The Feast of Purim is coming up! We’ll celebrate it Saturday, March 19. You might want to start reading the Book of Esther on your own, and also about the Amalekites, the forefathers of Agag and Haman in the story, and of the Edomites and King Herod in Jesus’ time.
Esther comes before King Ahasuerus.
Amalek represents all the archenemies of Israel. Exodus 17:16 – “God has sworn by His throne; God is at war with Amalek for all generations.”
Spiritually, Amalek is our flesh, which is continually at odds with the Spirit. Galatians 5:17 – “For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”
This feast is actually a melodrama and includes some strange customs. God is not mentioned [in the book, not the feast — Editor]. At Purim, participants take a sip of wine at every mention of Esther’s name. We are encouraged to drink until we can’t tell the difference between “Yeah, Mordechai!” and “Boo Haman!” By this we understand that we can’t trust our own judgmnent. Sometimes, like Esther, we must do something completely against protocol and “good sense” in order to fulfill our destiny and see God’s plan come to fruition. Download the Purim notes as a pdf file here.
