You would open your Bibles to Esther chapter 9, and I'm going to have everyone stand with me for a moment, give your backsides a chance to rest here before we begin with the message, in honor of the Word of God. We're going to pick up here where Scott left off, Esther chapter 9, beginning in verse 20, to the end of the book. Then Mordecai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, obliging them to celebrate the 14th day of the month of Adar and the 15th day of the same month annually, because on those days the Jews rid themselves of their enemies, and it was a month which was turned for them from sorrow into gladness. and from morning into a holiday, that they should make them days of feasting, and rejoicing, and sending portions of food to one another, and gifts to the poor. Thus the Jews undertook what they had sought to do, and what Mordecai had written to them. For Haman, the son of Hamadathah, the Agagite, the adversary of all the Jews, had schemed against the Jews to destroy them, and cast Pur, that is the lot, to disturb them and destroy them. But when it came to the king's attention, he commanded by letter that his wicked scheme, which he had devised against the Jews, should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged in the gallows. Therefore they call these days Purim, after the name of Pur. And because of the instructions in this letter, both what they had seen in this regard and what had happened to them, the Jews established and made a custom for themselves and for their descendants and for all those who allied themselves with them so that they would not fail to celebrate these two days according to the regulation and according to their appointed time annually. So these days were to be remembered and celebrated throughout every generation, every family, every province and every city. And these days of Purim, were not to fail from among all the Jews, or their memory fade from their descendants. Then Queen Esther, daughter of Abihael with Mordecai the Jew, wrote with full authority to confirm the second letter about Purim. He sent letters to all the Jews, to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, namely words of peace and truth. to establish these days of Purim at their appointed times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established for them, and just as they had established for themselves and for their descendants with instructions for their times of fasting and their lamentations. The command of Esther established these customs for Purim, and it was written in the book. Now King Ahasuerus laid a tribute on the land and on the coastlands of the sea, and all the accomplishments of his authority and strength in the full account of the greatness of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? For Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and in favor with his many kinsmen, one who sought the good of his people, and one who spoke for the welfare of his whole nation. You may be seated. Please pray with me. Heavenly Father, we are thankful for your word, Lord, as it's given to us here. Lord, for the great intervention by which you saved your people. Lord, we're thankful for the way in which the themes of redemption that we see here, Lord, are reminders of the grand story of redemption. the deliverance that we have in Your Son, Jesus Christ. And I pray, Lord, that those truths would be laid out freshly here as we study Your Word and as I seek to preach Your Word this morning. Bring these things to our hearts and minds that the name of Christ would be exalted and that the hearts of His people would be encouraged. And I pray these things in His name. Amen. So last week I began covering the final three chapters of Esther, which was sort of the fourth episode as I have broken up the book of Esther, and with the title, Rejoicing in Victory and Joyful Commemoration. Last week, we looked particularly to see how God's providential preservation brought a miraculous reversal. A miraculous reversal, which is laid out very clear, and the author of Esther wants us to get this. And it's a miraculous reversal by the changeless decree of a king, with various and wonderful manifestations of now and not yet. Last week, we also considered God's providential preservation brings a faith-wrought boldness. It's a boldness that springs from the signal of God's intervention. God is with his people. It's a faith-wrought boldness that's spurred on by the people of God assembling together. And finally, it's a faith-wrought boldness for destroying the enemies of God's people. Now this week, we're gonna conclude the book of Esther. This is our final message here. And we're gonna do so looking at how God's providential preservation is also accompanied by joyful commemoration. And particular, we're gonna consider then this morning, if you have the outline and are following along, the customary observance of Purim, the particular prescription of Purim, and the greater parallel of Purim. So to begin with, the customary observance of Purim. Now, by the way, the word Purim, as I was able to do some studying here, I wasn't sure how to pronounce it, but according to at least one Jewish website I found, it said that among Westerners, it's pronounced Purim, and among those living in the East, not the east of the United States, but in Europe and Asia and on that side of things, it's pronounced Porim. Is that right? Porim is the correct pronunciation, which actually has kind of a little more of a Hebrew pronunciation to it. And the month of Adar, by the way, also would correlate to our month of