The Jewish roots of Christianity

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Bible teaching with an emphasis on Israel, prophecy and the Jewish roots of Christianity

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Episode: “Days of Remembrance: Purim”
This program features teaching from Myles and Katharine while also including interviews with Messianic Believers living in Israel. We discover how they celebrate and remember this special holiday that has been recognized by the Jewish people everywhere for millennia.

Caption transcript for “Days of Remembrance: Purim”

  • 00:03 Israel's existence and the lineage of Messiah
  • 00:06 was threatened by an overwhelming militant force.
  • 00:09 Mordecai said to Esther, perhaps you have been
  • 00:13 brought into the kingdom for such a time as this.
  • 00:17 The statement rings through the ages
  • 00:19 and challenges us even to today.
  • 00:26 Shalom and welcome to our program. I'm Myles Weiss
  • 00:28 And I'm Katharine Weiss
  • 00:29 and we want to welcome you to our program on Purim.
  • 00:33 It's read out of the book of Esther.
  • 00:35 It's all about God preserving the people.
  • 00:38 And we want to bring it to you because we know that
  • 00:41 you are more and more aware of the calendar of the LORD.
  • 00:44 These are not the biblically mandated feast,
  • 00:46 Right
  • 00:47 the Feast of Purim.
  • 00:48 Correct
  • 00:49 This is a feast that is really an extra-biblical feast
  • 00:52 that comes as a commemoration
  • 00:54 of God's great deliverance in the Jewish people.
  • 00:56 And I am so glad that God is a covenant keeping God.
  • 00:59 He says that all Israel shall be saved in Romans 11:26
  • 01:03 and so we know that he's going to preserve the Jewish people,
  • 01:07 first reason of course is so Messiah could come.
  • 01:10 The Book of Esther is all about God preserving
  • 01:13 the Jewish people against all odds.
  • 01:15 Wonderful.
  • 01:16 And I love how Mordecai says to Esther,
  • 01:18 you can think that you'll be safe in the palace,
  • 01:22 we'll be safe in our own little palaces,
  • 01:24 but God is calling us to take a stand for the biblical views
  • 01:29 of who he is and what he's about in this day.
  • 01:33 And he's about preserving the Jewish people.
  • 01:36 So let's go now and hear
  • 01:38 some more about Purim in Israel.
  • 01:42 Purim - the Feast of Esther
  • 01:45 takes place about 400 years before the time of Yeshuah .
  • 01:48 It's at the height of the Persian Empire.
  • 01:51 The Jews are in captivity and that
  • 01:54 empire was so large that at the center,
  • 01:57 Shusan, where the story takes place
  • 01:59 was the core of the place
  • 02:01 but it reached all the way to India
  • 02:04 and all the way to Ethiopia
  • 02:06 and it was a 2 million square mile empire.
  • 02:09 A tremendous land tract, a tremendous empire
  • 02:13 that was ruled by King Xerxes.
  • 02:15 And it was a time that the Israelites were
  • 02:18 allowed to return according to the decree Cyrus
  • 02:21 but many of them stayed behind
  • 02:23 because of the comfort and were unwilling
  • 02:26 to become pioneers in the land of Israel.
  • 02:28 Well we have the same situation today where
  • 02:30 many of us in the west are reluctant to return home,
  • 02:33 some of us prevented for different reasons but
  • 02:36 we are unable or unwilling to return
  • 02:38 and be pioneers in the land and so we have
  • 02:41 Jews in the Diaspora all over the world.
  • 02:44 Purim is a plural word for "Pur"
  • 02:47 "Pur" means "lots".
  • 02:49 And lots were cast to determine the date of
  • 02:52 the destruction of the entire Jewish people.
  • 02:54 Now we know that throughout history
  • 02:57 Satan, " Ha Satan ", the "Adversary"
  • 03:00 has tried to annihilate the Jewish people, why?
  • 03:03 Because God is a covenant keeping God,
  • 03:06 he loves the Jewish people,
  • 03:07 continues to love Israel.
  • 03:09 And also because through the Jewish people
  • 03:12 the heroes of the faith emerge,
  • 03:14 the ones we learn from, the patriarchs and the prophets
  • 03:17 and of course most of all Mashiach Yeshua
  • 03:21 comes through the Jewish people.
