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UID:4923-1713744000-1714521599@bethyeshuaboston.org
SUMMARY:Pasach (Passover) 2024
DESCRIPTION:The-Moedim-Passover-Unleavened-Bread-Transcript \nThe following is a direct script of teaching that is intended to be presented via video\, incorporating relevant text\, slides\, media\, and graphics to assist in illustration\, thus facilitating the presentation of the material. In some places\, this may cause the written material to not flow or sound rather awkward. In addition\, there may be grammatical errors that are often not acceptable in literary work. We encourage the viewing of the video teachings to complement the written teaching you see below.” \nThe Mo’edim: Passover & Unleavened Bread \nIn the Bible\, God gave his people special days to remember and celebrate every year. In Hebrew\, these holy days\, or holidays\, are called mo’edim\, which means “appointed times.” The purpose of these days is to remember what God has done in the past and anticipate the fulfillment of his promises for the future. These holidays are described in numerous places in the Bible\, but there is one chapter that conveniently lists all of them: Leviticus chapter 23. In that chapter\, God makes it clear where these days come from: \nLeviticus 23:1-2 (NASB)\nThe LORD [YHWH] spoke again to Moses\, saying\, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them\, ‘The LORD’s [YHWH’s] appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations—My appointed times are these: \nGod calls these holidays “my appointed times.” Many people call these days “Jewish holidays\,” which is understandable since Jews are\, by and large\, the only people who keep them now. However\, this passage makes it clear that these days are not just “the Jews’ appointed times\,” but they are God’s appointed times\, God’s mo’edim. These appointed times are valuable for everyone who believes in God\, Jewish or otherwise. As we will see in this teaching\, these holidays are packed with symbolism and moral lessons that are highly relevant to Christians. In this teaching\, we’re going to focus on the mo’edim of Passover and Unleavened Bread. We will look at why these festivals were celebrated\, how we can keep them today\, and how they fit into Bible history and prophecy. \nWhy Are Passover and Unleavened Bread Kept?\nLet’s start our discussion of Passover and Unleavened Bread by looking at what these holidays are\, and why they are kept. Here’s how these festivals are described in Leviticus 23: \nLeviticus 23:5-8\nIn the first month\, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight\, is the LORD’s [YHWH] Passover. And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the LORD [YHWH]; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work. But you shall present a food offering to the LORD [YHWH] for seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any ordinary work.” \nSo\, Passover is observed on the fourteenth day of the first month\, and Unleavened Bread is celebrated for seven days\, starting on the fifteenth day of the first month. Also\, the first and seventh days of Unleavened Bread are days of rest on which work is not to be done. \nIt’s worth noting from the outset that the “first month” is not referring to January. Our modern calendar is based on the calendar that the Romans used\, which did not exist when the book of Leviticus was written. In the Biblical calendar\, the first month was in the spring\, around April\, after Israel’s cold and rainy winter had ended.\nSo\, we know when Passover and Unleavened bread are celebrated\, but why are we commanded to celebrate them? Well\, the reason for these festivals goes back to the Exodus when God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and inflicted ten plagues upon the Egyptians. The tenth and most devastating plague brought death upon all of the firstborns in the land. However\, there was a way to escape this death: every family that slaughtered a lamb and put the lamb’s blood upon their doorposts was “passed over\,” and their firstborn did not die. This is described in Exodus chapter 12: \nExodus 12:5-13\nYour lamb shall be without blemish\, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or the goats\, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. “Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that night\, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs\, they shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water\, but roasted\, its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened\, your sandals on your feet\, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the LORD’s [YHWH] Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night\, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt\, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD [YHWH]. The blood shall be a sign for you\, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood\, I will pass over you\, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt. \nSo\, the Passover memorial commemorates this event\, when God passed over the houses that were covered by the blood of the lamb. The seven days that follow Passover are called the festival or feast of Unleavened Bread\, in which no leaven is to be eaten. That festival is described in the verses that follow: \nExodus 12:14-17\nThis day shall be for you a memorial day\, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD [YHWH]; throughout your generations\, as a statute forever\, you shall keep it as a feast. