Purim: Remembering God's Deliverance and Sovereignty

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Mordecai recorded these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King ahazweres both near and far, obliging them to keep the 14th day of the month of Adar and also the 50th day of the same year by year as the days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies and as the man fed had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday, that they should make them days of feasting and gladness days for sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the poor. [00:49:51]

The Jews firmly obligated themselves and their offspring and all who joined them that without fail they would keep these two days according to what was written and at the appointed time of every year, that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation in every Clan Province and City and that these days of Purim should never fall into disuse among the Jews nor should the commemoration of these days cease among their descendants. [00:32:36]

The lot is cast into the lap, but it's every decision is from the Lord. In other words, the issues of contingency are under the Sovereign control of God. If you want to stay up late at night thinking about a big thought if you can't get back to sleep you can think about that the lot is cast into the lap and apparently haphazard throw of the dice upon which a decision is made and yet Solomon says that even in that every decision is ultimately from the Lord. [00:46:48]

The people of God are not bobbing around on the sea of chance that the people of God are not held in the grip of blind and deterministic forces but the people of God are under the providential care of the one who is working all of the events of Life out according as Paul says in Ephesians 2 to the Eternal counsel of his will where ultimately he will bring all things in heaven and on Earth underneath the jurisdiction of King Jesus. [00:48:20]

The spontaneous celebration if that's what it is in verses 18 and 19 is now standardized if you like by Mordecai as a result of his position as a second only to the king and to the queen he is if you like giving this celebration official status in order that the sort of natural reaction of the moment may not be lost over time so that there would be captured for the people for all time the reality of this Deliverance. [00:49:36]

Joshua says so that in years to come when your children ask what do these Stones mean, you will be able to tell them, but if we don't put the stones there, there will be no reminder, therefore there will be no point of reference if we don't celebrate the Feast if we don't keep it as part and parcel of our history then there will be no ability to reflect upon it. [00:54:07]

The reason we're going to standardize this as Mordecai is an order that we might commemorate and secondly in order that we might celebrate so that they would make them days of feasting and gladness this is verse 22 days for sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the poor. [00:57:59]

The Jews accepted what they had started to do and what Mordecai had written to them and then in that little summary statement you realize that they understood that there was a Higher Throne than the Throne of ahazweris that ultimately their fortunes had been reversed because of the intervention of God himself a god whose name is never mentioned and yet a God who appears everywhere. [01:01:19]

They firmly obligated themselves so it wasn't a case of well that seems like a good idea we might do it we might not no they said no we're definitely going to do this that's the nature of obligation that's the nature of Duty obligation is is almost a dirty word Now isn't it you know we tell people I I don't want to make you feel obligated in any way oh yes I do. [01:04:21]

The obligation that extends throughout interpersonal relationships is first of all an obligation on the part of the individual to God and they recognize God has provided this Deliverance this Feast is a celebration of God's activity therefore they said we will obligate ourselves you will notice verse 27 they obligated themselves and their offspring. [01:07:48]

The command of Queen Esther confirmed these practices of Purim and it was recorded in writing. [00:54:34]

The people of God are called to remember things to remember events and actually put in place certain things in order to Aid with that recollection and the events that are described here in Esther chapter 9 underscore the importance attached to remembering what we've been referring to as the great reversal or as the great Deliverance. [00:49:57]

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