  • 03:23 So Satan is always trying to wipe us out.
  • 03:27 That is the same that is going on today.
  • 03:29 But God is the hero of the book of Esther.
  • 03:32 He is also the hero of Israel.
  • 03:35 He is " Shomar Yisrael ", the Guardian, the one who
  • 03:38 watches over Israel, who keeps Israel.
  • 03:42 Now the villain in the story...
  • 03:44 There are four major characters.
  • 03:46 First there's Vashti, the Queen who is deposed.
  • 03:49 Esther, the Jewish girl is raised up as Queen.
  • 03:52 And then the four main characters are
  • 03:54 Esther, as a representation of the human spirit,
  • 03:57 the king as a representation of the flesh, or the world.
  • 04:01 Haman, the anti-God character,
  • 04:04 and Mordecai who represents the Holy Spirit in our story.
  • 04:08 Now, I am predisposed to like this
  • 04:12 because of course my Hebrew name is "Mordecai"
  • 04:14 so I do have an affinity for him.
  • 04:16 But he is a real hero in this in that he
  • 04:19 represents the work of God in actually changing the
  • 04:23 divine order of things in an entire nation.
  • 04:26 One is deposed, one is raised up
  • 04:29 and that attempt to annihilate the Jews
  • 04:31 is reversed by God himself.
  • 04:34 The battle between Mordecai and Haman
  • 04:38 has its roots in the history of Israel.
  • 04:42 God told Moses...
  • 04:50 ... way back 1400 years
  • 04:52 before the time of Yeshua.
  • 04:53 Why? Because within Amalek was that demonic
  • 04:57 attack against the purposes of God.
  • 05:00 It's not just that God is a destructive person,
  • 05:03 He's the Creator, he's a Lover,
  • 05:05 but he knows the end from the beginning
  • 05:08 and so the instruction to wipe out Amalek was
  • 05:11 in order to preserve the line of the Messiah.
  • 05:14 Well, it didn't work out that way and so
  • 05:16 years later in 1,000 b.c. during the time of David,
  • 05:21 Saul was commanded to wipe out Agag
  • 05:24 also an Amalekite.
  • 05:26 He didn't do it either.
  • 05:27 And so here we have Mordecai
  • 05:29 400 years before the time of Yeshua
  • 05:31 dealing with the fruit of that disobedience to God.
  • 05:35 Because the line of Amalek was still alive
  • 05:39 they were still opposing the purposes of God.
  • 05:41 Now we have Haman who is opposing Mordecai,
  • 05:45 opposing Esther, and the purpose of God.
  • 05:48 And it is God's intention to reverse that.
  • 05:50 And there's some wonderful cultural
  • 05:52 aspects to this holiday.
  • 05:54 We have the "Fast" of Esther,
  • 05:56 the " Taanit " of Esther.
  • 05:58 In the winter we have the Purim [shemeel]
  • 06:00 which is where we tell the entire story and
  • 06:03 act it out and just play the parts of
  • 06:05 all the characters in this Bible narrative.
  • 06:09 And of course we have some foods and some special
  • 06:11 cultural things that go on.
  • 06:13 And in our family it was very much type cast.
  • 06:15 My youngest son was the king,
  • 06:18 my older son was Mordecai,
  • 06:19 my beautiful bride of course was Esther
  • 06:21 and I would be the bad guy Haman.
  • 06:24 And as our children were growing up we
  • 06:27 would act this story out in order to
  • 06:29 remember from generation to generation through
  • 06:33 the reading and the reciting of
  • 06:35 the whole " Megillah ", the whole "Scroll"
  • 06:37 that God is the secret hero.
  • 06:40 He's never mentioned by name in this book
  • 06:42 and yet he is the real hero of the book of Esther.
  • 06:52 For insightful perspectives on Israel and Bible Prophecy
  • 06:57 ask for our free monthly newsletter, the "Levitt Letter'
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  • 07:23 As the Biblical narrative of Esther unfolds we see that
  • 07:27 the plot from Haman is to wipe out all the Jews and
  • 07:31 specifically targets Mordecai
  • 07:34 because Mordecai is standing up as a representation of the Jews.
