"For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance shall
arise for the Jews from elsewhere, but you and your father's house
shall perish. And who knows but that you have come to the kingdom
for such a time as this and for this very occasion?"
(Esther 4:14)
The festival of Purim, also called, "Lots" begins at sundown tonight in Israel
and is celebrated by Jewish people around the world. Esther is the story of
a beautiful girl named Hadassah, a Jewess, who is chosen from among
thousands of other nubile young women to become the new wife of
King Ahasuerus, the ruler of the Persian Empire, replacing the disposed
Queen Vashti. Scheming Haman, whom the king had recently
promoted as a member of the royal court to serve above all princes,
became incensed after Esther's cousin, Mordecai, a righteous Jew,
who bowed only before the Lord, refused to bow down before him.
Haman persuaded King Ahasuerus to decree that all Jews throughout
the vast empire be killed on a certain day which was chosen by lot.
However, in an act of tremendous faith and courage, Esther went
before her husband and asked him to come to a banquet at her
palace that night. She also invited the wily Haman.
Esther invited her husband and Haman to dinner again the next night,
during which she exposed Haman's wicked plot against herself and
her people. King Ahasuerus then ordered the wicked Haman to
be executed on the same gallows he had prepared for Mordecai.
Although God is not mentioned by name in the Book of Esther,
His great love and mercy for His covenant people is apparent
throughout this wonderful Old Testament story.
Chag Purim Sameach!
("Happy Purim" in Hebrew)
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