by Rod Thomas | Apr 19, 2016 | Podcasts
Purim–The Providence of God
Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections–Episode 54
In Purim-The Providence of God:
Then Mordekai commanded to answer Hadassah: “Think not with yourself that you shall escape in the king’s house more than all the Yahudiym. For if you altogether hold your peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Yahudiym from another place. But you and your father’s house shall be destroyed. And who knows whether you are come to the kingdom for such a time as this? (Ecter/Esther 4:13, 14-Cepher)
A Scroll of the Megillah of Hadassah
At this juncture of the Purim story, as we’ve been examining it over the course of the last couple months, we have entered a crisis period. The chapters and verses prior to chapter 4 prepped us for the real meat and potatoes of the story that is to come for the remainder of this megillah. In episode 52–we came across Mordekai discovering Haman’s extermination plot for the Jewish nation and Mordekai responding to this royal decree in the most profound manner depicted in Scripture: he wailed in the greatest of sorrow; rent his garment; donned sackcloth and laid in ashes in the midst of Shusan (aka Susa) the city (the capitol of the Medo-Persian Empire). Although chapter 4 of this megillah reveals that the whole of the Empire’s Jews mourned upon learning of the nation’s pending genocide, the focus of this chapter is Mordekia. The writer of this megillah takes us up close and personal with this man and we are exposed to Mordekai’s obvious sorrow. A sorrow so profound that the principle character of our story at this juncture resorted to the most compelling act of mourning described in Scripture: the renting of his garment, the donning of sackcloth and dwelling in ashes. Josephus’ record of this pivotal event is read as follows: “A nation that had been injurious to no man was to be destroyed as he cried throughout the city of Susa.” (Josephus 11.6.7)
Mordecai mourning in sackcloth and ashes before the palace gates
So let’s put things into a proper perspective at this juncture of the story: We have a posted edict announcing the coming genocide or extermination of the Jewish nation within the coming year. In response to this edict, the nation mourns their pending death, some dressed in sackcloth and laying in ashes—the traditional method of mourning in Hebrew ancient culture. Despite the entirety of the Jewish nation mourning over this edict, the writer of this megillah focused primarily upon Mordecakai. For good reason obviously. For Mordekai held the greatest direct responsibility for Haman’s edict directed against the Jews as he, during Haman’s exaltation throughout the city of Shusan, refused to pay the stipulated homage for the man. We learned that the customary show of homage in the ancient near east towards potentates was to prostrate one’s self before them or somewhere within their presence, especially when that potentate would pass or transit by the subjects. For whatever reason, Mordekai refused to honor Haman as the rest of the city’s subjects freely did. Obviously, as we saw, word of Mordekai’s insubordination reached the ears of Haman, who in turn, actually witnessed Mordecai’s insubordination for himself. Haman’s rage over Mordekai’s lack of respect for him, led him to seek revenge, not just against Mordekai who in all fairness should be the sole focus of Haman’s ire, but hey, what the heck, why not take revenge against every Jew in Achoshverosh’s 127-provinces.
At this juncture of the Purim story, as we’ve been examining it over the course of the last couple months, we have entered a crisis period. The chapters and verses prior to chapter 4 prepped us for the real meat and potatoes of the story that is to come for the remainder of this megillah. In episode 52–we came across Mordekai discovering Haman’s extermination plot for the Jewish nation and Mordekai responding to this royal decree in the most profound manner depicted in Scripture: he wailed in the greatest of sorrow; rent his garment; donned sackcloth and laid in ashes in the midst of Shusan (aka Susa) the city (the capitol of the Medo-Persian Empire). Although chapter 4 of this megillah reveals that the whole of the Empire’s Jews mourned upon learning of the nation’s pending genocide, the focus of this chapter is Mordekia. The writer of this megillah takes us up close and personal with this man and we are exposed to Mordekai’s obvious sorrow. A sorrow so profound that the principle character of our story at this juncture resorted to the most compelling act of mourning described in Scripture: the renting of his garment, the donning of sackcloth and dwelling in ashes. Josephus’ record of this pivotal event is read as follows: “A nation that had been injurious to no man was to be destroyed as he cried throughout the city of Susa.” (Josephus 11.6.7)
Verse 4 reads: “So Hadassah’s maids and her chamberlains (in Hebrew it is written as Eunuch) came and told it her (speaking of Mordekai’s demeanor and mournful behavior). Then was the queen exceedingly grieved; and she sent raiment to clothe Mordekai and to take away his sackcloth from him—but he received it not.”
So word of Mordekai’s state reached the ears of Hadassah through members of her staff. I found it interesting how Hadassah’s love and loyalty for Mordekai never faded, despite Hadassah’s elevated-royal status. To me, it is a lesson and example for us in that we must never see ourselves as having arrived (that is, we are now Hebrew Roots and those of you who are not are not worth my time) and if by chance we take on such a position in life, that we do not neglect those whom Father has placed in our lives—unless, that is, the Ruach leads us to such an end. We must always be responsive and quick to act on behalf of our brothers and sisters, especially those in the Faith. I’ve noticed that we tend to drop family and friends when we come into Hebrew Roots—typically for obvious reasons of estrangement because of our stated Faith and adopted new way of life. But on the flip side of this equation, it would stand to reason that we are to be a light and the salt of the earth as referenced in Matthew 5:13-16 which reads: “Ye are the salt of the earth—but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a menorah; and it gives light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Cepher)
Hadassah contemplating the situation
Hathak is the intermediary between the queen and Mordekai, since Mordekai could not enter the palace proper and also given that the queen was likely not a public figure, but was more of a “kept” person behind the palace walls. It’s quite possible, however, that the queen liked it this way—being isolated from the public and the common folk. But it certainly gives rise to a reminder and warning of our own personal life situations: we must always avoid being too isolated and “out of touch” with the world around us. If we are called to be disciples of Messiah and lights and salt to the world, we can not accomplish our mission with our proverbial heads in the sand. We must know what is going on around us. And whatever it is that we need to do to stay in touch and in the know, we absolutely should strive to make it happen. One of the problems facing us as a people of faith, especially in this country today, is our isolationist mindset and behavior, that the government and general public sees as suspicious and quite frankly, even dangerous. Some news sources of late have reported that our very own federal government has labeled people of faith as potential terrorists and in some sectors of the federal government, plans have been made to address us as terrorists in the event the United States undergoes some form of national unrest or insurrection. So I believe we’ve got to get out there and not be so isolated. The Apostle Shaul wrote to the Roman Assembly: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of Yahuah, what is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:2—ESV)” Then to the Philippian Assembly he wrote: “that you may be blameless and innocent children of Yahuah without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15–ESV). But most of us, as it relates to being aware of that which is going on around us, shy away from knowledge of current events. But Shaul seems to say that we should dwell in this world—for which we have no other choice—but dwell in this world as transformed beings and disciples of Master Yahusha that are not of this world. How can we be of assistance to this world if we avoid understanding what is going on in the world? We become of no earthly good to anyone. Yet, through the leading and indwelling of Father’s precious Ruach HaKodesh, we can function just fine in this world and not compromise our Faith. The clue for success in this effort comes from Yahusha who instructed us to “…be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16—ESV).
Remnants of Susa Palace in Ancient Babylon
The story begins to become a bit more engaging as we see in the next few verses that the queen’s perceived influences may be somewhat overstated. It reads: “Again Hadassah spoke unto Hathak and gave him commandment unto Mordekai: All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces do know that whosoever, whether man or woman shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days. And they told to Mordekai Hadassah’s words. Then Mordekai commanded to answer Hadassah: Think not with yourself that you shall escape in the king’s house more than all the Yahudiym. For if you altogether hold your peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Yahudiym from another place, but you and your father’s house shall be destroyed (word of knowledge maybe???). And who knows whether you are come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (verses 10-14)
So it would seem that Hadassah initially was not inclined to be a “malefactor” over something that in the bigger scheme of things, she likely felt didn’t or wouldn’t directly affect her.
The simple fact that Achoshverosh had not called for Hadassah is highly suggestive that our friend King Achoshverosh was preoccupied with his considerable harem of women. Don’t forget, it had not been too long before this incident that the kingdom held a great beauty contest that Hadassah was forced to participate in. So Achoshverosh was in no way hard-up for female companionship. This subtle, but glaring likelihood stands to remind us that Achoshverosh would always be a paganistic heathen who was consumed with sex, alcohol and his exceeding wealth, power and sense of self-greatness. We tend to ignore or dismiss these human frailties of Achoshverosh because he ultimately sides with Hadassah against Haman and ultimately saves the Jewish nation. But proper perspective and context must never be abandoned by the student of Scripture. For we realize that Father uses whom He so chooses or wills in order to accomplish His purpose. (Reference Romans 8:28; 9:14-18; Isaiah 55:11)
Nevertheless, there was a law in place that prevented Hadassah from entering in to the king’s presence uninvited and unannounced. Such a law is stifling and strict and in keeping with the inflexibility of Persian edicts and protocols. (Reference Jameson Fausett and Brown Commentary) Consequently, this law seems to apply to the queen, which somewhat assaults our western sensibilities, as our concept of marriage and the relationship between the man and woman of that marriage union would naturally supersede such a hindering law. Could you imagine the fallout in the White House if Michelle Obama was unconditionally and altogether restricted from seeing or addressing her husband the president for any length of time? Yet Hadassah was suffering from the severity of this law, especially as it would pertain to this most dire situation. (Reference Jameson Fausett and Brown Commentary) However, pushing aside for discussion sake the conspiratorial theory that Haman was behind this estrangement, we can safely surmise that the primary cause of this estrangement or alienation was a combination of alcoholism, sexual addition and political pandering and manipulation (to a natural and reasonable degree—not insidious).
