This week Israel celebrates the Feast of Purim. It is a remembrance of the story of Queen Esther and how great deliverance came to the Jews in the month of Adar. Masquerade parties will be grand affairs for unfurling the Esther Scroll to read and rejoice in the bravery of the queen to intercede for her people. Noisemakers will whirl to drown out the name of the enemy. Gift baskets will be delivered to friends and neighbors to commemorate the victory that was wrought on behalf of God’s people.
But did you know that the events of the Purim story took place on a very pivotal date? It was the eve before Passover, the Preparation Day, when Haman first declared his evil plan in Esther 3:12-13,
“Then the king’s scribes were called on the thirteenth day of the first month (Nisan), and a decree was written according to all that Haman commanded…to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month…of Adar, and to plunder their possessions.”
As all the Jews were preparing to slaughter their Passover lambs (on the 14th of Nisan) and celebrate their greatest holiday of the year, Queen Esther called for them all to put their feast aside and fast and pray for three days. This would be like calling all Americans to take their Thanksgiving turkey out of the oven and turn off the football games on their televisions and run to the altar to pray for their nation’s salvation.
Our enemy, Satan himself, is also on a mission against God’s people. He “prowls around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). And it was also on that same pivotal date two thousand years ago–the thirteenth of Nisan, Preparation Day of Passover, just before the Jews were to slaughter their lambs, that he attempted to annihilate the hope of salvation for all humanity. But Yeshua Himself said,
“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)
Everything Satan tried to do through the curse, Yeshua our Lord and Savior reversed! The devil tried to destroy salvation, kill hope, annihilate peace. It was the eve of Passover when Yeshua was crucified. On the same day as Haman’s evil decree, Yeshua redeemed our lives from the pit, brought healing by His stripes, restored what the enemy stole from us and, three days later, turned total annihilation into abundant and everlasting life! And He Himself declared His victory in Revelation 1:18, “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.”
Now that is something to celebrate! That is a great gift that all your friends and neighbors can commemorate—the victory that was wrought by our Lord on behalf of ALL people! And we have been called not just to fast and pray for the salvation of our nation, but to shout this Good News from the housetops. Our Great King Eternal has interceded for His people. He has made a way for every person who calls on His name to come to Him. Let us not hide behind our masks or keep our voices soft. Let us be noisy witnesses for the Lord for such a time as this!