The Feast of Purim, while considered a “minor holiday” by the Jewish community, is nonetheless a time of great joy. Its important message is revealed by the name Purim, literally “lots.” This recalls a time in Jewish history when the “lot” was cast to decide the day of destruction of the Jews. Fortunately, there is a living God who saw to it that this evil plan was never fulfilled. Purim is God’s appointed time to celebrate the protection of his people from the dangers of their enemies.

To better understand this holy day, we must go to one of the more interesting times in Jewish history, the time of the first dispersion, to the land of Persia (about 450 B.C.E.). The events of Purim are recorded in the book of Esther, named after the heroine of the biblical account.

The King of Persia (modern-day Iran) was Achashveros, known as Xerxes in secular history. His was the ruling empire, having conquered the waning Babylonians. Among the multi-cultural subjects of his kingdom was the sizable Jewish remnant displaced from the land of Israel. This community had survived and flourished under the benevolence of the Persian leaders. The Jewish people felt at home in their new land and assimilated into the prevailing Persian culture. However, during the reign of Achashveros things suddenly took a turn for the worse.

The primary instigator of these problems was one of the government officials, Haman. As Haman rose to power, he insisted on the homage he felt was due him. In good pagan tradition, Haman required all the other servants to bow before him. Among the king’s servants was Mordechai who had previously uncovered a plot to kill the king. Being a Jew, Mordechai was the only one who refused to bow to Haman as this would be viewed as idolatry.

Scripture says “Haman was filled with rage” at such insubordination. He desired to do away with all of the Jewish people in Persia (Esther 3) Haman devised an evil and insidious way to set the exact time of extermination (an early version of Hitler’s “Final Solution”) . He cast the lot (Pur in Hebrew) to set the date “to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews—young and old, women and little children—on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods” (Esther 3:13).

Times could not have looked darker. As Mordechai and his people turned to fasting and prayer, a rescue plan developed. In a strange turn of events, a beautiful Jewish girl named Esther had earlier won the “Miss Shushan Contest” and been appointed as Queen of Persia. Mordechai, Esther’s uncle, suddenly could see through this great “coincidence” a way the Jewish queen could help. Even though Esther had reached the pinnacle of Persian society, her uncle had some powerful words to challenge her:

Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this (Esther 4:13–14)?

Queen Esther had no choice but to respond to this plea. At great risk to her own safety, she openly approached King Achashveros with the dilemma. She requested that the king and Haman be present at a banquet. Meanwhile, on a sleepless night, King Achashveros read in his court records that Mordechai had never been recompensed for saving his life. Through this particular “coincidence,” the king decided that he, along with his servants, should honor Mordechai for his heroic deed. At the banquet Esther exposed the evil plot of Haman, to which the king promptly responded by hanging him on the very gallows Haman had built for Mordechai.

With Haman executed, the king now faced the problem of the previous decree to destroy the Jewish people. According to the law of the Medes and Persians, a previous law could not be nullified; however, additional laws could be passed to circumvent the current law. With this in mind, King Achashveros decreed that while the Jewish community might be open to attack, they could now defend themselves with all the manpower they could muster. Hence, the very day appointed for destruction (13 Adar) became a day of deliverance and great joy for the Jewish community as they successfully repelled the attacks of their enemies. Such is the history of the Feast of Purim, as is recorded near the end of the scroll of Esther:

Mordechai recorded these events, and he sent letters to all the Jews throughout the provinces of King Xerxes, near and far, to have them celebrate annually the fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month of Adar as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor.... Therefore these days were called Purim, from the word Pur (lot) (Esther 9:20–22,26).