Purim–A Display of God’s Providence
In these two-verses, we see Mordekai scold Hadassah; that her lofty position of convenience and security was not entirely as it would seem to her at the moment. The fact that she had been distant from Achoshverosh for a month; the fact that former Queen Vashti was so easily disposed of by the king just a short time ago—makes it clear that everyone is expendable in life—that no one is indispensable, including she—Hadassah. Despite her being an exalted queen of the Persian Empire, over 127-provinces, she remained a Jew, vulnerable to the enemy—vulnerable to hasatan, who sought to exterminate the Jew and sever the bloodline leading to the coming Messiah.
Despite Yahuah’s name or any reference to Him at all being in this megillah, it is crystal clear that Father’s hands are all over this thing. Turns out Hadassah was in fact placed into the kingdom as queen to be a vessel for Yah to deliver His people from destruction and to keep intact the blood line that would ultimately lead to the birth of our Master, Yahushua Messiah.
Matthew Henry, a well know bible scholar and commentator, wrote the following: “Because the Lord loved His people, therefore He made Hadassah queen. There is a wise counsel and design in all the providences of God, which is unknown to us till it is accomplished, but it will prove, in the issue that they are all intended for, and centered in, the body–my word in place of church.”
What is the take away from this portion of the Purim story? The take away is that we are all placed in various life situations for some divine purpose. It is our job to realize this—to be cognizant of this—to be on-call and ready in a heartbeat to respond when called–and in the interim we must figure out what our purpose and our responsibilities are in response to that life situation that exists in association to our divinely appointed positions. We must never, however, get too comfortable in our lives and seek to shirk our divinely appointed duties and responsibilities; that our spiritual eyes are clear and open and are capable of seeing and recognizing each and every one of those divinely appointed opportunities whenever they present themselves.
Music by DanOMusic
Faithfully Submitted by Rod Thomas
A Ministry of Qumran Family Church–Encouraging You In Righteous Living While Contending for the Faith Once Delivered to the First Century Saints by Y’shua Messiah. Shalom. Shavu’atov
The Name of our Creator:
Yahovah, Yahuah, Yahweh
The Name of our Saviour and Son of the Most High
Yahshua, Yeshua, Yahoshua, Yahusha
by Rod Thomas | Apr 5, 2016 | Podcasts
Purim–Mourning in Sackcloth and Ashes
Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections 52
Well, we can say that we’re still in the Purim season as we work through the latter half of this Adar Bet—the 13th Month of the Biblical Calendar year—and I would refer you to STAR episodes 49 and 51 where I discussed the issue of the Adar Bet. But as I record and publish this episode, we find ourselves just under a month away from Passover and I wanted to take this opportunity to spend more time on Purim before the Passover season officially begins. As I mentioned in episode 47, Purim is NOT one of the seven mandated Feasts of Yahovah that we find listed in Leviticus 23. Of course the Festival or Holiday of Purim would not be mentioned in Torah because the historical events that formed the basis of the Purim holiday would not occur for another 900-years or so beyond the giving of Torah to Moshe by Yahovah. Purim became a Jewish Festival or holiday on the fiat or by direction of Queen Ecter/Haddash and her cousin Mordecai after the Haman controversy, which we will discuss in future episodes of this Purim series, was resolved through the providence and grace of Yahovah. So no, Father never mandated or instructed us to keep or observe this festival and certainly I would be remiss or possess great hubris to push Purim observance or celebration on any Netzarim or Hebrew Rooter. What I will say, however, is that Father in His infinite wisdom has allowed us the opportunity to have record of these tremendous, spiritually and prophetically significant historical events—such as Hanukkah and Purim—for our edification and development. Although the great Apostle Shaul wrote the following passage concerning the events and associated conflicts that took place in the Exodus and in the Sinai Desert, the premise of this passage certainly applies to the megillah of Ecter and the Jewish Festival of Purim. Shaul wrote:
Now these things happened to them as an example, but athey were written down for our instruction, bon whom the end of the ages has come. (1Co 10:11 ESV)
George Santayana, a mid-19th century Spanish philosopher, poet and novelist, will forever be remembered for his great quote: (paraphrasing)—”Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” I believe this quotation and mindset is certainly befitting of Purim and the story of Ecter. Like Hanukkah, Purim details critical historical events that almost resulted in the extinction of the Jews and if that extinction were to have taken place, the bloodline leading to the birth of our Master Y’shua would have been severed and the redemption plan hindered. Oh, one could certainly argue that the Father, in His infinite wisdom, would have made provisions for His Plan to redeem man to ultimately succeed despite the best laid plans of man and hasatan–and indeed this did happen in both instances of Hanukkah and Purim—for the plans of hasatan and Haman were foiled by Yahovah’s providence and grace. But the point that must not be overlooked in the debate over plans of the Father conceivably being foiled by hasatan or whether Father would ever allow His plans for man to be destroyed by hasatan, is that the enemy is constantly on the prowl and seeking ways to destroy Yahovah’s people. The examples of Hanukkah and Purim provide the people of Yahovah with examples of how we must live and avoid the snares of the enemy; as well as they provide us with invaluable instruction on how we too must live our lives in complete trust and faith in the Creator and thus defeat the works of hasatan as we live out these last days and the end of our present age. So the celebration of Jewish festivals such as Hanukkah and Purim serve to remind us of the acts of faith and obedience that were fulfilled by those who came centuries before us. Those acts of faith and obedience serve as crucial life-lessons for us who are servants and children of the Most High. Again, when we fail to remember the failures and tragedies of the past, we are condemned to repeat it.
Churchianity, through the workings of hasatan, have not only rejected and forgotten the ancillary festivals of Purim and Hanukkah, but they’ve also rejected and forgotten the 7-mandated Feasts of Yahovah. So what has been the fallout from the Christian’s rejections and ignoring of these Feasts and Festivals: an inability to understand the foundational requirements Father places upon His people such as obedience to His laws; how to love Him and how to love one another; what our sole purpose as His servants are in the earth today; and what our ultimate potential as Father’s redeemed creation will be. Purim reminds us each calendar year, as we stop to really re-visit the story, learn the valuable spiritual lessons contained therein. So far, we’ve covered just the first 3-chapters where we gained some understanding of what it takes to become a Bride of the King, or in our case, the Bride of Messiah. Additionally, although we did not specifically discuss it, we saw how alcoholism can have adverse effects upon one’s life and the lives of those who are within that alcoholic’s individual circle of influence. In chapter 1 of Ecter, we saw how unbridled alcohol consumption on the part of Achoshverosh—King of the Medo-Persian Empire–resulted in his embarrassment before the elite of his 127-provinces when Queen Vashti refused to respond to his drunken command to make an appearance before the party attendees. This embarrassing incident resulted in Achoshverosh’s divorce from Vashti and then a few years later, the creation of a beauty contest and development of a harem that would tear apart countless families across the entire Medo-Persian realm. This was the beauty contest that Hadassah found herself forced to participate in. These women would never have families of their own. You will not find very many ministers of Churchianity making the link between alcoholism and the story of Ecter, but rest assured, the link does in fact exist. Furthermore, we find that Achoshverosh’s drinking problem resulted in him blindly agreeing to Haman’s plan to exterminate the Jews. The plan was struck during a bout of drinking between Haman and Achoshverosh. Certainly, alcoholism is a scourge that affects all segments of our secular and Faith-based societies even today. Alcohol is an effective tool of the enemy that he obviously uses to destroy the lives of men and their families, especially the lives of Yahovah’s chosen people. In this case, as we will see, it was Achoshverosh’s drinking problem that nearly led to the extinction of the Jewish nation.
In chapter 4 of the megillah of Ecter, we are exposed to the unimaginable drama that resulted from the posting of the extermination order drafted by Haman, backed by the power and might of King Achoshverosh and his Medo-Persian Army. Although the extermination order would potentially affect every Jew in the Medo-Persian realm, this chapter focused primarily on Mordecai’s reaction to the extermination order. The text reads:
“When Mordekai perceived all that was done, Mordekai rent his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, and went out into the midst of the city and cried with a loud voice and a bitter cry; and came even before the king’s gate: for none might enter into the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. And in every province, whitersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Yahudiym, and fasting and weeping and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.” (vss. 1-3)
Every Jew reading Haman’s edict against them as a nation realized that they had but just one year before their lives would be extinguished under the might and power of the Medo-Persian Empire. This realization spread throughout the Empire like wildfire as Jew after Jew no doubt felt that bitter and nauseating pit form in the core of their stomachs as they either read or had read to them or heard second or third-hand of this execution order. Certainly, this was not the first time, nor would it be the last time, that the nation would face total and utter extermination at the hands of a powerful people and their government. We endured bitter bondage while we sojourned in Egypt, always just an edict away from our nation being exterminated. As we traveled across the Sinai Desert we faced destruction from the Amalekites but by the grace of Yah we were delivered. While we sorjoruned in the Land of Israel we faced extermination at the hands of the Philistines but by the protective hands of Yah and His deliverers, we prevailed. The Assyrians and Babylonians both came close to destroying our people but Yah’s providence and grace would have the final say. Later would come the Greeks and the Romans and then the German Nazis—all agents of hasatan, bent on destroying Yah’s people. Granted, Yah in His sovereignty and wisdom and will would often use these powerful nations to teach us a lesson and bring us back to Himself, there would always be another enemy standing at the door, ready and willing to destroy us, the people of Yahovah. And not just the Jews mind you. The true people of Yahovah have always, throughout the last 2-millennia, been just a heartbeat away from total annihilation at the hands of the crazies of this world, who would ceremoniously use the bible and their twisted understanding of the Person and purpose of the Son of God, to justify their evil against Yah’s chosen.
