This week, the Jewish people will be celebrating Purim. Purim, like most of the Jewish feasts, commemorates God’s deliverance of Israel from yet another attempted annihilation, this time in the kingdom of Persia (modern-day Iran.)
While this holiday is a time of feasting, the giving of gifts, and joy, we need to see the importance of understanding the purpose of God not only in the Purim story but especially in connection with what the nation of Israel is going through at this time.
In the Book of Esther, the dramatic story of Purim is full of twists and turns. The evil Haman, second only to the king of Persia, who was demonically inspired, is a type and shadow of the antichrist. His hatred of the Jewish people prompted him to devise a plan for their annihilation.
However, at the end of the story, there is a reversal of fate (naafoh-hu in Hebrew) as the people intended for annihilation become victorious.
“So they called these days Purim, after the name Pur (casting of lots)…the Jews established…throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city…that they should celebrate these two days of Purim every year…and that the memory of them should not perish among their descendants.” (Esther 9:26-28)
Purim is one of the most joyous and fun holidays on the Jewish calendar. It is held on the 14th day of the month of Adar, which this year falls on March 13-14. Purim celebrations include masquerading in masks and costumes, sending packages of sweets, and giving charity to the poor. During the Purim celebration, the entire book of Esther is read in Jewish synagogues around the world. It was originally a scroll handwritten on parchment called a Megillah in Hebrew.

Bella and Simcha dressed as Queen Esther and the King for Purim a few years ago.
The story of Purim is actually quite serious: about a time of grave danger for the Jewish people, and an inspiring Jewish woman—Esther—whose great faith and courage God used to save the Jewish people from annihilation. Even though God’s name is not mentioned in the story of Esther, his hand is visibly working.
Click here to read the rest of the story of the miracle of Purim.
There have been other Hamans through the generations with the same plan, a final solution to annihilate all the Jews. Behind all of them is the same arch-enemy of Israel, the enemy of God – Satan. But the victory belongs to the Lord, He is Israel’s protector.
The Jewish people have faced many enemies throughout history, and still do. One nation after another, one leader after another has tried to cause their total annihilation. But not one of them has succeeded. Israel is still a nation today, Am Israel Chai (the people of Israel live.)
Israel is the only nation existing today that is called by God’s name, El means God. The name Israel was picked by God when He changed Jacob’s name to Israel.
Through the prophet Isaiah God said that He not only chose Israel to be His people but created Israel for a purpose:
“1. But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name;
3. For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior…
7. Whom I have created for My glory…
10. “You are My witnesses,” says the Lord,
12. Therefore you are My witnesses,” Says the Lord, “that I am God…
15. I am the Lord, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King”
20. My people, My chosen.
21. This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise. You are Mine.”
(assorted verses from Isaiah 43)
According to God’s words in the above prophecy, God chose to create the nation of Israel for His glory, to be His witness that He is God, and to declare His praise. The main purpose of Israel is to bless the world with His Salvation through Yeshua/Jesus the Jewish Messiah, the savior of the world.
Therefore, Israel and the Jewish people became the target of Satan, the adversary. Satan’s purpose was, and still is, to destroy Israel so God’s plan and purpose will not come to be. However, God has always emerged as the victorious one, and He always will, Satan is a defeated foe.
Ever since the State of Israel was reestablished in 1948, and the Jews have come back to the land of Promise, and are still coming, enemies are all around Israel’s borders, constantly threatening the nation’s very existence. But with God’s protection, Israel is stronger than ever.
Present Day Concerns
Now Israel is at war against the enemy whose creed is the destruction of Israel as the nation of the Jews. Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement), a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, still refers to the land of Israel as Palestine and claims that it is a sacred Islamic land. It categorically denies Israel’s right to exist and has declared jihad, a holy war against the Jewish state, rejecting any recognition of Israeli sovereignty.
Hamas, as well as the Palestinian Authority, uses severe anti-Semitic hateful rhetoric against Israel and the Jewish people, promoting and legitimizing terror acts against them. Their education is replete with caricatures and portrayals of Jews as meriting humiliation, involved in global conspiracies, and responsible for major conflicts throughout world history.
To express their indiscriminate killing of Jews, Hamas terrorists infiltrated Israel’s southern border on October 7, 2023, committing atrocities against innocent Israeli citizens.
While Israel fights Iran’s proxies, there remains the threat from the Iranian regime that has announced time and again that Israel will be wiped off the map of the Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has warned continually against the existential threat to Israel posed by the possibility of a nuclear Iran.
There is a need for prayer and supplication, to come before the King of Kings and intercede for His people against the enemy’s threats, from without and within. However, along with the deliverance of Israel from her physical enemies as in the time of Esther, there is a need to fast and pray for Israel’s spiritual salvation. Will the Body of Yeshua be silent for Zion’s sake?
We know from God’s word that salvation will come to Israel. The question is what role will the body of Messiah play? We ask you to stand with us in prayer and supplication, in the face of the evil and wickedness of Israel’s enemies once again. And “who knows whether you have come to the Kingdom for such a time as this.”
“Behold, the wicked brings forth iniquity; yes, he conceives trouble and brings forth falsehood. He made a pit and dug it out, and has fallen into the ditch which he made. His trouble shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down on his own crown.”
Psalm 7:14-16
Back to the the book of Esther in the Bible
In the book of Esther, on the same date, the 13th day of the twelfth month – the month of Adar – when the enemies of the Jews had hoped to destroy them, a new edict and decree of the king was executed. On that day, the opposite occurred (Haafoh hu in Hebrew) in that the Jews themselves overpowered those who hated them.
“The Jews gathered together in their cities throughout all the provinces of King Ahasuerus to lay hands on those who sought their harm. And no one could withstand them, because fear of them fell upon all people.”
Esther 9:1-2
God, the protector of Israel, warns any nation not to touch the Apple of His eye.
Please Pray
Pray that God will give Israel’s leaders wisdom and strategy on how to win this never-ending battle to destroy Israel and usurp land the God of Israel has given to His people. Pray for divine strategies to protect the land and its citizens from the surrounding enemies.
We are praying for a Purim miracle this year, as in the book of Esther where there was a turnaround – Naafoh hu. May the enemy’s goal of the destruction and annihilation of the Jewish people come upon themselves. May Hamas be destroyed and Israel saved. Amen.
“Don’t think that you (Queen Esther) alone will be saved out of all the Jews just because you are in the king’s palace. If you keep silent at this time…relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another source… “Who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this.”