March, roughly. The Jewish calendar is a little different, but it would roughly correlate with our month of March. And so the conclusion of this book is prescriptions to institute this feast of Purim. And it also covers the fame of Mordecai, who sought the good of his people. And really, it's remarkable, sort of proving to the veracity of the story, that this holiday has been celebrated down through the ages for, as best I can figure, 2,500 years. That would have been in correlation with the times of these events and assuming that when these letters went out to the people that they then began this holiday of Purim. Now, the name itself, as the text here explains, is taken from the word Pur, or Lot, and Purim would be the plural of that word. And it correlates in sort of an ironical way to the day that Haman had selected for killing the Jews by having casted lots for an entire year and picking out his lucky day that he would be able to destroy those whom he hated. The best day to extinguish the Jews, which was the 13th day of the 12th month, or that is the month of Adar. And in the end, it becomes the very day that the Jews instead destroyed their enemies, proving through the course of these events that God is the only true God and that He is faithful to His promises and to His people. In this way, it really has become the feast of God's providential preservation. Now, the day of celebration, as we consider what's currently being done, that which has been passed on here by way of tradition and various teachings found among the Jews, is typically celebrated, or is celebrated, I should say, not on the 13th day, which was the day in which they conquered their enemies, but the day following, which would be the 14th day, in which time they have their feasting and their celebration. And this is the day that's been set aside for them. as a holiday. And being Jews, they will begin that at sunset of that 14th day, which would mark the beginning of the 14th day for them through the sunset of the day following. This year, those dates happened to fall then on the evening of March 11th and ended on the evening of March 12th. Now in terms of the observance, the way in which this holiday is celebrated among the Jews today, It's a holiday that's sort of devolved, as many do, over the course of time. And it's become more of sort of a national feast and something that has identification with the Jews as a nation than some sort of religious holiday. And it's something that sort of resembles a combination of Thanksgiving and Christmas and Halloween all together. That would probably be the best correlation we could make in terms of what we're used to in our culture today. And it's not strictly a Sabbath holiday. It's a day that they actually, Jews, would be permitted to work, though most don't. Most set aside their labors for that day. And here's some of the ways in which they celebrate it. First of all, the day before Purim, it's customary to have a fast, a fast that commemorates the fast of Esther. And then they gather on the eve of Purim, the very first evening that the for them would be the start of the day. And they read the Book of Esther, which is called the Medjola, would be the name that the Jews have for the Book of Esther. They read it both in the evening and then they read it again in the morning. And when it's read, there's some interesting things that take place. First of all, as it's being read, the people will boo and hiss and make noise, they have little wooden noisemakers, every time the name of Haman is spoken. And then, whenever the name of Esther comes up, or Mordecai, the people cheer and rejoice. It also, I read that when the 10 sons of Haman are read, the person reading it has to do it in one breath. You think it's hard to pronounce those names in multiple breaths. I can't imagine trying to spell out this 10 sons of Haman all in one breath to sort of signify the fact that all of them together were killed. So these are some of the traditions that they have. In addition to this, and this is prescribed by the Talmud, There are three blessings that are supposed to be read before the reading of the book, and then another following. And this would be true both on the evening reading and then the following morning reading. And the congregation are supposed to respond to these blessings by saying, Amen, as a congregation after each of these blessings is read. Now of note, They interject the word, the Hebrew word, Hashem, which means simply the name, in place of Adonai, because the Jews feel that it would be to take the Lord's name in vain to be constantly referring and using God by the proper name. So they use this Hebrew word, Hashem, so you can understand that as we read through this. So let me read, because I think these blessings are really interesting. I want you to pay close attention to what sorts of things even the Jews themselves recognize in regards to the book of Esther. So here are the three blessings that they would give out before the reading of this book. Blessed are you, Hashem, our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with his commandments and has commanded us regarding the reading of the Medjalah, that is the book of Esther. Blessed are you, Hashem, our God, King of the universe, who has wrought miracles for our forefathers in those days at this season. Blessed are you, Hashem, our God, the King of the universe, who has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this season. Those are the blessings before, and then one blessing after. Blessed are you, Hashem, our God, King of the universe, who takes up our