But for Mordekai and the Jews of the 127 providences of Achoshverosh’s kingdom, upon hearing about or reading the extermination order against them, what can one say when the reality of the matter finally pierces through one’s understanding—that you and everyone you’ve ever loved has but just one year to live—then, one can but only wail as if experiencing the most dire pain and loss one could ever imagine. That wail leads then to the tearing away of one’s garment and collapsing to the ground in an inconsolable heap of weeping humanity. And if that weren’t enough, one is compelled to do the only other thing besides wailing that we’ve ever known to do in such dire situations: to lower ourselves to wearing sackcloth and to lay in ashes. This desperate act of profound and utter mourning was our natural response to seemingly unsolvable life-threatening situations such as this. What other means was there for one to coax the very attention of the Creator of the Universe and provoke Him to act on our behalf because of His unfailing love for us as His people—albeit His prodigal children–than to wail in mourning and to lay in sackcloth and ashes? As Mordekai and his fellow Jews saw it, this was the obvious end to our nation; our people; our way of life. Certainly it was always conceivable that a much stronger nation would someday come along and take advantage of our weakened state throughout various times in our history. Oh, we would always tell ourselves that this would never happen—that Yah would always stay true to His Word to protect and deliver us from all hurt, harm and danger. But we were also cognizant of the fact that we had not been the most loyal and obedient of people and that we’d violated the Creator’s Torah as a nation throughout our history so often that Yah’s Spirit physically left the Temple and we were left defenseless and ripe for utter destruction—reference Ezekiel 10. Yes Yah was true to His word to protect and deliver us throughout our history as a nation, but when we were true to Him and His Torah. We’d gotten away from Torah and had grown fat and obtuse to Yah’s way—Yah’s Torah—so much so that we’d forgotten about Him and His Torah altogether—reference Deuteronomy 32:15—
”But Jesurun (Jacob in the LXX; Israel in the NLT) grew fat and kicked; you grew fat, stout, and sleek (Kasah=sated, gorged); then he forsook Yah who made him and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.” ESV
Mordekai had the greatest emotional burden to bear over this thing than any other, for it was as a result of His refusal to prostrate himself whenever Haman were to pass by him. But for whatever reason—Mordekai’s knowledge that Haman was a villainous Agagite or that he, Mordekai, remained devout in His Faith towards Yah and would never be found prostrating himself before men—Mordekai would not bow before Haman. And Mordekai knew within his very being that this pending act of genocide against His people was as a result of his insolence. It’s one thing to be responsible for something that gets oneself or one or two other people in hot water with the authorities. It’s an entirely different thing on an entirely different level, to be directly responsible for the pending deaths of all the members of one’s nation. What more can one do beyond mourn and repent and seek Yah’s deliverance from this dire situation?
How often have we found ourselves in situations that have the potential of negatively impacting our own lives and the lives of the people we love? I look back to my younger years and I see times when I made really bad decisions that resulted in problems for my family and I. I recall one incident in particular when I arrogantly ignored that which I knew I should do to avoid the trials and tribulations that were certain to come, but thought and felt that I would somehow, under my own strength and intelligence, come out of the thing smelling like a rose. Unfortunately, I came out of the situation smelling like a land fill and my family and I would face one of the greatest challenges of our family’s existence. The results of my “insolence” if you will, almost tore my family to shreds. Did I go down into deep repentance and seek deliverance and protection for my family and I? I’m so terribly sad to say that I did not. I was so much into myself, carrying around for all to see a misguided self-confidence that I believed that I would be able to escape the penalty of my actions (or inactions) and that my family and I would come out of the situation in better shape than when we entered the situation. Turns out that my stupidity and my refusal to repent and seek the Face of Father resulted in years of hardship for my beloved wife and children and for myself. If anything can be learned from this situation involving Mordekai and the Jewish nation, it is that Mordekai knew which side of the bread his toast was buttered. He knew that the only path that he could enter, with at least some modicum or chance for survival for him and his people, was Yah. Thus Mordekai sought the attention of Father through profound mourning and repentance which is a common characteristic of Yah’s people when they find themselves in troubles.
What is the significance of Mordekai’s sackcloth and ashes emotional display? Well, the use of sackcloth and ashes in the Holy Writ, despite there being no true understanding of the origin of this Hebrew practice, was commonly used as a means of profound mourning by the people of Yahovah as well as a means of supplication and appeal for Father’s help to deal with a matter that could not be dealt with by the one seeking deliverance and help.
The first mention of the use of sackcloth for purposes of mourning is found in Genesis 37:34, where Jacob—Ya’aqov—is presented with tainted evidence of his son, Joseph’s–Yoceph’s, alleged death. It is a symbol of mourning. Sackcloth in Hebrew is “saq” which denotes a mesh sack of some sort. Fausset’s Bible Dictionary defines “sackcloth” as course dark goats’ hair that was used for sacks in the day. Sackcloth was used for close fitting raiment in mourning that was secured by a girdle.
David commanded Joab (i.e., commander of Israel’s army under David, who killed Absalom, and who was son of David’s sister, Zeruiah) and the host of people with him, to don sackcloth and mourn before Abner (commander of Saul’s army, cousin of Saul, who was murdered by Joab)—2 Samuel 3:31
Elijah (Eliyahu) pronounced Yahovah’s judgment upon Ahab (Ach’av), who “sold himself to work evil in the sight of Yahovah” (1 Kings 21:20) and causing Israel to sin (vs. 22), resulting in Ach’av doning sackcloth and fasting—vs. 27.
In fear of Sennacherib’s (King of Assyria’s) invasion of Judah, Judah’s King Hezekiah rent his clothes and covered himself in sackcloth and went into the Temple—2 Kings 19:1.
In mourning over his tribulations, Job sewed and donned sackcloth and laid his pride—laid his strength—in the dust of the earth—Job 16:15.
The people of Nineveh repented of their ways upon receiving Jonah’s call to the people of Nineveh to repent, resulting in the nation’s fasting and wearing of sackcloth—Jonah 3:5, 6.
The two-witnesses will prophecy 1,260-days, clothed in sackcloth, as recorded in Revelation 11:3.
Matthew records our Master as saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit for their’s is the kingdom of heaven.”
The average reader of this passage of the Holy Writ would read right over this passage and believe that our Master was speaking about those who are financially destitute and reliant upon the alms of those in society with financial means. However, the true, invested student of Yah’s written word, will not simply read over poor in spirit as being someone who is financially challenged. To the contrary, the poor in spirit is one who is a “spirit begger”: someone so poor they cannot work for spiritual gain. Add to that the concept of being contrite in spirit—a close cousin to being poor in spirit—which we find an example in Isaiah 66:2—ani, refers to one who trembles at Yahovah’s word. The NET Bible refers to the poor in spirit as the “pious poor.”
Of being “poor in spirit,” the great Bible Commentator Matthew Henry wrote:
“…to think meanly of ourselves; of what we are, and have and do…The broken and contrite spirit with which the publican cried for mercy to a poor sinner, is that poverty of spirit. We must call ourselves poor, because always in want of God’s grace, always begging at God’s door, always hanging on in His house…poverty of spirit is put first among the Christian graces…those who are weary and heavy laden, are the poor in spirit,” search for rest in Messiah.
We are primed for destruction because of our sins and our refusal to turn to Yahovah. It’s when we realize that we are deserving of eternal death that those of us who are profoundly knowing of our condemned status as human beings, that we rent/tear our spiritual clothes and we don our spiritual sackclothes and lay in ashes in utter embarrassment and contrition over our situation. We never forget our base situation despite realizing what Y’shua did for us and Father’s acceptance of us as one of His children.
It’s not until we get down to the level of mourning that we see, in Mordekai’s example, that we truly realize that our hope is built on nothing less than our Master’s blood and the right-standing that we can have before Father because of Master’s sacrifice—Romans 5:21; 8:30, 33. But we must first present ourselves to Yahovah with a contrite heart—we must become poor in spirit—before we realize—before we achieve–the Kingdom of Heaven. We must never think ourselves as having arrived, especially as Netzariym. We must always have within us, a sackcloth and ashes mentality as it relates to our redemption. We must never forget from wince we’ve come. Our Father responds positively to such a heart:
“Yahovah is nigh—kaw-robe—near—unto them that are of a broken heart and saves such as be of a contrite ruach—that is a crushed spirit.” (Psalms 34:18; cf. Isa. 66:2)
This is a life lesson that we must learn as the people—as children of the Most High. We can not presume that we can fix every situation we find ourselves through our own means and abilities. Most importantly, we must realize that our salvation—our redemption—draws nigh—Luke 21:28; and thus we must be cognizant of that which gets the Creator of the Universe’s attention and that is profound mourning in response to our depraved state being looked upon and addressed by Yahovah’s perfect grace—through the workings of His Son Y’shua HaMashiyach. I’m not suggesting at all that we exercise some contrived mourning ceremony to get Father’s attention. That would be entirely stupid and disingenuous. On the contrary: I’m suggesting that we each take a close look at our lives and see ourselves as Father sees us—sinful and needful: spiteful, bitter, mean, hateful, lustful, envious, selfish, without law and in opposition to Him and His ways. Yet Father stayed the course and held true to His promise of a redemption plan for all of mankind despite our thumbing our nose up at Him at every turn—even to this very time in human history. Contrary to Charismatic Christianity that teaches one to demand of the Creator’s attention and to claim that which obviously hasn’t been given to us, we are not in any position to demand anything of Father. We deserve death. But we’ve received the free gift of Father’s grace that has been poured out upon us through the sacrifice and work of His Son, Y’shua Messiah. All that is required of us to receive that free gift is to turn from our evil ways, give everything over to Father, and follow our Master and be obedient to Father’s commandments. This scenario does not lend itself to demanding things from the Creator as so many of our cousins in charismatic churchianity are prone to do on a regular basis. This practice is nothing more than a haughty, arrogant practice and exercise that was taught to them by their hell-bound overlords who stand to gain handsomely from their follower’s blind obedience to their teachings. The true servant of Yahovah is one that has freely committed their lives to the Creator of the Universe and obediently fulfilling His purpose in the earth forever. These realize that they are most fortunate to have come to the true knowledge of the Creator and His of ways. These realize that if not for Yah’s perfect grace, they’d be eternally lost; and thus they react to this knowledge from time to time with contrition and yearning for the Creator’s gentle touch and love.
