Thinking About Purim

8 Adar, 5769 Fourth Day Yom Revee'ee

I am thinking about Purim....well, actually, it has been on my mind for quite awhile. It's like when I used to follow the holidays of the 'church', right after one holiday would get over, I'd be thinking about the next one. Of course, it is different now, because there is so much to learn. When I started this journey with Elohim, I had no idea of how much I had missed...how much had been hidden from me because I was under the authority of man for so long. But now I am free to follow His Way.



Purim is a most joyous time. It has been called the Jewish Halloween and the Jewish Mardi Gras....but both of these are false. I can see why some would think this though because in the celebration of Purim one can dress up in a costume, wear a mask, have parties, drinking is even allowed among the Jewish and....and this one will get you, men can dress in drag on this day. But the point of Purim is not for degradation...and there is nothing pagan about Purim as is Halloween and Mardi Gras..... the costumes and masks are a way of hiding one's identity as Esther hid hers and the way God seems to be hidden through out the Book of Esther. The drinking stems from letting oneself go to forget what Hamen did. And the parties are in remembrance of the victory celebration of Esther and her people over the evil Haman.



In ALL of Elohim's festivals and Holidays, He has set a principal of joy. Even Yom Kippur is to be considered a joyous time. For the Jewish people it is the day of forgivness of sins and this was so when the Temple was still here but we who are saved in Yeshua, know His blood was the saving power. He did this at Passover. We who are saved by His blood are 'Passed Over' from death to eternal life in Him....and one day soon, He will return and He will be King of a Yom Kippur where all will receive their final forgiveness or judgement.



In Purim, we see Him, hidden but always in control. As the King of Persia slept, he was stirred from his sleep to have the books read to him and then he was reminded of Mordechai and how he had saved him from death. In this we also see that God Himself awoke from slumber. How is this? In times of exile God was indifferent to His people..why? Because they usually assemalated into their surroundings and became as those around them. Were they still Jews? Yes, but they did not study Torah and teach their children about Hashem and His ways.

But God awoke with regard to the Jews and His awakening resulted in the King's awakening and the setting of an entire chain of events. And this led to the downfall of Hamen and his decrees.

God's awakening was the essence of the Purim miracle. But, why did it take a miracle to awaken God? In all of our troubles God is troubled. Whether we are lacking in spirituality or something materially, He desires the best for us. We are His children and when we lack, He cannot sleep. when we lack He labors and toils without rest until we have what we need.

So why was He hidden during those times of exile and why does He seem to be hidden during some of our times? Because the way a person acts is the way God treats him. He can only do as much as we allow Him to do.

The situation was dire and Esther called for the people to fast and they did. And the people came back to the LORD and studied His Torah and taught their children about Him. And before the day ALL the Jews were to be killed, Hamen and his sons were hanged and the King set out a new decree that the Jewish people could take up arms and defend themselves against all who came against them.

We too, can trust in the LORD that He is troubled when we are troubled and that He wants only the best for us. But how many times do we step in front of what He is doing or we don't wait upon Him? I know this is a fault of mine.

Wait upon the LORD. Humble yourself before Him and know that He is God. LET GO AND LET GOD!