  • 07:39 It's interesting that both the name "Esther" and "Mordecai"
  • 07:42 are Persian names that are now revered names among the Jews.
  • 07:45 Esther's Hebrew name was actually " Hadassah "
  • 07:48 which means "myrtle" like the tree.
  • 07:50 But we don't really know what Mordecai's Hebrew name was
  • 07:53 because his name was given to him in Persia
  • 07:55 and it's become a very heroic and valid
  • 07:57 name among the Jewish people
  • 07:59 but it's actually from the Persian language.
  • 08:02 It's interesting that today Iran, which is the
  • 08:06 modern version of ancient Persia is
  • 08:08 again seeking to wipe out the Jewish people,
  • 08:11 in fact has predicted that in
  • 08:13 several decades there will be no Israel.
  • 08:15 But I have really bad news for the Mullahs.
  • 08:17 Good news for the people of Iran
  • 08:19 because they will be turning to Jesus.
  • 08:21 In fact, some count that they are turning to Jesus
  • 08:24 in greater numbers than any nation in the world.
  • 08:27 There is kind of a race between China and Iran
  • 08:29 for the most Christianizing nation on the planet.
  • 08:33 The people of Iran will know the Lord.
  • 08:35 There's some wonderful prophesies in Jeremiah 49
  • 08:38 about the future of Iran/Persia.
  • 08:41 But in the meantime there's a false leadership
  • 08:44 at the top that is opposing Israel,
  • 08:46 opposing Yeshua and the work of God.
  • 08:49 But God will have his way.
  • 08:50 I remember being in a prayer meeting
  • 08:52 during ministry in Argentina
  • 08:54 And someone was praying, Oh Israel we pray for you
  • 08:58 because America is behind you
  • 09:00 and we need America to be there for Israel.
  • 09:02 I stopped the prayer meeting.
  • 09:03 It was kind of a bold move.
  • 09:05 But I stopped and I took the leader aside
  • 09:08 and I said, really it's up to America to decide
  • 09:11 whether she will stand with Israel
  • 09:13 because God will preserve Israel.
  • 09:16 He is Shomar Yisrael .
  • 09:18 So it's not that Israel needs America
  • 09:20 as much as it is America needs to know where she stands.
  • 09:23 And that's the story of Esther.
  • 09:25 The story of Esther is about coming out of hiding
  • 09:28 and coming out of denying your roots
  • 09:31 and recognizing where you come from and where you're going.
  • 09:34 Esther comes out of hiding from her Jewish roots.
  • 09:37 She looks Persian, she appears to be Persian
  • 09:40 but Mordecai challenges her
  • 09:42 in fact, he says to her,
  • 09:44 (Speaking Hebrew)
  • 09:48 Who knows, that you've been brought into the kingdom
  • 09:51 for such a time as this.
  • 09:53 And I think that's a word for the church today.
  • 09:55 I think that's a word for all believers internationally
  • 09:59 to recognize that replacement theology is a myth and it's
  • 10:02 also a dangerous, dangerous departure from orthodoxy,
  • 10:07 from the real meaning of the Bible.
  • 10:09 God is still working with Israel.
  • 10:12 He will continue to work with Israel into eternity.
  • 10:15 I advise you to read Romans 9 through 11
  • 10:19 without prejudice, without spiritualizing.
  • 10:21 Just read it for what it says
  • 10:23 and you will be amazed that it is not only the pivotal
  • 10:26 story of the Roman letter
  • 10:29 but it is the most accurate and clear picture of the fact
  • 10:34 that we as international and Jewish believers need
  • 10:37 to stand with Israel as we see the day of Messiah approaching.
  • 10:42 Now throughout history there are always these attacks against
  • 10:45 the Jewish people.
  • 10:46 It's an attack against the Word of God, the covenants of God
  • 10:49 and the promise of Messiah.
  • 10:51 Think about this.
  • 10:52 This is my pantheon of "H's",
  • 10:55 Haman, Herod,
  • 10:57 Hitler, Hussein,
  • 10:58 Hamas, Hezbollah,
  • 11:01 all coming to try to wipe out Israel
  • 11:04 and all will fail.
  • 11:05 I think it's an opposite of
  • 11:08 God breathing His Spirit into
  • 11:10 Abram and making him Abraham
  • 11:12 and Sara making her Sarah;
  • 11:14 that " Hey " letter, that breath of God comes in.
