My post on Purim was originally posted on 20 March, 2019. It is being re-published below, with minor modifications.

For many years, Israel has been dealing with missile attacks launched from Gaza into residential communities. There were also numerous terrorist attempts to infiltrate into locations in the southwest of Israel. And then, on October 7, 2023, everything exploded, with missile attacks that served to cover a massive invasion of terrorists from Gaza, who committed murder, rape, bodily dismemberment, burning and other atrocities in a multitude of communities surrounding the Gaza enclave and took hundreds of hostages back to Gaza. Israel responded by force and the IDF entered Gaza some three weeks later, with the dual goals of eliminating the terrorist organization and releasing the hostages. The war that began in October continues to this day and the stated goals have only been minimally achieved. Israel has learned much since the outset of the war. It has learned, among other things, that the enemy that attacked us five months ago is relentless and that its plans include repeated attacks such as that which took place on Black Saturday, until Israel is totally removed from Middle East land and that the physical war against the Jews is an outworking of the spiritual war to kill all the Jews. Along with that, Israel’s eyes were opened to see who are its friends in need and in deed and who are its fair-weather friends. There are “friends” who stand with us, support us and encourage us and there are those who claim to be friends, but dictate to us and demand compliance with their views of how Israel should defend itself and even demand that our priorities should be in line with their priorities. Some foreign nations and leaders even try to interfere in Israel’s internal political system.

The Dry Bones Blog – 13 March, 2024

Despite being immersed in an ongoing war against a vicious, hate-filled, totally immoral and evil enemy, despite dealing with the displacement of over 100,000 Israelis from their homes, despite the existence of clouds of political uncertainty that continue to hover over the nation and a looming financial crisis and despite our “fair-weather friends” threatening to abandon us, among other things, there is always a reason to be thankful. Even if we are forced to stand alone against the world, we don’t need to sit in rooms of gloom. How we, as Israelis, view our circumstances can make or break us. We often see only the dark cloud, but forget that we have a history tied to this land for millennia. Sometimes, we forget to be mindful of the fact that the God of all creation is mindful of us and, despite the difficulty of our circumstances, He will never leave us, nor forsake us.

And so, we are involved in the longest war of Israel’s modern history. We are supported by some and condemned by many. Some understand the horrors and atrocities that took place on October 7th and the need for Israel to pursue her enemies and put an end to them, at least to some of them. Others forget what prompted the present war, or try to downplay what triggered it, or even attempt to justify it, adding insult to injury and pointing an accusing finger at Israel, focusing on the extent of Israel’s retaliation and the alleged suffering of “innocent, non-combatants”.

When our friends tell us they support our goals in war, but threaten to withdraw their support if we don’t prioritize their concerns, rather than our own, we come to realize, once again, that we stand alone and that we have always stood alone, except for One who has stood with us throughout the millennia. He raises up people who are willing to trust Him and the consequences of one man’s faith can affect the future of our nation. Sometimes, we see history repeating itself and the need to do what we need to do, even if we need to stand alone. Once such incident took place 42 years ago. And, if we pay attention to current events and statements emanating from our “friends”, we see that the more things change, the more they remain the same.

“On June 22 1982, Joe Biden was a Senator from Delaware and confronted then Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin during his Senate Foreign Relations committee testimony, threatening to cut off aid to Israel. Begin forcefully responded,

“Don’t threaten us with cutting off your aid. It will not work. I am not a Jew with trembling knees. I am a proud Jew with 3,700 years of civilized history. Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens. Nobody came to our aid when we were striving to create our country. We paid for it. We fought for it. We died for it. We will stand by our principles. We will defend them. And, when necessary, we will die for them again, with or without your aid.”

“Senator Biden reportedly banged on the table with his fist, and Begin retorted,

“This desk is designed for writing, not for fists. Don’t threaten us with slashing aid. Do you think that because the US lends us money it is entitled to impose on us what we must do? We are grateful for the assistance we have received, but we are not to be threatened. I am a proud Jew. Three thousand years of culture are behind me, and you will not frighten me with threats. Take note: we do not want a single soldier of yours to die for us.”

Israel’s history is replete with incidents where she has stood alone. And there are some stories, like true vintage wine, that take on added significance and become better with age. One of them is the story of the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt. We are commanded to tell the story from generation to generation. It reveals the presence of God, His might, His power and His holiness and ability to save the people whom He has chosen (Deut. 7:7-8). These attributes of God are also present, and He remains mighty to save, even when He is not in the forefront of the action, but in the background and even when He is not referred to or mentioned by name. This is the situation in the Scroll of Esther (Megillat Esther). It reveals the presence of Him Who is invisible.