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses\, for if anyone eats what is leavened\, from the first day until the seventh day\, that person shall be cut off from Israel. On the first day\, you shall hold a holy assembly\, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat\, that alone may be prepared by you. And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread\, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day\, throughout your generations\, as a statute forever. \nWhile Passover commemorates God’s judgment passing over Israel\, the Feast of Unleavened Bread commemorates the departure of Israel from Egypt. So\, why is unleavened bread eaten during this week? It’s because that’s what the Israelites ate when they left Egypt: \nExodus 12:33-34\, 39\nThe Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. For they said\, “We shall all be dead.” So the people took their dough before it was leavened\, their kneading bowls being bound up in their cloaks on their shoulders… And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt\, for it was not leavened\, because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not wait\, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves. \nNow\, what is “unleavened” bread? What makes bread “unleavened”? Well\, “leaven” is an additive that causes the dough to puff up and expand. At the time of the Exodus\, people did not have modern leavening agents like baking powder. Their only leavening agent was yeast. To make bread that would rise\, a sourdough starter containing yeast had to be added to the bread dough\, and the dough had to be kneaded\, and allowed to sit for several hours\, to give the yeast a chance to grow. This growth of the yeast would cause the dough to rise\, and once that dough was baked\, it would produce a familiar puffed-up loaf of bread. When the Israelites hurried out of Egypt\, they did not have enough time to knead their dough and let it rise. As a result\, the bread they made was not light and fluffy\, it was unleavened; it was dense and flat. So\, during the week of this festival\, unleavened bread is eaten to remind us of the bread that the Israelites ate when they were freed from Egypt. \nHow Can We Keep These Appointed Times Today?\nSo\, how can we keep these appointed times today? Let’s start with Passover. As we’ve read\, Passover was memorialized by each family sacrificing a lamb on the fourteenth day of the first month and then eating that lamb as part of a meal. We see this described in Deuteronomy: \nDeuteronomy 16:1-2\nObserve the month of Abib and keep the Passover to the LORD [YHWH] your God\, for in the month of Abib the LORD [YHWH] your God brought you out of Egypt by night. And you shall offer the Passover sacrifice to the LORD [YHWH] your God\, from the flock or the herd\, at the place that the LORD [YHWH] will choose\, to make his name dwell there. \nNow\, today\, we cannot slaughter a Passover lamb. Why not? Because\, as we just read\, the lamb was supposed to be slaughtered “at the place that the LORD [YHWH] will choose\, to make his name dwell there.” This is a reference to the temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 8:20). The Torah is very clear that sacrifices are not to be offered unless they are offered at this particular place: \nLeviticus 17:3-7 If any one of the houses of Israel kills an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp\, or kills it outside the camp\, and does not bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting to offer it as a gift to the LORD [YHWH] in front of the tabernacle of the LORD [YHWH]\, bloodguilt shall be imputed to that man. He has shed blood\, and that man shall be cut off from among his people. This is to the end that the people of Israel may bring their sacrifices that they sacrifice in the open field\, that they may bring them to the LORD [YHWH]\, to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting\, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the LORD [YHWH]. And the priest shall throw the blood on the altar of the LORD [YHWH] at the entrance of the tent of meeting and burn the fat for a pleasing aroma to the LORD [YHWH]. So they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to goat demons\, after whom they whore. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations. \nSo\, we cannot offer a Passover sacrifice anywhere other than the temple. Since no temple is available at which to sacrifice\, no Passover sacrifice can be made.\nSo where does that leave us? If we can’t offer a lamb\, how can we keep Passover at all?\nWell\, one thing we can still do\, even without a lamb\, is memorialize the events of the Exodus: \nExodus 12:14 This day shall be for you a memorial day\, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD [YHWH]; throughout your generations\, as a statute forever\, you shall keep it as a feast. \nSo\, how can we do this exactly? How do we hold a memorial? The Scriptures don’t say. They just say to have a memorial. Many people have a memorial by getting together for a meal where there is teaching and discussion of the events of the Exodus. The most popular way of doing this is a Jewish tradition called a Passover Seder. Seder means “order\,” and the Seder is a meal that is eaten in a particular order. The elements of the meal are designed to remind people of the first Passover. The Seder is a great way\, though certainly not the only way\, to memorialize the Passover. Some Seders have elements that don’t have anything to do with Passover\, and we don’t necessarily recommend incorporating all of those elements into your memorial. But\, for someone just starting to keep the Biblical holidays\, it’s pretty easy to start with a Seder or another tradition\, and then customize the observance to meet your individual needs. Again\, the only thing the Scriptures say is to have a memorial.