Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made international news recently, during his “World Without Zionism” conference in Tehran. Ahmadinejad made wiping out my Jewish people national policy for his country when he called for the destruction of Israel, saying, “bayad az safheh-ye ruzgar mahv shavad” (more literally translated from Persian, “vanish from the page of time.”)
Ahmadinejad is not the first to call for the destruction of the Jewish people — just the most recent. In a couple of weeks, Jewish people will celebrate the Festival of Purim, which commemorates a failed attempt to wipe out the Jewish people. Purim celebrates the events of the biblical book of Esther, in which it is recounted how a Persian counselor to the king, Haman, made plans to destroy the Jews of Persia.
There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from all other people’s, and they do not keep the king’s laws. Therefore it is not fitting for the king to let them remain. If it pleases the king, let a decree be written that they be destroyed” (Esther 3:8-9a).
Haman met a bad end by the close of the story: swinging from the gallows he had intended for one of the Jewish protagonists of the story. The book of Esther has always fascinated me, as it is the only book of the Bible that make no mention whatsoever of God.
But just because God isn’t mentioned in the story does not mean He is not present behind the scenes. In the miraculous way in which the young, Jewish Queen Esther finds herself in a position to preserve her people, I see the fingerprints of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is the God who called Israel his segulah, his treasured possession. Among the promises that God made to the Jewish people was that He would preserve them, no matter what madman might try to wipe them out.
The apostle Paul echoes this promise in the book of Romans, asking,
“God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be!” (Romans 11:1 NASB)
Paul answers his own question, stating,
“God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.” (Romans 11:2)
Like many Jewish people, in a couple of weeks I will celebrate Purim in some traditional ways: I will listen to the reading of the megillah (the scroll of Esther), I’ll shout “BOO!” when Haman’s name is pronounced, I’ll enjoy the costumes of children dressed up their favorite characters in the Purim story, and I’ll eat as many delicious hamantaschen as my wife will let me get away with.
I’ll also keep in mind that I worship a God who keeps His promises. Though the madman may be named Ahmadinejad instead of Haman, I can trust that the Lord will continue to ensure the survival of all His people — Jew or Gentile — because He is a God who gave up that most precious to Himself: his own Son, Jesus.
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