  • 11:16 Well these people sucking out the breath of God
  • 11:20 and standing against the purposes of God...
  • 11:22 But they will fail because God is going to
  • 11:25 do what he says he's going to do.
  • 11:27 One of the beautiful aspects of the book of Esther is
  • 11:30 on the human level if there is a hero it is Esther.
  • 11:33 She becomes the Queen.
  • 11:35 She stands for her people.
  • 11:36 And I'd like to say something about women in the Bible.
  • 11:39 She's a prime example of the heroin in the Bible
  • 11:43 but she's not the only one.
  • 11:44 Think about the mothers and wives
  • 11:46 that are exalted by Scripture,
  • 11:48 Abigail and her relationship to David,
  • 11:50 Hannah as the mother of Samuel
  • 11:53 and Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, Baptiser,
  • 11:58 and Miriam , the mother of Yeshua , "Mary" we say.
  • 12:00 Think about the teachers, Priscilla who worked
  • 12:03 with her husband Aquila,
  • 12:05 and they taught in the New Testament.
  • 12:06 Finance - leaders in finance like Lydia who
  • 12:08 helped Paul in his mission.
  • 12:11 She partnered with him financially.
  • 12:13 The military leaders, Deborah who was a great General,
  • 12:16 stood with the Generals of Israel in ancient times.
  • 12:19 All throughout the Bible we see women elevated by God
  • 12:23 put next to, not under, not over,
  • 12:26 but next to the men in there lives
  • 12:28 because two are better than one.
  • 12:30 Esther's story?
  • 12:31 Clearly a story that illustrates the reality
  • 12:34 of the New Testament mandate that he who
  • 12:37 seeks his life shall lose it but he who
  • 12:40 loses his life for God's sake will find it.
  • 12:43 That's in Matthew 16:25
  • 12:45 and it's a Word for the Church today.
  • 12:57 Your financial contributions to Zola Levitt Ministries
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  • 13:21 as we serve together until the Messiah returns.
  • 13:27 Our resource this week,
  • 13:30 "Esther, For Such a Time as This" on DVD.
  • 13:34 This 8 part series presents the Biblical account of
  • 13:37 the young, beautiful Jewish woman who
  • 13:40 becomes the Queen of Persia.
  • 13:42 When Esther is confronted with murderous, racial hatred
  • 13:45 she allows herself to be used by God and
  • 13:48 saves the Jewish people from genocide.
  • 13:50 Contact us for the DVD series,
  • 13:53 "Esther, for Such a Time as This"
  • 13:58 Part of telling the whole "Megillah" the whole "Scroll"
  • 14:00 is dressing up in the costumes they would wear at the time.
  • 14:03 In fact, here we have Queen Esther.
  • 14:05 She's with us today.
  • 14:06 You know there's nothing like re-enacting the story
  • 14:09 to actually get it into your being,
  • 14:11 in your mind what happened.
  • 14:13 And Lilly is our Queen of the day.
  • 14:15 We used to have Stephen as the King.
  • 14:18 And you used to play the bad Haman.
  • 14:21 But you know what?
  • 14:22 There's nothing like Purim.
  • 14:24 Right Lilly?
  • 14:25 Don't you love it?
  • 14:25 Yeah.
  • 14:27 Would you take that scepter and bring it
  • 14:28 back to the King now for us?
  • 14:30 Myles - Thank you.
  • 14:34 You know, when you have a child dressed as Esther and she's
  • 14:37 so beautiful and it's just so sweet, sometimes it's easy
  • 14:40 to lose the meaning of what this holiday's about and the
  • 14:44 reality of intercession and the importance of prayer,
  • 14:48 and how Esther stood for Israel
  • 14:51 and how we as the Church, Jew and Gentile together
  • 14:54 are to stand for the purposes of God in our generation.
  • 14:58 You know, Esther wasn't somebody that just was of a noble line.
  • 15:01 She was actually an orphan.
  • 15:03 And God through his providence brought her into the kingdom
  • 15:07 as it says in Scripture, "For such a time as this."
  • 15:11 She postured herself for the king.
  • 15:14 And she was able to be ready when
  • 15:17 the Lord made a request of her.