grievance, judges our claim, avenges our wrong, who brings just retribution upon all enemies of our soul, and exacts vengeance for us from our foes. Blessed are you, Hashem, who exacts vengeance for His people Israel from all their foes, the God who brings salvation. Isn't that amazing? And then, The Talmud also prescribes the following recitation to be read, both the night before and the morning after. To make known that all who hope in you will not be shamed, nor ever be humiliated, those taking refuge in you. Accursed be Haman, who sought to destroy me. Blessed be Mordecai, the Yehudi. Accursed be Zeresh, the wife of my terrorizer. Blessed be Esther, who sacrificed for me. And Charvona, too, be remembered for good, for suggesting to the king that Haman be hanged on the gallows. You read this stuff, and it's just, it's so sad to me that they failed to see who the true Messiah is. One of the other parts of this holiday of Purim that is carried down through tradition is that each family gives, first of all, monetary gifts to at least two poor people, and then each family sends gifts of two kinds of food to at least one person. So in keeping with these instructions that actually that we have here in Esther. And then there's this great sort of feast and celebration that's very lively. It often includes dancing and excessive amounts of alcohol. In fact, even some of the rabbis have instructed them that they are to have enough alcohol so that Cursed, when they say cursed as Haman, it sounds the same as blessed as Mordecai. In other words, they're so sloshed they can't even say those words in such a way that you can distinguish one from the other. That's actually instructed to them as a measure for how much alcohol they ought to take in in order to rightly celebrate this feast. Even from one Jewish website, it's the day to let loose and just be Jewish, as they say. Often the children dress up in costumes from one of the characters, whether that's Esther or Mordecai or Haman even, they'll dress up in one of the costumes of the characters of the story. And it's interesting, they often have this special food, I'm probably going to pronounce this wrong, but hamantaschen or also called Osniai Hayman, which is this little three-cornered pastry that's filled with something sweet, often poppy seeds. And apparently, the thought is that these are to resemble the ears of Hayman, which had been cut off before he was hung on the gallows. Yummy, right? This is part of their celebration. It's very interesting here to see how Purim has been celebrated among the Jews through the years and even to this day. And they do so because it was actually commanded by Esther and Mordecai at the close of this book. But why is that? Why was this commanded as something that they should do? What was the purpose for that? It wasn't just Esther and Mordecai, but really by obvious extension, God, who is the author of providence, that intended for them to have this joyful commemoration, this holiday and this feast. Why is this? And I think the answer can be found when we consider the particular components of its prescription. So the next point on your bulletin, the particular prescription of Purim, So I went through and I tried to break it down and look at all the different components and give thought to what was really behind each of these components of this joyful celebration. I came up with a number of things and sort of lumped them together in five different things, if you're following in your notes here, five different things. It was, first of all, it was prescribed for the purpose of identification, identification. And in chapter 9 verse 20 it says, then Mordecai recorded these events and he sent letters to all the Jews. All the Jews. This celebration was to go out to mark out the people of God. In fact, there were even some number of proselytes that joined with the Jews in the feast to be commemorated for them as well in chapter 8, verse 17. And many among the peoples of the land became Jews, for the dread of the Jews had fallen on them. In chapter 9, verse 27, the Jews established and made a custom for themselves and for their descendants and for all those who allied themselves with them. In this way, this commemoration is really tied to identification. It's a feast for those and a holiday for those who identify themselves with the great deliverance and salvation of God's people. through these acts of providential preservation. It's prescribed for the purpose of identification. Secondly, it was prescribed for the purpose of inclusion, of inclusion. Chapter nine, verse 28 says this. So these days were to be remembered and celebrated throughout every generation, every family, every province, and every city. And these days of Purim were not to fail from among the Jews or their memory fade from their descendants. So there's several aspects of inclusion we see. First of all, it's an inclusion through global proclamation. It's an inclusion that happens through a global proclamation, something that goes throughout all of the provinces, through every province and city. Chapter nine, verse 20, Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far. The proclamation was to be dispersed, that is, throughout the entire Persian Empire. Not merely the capital city of Susa, not merely the major cities in the Persian Empire, but everywhere, all throughout the empire where the Jews lived. It was also an inclusion through generational proclamation, through generational proclamation. It wasn't just for the Jews of that day, but for their children. Because though their children were not yet