\nNow what about the week of Unleavened Bread? How can we keep that today? The Scriptures have seven basic commands regarding this festival: \n\n\n\n\n\nKeep it for seven days\, starting on the fifteenth day of the first month (Leviticus 23:6).\nEat unleavened bread during those seven days (Exodus 13:6).\nAvoid eating leavened bread during those seven days.\nRemove leavening from your house when the festival begins. These first four stipulations are all found in this one verse:\nExodus 12:15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses\, for if anyone eats what is leavened\, from the first day until the seventh day\, that person shall be cut off from Israel.\nThere are some very practical concerns when it comes to avoiding leavening\, and we will address that issue in some detail after this list. For now\, let’s continue:\nRest from your work on the first day and the seventh day (Leviticus 23:7-8).\nExodus 12:16\, On the first day\, you shall hold a holy assembly\, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat\, that alone may be prepared by you.\nTeach your children the reason you are celebrating this festival:\n\n\n\n\n\nExodus 13:8 You shall tell your son on that day\, ‘It is because of what the LORD [YHWH] did for me when I came out of Egypt. Travel to the temple to appear before YHWH and give your firstfruits offering: \nExodus 23:17-19\, Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord GOD [YHWH]. You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened\, or let the fat of my feast remain until the morning. The best of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the LORD [YHWH] your God. \nSince there is no temple\, there is no way to keep this particular command. There is nowhere to travel to to appear before YHWH. However\, the other commands associated with the week of Unleavened Bread can be kept. We can remove leavening from our houses and we can eat unleavened bread. We can rest on the first and seventh days of the festival\, and we can teach our children about what God did when he delivered Israel from Egypt.\nIf you’re wondering how to get unleavened bread to eat\, it’s sold in some stores as “Matzah” (or “Matzos”)\, which is the Hebrew word for unleavened bread. The Matzah that is made today is a giant wheat cracker. You can also make your unleavened bread by baking bread without adding any yeast or other leavening agents to it.\nOn the topic of leavening\, there are some practical questions about how to avoid it and how to remove it from our houses. For example\, what counts as leavening? The only leavening agent the Israelites had at the time of the Exodus was yeast\, specifically\, sourdough yeast. So\, is it only sourdough yeast that we should avoid during Unleavened Bread\, or are there other substances we should avoid also? \nIn our opinion\, this question comes down to the letter of the law versus the spirit of the law. Ancient Hebrew has no word for baking soda or baking powder\, which are modern leavening agents because those substances were not used in ancient Israel. So\, the Bible never technically prohibits eating those substances during the week of Unleavened Bread. The letter of the law only mentions se’or\, the Hebrew word for yeast (Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon\, H7603)\, and chametz\, the Hebrew word for bread in which the yeast has fermented and risen (ibid. H2557). We see both of these words used here in Exodus: \nExodus 12:15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day\, you shall remove leaven (se’or) out of your houses\, for if anyone eats what is leavened (chametz)\, from the first day until the seventh day\, that person shall be cut off from Israel. \nThese terms\, se’or and chametz\, refer to the leavening agents and leavened products that were available at the time of the Exodus\, which were sourdough yeast and the bread made from it. Again\, by the strict letter of the law\, only bread made with yeast would be prohibited during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.\nHowever\, when we consider the spirit or intent of the law\, there is an argument that we should avoid other puffy breads also. The unleavened bread is meant to be a reminder of what the Israelites ate when they left Egypt (Exodus 13:7-8). Their bread was flat; it was not made to rise with yeast\, nor was it made to rise with baking powder or baking soda. So\, while modern leavening products are not technically prohibited\, the spirit of the command seems to be to avoid any kind of puffed-up bread regardless of what particular substance causes it to rise. Ideally\, we want the bread we eat during Unleavened Bread to remind us of the bread that the Israelites ate. For the record\, we don’t think that having baking soda in things like toothpaste or antacids counts as leavening\, because those products have nothing to do with making leavened bread or memorializing the Exodus.