  • 15:19 And it was through Mordecai her uncle that
  • 15:21 said that there's this edict out that Haman wants
  • 15:25 to wipe out all the Jews
  • 15:28 and just because your in this royal room or
  • 15:31 just because you are the Queen, it
  • 15:34 won't mean that you will be saved.
  • 15:36 So you need to take a stand.
  • 15:38 And she needed to take a stand Myles.
  • 15:40 And I think there's something for us.
  • 15:42 There's a lesson for us that silence is the biggest,
  • 15:44 deadliest weapon that the enemy has.
  • 15:47 We have to raise our voice.
  • 15:49 And we have to be the Esther's of our day
  • 15:51 no matter what our past was.
  • 15:53 Maybe we didn't have a good past.
  • 15:55 Maybe we were an orphan.
  • 15:56 But God wants to give you the royal apparel
  • 15:59 and he wants to make you ready to be
  • 16:02 the voice for his people in this time.
  • 16:05 You know, it said that as she surrendered she had to come to
  • 16:08 a place and say, "If I perish, I perish."
  • 16:10 That's right.
  • 16:12 The Hebrew of that,
  • 16:13 (Speaking Hebrew)
  • 16:14 If I perish, I perish.
  • 16:16 And really, that's the stance we need to take in these days.
  • 16:19 You know, when she took that scepter,
  • 16:21 when you saw Lily as Esther take that scepter
  • 16:24 it was the royal decree that came to her
  • 16:26 that she had the authority to speak.
  • 16:29 And you have the authority as the Church,
  • 16:31 as the living Body of Yeshua ,
  • 16:33 You have authority in the heavenlies
  • 16:35 and authority to speak in this world.
  • 16:37 And we need to take that authority
  • 16:39 and not forget where we come from.
  • 16:40 for the Gentile believers to remember
  • 16:42 Israel and the Jewish people,
  • 16:44 for all of us together to know that we
  • 16:47 represent the voice of God in our generation.
  • 16:49 Right, and that same spirit, that same
  • 16:51 Haman spirit is after the Jewish people today.
  • 16:55 It is wanting to annihilate the Jewish people.
  • 16:57 And the enemy of our day is again trying to get
  • 17:01 the Church to be silent, not to take sides.
  • 17:04 We don't take sides.
  • 17:05 We are for all people
  • 17:06 but God wants us to stand with his Jewish people
  • 17:09 and for his plan for the Land and his plan
  • 17:11 for the redemption of the people itself.
  • 17:14 So would you take to heart the book of Esther
  • 17:17 during this time of Purim?
  • 17:19 And would you be that voice?
  • 17:21 Wherever you may be your voice can
  • 17:22 be loud and it can be clear.
  • 17:24 Or it can be silent through
  • 17:27 a prayer or through a letter.
  • 17:29 Whatever it might be Myles.
  • 17:30 It would be several ways that you could take
  • 17:32 a stand for the people of Israel in this time.
  • 17:34 We believe that standing with national Israel
  • 17:37 according to Genesis 12:1-3
  • 17:39 is valid, it's important, it's God's mandate.
  • 17:43 And we also believe in Galatians 6:10
  • 17:46 that we're to support the body.
  • 17:48 It says in Galations that we are to do good to all,
  • 17:50 especially to those of the household of faith.
  • 17:53 God once showed me that it's a big " chuppah ",
  • 17:55 it's a big wedding canopy under which we can take our
  • 17:58 place with our ministry and our emphasis.
  • 18:00 There are some that are supporting National Israel without the Gospel
  • 18:04 and they believe that that's their call.
  • 18:06 There's some that are primarily declaring the Gospel
  • 18:08 and that's their call.
  • 18:10 We want you to find your place under the wedding canopy.
  • 18:12 For us, we want to do both.
  • 18:14 We want to support the state, support the people.
  • 18:16 We also want to proclaim the goodness of Yeshua ,
  • 18:20 the power of Yeshua .
  • 18:21 That's our story, that's our testimony
  • 18:24 that he is our Mashiach .
  • 18:25 And we want you to stand with us
  • 18:28 also as we bring that forward.
  • 18:30 So during this season remember
  • 18:32 we are Esther in this generation.
