Messianic Apologetics editor John McKee offers a constructive approach to Jewish tradition for today’s Messianic people, as we approach various holidays such as Purim and Passover.
Purim
Messianic Apologetics editor John McKee reviews some of his own personal encounters with remembering the Festival of Lots or Purim, over the past twenty-seven years of being a part of the Messianic community. What are some good traditions and customs to remember? What are some critical lessons of Purim which need not be overlooked?
The holiday of Purim is a relatively minor festival in the Tanach (Old Testament), yet it portrays a very important story which all of God’s people need to understand. Having been dispersed into Babylonian exile in 585 B.C.E., the Jewish people found themselves under Persian rule. While many found their new Persian rulers more tolerant than the Babylonians, the Jews were still a minority and were often subject to harassment and persecution. In the Book of Esther, King Ahasuerus’ (or Xerxes’) grand vizier, the evil Haman, devised a plot to kill the Jews when he was not worshipped by Mordecai. But Ahasuerus’ new wife, the Jewess Esther, was placed in just the right position at just the right time to see that this scheme did not come to pass. Instead, Haman was executed using the very means which he intended to use against the Jews.
