Jewish Feasts: Other Feasts, Purim

Esther 3:7–11 (RSV)
7 In the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in the twelfth year of King Ahasu-erus, they cast Pur, that is the lot, before Haman day after day; and they cast it month after month till the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. 8 Then Haman said to King Ahasu-erus, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not keep the king’s laws, so that it is not for the king’s profit to tolerate them. 9 If it please the king, let it be decreed that they be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver into the hands of those who have charge of the king’s business, that they may put it into the king’s treasuries.” 10 So the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. 11 And the king said to Haman, “The money is given to you, the people also, to do with them as it seems good to you.”
Esther 4:13–14 (RSV)
13 Then Mordecai told them to return answer to Esther, “Think not that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. 14 For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
Esther 5:12–14 (RSV)
12 And Haman added, “Even Queen Esther let no one come with the king to the banquet she prepared but myself. And tomorrow also I am invited by her together with the king. 13 Yet all this does me no good, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king’s gate.” 14 Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows fifty cubits high be made, and in the morning tell the king to have Mordecai hanged upon it; then go merrily with the king to the dinner.” This counsel pleased Haman, and he had the gallows made.
Esther 6:1–10 (RSV)
1 On that night the king could not sleep; and he gave orders to bring the book of memorable deeds, the chronicles, and they were read before the king. 2 And it was found written how Mordecai had told about Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, who guarded the threshold, and who had sought to lay hands upon King Ahasu-erus. 3 And the king said, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this?” The king’s servants who attended him said, “Nothing has been done for him.” 4 And the king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had just entered the outer court of the king’s palace to speak to the king about having Mordecai hanged on the gallows that he had prepared for him. 5 So the king’s servants told him, “Haman is there, standing in the court.” And the king said, “Let him come in.” 6 So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?” And Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?” 7 and Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor, 8 let royal robes be brought, which the king has worn, and the horse which the king has ridden, and on whose head a royal crown is set; 9 and let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble princes; let him array the man whom the king delights to honor, and let him conduct the man on horseback through the open square of the city, proclaiming before him: ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.’” 10 Then the king said to Haman, “Make haste, take the robes and the horse, as you have said, and do so to Mordecai the Jew who sits at the king’s gate. Leave out nothing that you have mentioned.”
Esther 7:8–10 (RSV)
8 And the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was; and the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?” As the words left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman’s face. 9 Then said Harbona, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, “Moreover, the gallows which Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word saved the king, is standing in Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.” 10 And the king said, “Hang him on that.” So they hanged Haman on the gallows which he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the anger of the king abated.
Esther 8:10–14 (RSV)
10 The writing was in the name of King Ahasu-erus and sealed with the king’s ring, and letters were sent by mounted couriers riding on swift horses that were used in the king’s service, bred from the royal stud. 11 By these the king allowed the Jews who were in every city to gather and defend their lives, to destroy, to slay, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, with their children and women, and to plunder their goods, 12 upon one day throughout all the provinces of King Ahasu-erus, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar. 13 A copy of what was written was to be issued as a decree in every province, and by proclamation to all peoples, and the Jews were to be ready on that day to avenge themselves upon their enemies. 14 So the couriers, mounted on their swift horses that were used in the king’s service, rode out in haste, urged by the king’s command; and the decree was issued in Susa the capital.


• Observations
• Haman is very superstitious
• The king was no friend of the Jews (he was unaware of Esther's status)
• Incredible story of twists and irony
• Passages
• Only in the book of Esther
• Some scholars think John 5:1 might be Purim, but there is nothing to indicate that to be true
• Names
• Feast of Purim
• Feast of Lots
• Jewish Observance
• Fast of Esther, observed before Purim, usually the 13th of Adar
• Book of Esther is read
• Everyone in the synagogue shouts and boos when Haman is mentioned (occurs 54 times)
• Exchanging reciprocal gifts of food and drink
• Donating to charity
• Eating a festive meal
• Other customs: Drinking wine or any alcoholic beverage; the wearing masks and costumes; public celebration (Purim 2012 Guide)
There is a longstanding custom of drinking wine at the feast. The custom stems from a statement in the Talmud attributed to a rabbi named Rava that says one should drink on Purim until he can "no longer distinguish between arur Haman ('Cursed is Haman') and baruch Mordechai ('Blessed is Mordecai')."
• Messianic Significance
• None noted
• Summary thoughts
• Even when God's name is not mentioned, does not mean that God is not working
APPLICATION:
1. God is aware of what is happening in our life. In Esther, God intervened on behalf of the nation. God may or may not intervene on the behalf of an individual, but Rom 8:28 promises that "28 We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose." We need to recognize that while we live in a fallen world that is not as God intended, he is aware of our struggles and has promised to use them for good in our life