Every year on the fourteenth day of Adar (March) Jewish people around the world celebrate Purim (“Lots”). We learn about Purim in the book of Esther.
This book is unique in the Bible in that the name of God is never mentioned. The events described in the book of Esther take place fifty years after Cyrus permitted the Jewish people to leave Babylon and return to the Promised Land (2 Chronicles 36:22-23; Ezra 1:1-4), and is written about those Jews that did not heed the call of God and return to the land of Israel.

Esther and Mordecai were among those who, out of convenience or preference, decided to remain in Persia and not return to the land of Israel. Although God is faithful to His promises and will always providentially secure His people, nonetheless neglecting God’s call may lead to a downward spiritual spiral.  Consider Esther’s response to Mordecai when given the news of an official decree of her people’s destruction; and that she is their apparent hope:

All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that for any man or woman who comes to the king to the inner court who is not summoned, he has but one law, that he be put to death, unless the king holds out to him the golden scepter so that he may live. And I have not been summoned to come to the king for these thirty days. (Esther 4:11)

With her people’s existence threatened, why does Esther respond in such a self-serving manner? The point is not to merely sit in judgment: she is no worse than any of us! But she is one of us and, like any of us, Esther was concerned more for her own safety than the safety of her people.  What made such a change in Esther that she would risk it all to help her people? The truth of Mordecai’s challenge encouraged Esther’s timid heart.
First, he challenged the false security of her perception: “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the Jews.” Esther could not live in a fantasy world where her cowardice would provide a means of escape. The foolish find their sense of satisfaction, significance and even their feeling of security in their vain imagination (Proverbs 18:11). This vanity of the mind assumes our disobedience to God will actually be our protection. People believe that their lies will protect—even promote them. However, we cannot insulate ourselves from God.

Finally, Mordecai challenged the false security of Esther’s position: “Who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?” Esther had married Ahasuerus, the most powerful man of his time. Did she think that this marriage and queenly position would provide her with the security her soul needed? Sometimes people marry to fulfill their lives only to find that they are still just as lonely and empty. Neither marriage, nor career, nor wealth can fulfill a life. It is not the palace, but the promises of God which can satisfy our desires. As the Scripture states, “My God shall supply all your needs through His riches and glory in Messiah Yeshua” (Philippians 4:19), and “We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37). Earlier, she was indifferent to Scriptural details. Since Esther was Jewish, she would have kept dietary restrictions according to the Law of Moses. However, the food that would have been provided in the King’s palace was definitely not kosher. When she was provided with food she did not refuse (Esther 2:9). 

God can use anyone and, in this case, brought problems to break up Esther’s self-centered life. God permitted Haman, a vicious anti-Semite  to shake up Esther’s world.
Though Mordecai exhorted her to intercede with the king on behalf of her people, Esther wanted no part of any plan that would endanger her. It was risky to go uninvited into the king’s presence. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus confirms this Persian custom that anyone who approached the king uninvited would be put to death—unless pardoned by the king.  Mordecai had one last challenge to the Queen.

Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the Jews. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this? (Esther 4:13-14)

As a result of Mordecai’s exhortation, Esther repented, pleaded to the king on behalf of her people’s welfare and the Jewish people were then preserved from extinction once again (Esther 4:15-16; 7:3-6; 9:20-25).

True Security
Our jobs, status in life, wealth, and connections are not our security, but mere opportunities to share the Messiah. Our only true security is in our saving relationship with God. Let us not live as if we believe otherwise. Esther’s position as Queen was not her security, but the opportunity providentially given by God. The most secure place is not within the walls of a palace, but in the will of God. Esther’s problem was imagining the fantasy of a spiritual middle ground, but there is no middle ground with God.
Praise the Lord that Esther finally repents—“I will go into the king” (Esther 4:16). God brought a disobedient woman to repentance in order to save His people and demonstrate His faithfulness. 