We know the story and it is a great one. It is a story of absence – absence from the country where the sons of Jacob were to shine, to prosper, to worship God in the majesty of His holiness, to be blessed and to be a blessing. It is a story of the absence of a national leadership amongst the captives from Judea and Samaria who were taken first to Babylon during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar, some of whom were later brought to Persia (modern-day Iran) and who were living during the reign of King Ahashverush (Ahasuerus). It is a story where the absence of God in the lives of the captives stands out by the failure to refer to Him. It is a story that serves as the background for the complaint of the people, as revealed in the explanation of the vision of the dry bones in Ezekiel, namely, an absence of hope: “Then He said to me, ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, “Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off”.'” (Ezekiel. 37:11) But, even in the blatant absence of specific reference to Him, still, the Holy One of Israel continues to exercise His sovereign control over all the fortunes and misfortunes of the people, whom He referred to as “the apple of His eye” (Zechariah 2:8).

This comment is being written on the 13th day of the Hebrew month of Adar. It was on this day, “when the king’s command and edict were about to be executed, on the day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, it was turned to the contrary so that the Jews themselves gained the mastery over those who hated them”. (Esther 9:1)

We look at the story with the benefit of hindsight. It is written for us and we can see how the pieces that seem disjointed all fit together and reveal the Hand of God and His unseen presence among His people, during one of the lowest times in the history of the nation of Israel. The major players are Mordechai, his niece Hadassah (whose name in exile was changed to Esther), King Ahashverush, who ruled over 127 provinces from India to Ethiopia and Haman, to whom the king gave exceedingly great authority. The king commanded that all of his servants, who were at the king’s gate, were to bow down and pay homage to Haman. But, Mordechai did neither.

From a political perspective, we see a “situation developing”. One man, who was at the king’s gate (i.e., was part of those who were close to the seat of power and who were able to come in and go out of the court without a special permit), defied the command of the king and would not bow down before Haman. It is recorded for us that Mordechai was living in the citadel of Susa. He was a descendant of Kish, who was a Benjamite and part of the upper class families who were taken captive and exiled along with King Jeconiah of Judah. (Esther 2:5-6) Another famous descendant of Kish was Saul, Israel’s first king, who disobeyed the Lord’s instructions given through Samuel the prophet, to strike and totally destroy Amalek. King Saul defeated the Amalekites, but allowed their king, Agag, to live – an act of disobedience that resulted in the Lord rejecting Saul from being king. Ultimately, the prophet Samuel killed Agag.

Haman was said to be “the son of Hammedatha the Agagite”. So, the consequences of Saul’s disobedience had future consequences for the nation of Israel. The descendants of Agag came to distant lands and some of them, like Haman, ended up in the service of the king of Persia. And so, once again, a descendant of Kish meets up with a powerful Amalekite.

However, as mentioned above, not only is Mordechai a descendant of Kish, he is also a Benjamite. Benjamin was the last son of Jacob. He was born after Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, after Jacob crossed the Jabbok and after he and all of his household bowed down before Esau. (Gen. 32-33, 35:16-18) Therefore, Benjamin, who was the only son of Jacob who was born in the land of Israel, did not bow down before Esau. And, his descendant, Mordechai, stood his ground, as well, and did not bow down before Haman. When questioned by the king’s servants why he refused to bow, his answer was that “he was a Jew”. (Esther 3:4)  The refusal of Mordechai to bow down before Haman “filled [Haman] with rage”. When he was told “who the people of Mordechai were … Haman sought to destroy all the Jews, the people of Mordechai, who were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahashverush (Ahasuerus)”. (Esther 3:5-6) Lots (Pur-im) were cast to determine the day that this would take place.

Haman’s understanding went beyond the simple fact that there are a people under the king’s rule who have a different religion. The issue was not the existence of a different religious belief, which could be tolerated, but rather, the Jewish people, whose existence would not be tolerated by the descendant of Agag, the Amalekite. Even though only Mordechai refused to bow down, the entire nation was going to suffer the consequences of his act of defiance.

The rest of the story continues, with Haman convincing the king to issue an edict that the Jewish people be destroyed. Haman was even willing to pay money into the king’s treasury if the king would agree to his request. Mordechai publicly demonstrated against the king’s edict and enlisted his niece, Hadassah (i.e., Esther, after whom the Scroll is named) to appeal to the king. Esther was chosen to replace the deposed Queen Vashti, when the latter refused to appear before the king and his drunken friends, who had been partying for seven days. Esther explained to Mordechai that her life would be endangered if she came into the presence of the king without being summoned. Mordechai wisely explained the situation in a clear and unequivocal manner: “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) Things don’t get much clearer than that. Esther understood the gravity of the situation and that it was not her life only that was at risk, but those of the Jewish people who were under the rule and reign and authority of the king – her husband.

She requested that all of the Jews in Susa fast (and impliedly, pray) for her and not eat or drink for three days. She and her maidens would do the same and afterwards, she would go to the king, contrary to law, and, as she said: “If I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16) And she and they did so and on the third day, the fate of Esther and the Jewish people was decided. The sentence of death had already been passed. Now, would the sentence of death be carried out, or will there be life? The golden scepter was extended to her and with it, life for her and eventually, life for the Jewish people. She chose the manner of presenting her petition to the king and the timing of it. In the meantime, the king had a bout of insomnia and instructed that the chronicles of the kingdom be read to him. It was then that he learned that Mordechai discovered and informed about a plot to kill the king, who now decided to publicly honor and reward Mordechai by dressing him in royal garments and having him paraded through the city square on a horse, on which the king himself had ridden. Haman was appointed to do this for Mordechai and to proclaim before all the people: “Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king desire to honor.” (Esther 6:10-11) This further enraged Haman.