alive at this time, they too were delivered by the very same act of providential preservation. Because Haman had planned an entire genocide. So therefore, all of their progeny, all of the following Jews that would be born, everyone born into their family line really benefited and had something to celebrate here from this deliverance. So it's not just an inclusion that's global, done through a global proclamation, but also through a generational proclamation passing on through time. But this inclusion had, I think, one other element, too, and it's an inclusion through gracious proclamation, an inclusion through gracious proclamation. It says in chapter nine, verse 30, that Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews, to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Hasuerus, namely, words of peace and truth, to establish these days of Purim at their appointed time. Words of peace and truth. That's the sort of inclusion, the manner in which this inclusion is happening. So it was prescribed for the purpose of identification, for the purpose of inclusion, and thirdly, it was prescribed for the purpose of remembering. And this is clear in the text. As we've already considered, it's been handed down from generation to generation, and it was to be done by the institution of a regular holiday. Now, while these were words of peace and truth, they were also not merely a casual suggestion. It's given to them as a command in order that the memory of this event should not be forgotten. So just some of the references to sort of the weight here in which this is given. Chapter 9, verse 21, obliging them to keep the 14th day of the month of Adar. 9, 27, the Jews firmly obligated themselves and their offspring and all who joined them that without fail they would keep these two days according to what was written and at the time appointed every year. Chapter nine, verse 31, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther obligated them, and as they had obligated themselves and their offsprings, and then verse 32, the command of Esther confirmed these practices of Purim, and it was recorded in writing. So again, this is not a suggestion. We suggest you guys hold a holiday. No, it says you must do this. You must do this. It must be observed every year, year to year on a regular schedule. So, why is it given with such strength? Why is this planted so firmly? I say because they considered the deliverance that God had supplied to be so wonderful that it must not be forgotten. Just like the mound of stones at the crossing of the Jordan, there has to be something that serves as a reminder of the great deliverance that Jehovah had supplied His people. So it was prescribed for the purpose of identification, for inclusion, for remembering, and then fourthly, it was prescribed for the purpose of rejoicing. Their remembering was to be commemorated by feasting and rejoicing and sending portions of food to one another and gifts to the poor. And so it wasn't just that they would remember this, but that they would rejoice over the memory of what God had done. And I want to make several observations about the manner of rejoicing. First of all, it was rejoicing with context. As I mentioned earlier, it's common among the Jews to precede the day of Purim, the holiday of Purim, with a fast. And that's not really a novel concept. In fact, it's even hinted at, and as my understanding is, this is why the rabbis included that in the instruction in the Talmud, that they would fast beforehand. In chapter nine, verse 31, it says, just as they had established for themselves and for their descendants with instructions for their times of fasting and their lamentations. And so for this reason, it's still part of the celebration to begin with the time of fast in order to remember the sore affliction of the Jews prior to the deliverance. It's important to provide the context. What are we rejoicing? What are we celebrating? We've got to understand what it was that we were. We need to understand what the situation was for us in which God did this miraculous deliverance. We need to think back not only to his deliverance, but to the reason of his deliverance. And that's important. It was also rejoicing with a feast. Fasting gets replaced with a feast. You know, I was thinking about this. Isn't it interesting that feasting is really a universal way of expressing joy? And that's true as we look throughout time and culture. Not just what we see here in scripture, and certainly it's here, but that's true. That's just sort of a universal truth among humans. This is how we are. If we want to celebrate something, we hold a feast. That's what we do. Maybe it's a victory celebration. And whether that was a victory in battle or nowadays, maybe you won the softball tournament. I don't know. I mean, some sort of victory. What are we going to do? Well, let's have a feast. We're going to go out and celebrate. We're going to go to a restaurant. Or we're going to have a feast. We're going to have a meal. This is what we do. Or weddings. That's what we do at weddings, right? There's usually some type of feasting associated with a wedding to celebrate that occasion, birthdays. in all of these sorts of things. If there's going to be a celebration and a group of people are going to get together to celebrate it, I guarantee you there will be food. There will be feasting. That's just what we do. Why is that? I tried to think about that. Maybe you have better thoughts than me. But first of all, God made us with the need for food. And therefore, there's something that's associated, that we