What then is the message of the Purim story? Simply this: God is faithful to keep His people by using any ordinary person who will repent, trust, and serve Him. God wants to use you today just as He used Esther long ago. Perhaps Mordecai’s Purim challenge to Esther is God’s challenge to you as well. Be spiritually pro-active in life—in your family, community, and congregation. Do not keep silent; rather, share God’s love in Yeshua with others.
(Excerpted from the Messiah in the Feasts of Israel book, now also available on Kindle)

_Some find it surprising that the only place in the Bible where we find the festival of Hanukkah is in the New Covenant (John 10:22-30):
And it was at Jerusalem, the Feast of the Dedication, and it was winter. Yeshua walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch. Then came the Jews round about Him, and said unto Him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly (John 10:22-24).

The Feast of Dedication (also known by its Hebrew name, Hanukkah), was established to commemorate the purification and rededication of the Temple by Judah Maccabee, which occurred in 165 BCE on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev (December). The rededication of the Temple was necessary because it had been profaned by Antiochus IV Epiphanes three years earlier. Antiochus wanted to Hellenize the Jewish people, or make them think and live like Greeks. He violently forced an end to circumcision, Jewish worship, and the study of Torah. He captured Jerusalem, plundered the Temple treasury, and to add insult to injury, sacrificed a pig to Zeus on the Temple altar. In response, a revolt led by one family called the Maccabees challenged the mighty invaders through guerrilla warfare. After three years this small band of pious Jews was successful in defeating the Syrian armies, liberating our people and our Temple! The yearly celebration of this victory forms the backdrop of  Yeshua’s Hanukkah message.

Notice the question the people raise: “Why do you keep us in suspense? Are you the Messiah?” (John 10:24). Every Hanukkah, our people desired Messiah to come and free them from yet another enemy, in this case the Romans. Even the defiled stones from the altar desecrated by Antiochus were set aside for “the Prophet to come to tell our people what to do with them.”
Yeshua answered them, “I told you, and you did not believe: the works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you (John 10:25-26).

Why didn’t Yeshua just say ‘Sure, I’m the Messiah’? This is how familiarity with Hanukkah helps us understand Yeshua. The people were expecting a political warrior to throw out the Romans, just as the Maccabees threw out the Syrians. With a mere “yes,” He would have been accommodating Himself to a narrow expectation heightened at the time, one which was only part of the biblical picture, to come later. Had He said “no,” it would not have been true! So Yeshua wisely responds, “I’ve already told you.” In both words and deeds, He had already answered their question (John 8:58; 10:25).

God provides the eternal salvation that we need, not merely the temporary solutions that we desire. Is your faith in God’s Word, or your own expectations and experience? With the Maccabees, short-term faith was required. They pointed to a desecrated temple by an oppressive Syrian regime and said, “Let us defeat them and rededicate the temple.” However, Yeshua points to us and says that we are the desecrated temple, and we need to be cleansed and rededicated in order to walk with God. The problem is not outside of us, but within us. Our need is not for a quick fix of short-term problems, but for an eternal relationship with God.

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand” (John 10:27-28).

His sheep have faith in Him: “My sheep hear My voice.” His sheep are His followers: “They follow Me.” There is mutual recognition and a reciprocal action. The shepherd knows and directs His sheep; and the sheep respond in obedience. Yeshua then teaches that we must have faith in Him as the Son of God: “My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one” (10:29-30).
Yeshua’s assertion that He is one with the Father is meant to give assurance to His followers: “No one will snatch them from My hand” anymore than from the “Father’s hand.”

Bill Gates may have a monopoly on operating software, but God has a monopoly on life! Defeat is measuring your life by your problem, rather than by your God. Victory is measuring life’s challenges by the size of your God! Do you have a Goliath in your life? I know one who is greater! God has provided salvation in Messiah, His Eternal Son. By dying for sins, He conquered death.
Despite temporary trials there is ultimate victory in Messiah. Yes, Messiah demands a greater loyalty than the Maccabees; however, His security is eternal. Trust in Him as the Savior, Shepherd, and Son. Yeshua is the Victor, and following Him brings the victory!