Did You Celebrate Purim Today?

I am of the opinion that most followers of "Jesus" did not know that this was a special day for the Jews. It is most likely that Yeshua in the first century would have participated in the festive holiday. It is a remembrance of the victory of the Jews over Haman and his plot to exterminate them. In case you thought Judaism was an organized religion, Purim comes to eliminate that notion. Think of it: For Chanukah, Jews get eight days, and they just light some candles and eat donuts. On Purim, they have to hear a Megillah (twice), i.e the Book of Esther; give out cash to the needy; shuttle packages of edibles to all their friends; fix broken zippers, lost buttons, messy makeup and broken masks on their kids'costumes; and hold a wild and wonderful Purim feast to boot. In how much time? Twenty-four hours flat. Go figure. In fact, there is support in the Talmud that you are to drink so much alcohol that you can not distinguish blessings from curses.

That seems strange to "Christians." A religion that understands the importance of ritual, study, prayer, and having a good time. When you come to a place of understanding that following Yeshua is to do so while within the umbrella of Judaism, you have made the leap to Nazirite Judaism. This means that you obey Torah, remember the Sabbath, and believe that Yeshua is the Jewish Messiah. He came, died, and rose again to be the mediator of the renewed covenant. The renewed covenant was the promise of Jeremiah 31 that YHWH would write the law of Mount Sinai on the hearts of His followers. If the Torah has been written on your heart, then you are a follower of YHWH. If it hasn't been written there, then you are following someone or something else.

It is not to late to join the festivities. As a family, I read the book of Esther and every time the name of Haman was read everyone made lots of noise. The idea was to drown out his name forever. By the end of the reading, we understood more about the bravery of Esther, the commitment of Mordecai, and the providence of YHWH. If you think that Esther is not important, remember that if all the Jews had been destroyed, Yeshua could not have been born. He had to come from a Jewish mother. Israel had to be preserved.