Whether we don spiritual sackcloth and ashes today or not, the world will some day experience this level of spiritual mourning at the coming of the Son of Man:
“And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Adam in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the Son of Adam coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” (Matthew 24:30)
The earthly, maternal-biological brother of our Master Y’shua, Ya’aqov—James—wrote:
“Submit yourselves therefore to Yahovah. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to Yahovah and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands ye sinners and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted and mourn and weep—see the Mordekai sackcloth and ashes connection?—be afflicted, mourn and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of Yahovah and He shall lift you up.” (Ya’aqov—James 4:7-10)
by Rod Thomas | Mar 22, 2016 | Podcasts
Is the Hebrew Roots of the Christian Faith in a State of Crisis?
Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections Episode 50
Well, I have to tell you, I was hard-pressed and set to continue with the Purim series for this posting when I got tangled up with thoughts on the state, or for that matter, the condition of our beloved Faith, popularly referred to as Hebrew Roots. I became side-tracked with thoughts on the condition of our community and Faith when I asked myself, why do our cousins in Churchianity—that is nominal Christians—fail to see what we see in the bible? Why do they outright reject the greatest truths on the planet having to do with the relationship that must exist between the Creator and human-beings if one has notions of being “saved” and the life of obedience to the Word of Yahovah—contained in His Torah–that we have been tasked to lead? In other words, why do they outright reject Torah and reject us as followers of Y’shua Messiah?
It is evident to me that our cousins in Churchianity are at a severe disadvantage as it relates to not understanding the importance of the Hebrew Roots of the Faith Once Delivered. For when a Hebrew Rooter studies any Megillah (i.e., book or scroll) of the Tanakh, and that includes the Megillah of Ecter, we find whole new levels of truths contained in the sacred Word that our nominal Christian counterparts are, frankly, incapable of seeing. We see these nuances of truths that our Christian counterparts time-after-time fail to see. I believe, besides the simple fact that the greatest proportion of nominal Christians fail to actually take the time to read their bibles, they have been so indoctrinated into Churchianity and have adopted lock-stock and barrel the grace doctrine perversion, that they see us as threats to the security of their religion. I’ve not seen nearly the level of vitriol applied to our community by owners of the various anti-Hebrew Roots sights applied to another religion or Faith. It’s quite fascinating, yet at the same time, quite disappointing and disturbing.
You see, what I’ve found in my handful of years as a Hebrew Rooter, often trying to explain the where, why and what we stand for in our Faith, that the nominal Christian has absolutely no interest whatsoever in looking at the bible and their Faith from a holistic perspective. What do I mean by this? Well, quite simply, the Christian has erected a wall separating the Old and New Testaments and they’ve made it perfectly clear that the titles of these testaments—that is the old and new—are just that: one is the old, done-away documentary of their Faith; while the new is the constitution, the law, the government, the constitutional amendment to the old that is based primarily upon a twisted westernized—Pauline replacement theology—built upon their unsupportable perverted grace theology. Consequently, the only thing that applies to their nominal Christian lives is the manipulated teachings of the Apostle Paul, with maybe a smattering of Jesus Christ here and there. So no, the nominal Christian would be hard-pressed to delve into the Megillahs of Ecter and the other writings of the Tanakh. In eliminating the Tanakh from their spiritual diet, the average Christian is subsisting on spiritual candy and spiritual junk-food that if not halted at some point along the way, will result in their overall spiritual—and even physical—demise.
We, however, are fortunate to have been selected by Father to receive the endless—eternal riches—of His Word. Let’s face reality, we did not arrive to this point of our lives on our own. We were chosen by our Heavenly Father to be His special treasure; His elect. Rav Shaul (i.e., the Apostle Paul) stated this fact throughout his various writings: “Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord…” (Rom. 16:13, ESV); “But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong…” (I Cor. 1:27, ESV); “…even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before Him…” (Eph. 1:4, ESV); “But we ought always to give thanks to God for you brothers beloved by the Lord because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth” (II Thes. 2:13, ESV). Not to be left out of this “chosen of Yahovah” thinking, three other apostles spoke on this vitally important fact: “Listen my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?” (Jam. 2:5, ESV); “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light” (I Pet. 2:9, ESV); “They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with Him are called and chosen and faithful” (Rev. 17:14, ESV).
So saints, we have something to shout about today. This is the biggest news on the planet right now. With so much stuff and mess going on in the world today, isn’t it a blessing to know within the fibers of our being that we are chosen of the Creator of the Universe to be His unique, special and loved possession? If so, why then do we allow the cares of this life to bog us down? Why do we give in to the pressures of the outside world that influences us at every turn to abandon the life that Father has established for us? Why do we marginalize the Torah and the teachings of our Master Y’shua? Why do we choose relationships with people over the only relationship that matters—the relationship that we must have with our Heavenly Father? Why do we not read His Word on a daily basis? Why do we not rub the frowns from our faces and live and treat others as Y’shua admonished us to do? Why do we who know the truth—we who call ourselves Hebrew Rooters, have to be so angry and smug and full of ourselves to the point that the world finds us unapproachable, weird, crazy, misled, fallen from grace—everything but the witnesses to the world that Master instructed us to become? Our community and our Faith is in flux and I’m sorry to say, is in disarray. I see in our Faith a clear re-iteration of that which the Prophet Isaiah wrote back in the day: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him (i.e., a prophetic utterance of Y’shua Messiah) the iniquity of us all.” (Isa. 53:6, KJV)
We realize (or better, we should realize), contrary to the nominal Christian’s perspective, that the true constitution of our Faith and community is Torah. We further realize that Father sent His Son, Y’shua HaMashiyach, to us to not just atone for our sins and mend the broken bridge that has existed between the Creator and mankind since the garden tragedy, but He also taught us how to live holy and righteous lives in accordance with the spirit of Torah. Thus, we view the bible from a holistic perspective and having that understanding tucked under our spiritual belts, we are able to see the untold spiritual riches contained in books of the bible.
So we have so much going for us as a community and Faith, yet we’ve not reached our ultimate potential as that chosen and holy community of priests that Father so desires of us to be. We are fragmented and there is no stable understanding as to what we believe and where we’re heading as the true people of God. Our cousins in Churchianity have this whole thing already figured out and thus we are completely at a disadvantage in that respect. That is, they know who they are and they act and live accordingly. But for some reason, we don’t really understand what we are and whom we belong to. In fact, the Hebrew Roots Faith has become more of a closet space for those who are in search of the Hebrew Roots of the Christian Faith. Unfortunately, we’ve not been able to sort out the specifics—the doctrines, the understanding of that Faith that the Brother of our Lord Y’shua described in his general epistle. Not to mention, our Faith seems to me to be in crisis simply because we are all over the place as it relates to what we believe and it appears that we’re at each other’s throats half the time. It’s no wonder that if you do a simple Google search on the topic “Hebrew Roots,” you’ll see, conservatively speaking, that a good 80-90% of the websites that are listed on that search are extremely critical of us and our community. Now, that’s not to say that we should be fearful of persecution. Those that truly belong to Messiah will be persecuted. Y’shua stated to His disciples: “Remember the word I said to you…if they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you…” (Joh. 15:20, ESV) So Master has made it clear that when one embarks upon a true relationship with the Creator of the Universe and with Him, persecution comes with that territory. However, it would seem that our biggest problem is not our relationship with the Father and Y’shua, but more so, our biggest problem seems to be us. We have not done a good job defining our relationship to Torah and grace through the agency of Y’shua Messiah. As it stands, to the Christian world, we reject Christ in lieu of Judaism and the Law. And in some instances, one can see why the persecutors of our Faith feel that way. In the Messianic Jewish sector of our community, seems to show the world that they all but worship Torah. Additionally, we’ve seemed to all have adopted Jewish traditions and customs and in many cases, taken on Hebrew names. These are the ultra-orthodox of our Faith and community if you will. But then we have the extreme opposite who dabble in certain aspects of our Faith, but fail to commit to the Hebrew lifestyle. These individuals like the thought of rebelling against the Christian establishment and experimenting with the Feast Days, the Sabbath and the dietary laws. But these typically show up to the party, but at the first opportunity, they sneak out the back door, often never to be heard from again. I’ve found that these individuals are quick to grab hold to the latest ear-tickling inventions of the more charismatic and imaginative of our community’s lot. I’m talking about the lunar-solar-sabbath, flat earth, black-Israelitism, etc., etc., etc stuff that seems to be taking certain sectors of our community by storm these days. It’s crazy stuff and the people that fall for these schemes are what I’d call Hebrew Roots agnostics. These individuals know there is a God somewhere; they’re just not sure how that God fits into their worldview and lifestyle. So they are constantly in search for new truth and new revelation.
