Purim and objections

 Esther Answers your objections

A lesson from the Bible

Book of Esther

Purim 2023

By Bob Mendelsohn

Introduction

Shabbat shalom to my friends here at Yeshua Tsidkenu. I am grateful for the opportunity to spend time with you and to enjoy Jewish holidays and singing and prayers. For some of you, however, there are many reasons not to believe in God. I wonder if we could take a few minutes to consider those. Maybe on this Shabbat, as we finished with the story of Purim this week and begin to prepare our homes and our lives to think about Passover, the topic of God and faith in him is a bit too much for some of us. After all, there is a war going on in Ukraine and a war happening in many other hot spots in the world. Mexico and Brazil, Ethiopia and Myanmar… no country is entirely safe from harm or from wars. Even here in Sydney we have our own troubles, and the news each day shows us how so many people are angry and protesting, people are shooting and hurting each other with knives, while most of us are simply trying to live our lives the best way we know. Is it ok for us to spend a few minutes thinking about God and answering the questions some have… why should we believe in God anyway?

If we are honest, each of us, both believers and sceptics, have had doubts, and many of them are with good reason. For instance, how can there be just one true religion, or how could a good God allow suffering? And some people find hypocrites in the religious world to be a mockery of a loving God while others think science has disproved religion completely. 

May I say that I believe there are good answers to these objections, if we will open our ears and open our hearts to each other. And for some of you, that’s a big request. Will you listen? Will you consider alternate thinking?

As we studied the story of Purim, the tale of the brave Queen Esther and her uncle Mordecai, the righteous leader of the Jewish community in Shushan Persia over 2,000 years ago, we actually heard some answers to those sceptics’ questions. 

For instance, according to the megillah, that is, the scroll on which the story of Esther is written, the great turnaround happened when the evil Haman plotted to kill all the Jews and convinced the King Ahashuerus of Persia to allow this to happen. Horrible! But God intervened, Esther begged, the king was convinced, and all the Jews were spared. The Bible says, “For the Jews there was light and gladness and joy and honour. In every province and city, wherever the king’s decree arrived, there was gladness and joy for the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many among the peoples of the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews had fallen on them.” (8.16-17)

You see, people changed their religion, right there in Persia, and all the provinces from Egypt and Ethiopia over to modern Iran, because they saw the hand of God saving the Jewish people. No one was forced to convert; the people chose because God is alive. And he works for his people. 

That same event occurred when the Jewish people were leaving Egypt 1,000 years before the Purim story. God performed miracles for us and as a result the fear of us was spread by rumours in neighbouring countries. 

As Moses died, Joshua became the leader of the Jewish people. We read this in Jericho.

“Rahab came up to them on the roof, and said to the men, “I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings who were beyond the Jordan, whom you utterly destroyed. When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.” (Joshua 2.8-11)

There is one true religion and it’s not any modern one. The true religion, the one that works, is a relationship with the Almighty. He alone is God; and being with Him, being forgiven, finding peace with him, that’s the key to a joyous freedom we could otherwise never know.

Some ask about suffering and how a good God could allow such. We title things ‘good’ and ‘bad’ and we often miss the point. For that, let me tell you a story.  It’s about a farmer and his neighbours. Once upon a time there was a farmer whose horse ran away. That evening, all of his neighbours came around to comfort him. They said, “We are so sorry to hear your horse has run away. This is most unfortunate.” The farmer said, “Maybe.”

The next day the horse came back bringing seven wild horses with it, and in the evening everybody came back and said, “Oh, isn’t that lucky. What a great turn of events. You now have eight horses!” The farmer again said, “Maybe.”

The following day his son tried to tame one of the horses, and while riding it, he was thrown off and broke his leg. The neighbours then said, “Oh dear, that’s too bad,” and the farmer responded, “Maybe.”

The next day the army officers came around to take young men into the army, and they rejected the farmer’s son because he had a broken leg. Again all the neighbours came around and said, “Isn’t that great!” Again, he said, “Maybe.”

Listen, the whole process of nature is an integrated process of great complexity, and it’s almost impossible to tell whether anything that happens in it is good or bad — because you never know what will be the consequence of the misfortune; or, you never know what will be the consequences of good fortune.

We are quick to label certain situations as “bad” if we dislike it. And “good” if we like it. But this kind of thinking doesn’t always serve us well.

