as those already mentioned. Though God is not mentioned, he clearly was visible in making sure Esther became queen, Mordecai overheard the conspiracy against the king, and giving victory to the Jews over their enemies.
It seems that Mordecai was a descendant of king Saul and Haman was a descendant of Agag the evil king of the Amelekites. (Esther 3:10 And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy.) (I Samuel 9:1-2 Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power.
2 And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.) (Esther 2:5 ¶ Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai, the son of Jair, the son of Shimei, the son of Kish, a Benjamite;) It is possible that this is a different Kish, but the connection to Haman is still there. God had ordered Saul to kill all of the Amelekites. (I Samuel 15:3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.) But he had saved king Agag before Samuel killed him. (I Samuel 15:8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.) Agag had a whole night to live before he was killed by Samuel the next day. (I Samuel 15:33 And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.) Whether it was during this night that Agag produced a child or it was a child that Saul never killed, this disobedience by Saul would come back to haunt the Jewish people as Agag’s descendant Haman would attempt to kill all of the Jews in the Persian Empire including Mordecai is own descendant. Keeping sin for even one more day in our lives will always come back to haunt us. This is why we must always obey God fully according to what he says. One of Mordecai’s ancestors was Shimei who cursed David and cast stones at him. (II Samuel 16:5-6 ¶ And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came.
6 And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.) David refused to kill him and left it for his son Solomon to kill him. Do not save sin for another day or for someone else to get rid of. Get rid of it immediately and do it yourself. Let us all become like Esther and be willing to die for what is right and stand for God.
I have already shown how Jesus celebrated Purim. Jesus as God is identified with Purim by showing how God has promised to always preserve his people the Jews despite their disobedience. God also teaches the lesson that a person such as Esther is not secure behind the walls of a palace, but is only secure in the arms of Jesus. The book of Esther and the story of Purim teach that one’s trust and faith must be in God and specifically in his Son Jesus where he must be a person’s Saviour. It is the free gift of Jesus that one must receive. All people as sinners are poor until they are saved and receive the riches of God. That is why Jesus offered the gift of himself to all people. Just as God promised to preserve the Jews he will preserve those who choose Jesus as their Saviour. (II Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.) (Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:) For anyone listening that is not saved, today is the day to accept the free gift of Jesus. This is the story of Purim that by that free gift a person’s eternal soul may be preserved where they will spend eternity with Jesus. Preservation of the Jews as well as one’s soul is only by the gift of Jesus. Only Jesus can preserve and redemption is only by him, but only to those who call upon him to save them. Call upon Jesus today to save you and preserve your soul.
