from the March 15, 2011 eNews issue http://www.khouse.org
The Jewish celebration of Purim is coming up March 19-20, and along with it, the fun of feasting on "hidden foods." In the Bible, Esther's true identity as a Jewess was hidden until the time she was able to speak up on behalf of her people, saving their lives. In the same way, Purim celebrants munch on foods that look like one thing on the outside but have a surprise filling. Persian Jews might enjoy gondi - a meatball filled with raisins and nuts in a sweet and sour sauce. Jews from Eastern Europe might gorge on kreplach, meat-filled dumplings or challahs stuffed with onions and poppy seeds. It's a time for Jews to celebrate God's providential protection in ancient Persia, as well as many many other times throughout the centuries.
The famed foiling of the wicked plot of Haman to blot out the Jews is, of course, one of the more dramatic narratives in the Bible. In addition to the many twists, there are also some surprises hidden behind the text itself. It is significant that the name of the book itself, Esther, means "something hidden"!
A Tale of Retribution
Orphaned as a child and brought up by her cousin, Mordecai, Esther was selected by King Ahasuerus to replace his queen, Vashti, when she was disgraced. Haman, the prime minister, persuaded the king to issue an edict of extermination of all the Jews in the Persian Empire (1 Sam 15:1-28). Esther, on Mordecai's advice, endangered her own life by appearing before the king, without her being invited, in order to intercede for her people (Est 4:16-17). Mordecai famously told Esther in verse 4:14, "who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"
Seeing that the king was well disposed toward her, she invited him and Haman to a private banquet, during which she did not reveal her desire but invited them to yet another banquet, thus misleading Haman by making him think that he was in the queen's good graces. During a second banquet, Queen Esther revealed her Jewish origin to the king, begged for her life and the life of her people, and named her enemy (Est 7:3-6) - "this wicked Haman!"
Angry with Haman, King Ahasuerus retreated into the palace garden. Haman, in great fear, remained to plead for his life from the queen. While imploring, Haman fell on Esther's couch and was found in this ostensibly compromising situation upon the king's return. As a magnificent bit of irony, he was immediately condemned to be hung on the very gallows which he had previously prepared for Mordecai. ("Gallows" is the traditional translation. It actually involved being impaled upon a post rather than hung by a rope. It was the Persians that invented crucifixion, which was later so widely adopted by the Romans.)
The king complied with Esther's request, and the edict of destruction was then replaced with permission for the Jews to avenge themselves on their enemies.
The Feast of Purim was instituted by Mordecai to celebrate the deliverance of the Jews from Haman's plot to kill them. Our Jewish friends continue to celebrate this feast to this day, which is based on the events in the Book of Esther. Purim (from Akkadian, puru, "lots") is so called after the lots cast by Haman in order to determine the month in which the slaughter was to take place (Est 9:26; 3:7).
The Invisible Protector
It has been noted by many commentators that Esther is the only book of the Bible in which there does not appear the name of God, or any divine title, anywhere in the book. (Martin Luther favored eliminating it from the Bible on this basis.) However, the name of God does appear in a number of places if one knows how and where to look!
Hidden Acrostics
An acrostic can be a mechanism for including a hidden message. In the Book of Esther we encounter some remarkable surprises. The name of God is hidden no less than eight times in acrostics in the text. Four times it appears as an acrostic, the famed Tetragammaton, "YHWH" or "I AM" as at the Burning Bush. Also, Meshiach ("Messiah"), Yeshua ("Jesus"), and El Shaddai ("The Almighty"), also appear as equidistant letter sequences.
As Gentiles, we need to remember that we are grafted into the true olive tree by the skin of our teeth (Rom 11:17-24). We must not forget that we were joined into what was a Jewish Church - with Jewish leaders, a Jewish Bible, and are worshipping a Jewish Messiah. Baruch HaShem. Bless His Name!
Deeper Roots
The more we look, the more we realize that there is still much more hidden; the entire drama has deeper roots. Haman was a royal Amalekite, a descendant of the very king Agag whom King Saul was supposed to have slain (1 Sam 15:1-28). If Saul had followed his instructions, there wouldn't have been a Haman. For Saul's failure, his kingdom was taken away. Mordecai, too, a key benefactor in the tale, was a result of David's having refused to take vengeance upon Shimei so many years earlier (2 Sam 16:5-13; 19:16-23; cf. 1 Kings 2:36-46). It was Esther's marriage to the King of Persia that ultimately led to the rebuilding of Jerusalem.
The story of Esther also appears to be an elegant anticipatory preview in the Old Testament of the Book of Romans (Rom 15:4; 1 Cor 10:11)! Like so many books of the Bible, there are always surprises for the diligent student!
Original print article at khouse.org
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