  • 18:34 And there's something really important
  • 18:36 that we need to just hold on to,
  • 18:38 is that there's so much power in prayer.
  • 18:41 You know she called all the people
  • 18:42 to fast and pray for 3 days.
  • 18:44 And I know God is calling us as a nation to pray
  • 18:47 for his plan of preservation for the Jewish people.
  • 18:51 And I know that God himself will
  • 18:53 defend his people and show himself strong.
  • 18:56 So let's be on the Lord's side
  • 18:58 and let's stand up and take our stand these days.
  • 19:01 Amen!
  • 19:13Sha'a'lu shalom Yerushalayim
  • 19:17Sha'a'lu, Sha'alu shalom , ♪
  • 19:21 ♪ In the holy city of Jerusalem ♪
  • 19:28 ♪ We will pray for peace, sha'alu shalom . ♪♪
  • 19:41 You know it's the heartbeat
  • 19:43 of this ministry
  • 19:44 to bring Israel to you.
  • 19:45 But we also love to have you
  • 19:47 come with us on our tours.
  • 19:49 You will be...just
  • 19:51 your heart will come alive to
  • 19:53 God's covenant keeping power
  • 19:55 and how he has kept his Word,
  • 19:57 he has kept his people
  • 19:58 and he will keep
  • 19:59 his promises to you.
  • 20:01 So please join us
  • 20:02 on our next tour
  • 20:03 we would love, Myles and I
  • 20:04 would love to host you.
  • 20:06 I never get tired of going to Israel.
  • 20:08 I'm looking forward to our next tours as well.
  • 20:10 You know, there are parallels
  • 20:12 between Hanukkah and Christmas
  • 20:14 the same time of the year.
  • 20:16 There are parallels between Purim and Halloween
  • 20:17 believe it or not
  • 20:18 because it's a time of dressing up.
  • 20:20 Because there's a joyous celebration when the
  • 20:22 people dress up in the characters of the Bible
  • 20:25 and the characters of the Book of Esther.
  • 20:27 And it's a fun time.
  • 20:28 It's a time to remember the goodness of God
  • 20:30 in preserving the Jewish people.
  • 20:32 It's a real celebratory time.
  • 20:34 Right, it's not around a demonic thing like Halloween.
  • 20:37 It's definitely around a
  • 20:39 biblical remembrance of God's deliverance.
  • 20:43 But the Jewish people in Israel
  • 20:45 take it as a time to dress up either...
  • 20:48 most everybody dresses up like Queen Esther
  • 20:50 or Mordecai or Haman, right?
  • 20:52 And they read the whole Megillah ,
  • 20:54 the read the whole scroll.
  • 20:57 And then they act out
  • 20:58 and any time Haman's name is mentioned they have a grogger.
  • 21:02 We used to do this in our own home.
  • 21:04 Yeah, we did.
  • 21:06 And to make noise to stamp out the name of Haman
  • 21:08 as if it is the name of Satan - same idea
  • 21:11 cause he's a characterization of the demonic influence
  • 21:14 that wants to wipe out the Jewish people,
  • 21:16 Still alive today.
  • 21:17 In fact the conflict between ancient Persia and Israel
  • 21:21 we see in the Book of Esther
  • 21:22 is alive today in Iran and Israel.
  • 21:25 Yeah, very much alive today
  • 21:27 and it's reason for us to be like Esther
  • 21:31 the church and take our time in prayer,
  • 21:33 our time in fasting.
  • 21:35 This Iran deal is not good for us or for Israel.
  • 21:40 And God will have his way.
  • 21:43 And we just want to partner with him.
  • 21:45 And we want that Holy Scepter to be extended to us once again
  • 21:49 to see these kind of things overturned.
  • 21:52 Yeah, this conflict with Iran is going to have
  • 21:55 a very interesting way that it plays out.
  • 21:56 You see it in Jeremiah 49
  • 21:59 and we're going to see that play out.
  • 22:00 There's going to be very difficult times ahead for Iran
  • 22:02 but in the meantime it is one of the fastest
  • 22:04 growing Christian countries in the world.
  • 22:06 So good news is ahead for Israel and for Iran.
  • 22:10 There may be tough times on the way there.
  • 22:12 So now let's go to a very special treat.
