F7: Purim

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The Story

The events commemorated by Purim took place in the ancient Persian Empire and are recorded in the Biblical Scroll of Esther (Megillat Esther). In 386 BCE, Ahasuerus came to the Persian throne with its capital in Shushan. The new king appointed a man called Haman to be prime minister. When a Jew, Mordechai, refused to bow down and worship Haman, he was outraged and sort to destroy all the Jews - Mordechai's people - who were scattered throughout the kingdom. Haman told Ahasuerus that the Jews were bad citizens who did not obey the laws of Persia and refused to pay taxes. He finally persuaded the unsuspecting king to sign a decree that all Jews were to be killed on the 13th day of the month of Adar. Haman was a superstitious man and had chosen that day at random by drawing lots (= 'Purim'). The fatal decree was dispatched throughout the empire.

Meanwhile, Mordechai had recently helped to expose an assassination attempt on the king. Ahaseurus decided to reward his loyal subject by putting on a public display. Mordechai was sat on a royal horse and paraded through Shushan, led on foot by the embarrassed prime minister Haman.

Now Esther, Mordechai's niece, had recently been chosen by Ahaseurus to be his queen. Encouraged by her uncle, she bravely risked her life in approaching the king to tell him of Haman's treachery. She begged Ahaseurus to save her people. As he listened to Esther, the king realised that Haman had deceived him. He ordered Haman to be hanged on the very gallows that Haman had so eagerly prepared for Mordechai. It was too late to reverse the decree against the Jews, but the king authorised his Jewish subjects to arm themselves and fight back. By the 14th of Adar, they had defeated their enemies and were safe. Ever since then, 14th Adar is annually celebrated as the festival of Purim.

Searching questions

This is the well known Purim story, but looked at more closely, it prompts some searching questions:

COINCIDENCE It was rather convenient that a Jew was installed as queen. Without Esther's royal position, the Jews wouldn't have had a chance. Her uncle's uncovering of the assassination plot was lucky too. How come Mordechai and Esther both always seem to be 'at the right place at the right time'?

LOTTERY Why name the festival after the method Haman used for selecting a date to kill the Jews?

GODLESS In the entire Scroll of Esther, God's name is not mentioned once. Why is God missing from the story?

IRONY Isn't it ironic that Haman was chosen to honour the very man he wanted dead? Isn't it poetic justice that Haman ends up dying in the manner he had so meticulously planned for Mordechai?

SIMPLISTIC The story is so simple and contrived, it really does sound like a fairy tale! Is history ever really that uncomplicated?

Behind the mask

In truth, the Scroll of Esther was written this way on purpose. We are meant to ask these questions! If we ask them, they lead us to unmasking what Purim is really about... and that is random coincidence. When you look at history, do you see a random series of events or do you see a pattern? Does everything happen by chance or is there an underlying purpose? Is the world guided by luck or by a divine plan? Purim deals with this dilemma.

Haman is the archetypal Man of Chance, who denies that history has any real direction. He relies on luck, chance and lotteries. Mordechai is the archetypal Man of God, who believes that history is divinely guided. He trusts in God and relies on his own resourcefulness. The Scroll of Esther asks us: Do you see God in this story? Does it look like a bunch of contrived coincidences to you? If you note down all the date references in the story, the events actually took over a year to unfold. Living through them would not have seemed at all special. Only when seen as a complete story does the deeper pattern emerge. Behind the mask of randomness lies God's detailed plan for saving the Jewish people.

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