In the story of Esther, Haman’s plot to kill all the Jews looked hopeless especially when the edict came from the king to make that happen. Oh, no how terrible, you would think. Suffering in the people will end the Jewish nation. But after fasting and prayer by his people, God changed the situation and what looked like evil, God turned to good. We simply don’t know how everything works. 

Corrie Ten Boom was a Dutch Christian who was held in a Nazi camp in World War 2. Her stories are legend about God’s plans overriding the plans of evil people. 

She told a story about a tapestry. As she spoke, she slowly unfolded the purple cloth in her hands and revealed hundreds of strings tied in knots and pulled through the cloth.  It all looked so random.  She showed the children how the strings didn’t seem to make sense from where they sat at her feet on the floor in the lounge room.  

“That’s the whole point,” she exclaimed.  She said it was because of our limited vision, our limited perspective of what God is doing in our lives, that we question Him.  

At that point Tante (aunt) Corrie slowly turned the purple tangled mess around to reveal a beautiful tapestry:  a crown of gold with multi-coloured jewels. 

“This” she said, “is what God sees….from His perspective….a masterpiece!”  

 

In the book of Esther we see the whole story, while the people IN the story did not know the ending when it was happening. We title things ‘suffering’ and ‘troubles’ and ‘unfair’ and ‘wrong’ and God has things under control in very different ways. A wise man, like the farmer, says ‘maybe.’ 

Science is hostile to the Bible

Like I said at the beginning, there are answers to our objections, if we are open-minded and will open our hearts. There are answers to the objection about science. I myself graduated from university in the USA and taught high school mathematics; and I love science. Everything I’ve ever read about facts and biology, about physics and quantum mechanics reminds me that there is a single Designer of the universe who not only began a good work in Creation, but also wants to help us if we will let him.

Everything the archaeologists find substantiates the words of the Bible. They never knock them back.  The Bible is not a science book, but what it does teach is that we can have confidence in the God of knowledge, the God of hope, the God who answers all our deepest questions about himself.

Invitation

I tell you these words today, especially for sceptics, that you might know that the Bible is true; the word of God, Yeshua our Messiah spoke the Truth and embodies the Truth; He said of himself, “I am the Truth” (John 14.6) Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as some of our ancestors did in the wilderness. 

The story of Mordecai and Esther gives me hope. Hope that the God who is behind-the-scenes, and whose name is never mentioned in the Bible book named Esther, is nonetheless front and centre, available to any and all of us who call upon him, who call upon him in Truth.

Purim is the time of year when we again remember that the enemies of the Jewish people want to kill us, and yet, God preserved us. 

If Haman had his way; if Pharaoh had his way; if Hitler had his way, if any anti-Semite has their way, we would not exist. And yet WE DO EXIST. And there are 7 million Jews in Israel today; 6 million in the US today and over 100,000 in Australia. Even so; He wants to preserve you. Receive Yeshua as your Messiah and be saved. Today. Just now. Let God preserve you into eternity.        Do you want to do that just now? Send me a note. Please.

 

 

Joy, what it is and how to keep it

 

To be given at the LCJE AustralAsia conference

6 March 2023

Shalom friends. I’m glad I get to share with you about one of my favourite topics of all time. Joy. What it is and how to keep it. Especially considering the ministry we share with our Jewish people. 

I’ve been involved in ministry since 1971, since that Monday night when I got saved in May that year, under a full moon. I found something; I found eternal life. I hugged the woman who shared Yeshua with me. I left her and went back to my parents to tell them the good news that Yeshua was our Messiah. They were smart; they were Jewish; they were not academics in the Jewish religion, but surely, they would be interested. Right?

Not at all. I got the boot, and was kicked out of my family home after being born and raised there for 19 years.

Joy? You’ve got to be kidding. How do I talk about that when the rejection and pain were so severe? 

Now, for those in Kansas City, this year especially, it’s easy. After the victory of the Kansas City Chiefs over the equally good Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl that took place only a few weeks ago. Super Bowl 57 lived up to its hype and what made it especially fun for me is that my wife and I wore red and white, sat glued to the television coverage, and helped get our boys over the line for another victory. Joy. Celebration. Laughter. High fives. You get it. 

Sports often afford us the opportunity to celebrate. I remember the Sydney Swans, my chosen Aussie Rules football side, came within one game of winning the same coveted glory in last year’s Grand Final here in Melbourne. The team (which by the way also wears red and white) came up short and finished 2^nd in the end. OK, Geelong came in 1^st, and my Swans 2^nd… not bad. Joy? Didn’t really feel the same last October as after the Chiefs victory. 