But then, there are all the others that sort of fit into the center of the spectrum along the sliding scale. I’d say I fit somewhere in there, albeit toward the conservative side of the spectrum. I don’t, however, subscribe in the least to Messianic Judaism. I wholly subscribe to honoring and obedience to Torah; the Hebrew names of the Creator and our Master; observance of the weekly Sabbath and the 7-Feasts or Moedim of Yahovah; the belief and understanding that the Gospel that Y’shua brought to us is that of the Kingdom of Yahovah; that He came to show us how to live Torah and that His sacrifice affords us the opportunity to have a true relationship with the Creator of the Universe. Furthermore, we are disciples of Master Y’shua who have been given a unique mission to make disciples of the nations of the world. (Reference: Matt. 28:19) We see this Faith as our life. It’s not a religion. Most of us have completely sold out to the Faith once delivered. To us, there is nothing else that matters. To us, we are led by the Ruach Kodesh in every aspect of our day-to-day lives. The Bible is our life’s instruction manual. We study and we pray and we fast significantly more than our counterparts. We are all about family—be it our home families or our Faith-community—fellowship families. We tend to not be affiliated with brick and mortar church organizations, but flourish in home fellowships. We have one, maybe two or three Hebrew Roots teachers we follow, but we never take what is taught to us by anyone as the end all to be all truth. We revere the example of the Bereans whereby we search the Scriptures daily to determine or ascertain that which is being taught is indeed correct and in alignment to that which is actually codified in our bibles. (Reference: Acts 17)
The rest of our community seems to be into Hebrew Roots Christianity, whereby they ascribe to the Sabbath and the Feast Days—to a greater and lesser extent; maybe dabble in the food Laws unless there’s bacon on the menu. But for the most part, they are still stuck in Churchianity. These refuse to consider the efficacy of using sacred names of our Creator and our Master. In many respects, they hold on to Christmas and Easter celebrations and are attracted to a “Church” mindset whereby the members of these types of congregations are churched and taught what they should believe. I personally spent the first six (6) or so years of my Hebrew Roots journey in this sector of our community and I have to admit, that experience proved to be good grounding—a good foundation for me, if you will. For it was in this sector of our community that I learned the basics of the Hebrew Roots Faith (subject to interpretation of course) and got a feel for the Hebrew Roots lifestyle without all the hardcore elements that one finds typically in, let’s say, the Messianic Jewish sector. In other words, it was introductory and it did not threaten or infringe too much upon my secular life. I could practice my Faith and no one would be any wiser that I was doing so. But what I found was that those who get stuck in Hebrew Roots Christianity tend to be just that: stuck. The teachings and lifestyle are elementary in nature and there is very little to no spiritual growth beyond the fundamental stuff. People tend to get bored and the one thing that bothered Hilary and I during our time in this sector was, that you dare not ask pertinent questions that might challenge the established teachings of that particular Hebrew Roots Christian organization—such as the Churches of God and other similar type organizations. If you did so, you would be seen as a trouble maker, and likely asked to cease and desist, or even leave and not let the front doors of the church hit you in the behind on your way out. When one looks at what I call Hebrew Roots Christianity—dare I say Hebrew Roots Churchianity—closely, one sees very little distinction between traditional/fundamental Christianity and Hebrew Roots Christianity—except maybe the weekly Sabbath worship routine.
So, as you may well see, we are all over the place in our Faith and community. We are divided and often in conflict with one another. Simply look at social media—it’s not uncommon to see us at each other’s throats about the minutest aspects of our Faith. It’s embarrassing. And as I stated earlier in this post, there is certainly good cause for Churchianity to see us as loons. But I do believe that there’s hope for us as a community. We certainly may not agree with one another on certain aspects of the Hebrew Roots Faith, but we can certainly agree on the fundamentals of our Faith. All the rest, we can civilly agree to disagree.
What are those fundamentals? Well, we’ve been called to be kings and priests to the world as well as because of our commitment to the Faith and our relationship with the Father, shame the Jew to jealousy. We can not accomplish this unless we have our collective acts together. Thus I am calling upon our community to agree to follow the example set forth to us by Y’shua Messiah; that we figure out what are the true essentials of our Faith and then live out those essentials in obedience to our Creator, by our Master’s example, the leading of the Ruach Kodesh. We know we are to keep the weekly Sabbath and to honor the mandated Feasts of Yahovah. We know that we are to adhere to Yahovah’s dietary laws. We know that we are to be hardcore—sold-out disciples of Master Y’shua Messiah and to live lives worthy of our elect status. Beyond these things, the rest is between us as individuals and Father. If I choose to wear tzitzits everyday but you don’t feel it’s right for you, so be it. That’s between you and Yah. If I choose to refer to the Creator as Yahovah and you believe it to be Yahuah, so be it. Why can’t we fellowship together and sharpen one another for the times ahead? If you kiss or touch a Torah scroll with your tzitzits but I choose not to, again, that be your business. If you choose to celebrate Christmas, respect me enough not to try to convince me that Christmas is ordained by Father and you and yours go ahead and do what you gotta do. Leave me and everyone else who does not celebrate that day out of the equation; unless, however, I or someone else ask you why, how and when. Then it is all fair game.
Bottom line saints: we do not need to agree on the extra stuff that is not of salvation significance or are not commandments of the Father—such as traditions. Most of us know what those salvation level elements of our Faith are and we generally adhere to those commandments—that is, those of us who are completely committed to the Faith.
So we then can kiss and make-up now, right? Just say’n.
Until next time, may you be most blessed fellow saints in training. Shavu’atov.
by Rod Thomas | Mar 18, 2016 | Podcasts
GUARD the month of Aviyv, and keep the Pecach unto Yahovah your Elohim: for in the month of Aviyv, Yahovah your Elohim brought you forth out of Mitsrayim (that is Egypt) by night. (Deuteronomy 16:1)
as I am publishing this episode, which I believe to be a very important episode for a number of reasons, we happen to be at the 8th day of the 13th Biblical Month. Yes, you heard me correctly: we are in the 13th Month of the Biblical Calendar year; for we’ve entered into an “Adar Bet!” (Chuckles) All kidding aside, this 13th month is something that happens every few years in the confines of the Creator’s reckoning. And let me just say, for those of you who can not endure me talking about the Creator’s Calendar yet again or for whatever reason, I’m sorry to say that, yes, I’m going to be reflecting upon this most contentious of subjects related to our Hebrew Roots Faith. I make no apologies for being a staunch adherent of the Creator’s Calendar. Needless to say it is a huge part of my life. For those of you who too are adherents and fans of the Creator’s Calendar, I’m certain you can identify with my passion and fanatical interest on this, what I consider to be, a key component of our Faith. For we take Torah seriously and Torah defines who we are as disciples of Y’shua Messiah. As bought and paid for servants of Yahovah, we no longer belong to man in any shape, form or fashion. The great apostle Shaul (aka Paul) wrote to the Corinthian Assembly: “For you were bought at a price…do not become slaves of men” (I Corinthians 6:20; 7:23, NET). Thus we are not our own. We are not free to roam and adopt any manner of man-made contrivances put forth with the the expressed purpose of producing a supposed closer relationship with the Creator of the Universe such as the calculated Jewish calendar. Thus, we should not be beholden to the calculated Jewish calendar. Quite frankly, that calendar of Hillel II (established in 359 CE) served its purpose from the 4th century of the common era to the middle of the 20th-century when diaspora Jews were scattered throughout the world and there was no unifying way to communicate the start and end of the calendar year, nor of the dates of the Feasts of the Lord. Once the Jews re-entered and settled the land of Israel in 1948, becoming a nation on May 14th, the calculated Jewish calendar should have been ceremoniously discarded and the Creator’s Calendar re-instituted and re-enacted by the rabbis. That of course did not happen. And here we find ourselves today, some 68-years later, where the world’s practicing Jewish population and many in the Hebrew Roots Faith, are following that same Hillel calendar that frankly is an invention of the pharisaic Sanhedrin and it stands in opposition to Torah. Why has the Jew and most of the Hebrew Rooter community not returned to the Creator’s reckoning of time? Simply put: the calculated Jewish calendar is a calendar of convenience. Because it works and fits in so well with the world’s reckoning of time and the modern-day pagan calendar; and because the Creator requires His people to maintain an obedient trusting relationship with Him, most adherents of either Faith are unwilling to adopt the Father’s primarily faith-based calendar. Simply put: man naturally trusts man more than he trusts the Creator of the Universe. (Psalm 118:8) Just as the test case of the weekly Sabbath separates the true disciples of Y’shua from the nominal believer, I personally believe the Creator’s Calendar is but one more “sifting” mechanism of the “true Faith once delivered.” (Reference: Matthew 13:30—the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares)
In pressing the default button on our Faith, we find that Father gave us specific instructions on how we are to reckon time, based upon the atmospheric, celestial and agricultural conditions existing over the land of Israel at certain times of the Biblical Calendar year. Despite what many in Judaism and Hebrew Roots assert about this issue, the Creator’s Calendar is a calendar of trust, obedience and reliance—all ideal character attributes of a child of Yahovah who keeps the commandments of our God and hold to the testimony of Y’shua (Revelation 12:17)
For the Creator’s Calendar to work as He has defined and illustrated in Torah, it is necessary that we somehow have intimate access to the land of Israel for one, and two, that the environmental, the celestial and the agricultural conditions in existence in the land of Israel be observed in concert with one another, especially when we come to the end and beginning of the Biblical calendar year. Thus a number of things must be at play for us to determine the end and start of a Biblical Calendar year: (1) we must have access to the land of Israel; (2) the barley’s maturity must be determined by competent individuals who understand when a barley crop is aviv and when it is not (that’s the agricultural aspect of this equation); (3) we must be at the 29th or 30th day of the 12th Biblical month (that is the celestial aspect of this equation); and lastly, (4) we must have at a minimum 2-people sight the renewed moon over the land of Israel (the environmental aspect). And it is this end and start of the Biblical Calendar year that I am most interested in addressing for just a brief period longer during this episode.
Last week, as we neared the end of the Biblical Calendar year, crews of well trained and experienced volunteers, combed the land of Israel in search of barley that had reached a state of maturation that the Creator classified or named as Aviv (although some translation go with Abib instead). I won’t go into what criteria barley must meet in order for it to be deemed aviv—for quite frankly, that is certainly not something that I’m at all educated in. But what I do know is that when the barley crop has reached a point of maturation that it is deemed ripe enough for harvest, it is considered aviv. (Reference: Exodus 9:31) The month on the Biblical Calendar when this agricultural occurrence takes place is the latter portion of the 12th month. It was during this very time on the Creator’s Calendar when Father intervened in the affairs of men, revealed Himself to a Hebrew named Moshe (aka Moses), re-established the clock and calendar, and led us out of Egyptian bondage with a mighty hand as He bore us on eagles’ wings and led us unto Himself (Exodus 13:4; 19:4).
