|
[I’d like
to give credit to the author of the following
Purim message, but I can’t remember who originally
gave it! Whoever he is, I ask that he not be offended
that it’s reprinted for the readers of the Shema
newsletter, so that more people can benefit from
his insights. They are too good not to be more
widely circulated! Rabbi Loren]
The
Megillah (Scroll) of Esther recounts the story
of the salvation of the Jewish people in the time
of the Persians in a most unique way, because
there is no mention of God in the story! You will
not find His name anywhere in this book of the
Bible! Although the Persian king Ahasuerus
is mentioned 190 times in the 167 verses of the
Megillah, God is not mentioned even once! Further,
although the Book of Esther is full of crises
and danger for Israel, there are no references
to Jerusalem, the Temple, the sacrifices, the
Torah, the Covenant, prayer, love, or forgiveness.
The lack of any reference to God, His institutions
of worship, or almost any religious activity,
has led many Jewish and Christian thinkers to
question whether the Megillah of Esther should
have been included in the Bible. But God is there!
His presence is discerned through a series of
"coincidences," alleged “random events” that come
together to form a grand design that could only
have come from a Grand Designer. In fact, Purim
is named for one of these seemingly random events.
The word Purim comes from the word, pur,
or lot. The holiday derives its name from the
fact that Haman cast lots to determine when he
should destroy the Jewish people. He found out,
as have so many other, that there is no good time
to hate those whom God loves!
Unfortunately,
there are many people who believe, as Haman did,
that life is determined by luck, by chance, by
the force of human will, or through some combination
of them all. They wish one another "good luck,"
or speak of the "luck of the draw," or good fortune
“smiling down” on them. But the Holy Scriptures
teach that the circumstances of life are not a
product of luck or fortune. Rather, they teach
that the God of Israel is in control of everything,
even the seemingly random events of life. Proverb
16:33 expresses this truth when it says: “The
lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision
is from the Lord.”
There
is no room in a Biblical world view for the “pagan”
ideas of chance, fortune, accident or luck. Whatever
happens to any individual comes to us by divine
appointment. Even those events which seem
to be random or haphazard are in reality directed
and determined by the will, counsel, plan and
purpose of God. Nothing comes to pass by chance,
nor is any event determined by blind fortune or
accident.
Was it
really coincidence that Esther, an intermarried
Jewish beauty queen who concealed her Jewish identity
from everyone, including her own Gentile husband,
was in the unique position to help foil an evil
plot to destroy her people? Her cousin Mordecai's
question hints at the answer: “Who knows whether
you have not attained royalty for such a time
as this?” It clearly is no coincidence that
an unknown Jewish girl should become the queen
of Persia, the most powerful empire on Earth,
and at just the right time. God orchestrated her
very unusual circumstances, and in the critical
moment she accepted her difficult situation with
remarkable courage and was willing to reveal her
Jewish identity and risk her life in order to
effect the reversal of Israel's fate. Like Esther,
some of us have found ourselves in unpleasant,
painful or difficult circumstances beyond our
control. But unlike good Queen Esther, often our
natural inclination is to try and find a way out
of those circumstances. Sometimes when that is
not possible, we become angry or bitter. The
story of Purim challenges us to respond differently.
Don't believe for one minute that the circumstances
of your life are mere coincidence, or that life
is just "happening" to you. It may well be that
the all-knowing God has ordained those very circumstances
to bring about His great purposes. Though
we may not see His hand at work, we must be faithful
and courageous and look for Him to accomplish
His purposes through us.
Another
example of a seeming coincidence that is no coincidence
involves a case of royal insomnia. The night before
prime minister Haman was to kill Mordecai, the
king of Persia couldn’t sleep. He had the royal
records read to him, and “happened” to come across
the section describing how some time earlier,
Mordecai saved the king’s life by foiling an assassination
plot by some of the king's officials. When Mordecai
had found out about the plot to kill the king,
he could have said, "This is not my problem. Why
should I stick out my neck for this goy? I don't
particularly like or respect this king. This isn't
my problem." Yet Mordecai did the honorable, loyal
and courageous thing. He revealed the conspiracy
and the life of the king was saved. However, Mordecai
had gone unrewarded for this good deed. But at
the critical time, the very night before Haman
planned to kill Mordecai, the king’s attention
was drawn to just the right entry in the royal
records, and that night Mordecai's courage was
rewarded. The king promoted Mordecai, and the
next day, the very day on which Haman had planned
to kill Mordecai, he was instead forced to honor
Mordecai as he led him through the streets of
the capital as a hero. Coincidence? No! While
Mordecai's good deed seemed to have gone unrewarded
at first, that was part of God's plan to deliver
not only Mordecai, but all of the Jewish people!
Like Mordecai,
we must choose to do what is right in every circumstance.
We can never justify indifference to the perils
of those around us or dismiss them as "someone
else's problem." It was precisely that kind of
thinking that enabled Hitler to perpetrate his
horrible crimes in Nazi Germany and throughout
Europe. When you find yourself facing a difficult
situation, one of life’s trials, don't believe
for one second that God is not in control - He
is in control. Even when we don’t see God's
hand at work in obvious ways, we can still be
assured of His subtle sovereignty. We understand
that He is the Lord of everything, with all authority
in Heaven and on Earth, and we can trust Him to
work out His perfect will in our lives.
Remember
that the Almighty used a beautiful but timid Jewish
girl who married a Gentile, who hid her identity,
to bring about the salvation of His people. The
All-Wise One also orchestrated a case of insomnia
to bring about the deliverance of Israel and the
destruction of His enemies. Who knows what circumstances
God may use in our lives? Sometimes our lives
seem like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Sometimes the
pieces come together excruciatingly slowly, and
we don't have a sense of the big picture - yet.
Sometimes we are tempted to rid ourselves of the
pieces that don't seem to fit into the kind of
picture that we would design for ourselves. But
it may be those seemingly undesirable pieces that
present us with God's greatest opportunities for
us that will complete our lives, and bring together
the all the pieces of the puzzle. Rather than
dismissing events as coincidence, by knowing who
the God of our salvation is, and by having confidence
in Him and His Word, we can recognize His designs.
Instead of despising our difficult circumstances,
we can look for the unique opportunities these
difficulties may present us to fulfill God's purposes.
Purim
teaches us that whatever we may face, if we ask
for the courage to trust and obey God, no matter
what the circumstance, His Lordship, His sovereignty,
His control of all things, His plan and purposes
to cause all things to work together for our good,
will become apparent. We will be able to rejoice
in the love and care of the workings of the invisible
God, whom no man has seen, but who now has been
revealed through Yeshua the Messiah! The real
hero in the Megillah is not Esther or Mordecai,
but the invisible God, who was working behind
the scenes, and using ordinary but willing men
and women like these to preserve the Jewish people
against all "odds." Throughout the generations,
individuals like Haman, Herod, Hitler and Hussein
have harbored satanically-inspired hopes of annihilating
the Jewish people. But the sovereign Lord of the
universe has worked behind the scenes and proven
His faithfulness time and time again. He will
not allow His people to be destroyed, His plans
thwarted, nor His counsels overturned. And that
is no coincidence! |
