◄ What Does Esther 9:32 Mean? ►

The book of Esther is an exciting story of a beautiful, young Jewish girl named Hadessah who became queen Esther of Persia. It was due to "the command of Esther, that the feast of Purim was established - as written in the book."

She was wonderfully used by the Lord to save the Jewish nation from extinction, when an evil decree, instigated by a wicked man named Haman, tricked the king of Persia into passing a law which called for the extermination of every single Jew on the 13 day of Adar.

This plot to wipe Israel off the face of the map, took place around the year 485 B.C. The thrilling record of Esther's heroism in the face of this terrible danger and the support she received from her uncle Mordacai is all recorded in the little book of Esther.

The evil plot to exterminate the Jews on the 13th day of the 12th month was exposed... and the wicked Haman and his ten, equally evil sons, were hanged on a high gallows - but Jewish subjects from India to the land of Ethiopia, were still under the threat of death on the 13th Adar because the law of the Medes and Persians can never be changed.

However, it was due to Esther's discovery of the plot and her courageous intervention that Jews throughout the empire of Persia were given the authority, by the king himself, to defend themselves from this ethnic cleansing by the other, evil co-conspirators.

Satan planned to remove every member of God's chosen race from the face of the earth so that God's redemptive plans and His purposes for mankind, would fail. Indeed, throughout the ages anti-Semitism has continued to rage throughout the world in an ongoing attempt to rid the earth of Jews... in order to thwart God's redemptive plans and purposes.

Not only in the capital city of Susa but throughout the Persian empire, Jews were permitted to defend themselves on 13th day of the 12th month and the Bible records that the evil plot was thwarted and 75,000 co-conspirators were killed on that one day. The historical story of Esther is just one example of the way that God has protected His people down through centuries of time, saving them from ethnic cleansing and national annihilation.

Because of her courage, the nation was once again protected by God, and on the following day - the 14th of Adar - the feast of Purim was established... and although it is not one of the biblical feasts laid out in the Law of Moses, it continues to this day to be joyfully celebrated as Israel remembers the day salvation came to the Jews through the courage of queen Esther.

Sadly, they do not yet know that Purim is a dim shadow of their great salvation which comes through faith in Jesus Christ - for the eternal Son of God came to earth as the perfect Son of Man to pay the price for their sins and to redeem His people, Israel, as foretold by the ancient prophets.

A day is coming when Israel's escape from Egypt in the time of Moses, and the Jewish delivery in the time of Esther, will be replaced with an even greater celebration - when Christ returns to deliver His people after the seven-year Tribulation period, that future time of Jacob's Trouble. The time is coming when both Passover and Purim celebrations will be replaced with the return of Jesus as Messiah to the earth - when He will be hailed as Messiah of Israel and crowned as King of kings and Lord of lords.

Heavenly Father, thank You for the wonderful way that You have kept Your people, Israel, from so many attempts to exterminate them, down through centuries of time. Thank You that You are a faithful God to all Your children. I pray that many Jews who remain blinded to the truth would come to know Jesus as their Saviour - and become members of the Body of Christ. Defend them, I pray, in the increasingly difficult times in which we live... and I pray that many may come to know the joy of their great salvation in Jesus Christ, in Whose name I pray, AMEN.