Purim

Nazi officers on trial at Nuremberg~1946.


My disclaimer: I really try not to let my faith walk take over my blog. Really. I also realize, not many people will "find" this post, because in a few hours I will post Sunday In My City, thus burying this post. So, if you are reading this, maybe it was intended for you.

Today has been very busy and I have been in a very reflective mood. Maybe it is because of all the earthquakes. My heart goes out to the people of Chile, but do you realize in the last week South American has had over 100 quakes? Worldwide, we have experienced over 266. To me that's almost more than I can comprehend. Still, we know these things will come to pass.

Tomorrow is Purim and I felt I needed to write about this holiday. It is a fascinating study of how God continues to fulfill prophecy.

Thanks for putting up with me. ~ Cheryl


“. . . . and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14

For many of us, these are familiar words spoken by Mordecai, words to be delivered to his to his beautiful cousin, Esther, wife of the king.

It was a horrific, difficult time, but because of one woman’s willingness to help her people, an entire country was changed and thousands of lives were spared. And we have since seen the prophetic fulfillment of Queen Esther’s words. Esther’s words spoken over 2300 years ago, were fulfilled in 1946.

Most of us know the story of Esther. King Ahasuerus, embarrassed by Queen Vashti, looks for a new queen. Mordecai, who worked in the palace enters Esther, his cousin who he had raised, into this ancient Persian beauty contest. She is chosen to be the new queen.

But there was an evil villain, who disliked Mordecai and hated all Jews. Unfortunately, Haman was above all the other princes under King Ahasuerus’ reign.

The jest of the story is…Haman sets a trap for Mordecai and all the Jews. Unknown to both Haman and the King, Esther is also a Jew. Through a set of circumstances, Esther reveals her Jewish heritage to the king and Haman (along with his ten sons) ends up dangling at the end of the rope he had hoped to see Mordecai hanging from.

Here is something you may not remember from studying the story of Esther. After Haman and his sons’ death, Esther goes before the king with a request. She asked that the king allow the Jews of Shushan, “to do to morrow also according unto this day’s decree, and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged upon the gallows.” Esther was not asking the king to hang Haman’s dead sons. What she was requesting was a prophetic request fulfilled in 1946.

In Hebrew, the word used by Esther for morrow is machar. Machar is plural so the meaning is many morrows, referring to either the next few days or distant tomorrows. Esther was asking God to hang Haman’s sons in the future.

Hebraic letters are assigned a numerical value. Three of the son’s names contain an abnormal (in size) letter. These letters, the Tav (equals 400), the Shin (equals 300) and Zayin (equals 7). The three letters total 707.

According to the New World Hebrew Dictionary, “ the thousands are skipped and the Jewish year is referred to by quoting in Jewish numerical symbols, the figure from the hundreds down.” In other words the numbers 707 could mean 1707 or 2707 and so on. We are interested in the Jewish year 5707.

The Jewish new year of 5707 began in the fall of 1946. Following WW II, the world awaited the results from the trials being held at Nuremberg, Germany. Eleven German officers were found guilty of war crimes committed against the Jews. They were sentenced to death. After the verdict, one officer committed suicide before the sentence could be executed, thus leaving ten.

Military executioners hung the remaining ten. The last to hang was Julius Streicher. Moments before his sentence was carried out, Streicher glared at the crowd and shouted, “Purim Feast, 1946.” Amazingly, Streicher made the connection between their hangings and Esther’s request. A 20th century military court carried out Esther 9:13, Esther’s request that Haman’s ten sons be hung in the future.

For some reason, this amazes me! It also, helps to renew and increase my faith, knowing that ancient prophecies will be fulfilled.

Do you ever wonder why you are here? Or more pointedly, why you are here now?
You are here because this is your appointed time. You have come into the kingdom for such a time as this.

Sunday, February 28, is Purim this year. The day Jews remember, how God used a young Jewish girl to deliver them from the hands of Haman. For me, Purim is a sign that God continues to answer the prayers of His people.

May you be blessed!