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Celebration of God's People:
Purim, the Casting of Lots
Purim is the last celebration of the spiritual year. It is the celebration that points to a time when sin is overcome in this world. God's chosen people, hidden and thriving in the nations, will be raised up and strike a final blow to those who seek to destroy them.
Purim Tanit Esther - 11 Adar (Fasting Celebrated in Shushan or walled cities)
Purim - 14 Adar (Family Feast and gift giving to the poor day) Shushan
Purim - 15 Adar (Community Celebration, Celebrated outside Sushan or in rural areas)
The Amalekites began warring against God's people during Israel's journey up from Egypt. They continued to fight Israel throughout Amalekite history. God had (raised up and) given Saul the commandment to utterly destroy every last Amalekite and even their animals and everything that belonged to them, but Saul's pride would not obey. He and his men spared Agag, the king and the best of the sheep and cattle. They independently decided that surely God really meant the best of this plunder must not be destroyed. As a result of this terribly bad choice, God was grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel. Saul sought to excuse his disobedience through justifying it with sacrificial and ceremonial purposes, or “religiosity”; but Samuel saw through his treachery and labeled this kind of disobedience what it really is: “To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft; arrogance and stubbornness is like the evil of idolatry.” (1 Samuel 15)
The consequences of Saul's disobedience caused immeasurable suffering through years of warring with the descendants of Amalekites for the children of Israel over the next 620 years. The attempted Holocaust in the book of Esther was yet another result of Saul's disobedience. Chapter 3 of Esther tells us Haman was a descendant of Agag. Chapter 9 tells us Esther finally does not hesitate to fulfill the commandment of the Lord by putting an end to all these Amalekites and also she deliberately did not lay her hand to that plunder.
The Purim (casting of lots) is an annual celebration for all Jews, as told in the book of Esther chapter 9:20-28 (NIV). Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adaras the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration.
(To read the remainder of the article at Yeshuati.com, click the link below...)
 click here!
PURIM: The CASTING OF LOTS
by Noreen Anderson
This holiday is not one of God’s commanded Feasts. However, we are required to keep it as a remembrance of God’s deliverance of His people. Throughout the whole Megillah or scroll of Esther, God’s Name is not mentioned, yet one can see His Hand on every page from the dismissing of Vashti to the choosing of Hadassah to the favor of the King towards Esther.
It is a story of obedience. Hadassah heeded Mordechai, her uncle, and changed her name to a more Babylonian name of Esther (which means “hidden” in Hebrew). Mordechai’s warning of the two eunuchs trying to kill King Ahasuerus galvanized Esther into action to protect her husband.
When Esther learned of the plot against her people, she asked that ALL Jews in Shushan would fast for three days and nights for her, neither eating nor drinking. Examine your hearts and see how many of you would “cheat” on such a command. Yet, the Jews obeyed Esther’s edict while she and her maids also sought God’s direction and strength. We have no concept of what it is like to live with a king and queen ruling our nation. Where their word is LAW and we have no say in how we are to be governed. To approach the King without a prior invitation would be death…even if you were the Queen. To be of a captive people within the huge nation of Persia and Medes – 127 providences – again to be thought of with no consequence, Esther had the chutzpah (intestinal fortitude) to defy the law of the land and stand up for her people.
The plots of Haman the Agagite and his focus on Mordechai’s defiance to not bowing down before him played right into God’s plans. With Haman’s delusion of grandeur, self importance and ego he didn’t even consider that the gallows he made for Mordechai would be used for him instead and that his son’s lives would be required. Unlike King Saul, Esther’s tribal ancestor, who disobeyed God’s command to rid the land of the Agagites, this last triumph of obedience freed her people from immediate annihilation.
We are commanded to rejoice and be glad and give gifts to each other. We are to wipe out the name of Haman with boos and the sounds of noise makers when it is read in the Megillah just as he sought to wipeout our names by his casting of the lot or Pur. Once again we relive what it would have been like if we lived in Persia during Esther’s time and were allowed to defend ourselves from our captors who desired to kill us; and above all, realizing that God had NOT forgotten us but was with us in our dispersion.
This Week's Announcements
Purim is coming on March 8th!! (Traditionally, the Fast of Esther on the 7th and Shushan Purim on the 9th.) We will be celebrating with a Purim Party that will be held after services on March 10th. Please come in "Book of Esther" costume, lots of activities are planned for children of all ages.
If you are gifted with sewing talents and extra scraps of fabric, would you like to contriibute to a chest of costume turbins and head scarfs? Contact Noreen Anderson, Wanda Samuelson or Brenda Benbow at 253-226-9329.
KLAY1180AM radio broadcasts my program, "Rabbi Bob" every week from 10:30-11:00am Sunday mornings. Today, I spoke on "Messianic Judaism, Part V, Within the Context of Historic Judaism." You can hear it live on the radio or live from our website (click on KLAY1180AM's icon on nearly every page of the website). If you miss the live broadcast, it is usually published on the website, www.Yeshuati.com (click on the KLAY slideshow announcement ...on the home page).
Dance Practice at 9:30am downstairs in the Fellowship Hall. Come, dance, worship and be blessed!
Please remember to bring food for Nosh. There is a great need for your help in the kitchen, so please sign up on the roster. Also, please tarry upstairs and fellowship for about 10 minutes prior to Nosh - the volunteers need that time to set the tables up for us. Thanks so much!
Bible Study and Prayer is on Thursday at 7:00pm, ask for directions if you have not already been at one. Please remember to pray blessings for every situation. I encourage you to pray for the Peace of Jerusalem, for one another, for our congregation, for our cities, state and nation, for our troops, for our world. Pray as if your life depended upon it! Know God, know peace. No God, no peace.
Living Gems:
Psalms 4:8, "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety."
Proverbs 4:2, "For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law."
We meet 10:30am Saturday's at: Slavic Church of One God | 6001 Warner St S | Tacoma, WA 98409 |
www.Yeshuati.com