can associate food with sustenance and life. Something that can cause us, if we have a Christian worldview, something that can cause us even to turn our hearts towards thankfulness, that God has supplied the occasion for this rejoicing. But food's not merely for our nourishment, but it's actually for our enjoyment as well. It's not just to keep us alive, but it's something that God has ordained that would bring us joy. And more than this, not just personal enjoyment. You never have a feast of one person, right? When you hold a feast, it's assumed that that's something that incorporates a lot of people. It's something that we do for a sense of corporate enjoyment. Something that binds us together relationally. So it was rejoicing with a feast, and it was next rejoicing with rest. This is a holiday. Like other Jewish celebrations, it's done in the context of resting. In other words, you take time and you lay aside what you normally would be doing. Your normal schedule and pattern of labor has been pushed aside in order to have this occasion by which you assemble together and relax and you cease from your striving, if you would. And you, in this way, we see the tie in with our rest and the Sabbath and the fact that there's something that binds that to the finished work of God. So it was a rejoicing with rest. It's also a rejoicing with gifts. It was prescribed for the people to give portions of food to one another and gifts to the poor. And again, as I mentioned, this is part of the tradition. This is something that's still practiced today, this giving of gifts. How does that relate to a joyful celebration? Well, first of all, I think it sort of takes us back to the idea of inclusion. Everyone is welcome to join in the celebration. Even the poorest person among them needed some means by which they could participate, some means by which they could rest from their labor and join in the feast. I mean, that's an issue of inclusion. Nobody's going to be left out of this. If you don't have enough food to have a feast, don't worry about it. We're going to take care of that. Everybody, everybody, all of us that are a part of this people need to celebrate. So first of all, I think it's given to a sense of inclusion, but also sharing your portions of food and your abundance is sort of a reflection of a cup that is overflowing. God's mercy and his grace have been poured out in such an abundance that now they just flow out to those that are around you as well. So we see that this prescription was for the purpose of identification, for inclusion, for remembering. for rejoicing, and finally, I believe it was prescribed for the purpose of anticipation. Anticipation. Though it's not explicitly stated here, I do think this feast carried with it a sense of anticipation. Notice the closing statement here. It says, for Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Asauerus, and great among the Jews, and in favor with his many kinsmen, one who sought the good of his people, and one who spoke for the welfare of his whole nation. I think there's a picture here that anticipates the full orb of God's kingdom glory and the promised Messiah. Mordecai is not the promised Messiah, but he sort of serves as a type, something that begs for and causes people to long for the coming Messiah. And so as they celebrate Purim each year, it can serve as this reminder that God is faithful, to His promises, and that He will preserve His people, and in due time, they will receive the consummation of every covenant promise related to His glorious kingdom. In this way, Purim, I feel like, had that effect for the Jews, to keep them in anticipation of what, not only looking back to see what God has done, but looking forward to see what it was that God was going to do. And that takes us then to the last point here, the greater parallel of Purim. Now, I think greater parallel is perhaps a poor term, and I'm sure there's a better word than parallel for this. Because really, what we have here and what's celebrated is preparatory, and it's partial. There is a fullness a fullness and a fulfillment and a completion of that that we have in Christ. You see that the Jews still celebrate Purim, but we as Christians don't normally celebrate that. Why is that? Why are we not bound to the same holiday as they are? This holiday of celebrating God's intervening grace and mercy to his people. Well, first of all, I want to point out that actually, you are free to do that. You are free to celebrate this holiday, though it's not a requirement. The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 14, one man regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Let each man be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God. If you have a desire to celebrate the holiday of Purim as a way of honoring and praising God, you're free to do that. Just don't make it a rule. It's not an obligation for the people of God in Christ. But keep this in mind, there is a day of joyful commemoration that we are commanded to keep. What day is that? Well, let me give you a hint. It's not Christmas. It's not even Easter. It's actually the Lord's Day, this day, the day that we might call the Christian Sabbath. And here, I think, is the reason that we're not required to observe the other holidays. Because this day is the greater parallel. It's the great day of our redemption in Christ. The day of God's providential preservation through the death and resurrection of our Lord. A day when we set aside our normal labor and we assemble together as the people of God to rejoice in what He has done on our behalf. Here, we