\nWe discuss leavening in much more depth in our teaching\, The Leaven of Heaven. \nPassover and Unleavened Bread in Prophecy\nWhile the explicit purpose of Passover and Unleavened Bread is to memorialize the Exodus from\nEgypt\, these days is also prophetically significant. Jesus\, or Yeshua as he was called in Hebrew\, was crucified on the fourteenth day of the first month—the same day that the Passover sacrifice was offered: \nJohn 19:14-18\, Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews\, “Behold your King!” They cried out\, “Away with him\, away with him\, crucify him!” Pilate said to them\, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered\, “We have no king but Caesar.” So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus [Yeshua]\, and he went out\, bearing his cross\, to the place called The Place of a Skull\, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him and with him two others\, one on either side and Jesus [Yeshua] between them. \nSo\, Christ was crucified on the same day that the Passover lamb was sacrificed. The Passover lamb in Egypt was a foreshadowing of what the Messiah would do later on. Just like the blood of the lamb saved the Israelites from death in Egypt\, Christ’s blood saves us from the death that is brought about by our sins: \n1 Peter 1:18-19 …you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers\, not with perishable things such as silver or gold\, but with the precious blood of Christ\, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.\nJohn 1:29\, The next day he saw Jesus [Yeshua] coming toward him\, and said\, “Behold\, the Lamb of God\, who takes away the sin of the world! \nPassover is a yearly reminder of the salvation we have in Christ. It’s a time to reflect on the price that was paid for our salvation and the love that God showed us when he redeemed us from our sins and gave us new life.\nPassover is also a good time to contemplate our commitment to YHWH. God required those who ate the physical Passover lamb to be physically circumcised (Exodus 12:43-49). They had to bear the sign of God’s covenant with Abraham (Genesis 17:11)\, a covenant of faith and commitment to God (Romans 4:11-12). As we memorialize the Passover and remember YHWH’s salvation—not just of the ancient Israelites\, but also of the whole world through Christ—we should also remember that we must voluntarily partake in this salvation. We must put our faith in God\, and follow where he leads\, just like Abraham did. As Paul said: \nGalatians 3:7-9\, Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture\, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith\, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham\, saying\, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then\, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham\, the man of faith. \nThis reminder of our commitment to God leads right into the symbology of Unleavened Bread.\nOnce we’ve been saved by Christ’s blood\, which is symbolized in the Passover\, we are then free from our slavery to sin and death\, just like the Israelites were freed from their slavery to the Egyptians. Paul speaks about this in Romans: \nRomans 6:4-11\, We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death\, so that\, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father\, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his\, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ\, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ\, being raised from the dead\, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin\, once and for all\, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus [Messiah Yeshua]. \nNow that we have gone through this spiritual Passover and have been freed from sin and death\, we strive to keep ourselves unstained by the world (James 1:27)\, and to consider ourselves “dead to sin.” Paul also refers to this as symbolically being “unleavened” in 1 Corinthians: \n1 Corinthians 5:7-8\, Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump\, as you are unleavened. For Christ\, our Passover lamb\, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival\, not with the old leaven\, the leaven of malice and evil\, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. \nOnce we’ve been redeemed from our old ways\, from our malice and evil and sin\, we don’t want to return to those ways. We want to stay pure and true\, “unleavened” as Paul says. We want to walk in obedience to God\, not in disobedience as we did before we were saved. When we eat unleavened bread during this festival\, it’s a yearly reminder for us to stay free from sin\, and not enslave ourselves to the ways of the world again.\nPassover and Unleavened Bread are not just celebrations of God’s salvation of Israel during the Exodus\, they also symbolize the salvation we have in Christ. Far from being “done away with\,” or “only for the Jews\,” these festivals are more relevant today than ever. Christ\, the ultimate fulfillment of these days\, has come\, and they remind us of the new life we have in him. \nConclusion\nLet’s recap everything we covered in this teaching: \n\n\n\nGod gave his people mo’edim—appointed times—for them to keep as a reminder of his great works.