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Writer's pictureRob

The Twenty-Sixth (Patterns)

This evening marked the end of the Jewish celebration of Purim. While this is not a feast designated by Yehovah, it is a reminder of His power, His love, and how He works in this world for His children. This celebration is a reminder of the story of Esther, Haman and Mordecai and how Yehovah moved in the world to not only save His children from the plans of Satan but reverse those plans and enact justice on the man trying to fulfill those plans.

As a brief synopsis, in case some are unfamiliar, this event is covered in Esther 2:5-7:10. It involves Esther, a Jewish girl, who was taken under the care of Mordecai to raise her. He took care of her, the whole time telling her to hide that she was a Jew. Then the time came that the king was searching for a replacement for the queen, and Esther was brought into the palace and he chose her. She continued to hide her Jewish lineage, and Mordecai went and lived at the king's gate. Eventually, Haman was promoted to be the king's right hand man, above all the princes with him. Haman became angry with Mordecai because he didn't give Haman the honor and respect he felt he deserved based on his position. He figured out Mordecai was a Jew so he wanted to make an statement and not just kill Mordecai but all the Jews. Long story short, Mordecai informed Esther and Esther informed the king, who ended up being so angry he killed Haman using the gallows Haman had built for Mordecai.

Now, I could make this whole newsletter about this event alone, but I just want to highlight a couple key parts. The things that happened are amazing on their face, but as you dig deeper His pattern and plan just gets more glorious. It makes your heart light, and reminds you to trust in Him. For instance, Mordecai telling Esther to hide her Jewish heritage. Everyone knew Mordecai was Jewish, because Haman found that out later. Why hide her heritage? If she hadn't, perhaps she wouldn't have been chosen by the king, or even if she was Haman would have known who she was and tried some other more secretive plan to kill the Jews. This part of His plan was set up YEARS before it was used to stop evil!

Why did Mordecai start living at the king's gate? An adoptive father that missed his daughter and wanted to keep watching out for her? Or a reminder to Esther of who she was, who raised her, and all the things he taught her? At a minimum, him living there gave him respect in the king's eyes because it allowed him to gain information about a plot to kill the king and have Esther tell the king about it. It also gave Esther the prompting she needed to investigate and inform the king of Haman's plan when her maids and chamberlains informed her Mordecai was in sackcloth. This part of His plan was a SIGN for Esther to take action.

Then, of course, is the gallows. When you take a look at how Haman came to build the gallows it's very interesting. In fact, it wasn't even his idea at all. His wife and his friends convinced him to do it. I believe Yehovah moved in these people to make a point in His plan: that not only will justice be served, but evil will always cause its own destruction.

So in this event we can see aspects, or patterns, of how Yehovah works. First, His plans involve seemingly insignificant actions that turn out to be key parts in the end. For example, how insignificant must it have been for a young boy, the only person in a crowd of 5,000 people to have food, to happen to have had a basket of loaves and fishes put together. But Jesus used those five loaves and two fish to feed the 5,000 with leftovers (John 6:9-13)! Those loaves and fishes had to end up in that crowd somehow, and that was by God! Insignificant actions are used for two reasons: 1) to make the "reveal" of His plan so much more glorious in the end and 2) to keep His plans hidden from Satan who desires to prevent it from coming to pass.

Second, sometimes He sends reminders or notifications to us which either move us to maintain our focus on Him and His word or to take action, or reveal what Satan's plans are. Mordecai revealed Satan's plans to Esther as well as reminded her of who she was: one of Yehovah's chosen people. Manna was sent by Him for forty years in the desert to remind the Israelites of who they were (Exodus 16:15, 35). He set His bow in the clouds to remind us of His covenant with us to never again destroy the earth with a flood (Genesis 12:12-17).

Finally, we see He likes to reverse Satan's plans on those who try to carry them out. Joseph was betrayed by his brothers and God used it to exalt Joseph into a position where he was in charge of whether his brothers could get food for the family (Genesis 37:12-36, 42:1-45:8). And let's not forget the most important one: Him using Satan's influence in Judas, the desire to kill His Son, to bring about the sacrifice to end all sacrifices (Luke 22:3-6). This ended up in Judas killing himself after realizing he betrayed an innocent Jesus (Matthew 27:1-5).

One overall thing to remember is God's plan always prevails (Proverbs 16:4). He knows how to prevent His plan from being revealed before its time while reminding us He is still there and loves us. And in the end, His justice will prevail on the wicked. Hallelujah! Have patience, and trust in Him (Proverbs 3:5).

Shabbat Shalom and God bless you!

-Rob

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