seek God in prayer, we rejoice in song, we read the Word of God, and I believe, arguably, the centerpiece of our assembling is gathering together for the Lord's Supper, a joyful commemoration. Now, we do that by passing out a little cup of juice and bread, and I know there are some that will have the Lord's Supper in the context of a full meal, trying to sort of harken back to its original form and how we might imagine that was done originally. But I believe that the assembling for this gathering together of the Lord's Supper is marked by the same sorts of things that we said the celebration of Purim is marked. Our gathering is marked by identification. Those who are identified as the people of God in Christ. Those who have received his covenant promises. Those that he's delivered and given life to. Our gathering is marked by inclusion. It comes by way of a global proclamation celebrated by people from every tongue and tribe and nation. Scott Prince was sharing with me earlier at the Gideon's convention that he attended this week how neat it was to have people, I don't remember the number of countries represented there, but a vast number of countries represented there to gather together for that occasion. It's also by way of a generational proclamation, an inclusion that's happened across time. You know, at the great in-gathering on the day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter said in regards to salvation and the giving of the Holy Spirit, he said this, for the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to himself. And it's given to us by way of gracious proclamation, through words of peace and truth. peace and truth in Christ that's been sent out, given to the church, to be carried into every part of the world, into every language, to every tongue and tribe, until the full number of God's people have been brought in. Our gathering is also marked by remembrance. And again, at the very centerpiece, in the heart of this, in the Lord's Supper, these words, do this in remembrance of me. Those are the words of our Lord, passed down from the apostles to us, that we should not forget what he has done on our behalf. Something too wonderful to slip away from our thoughts. It must be remembered. Our gathering's marked by rejoicing. It's a rejoicing that's done in context. It's good for us to remember with solemnity the curse that hung over us, the decree of destruction from which we were saved, the sin that our Lord took upon Himself. It's rejoicing with feasting, this feast that we celebrate. resembling and being, as it were, our Lord's body and His blood, that which is our sustenance, our joy, our corporate unity. And our gathering is marked by anticipation, until the Lord comes. That's the instructions of Paul, until the Lord comes. It marks an anticipation of the final consummation when He does return. And when we enter it then into the full orb of His kingdom glory, and we join together at the marriage feast to the Lamb. We have a greater commemoration of joy. How much more significance What does this blessing, then, that the Jews themselves read, have when we consider the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ? Let me read it again, and just think of it in these terms, of what we have in Christ. Blessed are you, our God, King of the universe, who takes up our grievance, judges our claim, avenges our wrong, who brings just retribution upon all enemies of our soul and exacts vengeance for us from our foes. Blessed are you, O God, who exact vengeance for His people Israel from all their foes, the God who brings salvation. The book of Esther, in conclusion here is, Truly a story about the providential preservation of a chosen people by the hand of an unseen God. And we can see on this side of the cross that the story points us to Christ. God's providential preservation is accomplished through selected representation. And Christ became our selected representation. God's providential preservation is accomplished through perilous intervention, and Christ Jesus took upon himself lovingly, willingly, joyfully, our perilous intervention. God's providential preservation is accomplished through triumphant salvation, and Christ Jesus won our triumphant salvation. God's providential preservation is accompanied by joyful commemoration, and Christ Jesus is the supply of our joyful commemoration. In Christ, we are the chosen people of God, that He has providentially preserved for our good and for His glory. In Christ, the unseen God has been made known. As John said, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. Christ Jesus has explained it. Let's close in the word of prayer. Again, Lord, we are so thankful for Your Word. Lord, we are so thankful for the great deliverance that You have worked out for us, your people, through your Son, Jesus Christ. We're thankful, Lord, in all the ways that as we go through this story, a story, Lord, by which you preserve your people through whom the Messiah would come to us. And so we can delight, Lord, on both sides of that. We delight in your work of salvation and deliverance for them that we might have the Messiah And more than this, we rejoice, Lord, in the deliverance that we have through Him that is complete and final, a fulfillment of all of your promises, and the life and salvation that we have in His name. And it's in the name of Christ that we pray these things. Amen. So I want to give opportunity then for any questions or comments or corrections, additions, works to edify. Yeah, so it seems to me that between Herod and Esther, it's clearly a story of God's