\nPassover is an appointed time during which we remember God saving the Israelites from the plague of death in Egypt when death passed over every house that was covered with the lamb’s blood.\nWe can keep Passover today by memorializing the Exodus from Egypt on the fourteenth day of the first month.\nPassover is also a memorial of the salvation we have in Yeshua because that’s the day on which he was crucified. Christ’s blood saves us from death\, just like the lamb’s blood did during the Exodus.\nUnleavened Bread is a seven-day festival that memorializes Israel going free from their slavery.\nThe first and seventh days of Unleavened Bread are days of rest. The whole week is a time to avoid leavened bread and eat unleavened bread. The unleavened bread reminds us of the bread the Israelites ate when they went free.\nUnleavened Bread also reminds us of the freedom from sin that we have in Christ. The leavening of malice and evil has been removed from us\, and now we can be “unleavened\,” full of sincerity and truth.\n\n\n\nWe hope this teaching has been a helpful introduction to these mo’edim. Keeping God’s holidays is a great blessing\, and we would encourage you all to take Paul’s advice and “celebrate the festival” (1 Corinthians 5:8).\nWe pray you have been blessed by this teaching. Remember\, continue to test everything. Shalom! For more on this and other teachings\, please visit us at www.testeverything.net \nShalom\, and may Yahweh bless you in walking in the whole Word of God.\nEMAIL: Info@119ministries.com FACEBOOK: \nwww.facebook.com/119Ministries \nWEBSITE: www.TestEverything.net\nTWITTER: www.twitter.com/119Ministries#
URL:https://bethyeshuaboston.org/event/pasach-passover-2024/
LOCATION:BYMC Boston\, #187 Church St\, Newton\, MA\, 02458\, United States
CATEGORIES:Event group,Upcoming
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20240323
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20240325
DTSTAMP:20260511T190455
CREATED:20240315T190354Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20240819T201842Z
UID:445-1711152000-1711324799@bethyeshuaboston.org
SUMMARY:Purim 2024
DESCRIPTION:The-Moedim Purim-Transcript \n“The following is a direct script of teaching that is intended to be presented via video\, incorporating relevant text\, slides\, media\, and graphics to assist in illustration\, thus facilitating the presentation of the material. In some places\, this may cause the written material to not flow or sound rather awkward. In addition\, there may be grammatical errors that are often not acceptable in literary work. We encourage the viewing of the video teachings to complement the written teaching you see below.” \nThe Mo’edim Series – Purim\nPurim is a biblical holiday celebrating the deliverance of the Jewish people within the ancient Medo-Persian empire. The Book of Esther records this event\, and that’s where we find the institution of Purim. What does this holiday teach us? Should believers in Yeshua celebrate Purim? What are some of the common traditions associated with Purim? This teaching will answer these questions and more.\nFirst\, we should mention that Purim is technically not a mo’edim\, that is\, one of YHWH’s appointed times. The mo’edim are found in the Torah. For instance\, Leviticus 23 provides a list of YHWH’s appointed times. Purim was instituted long after the Torah was given through Moses.\nSimilar to Hanukkah\, Purim is not a commanded holiday. For this and other reasons\, some choose not to observe Purim while others find nothing wrong with celebrating it. We will discuss those different perspectives later in the teaching.\nThe name “Purim” literally means “lots” as in “by chance.” Purim remembers and celebrates the saving of the Jewish people from Haman\, who was planning to kill all the Jews. This event is recorded in the Book of Esther \nEsther 9:24-26 For Haman the Agagite\, the son of Hammedatha\, the enemy of all the Jews\, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast Pur (that is\, cast lots)\, to crush and destroy them. But when it came before the king\, he gave orders in writing that his evil plan that he had devised against the Jews should return on his head and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. Therefore they called these days Purim\, after the term Pur. Therefore\, because of all that was written in this letter\, and of what they had faced in this matter\, and of what had happened to them. \nBefore we get into Purim itself\, let’s talk about some of the history and events that led to the holiday even being created. \nTHE HISTORY OF PURIM\nIn 2 Kings 25:1-17\, we see that Babylon conquered the Southern Kingdom of Israel\, that is\, the House of Judah. God used Babylon as the rod of his wrath to punish the Jews for their apostasy.\nAfter conquering Jerusalem\, King Nebuchadnezzar exiled the Jews to the banks of the Euphrates River.\nNear the end of the exile\, the Medo-Persian Empire\, led by King Cyrus and King Darius I\, attacked and conquered Babylon. After about a year when Darius was emperor\, King Cyrus ascended to the throne. It was during his reign that King Cyrus decreed the Jews should be free to return to Judah to rebuild YHWH’s temple.\nMany of the Jews left for Judah\, which ended the prophesied 70 years of exile. However\, many Jews chose to stay\, and those are the ones in the story of Esther.