A Season of Danger, Peril and Prayer-Purim March 20, 2008
The following is an excerpt from our newest journal: A Season of Danger, a Season of Peril and a Season of Prayer
Much of history throughout the centuries has a singular noteworthy characteristic, unnoticed by many along the way. The most significant historical events have most often coincided with feasts of the Lord and when looked at more closely, we see amazing and thought provoking relationships between the events and the feasts themselves. Such is the case of Purim
This current conflict in Iraq began on March 18, 2003, five years ago today as we write this journal; the date of March 18, 2003 was significant in that it was the night the Jewish Feast of Purim began in 2003. Purim is the annual celebration of the great deliverance of the Jewish people in the days of Queen Esther, as recorded in the Book of Esther in the Bible. Was it just a coincidence that Esther was queen in the very region close to where Saddam Hussein once ruled and now a madman in Persia threatens Israel’s destruction and jihad against every single Jewish man, woman, boy or girl?
Is it just a coincidence that the wicked Haman who sought to destroy the Jews in that day exhibits in the scriptures similar qualities to the former Iraqi dictator today or the current Iranian one? I was in northern Wisconsin selling portraits the night the war began in 2003. I remember the days leading up to the war there was much delay, yet it became an eerie coincidence the first bombs dropped on Baghdad the night of the 2003 Feast of Purim?
Five years later the United States continues to be involved in a conflict in the land of tremendous prophetic significance and an ever increasing conflict with Iran looms soon this writer believes. The upcoming elections of 2008 frame this conflict between two parties who have significantly different viewpoints on how to handle our enemies. For me, the answer is simple. Which candidate will best protect Israel at all costs against Islamic Jihadism and Palestinian terrorism? It’s a terrible indictment to witness the growing anti-Semitism in the world today. History is replete with witnesses to the indictment of the times the Jewish people have been delivered to the mercy of the merciless as they were in the days of Esther and Mordecai. Not much has changed today in 2008 as Israel sits in a neighborhood of Arab nations seeking her destruction, especially Syria to her north and Iran to her east.
On top of Iran and Syria, the terror groups Hamas and Hezbollah continue to send suicide bombers and Hassam rockets into Israeli cities, killing civilians and caring less if the entire region is plunged into terrible bloodshed. Yet one enemy who is now gone is the late Sadaam Hussein who fired over 100 scud missiles in 1991 during the first Gulf War. For this writer, the war in Iraq if nothing else removed one of Israel’s most bitter enemies and in that vein it will always be worth the cost and lives. Our hearts do not take the loss of any soldier killed in combat lightly.
We honor our brave troops and thank those who stood in the gap during this time in both American and Jewish history. Most Christians don’t pause to think twice what would have taken place during the summer of 2006 had Israel been faced with fighting Hezbollah AND Iraq. Israel for the first time in her history was pushed to the edge with a terrorist group backed by Iran. Had Sadaam still been alive let this writer assure you he would have interfered with the war and brought even greater bloodshed to Jewish lives.
On the more immediate issue, the Palestinian “issue” is NOT about land, it’s about the Arab desire, driven by the ideology of Islam, for total annihilation of every single Jewish person on the face of the earth.
In reality, this issue over the West Bank hides an even greater war in the world today between the forces of Islam and those who know Jesus Christ as Lord. Islam means “submission,” however, it is not the type submission where the follower falls into the graces of the one he is submitting to. If the “convert” fails to submit, Islam calls for the convert’s death. As long as there are Christians in this world, there will be an eternal war between the lineage of Esau (the Arab, Muslim world) and the lineage of Jacob (Israel).
In this setting found in the book of Esther, Haman, an ancestor of the Islamic/Ishamael/Edomite line, had set a trap for the entire Jewish race. The gauntlet laid down by the king of Shushan was one that would mean the total annihilation of the Jewish race if Haman had been allowed to carry out his demonic plan.
On February 12th a top terrorist named Imad Mugniyah was eliminated in Syria, stirring up an uproar in Jihadist circles worldwide. The Hezbollah leadership is accusing Israel of this and has promised serious retaliation. Some Israeli analysts predict that as soon as the 40 days of mourning for Mugniyah are over, It would not surprise this writer a bit if Hezbollah sought to turn Galilee and the Israeli landscape into a battle zone again as it did in the summer of 2006. This Islamic 40 day mourning period will end on the 20th of March, strategically coinciding with the Feast of Purim, which will conclude on March 23rd
With Iran’s unchecked nuclear ambitions and threats that Israel would be “wiped off the map,” and with deteriorating security on all sides including an increasing threat of a war with Hamas and/or Hezbollah, or perhaps both, this Purim seems all too real with the increasing dangers and open threats against the world’s only Jewish state.
When talking about Purim, one must understand in detail the Book of Esther, which documents the deliverance of the people of Israel from great danger and near annihilation during the Jewish month of Adar. Purim is one of Israel’s most important feasts in this writer’s opinion simply because it speaks of the need for fervent prayer and sustained travail for the nation of Israel against her enemies unlike any other feast on her religious and civil calendar.
Still reeling from the recent terror attack in the heart of Jerusalem a little over a week ago now which left 8 bible students ages 15 to 18 dead and 11 wounded, Israel’s plight continues to be more desperate each day as her enemies become more brazen and their threats more specific and pronounced. We as the church of the Living God must grasp the prophetic season we live and continue to intercede, travail and pray like never before for Israel’s protection and God’s higher purpose in the Middle East region.
For the entirety of the message click here: A Season of Danger, a Season of Peril and a Season of Prayer
Tags: Esther, Feast of Purim, Feasts of Adar, Haman, Israel and the Church, Israel's Feasts, Jewish Identity, Jewish Ideology, Jewish Roots, Jewish Roots of Christianity, Jewishness of our Faith, Mordecai, One New Man, Prophecy And The Church, Prophetic Purim, Purim 2008, Queen Esther, Queen Esther Intercession, The Church and Israel
You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.
March 22, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Saturday, March 22, 2008
2:45 PM CST USA
You will find the website http://www.focusontheprophecies.org quite interesting, in that Shushan Purim in Jerusalem, March 23, 2008, is the beginning festival date of the Appointed Times & Seasons Calendar of end-time events. Shushan Purim represents the day that daily worship at the Western Wall and Temple Mount will be taken away by a catastrophic event that could be literally hours away. This, in turn, will initiate the Gulf War between the U.S. and Iran as foretold in Daniel 8, the Russian attack on Europe (Daniel 7) and the rise of Antichrist at Passover, 2008.