So once we’ve recognized that the barley cop is aviv AND we have sighted the renewed moon over the land of Israel—signaling the start of a new month, that we begin to count 14-days to Passover and then the 15th-day of that month begins the 7-days of Unleavened Bread—the first of 7-mandated moedim of Yahovah (Leviticus 23:5-8). For it is these appointed times that Yahovah has ordained and established within His calendar to meet with us and for us to keep and celebrate those appointed times/days before Him (Deuteronomy 16:1-8). I didn’t establish this; Michael Rood didn’t establish this; nor did Arthur Bailey or any other Hebrew Roots teacher establish this method of time keeping. It was Yahovah who established this calendar, despite what many in our community and in our Faith would attempt to convince all of us to disavow. Those individuals who seek to marginalize and bad-mouth those of us who choose to keep the Creator’s reckoning of time, I believe, have agendas that are not consistent with Torah. For we were commanded by Father to “observe the month of Aviv and keep Pesach (i.e., Passover) to Yahovah our God; for in the month of Aviv, Yahovah our God brought us out of Egypt at night” (Deuteronomy 16:1). The term observe, as translated in many of our English Bibles, fails to convey the truest sentiment that the Hebrew text, when properly rendered, does. The term “observe” in the Hebrew text is “shamar” which means “to guard” or “to keep.” Thus, Father has commanded us to keep/to guard the month of Aviv. That being the case, wouldn’t you think that it would behoove us to ensure that we pinpoint with as much accuracy as we possibly can, when the month of Aviv is to occur? Certainly, the calculated Jewish calendar may, from time to time, actually sync up with the barley crop being aviv in the land of Israel as it seems it will do this time around. But from time-to-time, the calculated calendar fails to get it right—and that goes also for the start of many biblical calendar months as well as Feast of Yahovah throughout the Biblical Calendar year. No, we are to keep, to guard, the month of the Aviv: and that means we are to ensure that we are in proper alignment with the criteria the Father established for determining when the calendar year is to begin. That criteria my friends is found in Torah. You see, if we fail to get the start of the Biblical Calendar year right, our reckoning of the remainder of the calendar year will likely be out of sync with the Father’s expressed reckoning of time and His moedim—His appointed times—His festivals and feasts. And quite frankly saints, the very least we can do is fulfill our duty as children of the Most High and that is: to “fear Yahovah and keep his commandments;” and that according to the writer of Ecclesiastes is the fulfillment of “…the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Yet for whatever reason—most likely having to do with the cares of life—we find every excuse to skirt the system—Yah’s Torah–and to do that which is more convenient and pleasing to us. His reckoning of time is NOT rocket science, but oh boy, you ask the average Hebrew Rooter if they keep the Creator’s Calendar and His moedim, you’ll get an array of hims and haws that will make you simply shake your head and walk away in total disappointment and befuddlement. And that even goes for the keeping of the Hebrew Roots test commandment: the keeping of Sabbath. So many of us in our community still have no problem working and doing whatever we so please on the weekly Sabbath. Instead, a huge portion of our community intentionally, in most cases, choose not to keep the day holy and sacred and to honor it as a day of rest and fellowship and good works as our Creator commanded and our Master showed us how to do so. It’s a total disgrace how we’ve come into this Faith and this community, accepting the requirements of Torah living as a prerequisite for living out this Faith, only to see come to fruition that in many cases, literally in just a few months or so, simply abandon the weekly Sabbath and the Feasts of Yahovah because of the cares and pleasures of life.
Saints, it’s time. It’s time for us to Teshuvah. It’s time for us to give everything over to our Creator. It’s time to hit the default button on our Faith. You see, the world around us is slowly crumbling in virtually every aspect of Western and Eastern civilization—and that even includes the world’s great religions. Nothing and nowhere is stable and peaceful and honoring of Yahovah and the way of life that He mapped out for all mankind in His Holy Word. It’s a virtual “soup sandwich” with no escape, unless your Faith is built upon a firm foundation—wholly grounded upon the solid rock which is Y’shua Messiah and Torah living. Otherwise, as that old gospel hymn expressed, all other ground—be it economic; spiritual; political; secular; all these segments of our society are as sinking sand. Edward Mote clear got it, for he wrote:
“My hope is built on nothing less than Y’shua’s blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Y’shua’s Name. For it is On Messiah the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand…all other ground is sinking sand.” (Edward Mote, 1834) And yes, I did insert Y’shua and Messiah into the lyrics in place of Jesus and Christ respectively.
So Mr.and Mrs. Naysayer, whoever you may be, don’t waste your breath trying to explain to me the futileness of following the Creator’s Calendar. Instead, take the time you’d use to bad-mouth those of us who do follow the Creator’s calendar, and seek Yahovah’s will for your life—fasting and praying and seeking His Face and learning what He would have you do in regards to this situation. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this is a lifestyle situation that needs to be hashed out between you and your Creator. It is not my job to convince you to adopt the Biblical Calendar. Unless your heart and mind and soul is behind it; unless you’re convicted by the Ruach Hakodesh that it is the right thing for you to follow, you’ll abandon it as quickly as you would have adopted it. Keeping the Creator’s Calendar is a lifestyle and life commitment that brings with it untold blessings as we learn to trust Yahovah and place Him as the sole ruler over our lives. That other calendar is simply a license for man to have sole ruler-ship over every person who chooses to adopt it.
So quickly getting back to the matter at hand: the barley was NOT found to be Aviv in the land of Israel last week and not being Aviv means that we must allow the barley time to reach Aviv maturation. Thus, we allot for an additional month—an additional 29 or 30-days for the barley to become Aviv. I’ve not been able to find in the Bible where we are instructed to tag on a 13th month when the barley is found to NOT be in an Aviv state at the end of the 12th biblical calendar month. The bible’s silence on this practice certainly troubled me for a brief time as I searched throughout the holy writ, especially in Torah, for Yahovah’s instructions on Adar Bets. But I finally determined that Torah doesn’t need to stipulate the practice of implementing an Adar Bet if the barley is not found to be Aviv. It’s one of those commonsense rules and teachings that we often fail to see because we want Father to instruct us to the gnat’s behind on every commandment that He’s given us: How am I supposed to keep the Sabbath; what can and can I not do on the Sabbath and on the Feast Days; under what conditions can or can I not work on the Sabbath and the high holy days; do I really have to give up eating bacon; is it okay to marry a 4th time; can I shack up with a member of the opposite sex whom I’m not married to; etc., etc., etc. And the fact of the matter is that we are generally NOT stupid beings. We generally know right from wrong; what’s sinful and not; even what of Yahovah’s Torah we’re going to obey and what we’re not. We know before we go before Yahovah on any given subject whether or not we will subject ourselves to His commandment on that issue. More times than not, we’ll rationalize within ourselves reasons why it is okay for us to violate Torah, especially if keeping the commandment(s) in question will to some greater or lesser degree personally inconvenience us or cause some level of stress in our day-to-day lives. In this particular case, we do not require Yahovah to expound for us what we must do if the barely is found not to be Aviv in the land of Israel at the end of the 12-Biblical Month. And the reason why Yahovah shouldn’t have to explain to us what to do when the barley is NOT aviv is that He gave us instructions in Torah as to what we were to do with the aviv barley in the first month of His calendar year. Consequently, it was a commandment that could only be carried out if the barely was aviv. So commonsense would necessitate that we somehow make provisions for the barley to reach aviv maturation so that we could follow-through on Yahovah’s commandments related to the aviv barley in the land. That commandment and ritual has tremendous—powerful—spiritual relevance associated with it that millions on this planet have completely missed or simply have not had their eyes opened to these amazing truths. It is that ritual and commandment, along with its spiritual relevance that we’ll reflect upon in one of future episodes of Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections.
Until then, may you be most blessed, fellow saints in training. Shalom and Shavua tov.
by Rod Thomas | Mar 5, 2016 | Podcasts
Purim-Haman, the Anti-Christ (aka Anti-Messiah) Cometh
Sabbath Thoughts and Reflections-48
Chapter 3
Verse 1 (cf. 5:11)
- Haman is advanced by Achashverosh to the rank, according to JFB, of vizier or prime confidential minister
- Achashverosh establishes Haman’s authority in the realm
- Matthew Henry places the date around 510 BC
- Haman was an Agagite—an Amalekite so says Josephus—probably of the decedents of Agag—common name of the princes of Amalek (Ref. Num. 24:7—Matthew Henry)
- Amalek was an Edomite—decedent of Esau
- Exo. 17—Then Amalek came and fought against Israel at Rephidim (vs. 8, NAS—Stephan Biographical Bible)
- Joshua and Israel fough Amalek (vss. 9-12) as Moses, Aaron and Hur held up the saff of Moshe
- Joshua overwhelmed Amalek (vs. 13)
- Yah had Moshe write in a book for Joshua’s edification—”for I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. (17:14—NET)
- Num. 24:20—Balaam’s Oracle—And having seen Amalec, he took up his parable (i.e., Balaam) and said, Amalec is the first of the nations; yet his seed shall perish.”
- Yah will wage war against Amalek from generation to generation (17:16—NET)
- Deu. 25:17-19—LXX—vs. 19—”…And it shall come to pass whenever the Lord thy God shall have given thee rest from all thine enemies round about thee, in the land which the Lord thy God gives thee to inherit, thou shalt blot out the name of Amalec from under heaven, and shalt not forget to do it.”