\nAfter Cyrus died\, Ahasuerus became emperor. Ahasuerus would go on to remove his rebellious wife and marry a young Hebrew woman named Esther\, making her the queen of the entire Medo-Persian Empire. (Esther chapters 1-2)\nIf you haven’t read the book of Esther\, now would be a good time to pause this teaching and read it. It’s not long\, only 10 short chapters. We’ll review some of the highlights and main points as we go along\, but to really get into the details and see the Father working all of the way through\, you’ll want to read it for yourself. \nSome highlights from chapters 1 and 2 are: \n\n\n\nThe removal of Vashti as Queen.\n We learn some of Esther’s history like how she is the daughter of Mordecai’s uncle\, but her parents are dead and she is being raised by her cousin\, Mordecai\, a Benjamite.\nEsther is highly favored over all other women and chosen to be crowned Queen of the Medo-Persian Empire\nMordecai discovers a plot to kill the King; he tells Esther who informs the King\, thereby thwarting the plot.\n\n\n\nChapter 3 is where the story of Esther starts to take off as an evil man is given prominence in the kingdom and sets out to destroy God’s people. \nIn Chapter 3 we see: \n\n\n\nA man named Haman was promoted to be over all the officials who were with him.\n Mordecai defies the order to bow to Haman at the gate which angers Haman.\nIn his anger\, Haman decides to destroy all Jews throughout the Kingdom.\nHaman tells the King that there are people dispersed throughout the land who have their own laws and do not keep the King’s law\, so it is not to the King’s profit to keep them. With this argument he convinces the King that they (meaning the Jews) should be killed\, no matter their age or gender.\nThe date is set for the demise of all of the Jews in the land\, the 13th of Adar (the 12th month).\n\n\n\nIt’s important to note that in this time when a king issued a decree\, it could not simply be rescinded. The Jews truly appeared to have no hope. But it’s in chapter 4 that the faith of both Mordecai and Esther is put on display and we see how courageous the young queen is. After Mordecai hears of Haman’s vow to kill all of the Jews from chapter 3\, he reports these plans to Esther and commands her to go to the King to beg and plead on behalf of her people. That sounds simple enough\, right? She’s the queen\, she should go talk to her husband\, but things aren’t so easy.\nThere is a law in place that states anyone\, and we mean anyone\, who comes before the king without being summoned by him\, is to be put to death. The only saving grace is that the king may extend his golden scepter and allow the person to live. So we see that if Esther does what Mordecai is asking of her\, she is facing almost certain death. \nEsther responds to Mordecai explaining all of this and then comes to a decision; she’ll do what’s being asked of her\, but first\, she exercises her faith and calls for a 3 day fast by all the Jews Mordecai can gather\, her young women\, and even herself before she goes before the king. It’s in chapters 5 through 9 that the salvation of the Jews is provided for. Esther does find favor when she goes before the king and outsmarts Haman. Not only does Haman’s plan fail\, but he finds himself executed at the king’s command on a set of gallows he had constructed to hang Mordecai on. \nAs a quick side note in chapter 6\, we see how the Father elevates and honors Mordecai\, his faithful servant\, before all of the kingdom\, and at Haman’s expense. At the end of this section\, Mordecai is raised to the lofty position once held by Haman and even receives Haman’s own home! How great it is to serve our righteous and just Creator.\nBut you might be wondering about the order to kill all of the Jews\, if it could not be stopped by the King\, how were the Jews saved? The King allowed Mordecai to send out another order that permitted the Jews to defend themselves and even plunder those who sought to destroy them. When the fateful day arrives\, the Jews successfully defend themselves and wipe out their enemies. They were even given a second day to do so\, the 14th of Adar. But there’s still a little more to the story\, but we will get to that shortly.\nAs you can see and the name of the book implies\, Esther is the central instrument used by YHWH to save his people from Haman. Not once\, but twice Esther risks her life by going before the king. It is through Esther’s faith and courage that the Father saves his people. \nTHE INSTITUTION OF PURIM\nFollowing the Jew’s victory\, the days of Purim were decreed. \nEsther 9:20-22: And Mordecai recorded these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus\, both near and far\, obliging them to keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same\, year by year\, as the days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies\, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness\, days for sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the poor.” \nThe month of Adar is the Babylonian name for the twelfth month on the Hebraic calendar and the holiday takes place over two days\, the 14th and 15th of the month. It’s worth noting that Jewish\ntradition in years when a thirteenth month is added to the calendar\, Purim is celebrated during this 13th month instead of the twelfth. \nCRITICISMS OF PURIM\nOn occasion\, some challenge the idea of celebrating Purim. The two main challenges are: \n\n\n\n\n\nIt is not a feast appointed by YHWH\nYHWH is not mentioned in Esther\n\n\n\n\n\nTo state that Purim is not a feast of YHWH is a valid point. The appointed times of YHWH are called mo’edim\, or the appointed times. Purim is not one of the biblical recommended mo’edim\nHowever\, that is where the validity of the criticism stops. Nothing in the Torah states that men cannot celebrate certain events\, such as military victories or obtaining freedom over oppression.