Purim

By the way, my favorite TV show in the entire world is Monk. He's so unique! And Chuck. Yes, I loved Diagnosis Murder and Murder She Wrote. The cheesier the better!

I think it's really cool that those of us at Grace who are doing the Beth Moore Esther series are concluded it last evening on the actual day of Purim in the 2009 Jewish calendar. The story of Purim comes from happenings recorded in the Bible book of Esther. If you haven't read it, just know it's full of drama, romance, power, and intrigue. King Xerxes was full of himself, and quite short-sighted.  Through jealousy and evil plotting, the bad guy, Haman, got the king to sign an edict to assassinate the Jews who were living in Persia at that time. Although God is not mentioned by name in this story, His hand is all over it. Through His divine plan, Esther, a Jewish girl, was chosen to be Queen, and was instrumental in saving her people by being brave enough to approach the king and plead for their lives. The word Pur refers the lot casting by which Haman chose the day to annihilate the Jews. Through Esther's intervention, a new edict was issued allowing the Jews to resist and fight back, leading to the saving of many lives. The Jews were instructed to remember this every year. The day before was to be remembered with prayer and fasting, just as the people did in preparation for Esther's approaching the king to plead for mercy. The actual day is a celebration of how God turned things around for the Jews. They were instructed to celebrate with feasting, gladness, and by giving gifts of food to each other and presents to the poor. They were celebrating how their sorrow was turned to gladness and their mourning to joy! How many times hasn't He done the same for us! Whew