When Esther revealed to the king what Haman had done, the king issued another edict that gave permission to the Jews to defend themselves, inasmuch as by law, he could not cancel his own decree. Haman was the recipient of the king’s wrath, as he and his ten sons were hanged on the gallows and what had been meant for evil was turned around for good. (Esther chpt. 9) Mordechai recorded the events and sent letters to all the Jews in all the provinces under the authority and rule of King Ahasverush (Ahasuerus), obliging them to annually celebrate the 14th (today) and 15th days of the Hebrew month of Adar, “because on those days the Jews rid themselves of their enemies and it was a month which was turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday … for Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the adversary of all the Jews, had schemed against the Jews to destroy them and had cast Pur, that is the lot, to disturb them and destroy them…Therefore they called these days Purim after the name Pur…So these days were to be remembered and celebrated throughout every generation, every family, every province and every city; and these days of Purim were not to fail from among the Jews, or their memory fade from their descendants…The command of Esther established these customs for Purim and it was written in the book.” (Esther 9:20-32)

At the end of the story, Mordechai was exalted to a position of power and authority, second only to the king himself. He was “great among the Jews and in favor with his many kinsmen, one who sought the good of his people and one who spoke for the welfare of his whole nation.” (Esther 10:3)

There is much that this story reveals and many aspects of it have significant, and indeed, eternal ramifications and applications for nation of Israel and for the Jewish people, as well as for the whole world. We see how the Hand of God was moving behind the scene, using the drunken feast of the king to embarrass the then queen, who was removed because of her disobedience to the command of the king (by the way, there was significant reason for that refusal); the choosing of Esther to replace her; the positioning of Mordechai as one who was at the king’s gate and his overhearing the plot to kill the king; his being of the descendants of the tribe of Benjamin; his refusal to bow before Haman the Agagite; the unsuccessful attempt to destroy the Jewish people and Mordechai’s being exalted with power and authority, second only to the king himself.

Our God reigns! “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.” (Prov. 16:33) What the enemy of our souls meant for bad, God used for good.

Israel sorely needs men like Mordechai today. He was the godly remnant amongst a people who believed that God had forsaken them. He represented the hope of a national restoration, when there had not yet been any experience with exile. Living outside the land, away from the Temple service, away from the place where God commanded the blessing, was all that the people knew. Yet, one man stood in the gap. He said “no”. He would not bow down to man and certainly not to a descendant of those who sought to destroy the Jewish people. Today, we see and experience that once again, the nations conspire together against God and against His people, saying, “Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation that the name of Israel be remembered no more” (Psalm 83:4). The Lord God of the universe, creator of heaven and earth, knows if you and I are alive “for such a time as this”.

Looking at the situation today in Europe, in Asia, in the Middle East and even in North America, we cannot fail to see that the Hamans of this world abound and have multiplied. Some have even been elevated to positions of power, giving them a platform from which to curse and condemn the Jewish people. They accuse us, insult us, bring us before the International Criminal Court, while giving support and encouragement to our enemies, some of whom are only a stone’s throw away (literally). They are more concerned about the people whom our enemies claim to represent than about us. They would be thrilled if the State of Israel would cease to exist – exactly as Hamas has sworn to bring about. Despite this, some of our political leaders are prepared to bow down to them, figuratively, and are willing to try to negotiate with an enemy that has no moral compass and are willing to make decisions on a national level that will affect our entire country. 

Under the rule of Ahashverush, an edict went forth authorizing a day when the Jews throughout the empire were to be killed. It was necessary then to obtain permission to defend against the Persian Empire (now known as Iran). Today, the threat continues and attempts have been made to follow through with what Haman failed to accomplish. The main difference between then and now is that we don’t need anyone’s permission to defend ourselves against our enemies. We are doing so and we will continue to do so, even if no one stands with us and even if their representatives tell us that our self-defense will isolate us among the community of nations and even if their tabloids proclaim that Israel already is alone. There is One Who stands with us, Whose mighty arm will save us, because He is committed to completing His program through us.

Where are the Mordechais? We need to be people who are willing to proclaim who we are, as we face the plans and pursuits of nations around and enemies within, who seek to divide this land and scatter God’s people. God doesn’t change. He remains the same yesterday, today and forever! A little faith can move mountains. And God is not removed from us, even though we do not see Him physically, but only with the eyes of faith. He is “our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1) “As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds His people from this time forth and forever.” (Psalm 125:2)

“I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you I will curse.” (Gen. 12:3) The nations need to take heed. There is a day of reckoning coming when their destinies will be determined on the basis of how they relate to the Jewish people. Their failure to believe that God is true to His Word will be at their peril.

So Bless, be blessed and be a blessing. Happy Purim!

Marvin