MODERN DAY ‘HAMANS’
Esther 9:20-22: “And Mordecai wrote these things and sent letters to all the Jews, near and far, who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, to establish among them that they should celebrate yearly the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar, as the days on which the Jews had rest from their enemies, as the month which was turned from sorrow to joy for them, and from mourning to a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and joy, of sending presents to one another and gifts to the poor.”
The most joyous of all the Jewish holidays is ‘Purim’ - the Feast of Esther. This year, ‘Purim’ begins on the evening of the 2nd of March.
‘Purim’ commemorates the events found in the Book of Esther. These events took place around the 4th century B.C.E. in which a man by the name of Haman, who hated the Jewish people of the day, devised a plan to destroy the Jews.
By casting ‘pur’ (lots), he decided on a day to destroy the Jews, the date being the 14th day of the Hebrew month of ‘Adar’, which is the date ‘Purim’ is always celebrated.
The word ‘Purim’ comes from the Hebrew word for ‘lots’, ‘pur’.
It is a story of great courage in which a Hebrew girl, Esther, becomes queen and, together with her uncle, Mordecai, foils Haman’s evil scheme.
Esther and Mordecai save the Jewish people, and Haman and his sons are hanged on his own gallows which he prepared for Mordecai.
‘Purim’ is a Jewish holiday that is enjoyed and loved by Jewish people the world over.
In fact, ‘Purim’ is one more celebration of the survival of the Jewish people, usually against great odds and far more powerful enemies. And this is just one more example of the faithfulness of ‘Adonai Shomer Yisrael’ (the Lord, Guardian of Israel) to the word that He spoke over the Israelites – “The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.” (Exodus 14:14).
However, throughout the generations, ‘Hamans’ have arisen with their sole intent being the destruction of the Jewish people and the Land of Israel.
There are new ‘Hamans’ on the world scene today seeking the destruction of the Jewish people and the Land of Israel. Israel is under immense attack, and anti-Semitism has risen to a level that is greater than it was at the time of the Holocaust.
We understand that Iran and all forms of Islamic extremism seek the destruction of Israel; however the existence of the modern State of Israel is actually opposed by almost every form of Islam.
Some forms of Islam are more violent than others, as we saw on Saturday, 7 October 2023, when the Nation of Israel, while observing the Shabbat and celebrating the joyous day of ‘Simchat Torah’, was treacherously attacked by Hamas from the Gaza Strip.
Almost immediately, Israel declared war on Hamas.
At first, most of the world showed sympathy towards Israel – South Africa, Russia and some of the Arab world who are all most definitely Haman’s of today were an exception.
However now that Israel has retaliated strongly and has destroyed much of Gaza and significantly weakened Hamas, Hezbollah, and even Iran, much of the world is fervently condemning Israel for defending herself.
In fact it seems that much of the world has conveniently forgotten the horrendous and barbaric attacks that took place on Saturday, 7 October on innocent men, women, children and even Holocaust survivors.
The world has conveniently forgotten the women who were savagely raped, and the innocent children who were viciously murdered – even babies.
And what about the pregnant women whose bellies were cut open by the Hamas monsters and their unborn children murdered?
Now that Israel has retaliated strongly in order to dismantle the cowardly Hamas monsters who are callous, cold-hearted, barbaric terrorists, Israel and Jewish people have once again become the target of the scourge of anti-Semitism.
The rise of global anti-Semitism has begun to permeate our society and is often subtly wrapped in the guise of an anti-Israel position. We see this dangerous form of anti-Jewish behaviour actively engaged, especially in Europe.
Even in America, the so-called ‘land of the free’, anti-Israel sentiment is rife in their university and college campuses. Unfortunately, this anti-Israel spirit has now crossed boundaries and aligns itself with an anti-Jewish position.
All these people are modern day Haman’s.
We are seeing this stance even in some churches as well as among some of the body of Christ.
Instead of taking the gospel to and comforting the Jewish people, these very Christians are actively opposed to Israel and stand with Israel’s enemies who are actually the enemies of the Jewish people, the church, and Jesus Himself.
In fact, the creed of some of the enemies of Israel that many in the church stand with is: “First we will kill the Saturday people and then we will kill the Sunday people”.
Isn’t it interesting that the most evil at the time of Queen Esther and the most evil of a barbaric, cowardly terrorist group have very similar names – Haman and Hamas.
Both Haman and Hamas are agents of Satan, and both have the anti-Christ spirit in them.
There is a lot of propaganda and noise bombarding our culture through the media, and it’s hard for everyday sincere people to distinguish between what is true and what is false.
As followers of Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, the church should be sympathetic to the Jewish cause.
Historically, most true Christians have been pro-Israel and pro-Jewish without being anti anyone else. However today, the wind of change is in the air, and therefore it is important to re-read what the Bible says about the Jewish people and Israel.
Unfortunately, we see a growing anti-Israel movement within the church today that also shows the tell-tale signs of an historic anti-Jewish position as well.
This shows that there are Haman’s in some churches, some even church leaders.
If you stand with the enemies of the Jewish people and Israel, you stand with Satan himself whose ultimate goal is the total destruction of the Jewish people, Israel and Christians - Revelations 12:17: “And the dragon (Satan) was enraged with the woman (Israel), and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God (Jewish people) and have the testimony of Jesus Christ (Christians).”
Jeremiah 31:35-37 tells us that G-d hand is and always will be on His chosen people, the Jewish people:
“Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The LORD of hosts is His name): “If those ordinances depart from before Me, says the LORD, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease From being a nation before Me forever.” Thus says the LORD: “If heaven above can be measured, And the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel For all that they have done, says the LORD.””
It’s good to remember that in the book of Genesis, G-d made a covenant with Abram in which He promised that He would bless those who bless the Jewish people and curse those who curse them.
And the meaning of the Hebrew word for ‘curse’ used in this scripture regarding Almighty G-d is ‘turn away from’ and ‘separation’.
You don’t want G-d to turn away from you as individuals, from you as countries, and from you if you are an anti-Semitic Christian. In other words, you don’t want Almighty G-d to see you as a modern day ‘Haman’.
You see, the worst form of ‘curse’ is separation from Almighty G-d.
Esther 7:8-10 tells us: “As the word left the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face. 9 Now Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, “Look! The gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke good on the king’s behalf, is standing at the house of Haman.” Then the king said, “Hang him on it!” 10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king's wrath subsided.”
And Esther 9:13-14 tells us: “Then Esther said, “If it pleases the king, let it be granted to the Jews who are in Shushan to do again tomorrow according to today's decree, and let Haman’s ten sons be hanged on the gallows.” 14 So the king commanded this to be done; the decree was issued in Shushan, and they hanged Haman’s ten sons.”
If this was what happened to Haman and his ten sons who tried to annihilate the Jewish people at that time, what is in store for the Haman’s of today when they stand in judgement before the KING of KINGS, the Jewish ‘Moshiach’ (Messiah), Jesus in the Valley of Jehoshaphat – read Joel chapter 3.
I pray the L-rd will guide us all as we try to understand the times, stay true to the teachings of the scriptures, and remain faithful to our ‘Moshiach', Deliverer and L-rd, Jesus.
Let us also stay true to the flesh and blood brothers and sisters of Jesus, the Jewish people, as well as to His Holy Land, Israel, and His holy city, Jerusalem.
