March 24 A Time to Heal

Esther 9:19, 23-24, 26-28 Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the rural towns, hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day for gladness and feasting, as a holiday, and as a day on which they send gifts of food to one another…23 So the Jews accepted what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them. 24 For Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur (that is, cast lots), to crush and to destroy them…26 Therefore they called these days Purim, after the term Pur. Therefore, because of all that was written in this letter, and of what they had faced in this matter, and of what had happened to them, 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, 28 that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, in every clan, province, and city, and that these days of Purim should never fall into disuse among the Jews, nor should the commemoration of these days cease among their descendants.
 
GOD had given to the Jews three Feasts to celebrate annually. In Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles, the feasts were reminders to the Jews of God’s salvation through the exodus from Egypt, the giving of the law from Mt. Sinai and their shelter during the 40-years journey to the Promised Land. Now comes a fourth feast – Purim – named after the lot or the pur. Haman had used the pur to set the date for the Jews extermination. In God’s sovereign authority, the date was set nearly one year after the decree. In that time, God used Esther and Mordecai to be instruments of his salvation. The set date of the Jews’ destruction became the day of the Jews’ salvation in Persia. Death turned from the Jews to go to the destroyers. This is a picture of God’s eternal plan of salvation for all of those chosen in Christ.
    To claim the victory, though, the Jews couldn’t sit still. The original edict to destroy them was still in effect. The only way for them to stop being killed was to wage war against their enemies. Some could see this as a violation of God’s command, “Do not kill.” But the command is not against self-protection. It is given to prevent selfish murderous intent against one another.
    As mentioned yesterday, there is a time for war. God does not want us to stay silent when evil threatens our children or our nation. History has proven the relevant truth of Ecclesiastes 3:3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up.
    The Jews acted with justice to protect their lives. They did not plunder their enemies’ possessions. Their war was a just war to avenge evil and to establish healing in their land.
    One day our Lord will come to protect his own for eternity. He will destroy the wicked and heal the earth of its sin. Jesus will build up a new Heaven and new earth to bring peace to our lives forevermore. Praise the Lord.
 
Prayer: Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen.