Every day we hear of another terrorist trying to annihilate Israel. But the celebration of Purim reminds us that this has happened before, also without success.

The story in the Biblical book of Esther unfolds in a series of events that finds a powerful monarch without a queen, and a mysterious young woman unexpectedly filling that role. The sub-plot has an assassination attempt being foiled by a highly-placed member of a minority group. This man refuses to violate his conscience even to please his superior, who is a demon in prime minister's clothing.

Unrestrained hatred drives the PM to trick the king into giving him the okay to destroy all these minority foreigners. The date of the pogram is set by the throw of the dice--the pur (hence Pur-im, plural). Our royal beauty, secret cousin of the righteous alien, now shows her intelligence as well as her faith. Realizing that she has been placed in her position of prominence "for such a time as this," she calls for a three-day fast, (usually accompanied by prayer). Then, with her heart in her throat, she takes her life in her hands and approaches the king. The conclusion finds the de-frocked prime minister on the gallows he had prepared for his nemesis, the hated outsider now filling the office, and the persecuted people rejoicing in their deliverance. The rejoicing continues to this very month, February 25th to the 27th.

The book of Esther stands as a classic example, showing the futility of trying to blot out God's people. The author gives the references where the truth of these facts can be ascertained. Archaeological excavations in Iran also have shown that the minute details of the time and descriptions of the furnishings are true.

Many questions come to mind regarding this story of Esther:

• What purpose is there in the first chapter, which tells about the unhappy results of the drunken feast? Besides opening the way for Esther to become queen, the events of chapter one also show us what an impulsive tyrant the king was. This is the man Esther had to deal with.



• What was the cause of the king's insomnia? Was it something he ate at the banquet? Was he trying to figure out what was so important to Esther that she would risk her life for it?



• Since the name of God is not even mentioned, why is this book included in the Bible? Haman and his followers were intent on the extermination of the Jewish nation. Esther was instrumental in saving her people. God's promise to send the Messiah through the family of Judah and King David can not be frustrated. No Jewish nation, no Messiah. No Messiah, No Redeemer to die for the sins of mankind and rise again to return and fulfill God's promise of a world with peace and righteousness. Long after the events in this story, Esther remained a queen and queen-mother. She, no doubt, influenced her stepson Artaxerxes in his kindness toward the Jewish people as they returned to their homeland.



• What can we learn from this narrative about someone who was willing to die in order to save others? Is this a further development of the idea of a substitute dying as a sacrifice for others, instituted by God Himself in the book of Leviticus? Would God accept a human substitute? According to Isaiah, chapter 52, verse 13 to chapter 53, verse 12, He would.



• What does it mean when we read that Haman, the arch-enemy of the Jewish people, was an Agagite? Was Haman a lineal descendant of Agag, king of the Amalekites whom King Saul was supposed to destroy? Or was he a fanatical follower of the teachings of Amalek, grandson of Esau and a perpetual problem to Israel?