provision and saving them. Yet he's never mentioned, and it even says in bringing Purim about, that the Jews decided to do it for themselves, to themselves, among themselves, and never give God the credit, how does that fit into Scripture? To start with you, Michael. Yeah. I think that comes back to, again, the theme of the book, the providence, preserving his people, though he is unseen. And it seems like there's a way in which it's written for us and included, you know, into the canon of scripture, even though God's name isn't mentioned, because sort of, I think part of the point is to say, though you don't see God, you see God. Though you don't have his name, we know that he is the main character of the story here, because there's no other explanation for it. But it does seem, I understand what you're saying, it does sort of strike you funny when, why don't they at least give some recognition beyond Esther and Mordecai and, you know, in the story of God, beyond that, and that's the best I can come up with. Though it's interesting that the Jews, recognize it in a similar way that we have. We say, well, that's God. God's done this. And even if woven that into their feast and their celebration, highlighting what God has done in saving his people. OK, so there's also warnings in scripture about creating your own celebrations and stuff. And yet that seems like what's being done here. And yet it's clearly blessed by God. Or it seems to me, you know, that there's Right, should they be obligated to keep it simply because Esther and Mordecai set it up? That's a good question. We see other places in scripture where God honored those because they honored their father, and I'm blanking on the fellow's name and his descendants who remained faithful to his commands even though they weren't the commands of God. And they were honored in scripture for doing that as though God himself had given it to them. And in some way, that's true of all the scripture. I mean, the words of the apostles that we uphold as having come from God. I can't get into the mind of, I guess, of a Jew and understand that fully, but I'm not sure that helps entirely. It definitely is interesting. Yeah. Yeah. It seems to have a different dynamic. Right, where God said, God gave to Moses, do this. Passover is instituted not by way of Moses, but by way of God, right? Although we can see other places where the Jews banded together to find themselves, is something, I'm gonna say, is it Jeremiah or one of those, where they banded together to find themselves? Oh no, it was like, And they failed to keep what they had bound themselves to, which wasn't to resort to them laying on the night guard. But they had bound themselves to do this. And then God opposed them to hell. I believe it's in the Malachite. God said, you're going to fail. You're going to do what you said you were going to do. It wasn't received necessarily as a command from God, but they joined together with their leaders, Mordecai, who had been exalted ahead of the Jews. They agreed with their leaders, and vowed themselves to this. And in doing so, I think, they came right to celebrate, because they agreed to do that. Yeah, but the same thing happened with Joshua and the Indians. Yeah. And they later were cursed upon the Indians. And again, I think- I think what it shows, though, is that there's a greater battle over knowledge and ethics that play out in these regions on Earth. It was interesting, two years ago in March, Benjamin Netanyahu came here to give a joint address to Congress, and he referred to Perl, and he referred to how, you know, God's people were threatened by Haman, and then made the analogy that they, God's people, brought houses, as he says, The Jews, again, are being threatened by an armed dynamic. Now, I don't believe the Israelis may have another. The point is, he's missing the figure. We would say, as Christians, we have an enemy. And we have a dynamic that is out to destroy us. And we need to be vigilant about that. But I thought it was also interesting in under-identification of the first Verse 17 in chapter 8 says, that many of the people of the land became Jews because the fear of the Jews felt upon them. And so you have this fact that people became Jews, became the people of God, not through ethnicity, or birth, or race, if you will, but rather through the fear of God, through identification with God's people. And it reminds me of the story of Rahab, right? Because she sees what God's doing, and the fear of God was upon her. She was going to hide the spies because she feared God. And she saw what God was doing, and so that fear I think is tied to faith as well. I'm sure there was some fear in the sense of, well, we better be on the right side of this battle or it's not going to come out well for us. But I think also perhaps a faith, a fear that is associated with faith as well. Right. I like that you really brought out the importance of the Lord's Supper in our gathering and that it's a central focus. that every week. I grew up in meetings as we remembered the Lord every week and spent an hour in our first meeting around the Lord's table remembering him. And people would ask, doesn't that get old and boring? It's easy to see you fly back with joy at noon. And I don't know about you all, but I need reminded. And it's nice to be able to prepare for that in anticipation each week to say, I'm remembering the Lord and coming back to these truths and remembering that. And he says, as often as you meet this, One week shorter before his come his return. Yeah It's good thought all right turn it over to Matt