Some Yiddish words speak to me about joy. For instance, kvel. To gush or swell with immense pride and pleasure, most commonly over the achievement of a child or another family member. That gives me joy just thinking aloud about that. And remembering my six grandsons and the joy they give me. Often.

Or the word simcha meaning a happy occasion, that which gives pleasure. Remember the story told by Leo Rosten in Joys of Yiddish. “It’s said that Hitler, disturbed by nightmares called in a soothsayer. The seer consulted a crystal ball and said, “Ah, mighty Fuhrer, it is foretold that you will die on a Jewish holiday.” “Which one” said Hitler with a scowl. The seer replied, “Any day that you die will be a Jewish holiday.” (page 376)

Nachas and kvel are similar. One rabbi likes to joke that Mondays and Thursdays on which the long tachanun prayer is usually said, but when that day coincides with a simcha, the tachanun is not said. That, the rabbi said is the epitome of yiddishe naches. The same goes for when one has eaten an entire meal to satisfaction but, because one has not eaten bread, is only required to say the short borey nefoshes as the concluding blessing. Ah, the joys of not having to say longer prayers. Funny, eh?

No matter the context, joy really matters, whether it’s due to your sports team, your grandchildren, or because you can get away with shorter prayers to the Almighty. 

Is that what I want to talk with you about today? Or is joy something more than that? 

In the book, The Book of Joy, penned by Jewish man Douglas Abrams but mostly the conversations of the Dalai Lama and the Archbishop Tutu of South Africa, the Dalai Lama said, “Joy is the reward, really, of seeking to give joy to others. When you show compassion, when you show caring, when you show love to others, do things for others, in a wonderful way you have a deep joy that you can get in no other way.”

In that same book Desmond Tutu said this, ““Discovering more joy does not save us from the inevitability of hardship and heartbreak. In fact, we may cry more easily, but we will laugh more easily too. Perhaps we are just more alive. Yet as we discover more joy, we can face suffering in a way that ennobles rather than embitters. We have hardship without becoming hard. We have heartbreaks without being broken.”

What is joy, in your definition? 

I remember Stuart Briscoe, a British minister who died in his chosen state in Wisconsin in the US last year, said something like this in a sermon given at Jesus ‘73, a three-day festival like Woodstock, but for the Jesus Generation, in Pennsylvania.  He was talking about the difference between joy and happiness. He said, “Happiness happens when happenings happen to happen the way you want them to happen.” I remember his smile when he said that to the multitudes that day. Contrast that with joy, which Briscoe called a God-given alternative, one that was not governed by happenings! He even called the Older Testament a case history. Even an O.T. story of God's dealings with His unhappy people.

For me, joy is finding satisfaction in my daily life, not based on random actions of my sport team, or of a horse running in a race, even one that stops the nation in November, but rather of taking life on life’s terms, and sharing my life with others, with those who cannot repay you, with the real and the nearby, the far and the phony. If you share God’s love with others, and this is my testimony, you will find joy, unspeakable and full of beauty. 

Over 200 times in the OT the word is used, most musically in Jeremiah when he predicted that the bride and the groom would have the voice of gladness and the voice of joy.  Then again another 100 references to joy are in the Newer Testament, the first time it is coupled with the birth of Yeshua and showcases the response of the magi, those Gentile kings from the Orient. “When the magi saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.” (Matthew 2.10)

The curse on the Jewish people in Deuteronomy’s tochacha is found in chapter 28. The cause of the curse, we read, “Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything.” (Dt. 28.47)

As Jews we can read that and feel guilt and shame. We fall short. We fail. We can make ourselves crazy with intention and admission of dereliction of duty, but sisters and brothers here at LCJE, the reality is that we are also New Covenant people. And remember that one-ninth of the Fruit of the Spirit is joy, along with love and self-control and peace. That’s what God wants to grow in each of us. In me. In you. Do you believe this? Joy grows. 

How do we keep our joy after all these years? Every once in a while, look at the Bible. Look at the Messiah. “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, and the things of earth will go strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.” It’s not about what happens. It’s about what happened already. He came. He taught. He healed. He loved. He forgave. He still loves. He died and rose again. And one day he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.

For that day we long and until that day, may you and I continue to find joy, for “the joy of the Lord is truly our strength.” (Neh. 8.10)