The Book of Esther takes place during the time when God’s people were in exile. If you have never read the book, I would encourage you to do so over the next few days. The gist of the story is that Esther is a young, Jewish girl who gets chosen to be queen. During her time as queen, the wicked Haman plans a plot to wipe out all the Jews. Mordecai, Esther’s uncle, uncovers this plot, relays it to Esther, who then informs the king. Since I don’t want to give away too much to those who have never read the book before, I won’t go in to much more detail than that.
The celebration of Purim is a joyous occasion, in which the Jews celebrate the foiled plot of Haman to murder all the Jews living in King Xerxes’s kingdom. After Esther told the king about this plot, he had Haman put to death. The central theme of Purim is God’s preservation and deliverance of His people.
The word purim is a Persian word which means “lots” and refers to the lot of Haman cast to decide the day for the destruction of the Jewish people (Esther 3:7). As you can imagine, Purim is a very happy and noisy holiday. To celebrate, the Megillah (scroll of Esther) is read in the synagogue in the evening and then again in the morning. Whenever Haman is mentioned, everyone boos, stamps their feet, and shakes noisemakers (called groggers). Whenever Mordecai is mentioned, everyone cheers!
Other customs include sending at least two ready to eat foods to at least one friend, and giving charity to at least two poor people. Eating a festive meal during the day of Purim was also done, along with reciting the “Al Hanisim” in prayer and in grace after the mean (Jews pray after they eat). The “Al Hanisim” means “for the miracles” and is structured in two parts. The first part is a general introduction, which is used for both Purim and Chanukah, and reflects the gratitude of the Jewish people towards God for performing miracles at key points in their history for their survival.
These miracles are both “open miracles” and “hidden miracles.” Purim is a celebration of “hidden miracles,” or miracles in which God’s involvement is not apparent on the surface. This is because though we see God’s working all through the book of Esther, his name is never mentioned, except in secret. The Hebrew name for God, YHWH (Yahweh) appears as an acrostic in Esther 5:4. The first letter of each of four successive words, yod hay vav hay, spell YHWH. This secret working of God and masking of his name is what eventually started the Purim tradition of wearing mask and costume, thus symbolizing the idea of God “hiding his face.”
As with the other Old Testament feast, Purim also points towards Christ and finds its fulfillment in him. The “hidden miracle” of Purim is seen in
God’s working through a lowly virgin to bring fourth his Messiah. Furthermore, when the Messiah comes, he his born in a lowly town, and is of lowly stature.
More importantly, Purim is about the deliverance of God’s people. Jesus is God’s Redeemer, the Deliverer of his people. The people of God were under the dominion and penalty of sin and death. Christ died for us in or bleakest moment, while we were still sinners. His resurrection solidified God’s deliverance for us. In fact, during the days of Esther, the Jews were delivered on 17 Nisan, the Firstfruits. This was the same day that deliverance was given to the Israelites in Egypt, and the same day in which Jesus rose from the grave.
The feast of Purim also teaches the fact that God is with us. This finds no greater fulfillment than in the Messiah, Immanuel, God with us. Because God has delivered his elect from sin and is always with them, we will always prevail. This echoes Paul’s idea of us being “more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).