- This was not accomplished to any significant degree until David wipe out the marauding groups of the Amalekites (I Sam. 30:17) and the final vestiges of them at the hands of the decedents of Simeon (I Chr. 4:43)
- The decisive battle to exterminate the Amalekites is recorded in I Sam. 15. Here Saul is commanded to battle against Amalek—to smite Amalek and to utterly destroy all that they have and not to spare them, be they man, woman, infant, ox and sheep, camel and ass. (vs. 3)
- Saul spared Agag and the best of the sheep and oxen and fattlings and the lambs and all that was good (vs. 9) Ultimately Samuel the prophet of Yahovah executed Agag, the king of the Amalekites. However, it is a fair bet to conclude that Saul failed in his task to utterly destroy the Amalekites as the remnants of this people continued to harass Israel for years to come until David and the decedents of Simeon completed the annihilation order. Yet Haman emerges as the biggest threat to the survival of Israel as a nation since the Amalekites attacked them in the Sinai desert during the Exodus from Egypt
- The Amalekites presumably would have been wiped out by Saul in 1 Samuel 15 if he had followed God’s instructions. He did destroy the city of Amalek, but other raiding parties/nomadic bands of Amalekites survived. These were defeated by David in 1 Samuel 30 with the exception of a few hundred who escaped (30:17). The remnant of the Amalekites were finally destroyed by the Israelites many years later (1 Chr 4:43). Thus, while God did blot out the memory of Amalek by wiping out his descendents, he was at war with them for many generations. (www.rationalchristianity.net/amalekites.html)
- Haman was husband to Zeresh; son to Hammedatha; father to Parshandatha, Dalphon, Aspartha, Poratha, Adalia, Aridatha, Parmashta, Arisai, Aridai and Vaizath (Stephan Biographical Bible)
- So hated is Haman in Jewish culture, that the mention of his name when the Megillah of Esther is read, one hears boohs and hisses and gears from the listeners and participants. Rabbinic tradition also plays upon Haman’s evil, villainy persona by making him the center of many Talmudic legends—found in Targ. To Esth.; Meg 15)
- Haman was also an astrologer, and when he was about to fix the time for the massacre of the Jews he first cast lots to ascertain which was the most auspicious day of the week for that purpose. Each day, however, proved to be under some influence favorable to the Jews. He then sought to fix the month, but found that the same was true of each month; thus, Nisan was favorable to the Jews because of the Passover sacrifice; Iyyar, because of the small Passover. But when he arrived at Adar he found that its zodiacal sign was Pisces, and he said, “Now I shall be able to swallow them as fish which swallow one another” (Esth. R. vii.; Targ. Sheni iii.). Haman had 365 counselors, but the advice of none was so good as that of his wife, Zeresh. She it was especially that induced Haman to build a gallows for Mordecai, assuring him that this was the only way in which he would be able to prevail over his enemy, for hitherto the just had always been rescued from every other kind of death. As God foresaw that Haman himself would be hanged on the gallows He asked which tree would volunteer to serve as the instrument of death. Each tree, declaring that it was used for some holy purpose, objected to being soiled by the unclean body of Haman. Only the thorn-tree could find no excuse, and therefore offered itself for a gallows (Esth. R. ix.; Midr. Abba Gorion vii., ed. Buber, Wilna, 1886; in Targum Sheni this is narrated somewhat differently). (Jewish Encyclopedia)
- Haman’s Agagite-Amalekite heritage is a nagging reminder of the far-reaching consequences to be suffered when we fail to complete the tasks that Yahovah places before us to accomplish
- Haman was a 6th century BC anti-Messiah for if Haman would have been permitted to succeed in his plot to eradicate the Jew, the Saviour would have not come on scene
- I find it very interesting how the enemy works within and around the existing world systems to do his bidding. He finds a fitting instrument to wage war against Yahovah’s people and in this story, hasatan finds a most fitting individual in the person of Haman
- Yah’s providence prevails in spite of hasatan’s seeming brilliant strategies to destroy the plans and oppose the will of Yahovah.
- Saints, what Hamans do we today have operating within the halls of government-not just in the United States, but throughout the nations and countries of this world? Plotting the demise of Yahovah’s people? Some say members of the ruling elite; others say the leaders of radical Islam; still others say President Barak Hussein Obama. Surely, in every dispensation and in every generation there is a Haman operating and scheming to destroy Yahovah’s people. These individuals receive their marching orders and power and anger and hatred of God’s people from the enemy. The archenemy who’s meddling in the affairs of God’s people begins way back in the garden
- Achashverosh advances/exalts (LXX)/promotes/lifts—Hebrew “nasa” Haman above any other official in the Persian Kingdom
- Verse 2—It was Achashverosh’s order that Haman receive homage from every servant of the king whenever Haman would pass by. Mordecai, however, did not bow or pay homage to Haman.
- The Megillah of Esther does not elaborate as to why Mordecai declined to do obeisance to Haman. It is a fair bet, however, that the most likely reason was that Mordecai knew that Haman was an Agagite—a decedent of the Amalekites, which every Jew knew should be despised for what they attempted to do to Israel in times past (NET Bible)
- Many might contend that the people of Yahovah are not to render such accolades towards other men and that such accolades should instead be steered towards Yah. But it would be a fair bet that Mordecai did render obeisance towards Achashverosh. Thus I believe it was the mere fact that Haman was a decedent of Agag and an Amalekite that moved Mordecai not to rendered the commanded obeisance.
- In syriac translations, the obeisance takes on a much grander appearance: one of not just bowing as one would do towards a high official, but of “prostrating oneself on the ground as in worship. According to the TWOT Lexicon, prostration was quite common as an act of submission before a superior. When that same term is translated into the Greek word proskuneo, used some 148 times in the LXX, the term can mean either “prostration” or “worship.” Furthermore, prostration was a common act of self-abasement performed before relatives, strangers, superiors, and especially before royalty. According to the TWOT Lexicon, “it was in open defiance of Persian court etiquette that Mordecai refused to bow or to prostrate himself before Haman. The Targum and Midrash explain Mordecai’s refusal on the basis of an alleged idol on Haman’s robe. Mordecai may have bridled at the thought of bowing before an Amalekite or Agagite.” The JPS does use the prostration term to describe the homage being paid to Haman
- Verse 3—it became widely known or observed that Mordecai did not pay homage to Haman as the king’s edict mandated. Thus certain officials of the king’s court called Mordecai to task over Mordecai’s refusal to pay the mandated homage to Haman
- Verse 4—the LXX contends that these same instigating officials spoke daily to Mordecai about his refusal to follow the kings edict of paying homage to Haman. But Mordecai ignored them. No doubt this enraged those meddling individuals who themselves no doubt to prostrate themselves before Haman every time the man passed by them. Given that it would seem Mordecai could care less about Haman, these individuals approached Haman to see if Mordecai’s Jewish culture would exempt him from paying homage to Haman.
- Now this is an interesting development here as we see that Mordecai has reversed the practice of keeping silent about his Jewish heritage, as he’d taught Esther/Hadassah in chapter 2. It is impossible to say why Mordecai made such a reversal apart from surmising that maybe he’d just got fed up of having to put up with the daily attacks by those meddling in his affairs over the obeisance towards Haman. For it would certainly explain Mordecai’s reasons for not paying such extreme homage to Haman, especially as it relates to Haman being an Amalekite
- Verse 5—needless to say, Haman was “full of wrath (KJV);” “greatly enraged (LXX);” “furious (CJB)” when he himself observed that Mordecai did not prostrate himself or pay the commanded homage to him. And this is where Haman’s inflated ego becomes the platform upon which a grand plot to exterminate the entire Jewish race would be launch
- Josephus reads: “When Haman observed this, he inquired whence he came; and when he understood that he was a Jew, he had indignation at him, and said within himself, that whereas the Persians, who were free men, worshipped him, this man was no better than a slave, does not vouchsafe to do so.” (Antiquities 11.6.5)
- Verse 6—some translations suggests that Haman was disdained at the thought of striking out solely towards Mordecai (e.g., NAS); other translations use the terms repugnant, scorned and contemptible (e.g., NET, DBY and ESV). But I prefer a more civil rendering such as provided by the NLT which describes Haman’s perpsective towards Mordecai as “seeming a waste to lay hands on Mordekhai alone” or “not enough to lay hands on Mordecais alone.” (CJB and NLT respectively). You see, when something bothers those who are possessed by the enemy, it’s not enough to deal with the problem directly. No, these individuals seek to utterly destroy any and all who are associated with the individual causing the problem in the first place. In this case, Mordecai was a Jew who refused to prostrate himself before him as commanded by Achoshverosh. So instead of just attacking Mordecai, Haman elects to turn his attentions and his anger and hatred towards the whole Jewish race—to use his newly acquired power and influence, through the power and might of the Media-Persian crown, to wipe out the Jews in the known world, which at this time was the Media-Persian empire.
- Josephus writes: “…he (Haman) thought it too small a thing to request of the king that he alone (speaking of Mordecai) might be punished; he rather determined to ab olish the whole nation, for he ws naturally an enemy to the Jews, because the nation of the Anmalekites, of which he was, had been destroyed by them. (Antiquities 11.6.5)
- It should be noted that the entirety of the first part of verse 6 is completely absent in the LXX, which reads: “…and took counsel to destroy utterly all the Jews who were under the rule of Artexerxes.”
- Indeed, Haman’s desire was not only to destroy the Jew in the immediate area of Susa (aka Shusan), but every Jew throughout the known world, including those who had been released to return back to Palestine by the crown
- Verse 7—the LXX denotes that lots were casts before haman in the 12th year of the reign of Achoshverosh; cast daily and monthly, to slay in one day the race of Mardochaeus; and the lot fell on the fourteenth day of the month which is Adar.
- The definition of Purin is explained here: meaning “the lot.” (NET) According to TWOT Lexicon, “the word (i.e., Pur) occurs only in the book of Esther and the term is to be distinguished from “goral,” which is the usual word for “lot.” Pur is related to Babylonian “puru” which means “lot” and seconarily “fate.”