\nIt appears our messiah may have observed Hanukkah\, another “man-made” festival (John 10:22-23). Although to be fair\, it is hard to say for certain whether or not he was celebrating the holiday or if the notation in Scripture was simply to provide a timeline for the events that were to follow.\nHowever\, since it is not a time appointed by the Father to be remembered\, no one should be trying to force anyone to celebrate it or condemn them for not. While many do not celebrate this festival\, many do celebrate it. Celebrating Purim violates no established commandment in the Torah\, we cannot rebuke nor correct others one way or the other regarding keeping it.\nKeeping Purim does not make a person more or less set apart. What makes us set apart is the keeping of the set apart commandments\, nothing more and nothing less. Purim is simply a celebration based on an amazing biblical and historical event. \nThe other criticism is the book of Esther itself. Maybe you noticed\, or maybe you didn’t\, but YHWH is not mentioned anywhere in the book of Esther. Some take issue with that and question the validity of Esther.\nHowever\, we have substantial historical evidence that the Book of Esther was treated as valid\, even during the time of Yeshua. We have no evidence that the Book of Esther is not credible.\nJosephus\, a first-century Jewish historian\, references the threefold canon of his day in his “Against Apion\,” which undoubtedly included Esther because he explicitly mentions the reign of Artaxerxes (Ahasuerus). Josephus’ canon certainly goes back to a much earlier time.\nYHWH’s grace and sovereignty are implied throughout the book of Esther from the moment a young Hebrew woman is chosen to be the bride of the king through the salvation of the Jews and the elevation of Mordecai. The Father grants favor to Esther and Mordecai again and again as they put their lives on the line to save their people and honor their God. \nTRADITIONS OF PURIM\nPurim consists of several traditions. There are traditional blessings that are said. There are traditional foods that are eaten. One of the more fun traditions\, especially when children are involved\, is the reading of Esther. When Haman is mentioned\, everyone boos\, and when Mordechai is read\, everyone cheers.\nIt is a common tradition\, even today\, to offer gifts and food to the poor during Purim just as Mordecai said in the book of Esther 9:22. \nA traditional meal or feast often occurs on the 14th of the twelfth month. Sometimes people dress in fancy masks and costumes\, which symbolize how Esther was “hidden.” We do have some concerns with this tradition. For example\, attempts to make costumes resemble common practices of Halloween rather than the typical masks or dressing as Biblical characters found in the book of Esther should perhaps be understood as a questionable practice. If you employ this tradition\, consider giving it some thought on what is being done and why. The stated intent of this day is to remember the Biblical events found in Esther\, thus it is reasonable for any traditions associated with this day to mirror that remembrance rather than any other secular holiday.\nThere also exists a tradition observed by some that includes substantial drinking\, so much so that one is not to know the difference between “cursed is Haman” and “blessed is Mordechai.” We would question how such activity would glorify YHWH. If you employ this tradition\, we would encourage some thought as to whether it seems appropriate and Biblically sound. \nWe hope that this teaching served to offer some of the background and traditions surrounding this holiday. We only provided an abbreviated version of the story\, but strongly recommend reading the book of Esther for yourself so that you can see how the Father orchestrates the salvation of his people even before they knew it was needed. \nWhether or not you choose to observe the traditional celebration of Purim\, keep in mind that not everyone will agree with you\, and that’s okay. The observation of Purim is a manmade tradition; it’s no different than celebrating a country’s Independence Day. As such\, it is not something commanded by our Creator that has to be followed and we shouldn’t condemn others whether they choose to celebrate it or not.\nWe hope that this teaching has blessed you and served to offer some of the background and traditions surrounding this holiday.\nAnd remember\, continue to test everything.\nShalom \nFor more on this and other teachings\, please visit us at www.testeverything.net\nShalom\, and may Yahweh bless you in walking in the whole Word of God.\nEMAIL: Info@119ministries.com FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/119Ministries WEBSITE: www.TestEverything.net & www.ExaminaloTodo.net TWITTER: www.twitter.com/119Ministries#
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