Each year at Purim
the young people of our congregation seem to be able to surprise us
with a different twist to Esther and the upheaval of Purim itself.
This past Shabbat was no exception. I was told that the “children”
would step in at various times to take charge of the service. We
have done that in the past and it is always quite refreshing.
Leave it to the
young folks to take it up a notch. This past Sabbath we were going
to keep it simple with a special dance/worship presentation along
with the youth participating as the leaders in the service.
In recognition of
Purim, there would be a focus on prayer and Purim. The ultimate focus
would be on the unseen. When we are in “Prayer”, we acknowledge
the presence of YHVH, although He is unseen physically. Prayer is
when we put pride aside; when we demonstrate a faith in an unseen;
when we express our trust in a Supreme Being. For me, our weekly
Sabbath prayer is when we collectively lift YHVH Elohim on high. We
literally look up to Him and not at Him.
Psalm 121 says “If
I raise my eyes to the hills, from where will my help come?” The
operative word is “IF”. If we look elsewhere, where does our
help come from? It doesn’t tell us. It does tell us that if we
look up to the hills our help will come from YHVH, the maker of
heaven and earth. It tells us that He is our guardian. We are
assured that He never slumbers nor sleeps.
Purim is about more than
just the casting of lots. Purim is about the hidden, the unseen.
Some say that Purim is not a true Scriptural celebration because “YHVH (God)” is not mentioned in the Book of Esther. And how can we have
Purim without Esther? Rather than go into a detailed teaching, let me just ask you to take note that Esther by definition means to
conceal. In Deuteronomy. 31:18 our Father says that He will “surely hide
His face from them.” The Hebrew for “I will surely hide” –
haster astir – contains the letters of the name Esther. So, the
implication is that He will guide and direct from an unseen position.
A friend of mine informed me that in the Bible Code of the Hebrew
of Esther (the equidistant letter spacing), "YHVH" does appear. I haven’t found the opportunity as
yet to search this out. (But, my friend has never misguided me so I am not rushed.)
We speak about
coincidences, often referred to as Yah-incidences. In the reading of
Esther on Shabbat, we were told ahead of time there would be no need
detailing that which would soon be presented. This added to the
excitement! We were encouraged however to listen for the
Yah-incidences; ie. when the queen (Vashti) just happens to refuse to go to a
banquet; when Esther just happens to be chosen as a new queen; when
Mordecai just happens to be sitting outside the gate to over hear
plans for evil against the king and when the king just happens to
rise from a sleepless night, he recalls that Mordacai saved his life.
How did this happen if YHVH was not present? He said he would hide.
When was the last time that any of us saw Him? Although the Face of
Yah is not seen, believers know deep within themselves, that He is
not far away.
We are told in
Ezekiel 39:21-29 21 "'Thus will I display my glory among the
nations, so that all the nations will see my judgment when I execute
it and my hand when I lay it on them. 22 From that day on, the house
of Isra'el will know that I am YHVH their Elohim; 23 while the Goyim
will know that the house of Isra'el went into exile because of their
guilt, because they broke faith with me; so that I hid my face from
them and handed them over to their adversaries; and they fell by the
sword, all of them. 24 Yes, I treated them as their uncleanness and
crimes deserved; and I hid my face from them.' 25 "Therefore
YHVH Elohim says this: 'Now I will restore the fortunes of Ya'akov
and have compassion on the entire house of Isra'el, and I will be
jealous for my holy name. 26 They will bear their shame and all their
[guilt from] breaking faith with me, once they are living securely in
their land, with no one to make them afraid. 27 This will be after I
have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of
their enemies' lands, thereby being consecrated through them in the
sight of many nations. 28 Then they will know that I am Yahweh their
Elohim, since it was I who caused them to go into exile among the
nations, and it was I who regathered them to their own land. I will
leave none of them there anymore, 29 and I will no longer hide my
face from them, for I have poured out my Spirit on the house of
Isra'el,' says YHVH ELOHIM."
The reading from
Ezekiel is very pertinent during Purim. Reading the white of the
page, we can see that our Father has not “hidden” so much from us
as He has made available a lot to us if we just seek His face. The
eye opener for me this past Shabbat is what I felt our Father has
hidden in His young people. I now realize He hid nothing in them. It
was always there. It is just that some of us didn’t see it because
we failed to look for it. The Father is truly present in the Book of
Esther and He is most definitely present in the hearts of our young
people. Their ability to carry-out a complete service, ensuring that
nothing was missed, and their joy at doing so, without rehearsal of
script, is so very moving. Just when you think they are too young to
understand, the Father surprises you and takes another scale from our eyes.
Heavenly Father,
thank You so very much for taking the scales away. Thank You for the
children that You have brought to teach us. Yes, Father, they do
listen, as unlike I have ever noticed before. Sure, they have always
been great at programs and such, but this time they stepped up and
took the places of the elders without hesitation. Thank You Abba,
Most Gracious and Benevolent One, we do pray in earnest to see Your
Face. We want to continuously experience Your presence. May the day
come soon when You will make restoration of all things a reality in
our lives. Oh Abba, may the day come soon when we will all have
complete faith and trust in You, seen or unseen. Please let this be
a reality in our lives and in Your presence. We come in Y’shua’s
Name , Amein!
Shalom and shalom,
Pinchas,
a/k/a
Frankly Speaking all the time…
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