- All other translations, however, denote that the casting of lots began in the first month of the year—the month of Nisan which corresponds to the March-April timeframe of our pagan calendar
- Thus we see the importance of having a firm understanding of the Biblical Calendar when studying the works of the Old Covenant
- All indications are that Haman consulted soothsayers to figure out the proper time for the execution of the plot to exterminate the Jews. Thus, lots were casts to determine the date this plot against the Jews would be carried out in one fell swoop. The lot of course, landed upon the 12th month—the month of Adar. What are the chances of this happening—day after day; month after month; to land on the 14th day of the 12th month is beyond the confines of human reasoning and must be attributed to Yahovah
- It should seem without the slightest reservation that Yahovah’s providence influenced the outcome of this plot in that an entire 12-months was arrived at for the plan to be executed. This extended amount of time would provide for the opportunity on the Jew’s part to lodge a counter-defense against Haman’s plot (Matthew Henry)
- The casting of lots was a common practice in the ancient near east; even used by the Hebrew to assist in determining or arriving at a time, date or solution to a problem. The point behind casting lots or “pur” was to place the arrival of the solution to the problem at hand to chance and allow providence to determine the outcome. In this case, providence indeed took center stage and providence sided with the Jews. When those who balked at the canonicity of the Megillah of Esther is ever heard or read, let it be known that this single incident alone is proof positive that Yahovah, although not mentioned once by name or title, was all over this story and throughout this book
- Verse 8—in this verse we can see the spinning of the yarn and the story so as to make the offense propagated only by Mordecai, seem so insidious and widespread among the Jewish nation that Haman takes tremendous liberties to alter the truth when delivering the concern to King Achoshverosh
- Josephus writes Haman saying to Achashverosh the following: “There is a certain wicked nation, and it is dispersed over all the habitable earth that was under his dominion; a nation separate from others, unsociable, neither admitting the same sort of divine worship that others do, nor using laws like to the laws of others, at enmity with thy people, and with all men, both in their manners and practices. (Antiquities 11.6.5)
- This is about 4-years into the marriage of Hadassah and Achoshverosh
- Haman’s articulation of the situation was ever so hasatan like, almost reminiscent of the garden incident—”There is a particular people (the Jews of course) that is dispersed and spread among he inhabitants throughout all the providences of your kingdom.” Here Haman in ensuring that the King is not limiting the scope of his assessment against the Jews to just the Persian capital, but also the Jews scattered throughout the entire Medio-Persian realm—the whole of Achashverosh’s kingdom. “ …whose laws differ from those of all other peoples.” This indeed is true, but the Jews were a people who were under abject subjection and would not have caused any problems against the monarchy. “Furthermore, they do not observe the king’s laws. It is not appropriate for the king to provide a haven for them.” And here is where the hasatan character shows up—furthermore these do not observe the king’s laws…what? There is only one man who has been shown not to obey the king’s edict—that is to prostrate himself before Haman whenever Haman would passed by him. So the question posed to Achoshverosh by Haman is: “it is not appropriate for the king to provide a haven for them.” (NET) The NAS and ESV provide somewhat of a different rendering—”…so it is not in the king’s interest to let them remain or not to the king’s profit to tolerate them.”
- Thus we see part 2 of the plan to exterminate the Jews through the agency of Haman. Part one was to cast lots and decide upon a day to pull the trigger on the extermination day. Part 2 was to exaggerate the issue to the ears of Achoshverosh as we see here played out
- Verse 9—Haman says to Ahashverosh, if it pleases you/if you are so inclined/if it seems good to you, let a decree be written/an edict be written that these troublemakers be destroyed. And to sweeten the deal if you will, how ‘bout I add to the king’s coffers/treasury, 10,000 talents of silver, which the NET Bible equates to about 2/3 of the royal income by some estimates; 330-tons of silver according to the CJB.
- The NET surmises, which I find very interesting and never considered before reading it, that Haman would have naturally figured out this tidy sum of wealth through a calculation of the overall wealth of the Jews in the empire. No doubt the Jews, although in captivity, were in many places still prosperous as Father’s promise to bless His people trickled down to them even in the midst of the recompense they were paying for their abandonment of Torah We saw even during Nazi regime’s attempts to also exterminate the Jews—popularly known as the Holocaust (Hitler being a 20th iteration of the Anti-Messiah/anti-Jew) how many in the nation remained prosperous in spite of their treatment and persecution. It is widely known that the Nazi regime pillaged the wealth of Europe’s Jewish populations and added that wealth to its national coffers which no doubt also helped finance Hitler’s war machine. How can one not see the tremendous similarities between Haman and Hitler here? Both, I submit to you, are Anti-Messiah’s and Anti-Jewish agents of the enemy. Hitler not so much an Anti-Messiah as an Anti-Semite who set out to rid the world of the Jew—something that so many before him set out to do. But Haman and others before him, certainly set out to exterminate the nation and in so doing, if they were successful, would have cut the line of Messiah, preventing the Saviour from coming in to the world. One must wonder how someone like Haman could sway the most powerful man on the planet at that time, to agree to such a plan to wipe out an entire nation of people—to commit pure and unadulterated genocide. Only through the workings and power of hasatan I say
- Today, we see a similar mindset amongst the people of such terrorist groups as Hamas and the surrounding Islamic nations such as Iran who have vowed to see the nation of Israel wiped from the face of the earth. Sadly, the United Nations, if it had its way, would support the destruction of Israel
- Josephus goes into the mindset of Haman in that Haman suggests to the King that these miscreants be “utterly, and not leave the least remains of them, nor preserve any of them, either for slaves or for captives.” (Antiquities 11.6.5)
- Furthermore, Josephus takes the perspective that Haman would pay into the King’s coffers 40,000 talents for which the king “both forgave him the money and granted him the men to do what he would with them (meaning the Jews)” (Antiquities 11.6.6)
- Verse 10—and certainly Haman’s silver tongue worked it’s supernatural wonders in Achoshverosh, for the King consented to the plan, even giving Haman his ring to “seal the decrees against the Jews” (LXX)
- The KJV ensures the reader understands that (1) Haman was an Agagite, and (2) that Haman and the Agagites are enemies of the Jews
- 24 sn Possessing the king’s signet ring would enable Haman to act with full royal authority. The king’s ring would be used to impress the royal seal on edicts, making them as binding as if the king himself had enacted them. (NET)
- Friends this is power in its purest state and Haman now possessed it. It would seem at this point that there was no stopping the man nor stopping the plot to exterminate the Jew
- Verse 11—but Achoshverosh, according to the LXX, instructed Haman to “keep the silver and treat the nation (i.e., the Jewish nation) as he saw fit.”
- Matthew Henry suggests a very astute consideration to this situation, how Achoshverosh did not examine the claims made to him against the Jews by Haman, as he carefully did back when Mordecai exposed the plot against the King by the two chamberlains in chapter 2 of this book.
- Obviously, Haman was able to appeal to something within Achashverosh’s ego make-up to convince him to move fully over to Haman’s position to eliminate the erroneous threat to his sovereignty as the undisputed potentate, new world order, oligarch
- Verse 12-14—thus Haman drafted the edict against the Jews on that day using Achashverosh’s scribes/secretaries according to some translations; the mission to anihilate the Jews to take effect on the 13th day of the 12th month or the month of Adar. This message was drafted and Haman signified it with the King’s ring and the letters were to be sent out to all 127 provinces of the kingdom.
- I find the LXX’s treatment of this scene interesting as it records what is believed to be the actual content of Haman’s letter instructing to the armies of the realm to take out the Jews in every single province of the realm. It reads as follows:
LXE Esther 3:13 <1> And the message was sent by posts throughout the kingdom of Artaxerxes, to destroy utterly the race of the Jews on the first day of the twelfth month, which is Adar, and to plunder their goods. <1> And the following is the copy of the letter; The great king Artaxerxes writes thus to the rulers and inferior governors of a hundred and twenty-seven provinces, from India even to Ethiopia, who hold authority under him. Ruling over many nations, and having obtained dominion over the whole world, I was minded, (not elated by the confidence of power but ever conducting myself with great moderation and with gentleness, ) to make the lives of my subjects continually tranquil, desiring both to maintain the kingdom quite and orderly to its utmost limits, and to restore the peace desired by all men. But when I had enquired of my counsellors how this should be brought to pass, Aman, who excels in soundness of judgment among us, and has been manifestly well inclined without wavering and with unshaken fidelity, and has obtained the second post in the kingdom, informed us that a certain ill-disposed people is mixed up with all the tribes throughout the world, opposed in their laws to every other nation, and continually neglecting the commands of the kings, so that the united government blamelessly administered by us is not quietly established. Having then conceived that this nation alone of all others is continually set in opposition to every man, introducing as a change a foreign code of laws, and injuriously plotting to accomplish the worst of evils against our interests, and against the happy establishment of the monarchy; we have accordingly appointed those who are signified to you the letters written by Aman, who is set over the public affairs and is our second governor, to destroy them all utterly with their wives and children by the swords of the enemies, without pitying or sparing any, on the fourteenth day of the twelfth month Adar, of the present year; that the people aforetime and now ill-disposed to us having been violently consigned to death in one day, may hereafter secure to us continually a well constituted and quiet state of affairs. {1) The portion from here to the end of the verse is not in the Heb. } (Est 3:13 LXE)
- Josephus pretty much echoes verbatim the LXX’s account of this edict
- Verse 15—and the chapter ends with Haman sitting down with Achashverosh over some adult beverages in the aftermath of the hurried sending of the edict against the Jews by couriers to all 127 provinces of the realm. Certainly for Haman, something to celebrate. But the city of Susa is described at that point to have been perplexed/troubled/in an uproar/thrown into confusion/in consternation
- The DRA translation actually narrows down this confused state in the capital Susa by rendering: “…and all the Jews that were in the city weeping”; all this while Haman and the King feasted together
In reality, this chapter should end over in the first part of chapter 4 as it is a most befitting place to conclude our study for today. The passage reads as follows:
(1) When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city and cried with a loud and a bitter cry; (2) And came even before the king’s gate: for none might enter into the king’s gate clothed with sackcloth. (3) And in every province, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, there was great mourning among the Yahudiym (i.e., the Jews), and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes.