  • 22:15 We have this beautiful family in Israel
  • 22:17 Ariel and Shayla Hyde and their children
  • 22:19 will be singing to us about the story of Mordecai and Esther.
  • 22:22 Let's go to them now.
  • 22:34UMordechai yatza milifnei hamelech
  • 22:37Bil'vush malchut ve'ateret zahav , ♪
  • 22:41UMordechai yatza milifnei hamelech
  • 22:44Veha'ir Shushan tzohala us'meichah . ♪
  • 22:48Lay'hudim hay'tah orah vesimchah , ♪
  • 22:52Orah vesimchah, vesasson viy'kar . ♪
  • 22:55Lay'hudim hay'tah orah vesimchah , ♪
  • 22:58Orah vesimchah, vesasson viy'kar . ♪♪
  • 23:10 Ariel thank you so much for being with us today.
  • 23:13 Thanks for having me.
  • 23:14 So tell us about celebrating Purim in the
  • 23:16 Land or whatever's in your heart regarding this
  • 23:18 particular holiday festival.
  • 23:20 Well it's a beautiful celebration of
  • 23:23 remembering how God orchestrates really all
  • 23:26 things together for the good of those who love him.
  • 23:28 And so people in Israel really take it extreme.
  • 23:32 You'll see things set up all over malls and all
  • 23:34 over the country.
  • 23:36 Kids getting out of school, all sorts of
  • 23:38 costumes and dress-up making a really big
  • 23:41 party out of it.
  • 23:43 Some people even take it farther and really...
  • 23:45 Well you know, they try to get drunk and everything.
  • 23:48 But we as believers, we actually use this
  • 23:51 opportunity as an outreach to them.
  • 23:55 We invite lots of people to come.
  • 23:56 We've had events with up to 150 non believing Jewish people.
  • 24:00 And we have a play.
  • 24:02 My wife Shayla has played Esther a few times.
  • 24:05 And I played the king.
  • 24:07 And at the end we connect it to Yeshua, to Jesus and
  • 24:10 for example we say, look this is the story of how somebody
  • 24:13 was willing to lay down her life if necessary for our people.
  • 24:17 And then we tie it in to Messiah and what he's done.
  • 24:21 That's fantastic
  • 24:22 Yeah, and it's really an amazing parallel as well
  • 24:26 in the story of Purim and how
  • 24:28 you see God working behind the scenes.
  • 24:30 His name isn't even mentioned.
  • 24:31 It's an amazing parallel to modern Israel
  • 24:33 how even though we don't see a pillar of cloud, or maybe
  • 24:36 some people don't even know that God is working
  • 24:39 yet he's brought us back from the 4 quarters of the earth.
  • 24:41 He's made the desert blossom.
  • 24:43 He's supernaturally protected us
  • 24:45 in spite of all of our enemies attacking us.
  • 24:47 Twenty-two hostile nations.
  • 24:50 Six hundred and seventy times the land mass of Israel.
  • 24:53 And yet somehow we still won all these wars
  • 24:56 just like back then, how he orchestrated things together.
  • 25:00 It reminds me of the first Prime Minister,
  • 25:02 David Ben Gurion, saying,
  • 25:03 to be a realist in Israel
  • 25:05 you have to believe in miracles.
  • 25:07 That's right, Yeah.
  • 25:08 Thank you so much.
  • 25:09 Thanks.
  • 25:12 The real hero of the Book of Esther who is
  • 25:15 never mentioned by name is God Himself.
  • 25:17 We see the characters playing out different
  • 25:20 aspects of the life of God on earth.
  • 25:23 But behind the scenes it's God Himself
  • 25:25 who's setting the characters up to come
  • 25:28 to the conclusion that we hear in Esther 4:14
  • 25:30 (Speaking in Hebrew)
  • 25:36 Who knows whether you've been brought
  • 25:38 into the kingdom for such a time as this.
  • 25:40 In the midst of the joyousness and the celebration of Purim
  • 25:43 we see this undercurrent of a deep abiding understanding of
  • 25:47 God's covenant keeping power
  • 25:49 and his desire for us to stand for that which he loves.
  • 25:52 We had an amazing time with young Lilly Pearce
  • 25:56 the daughter of our friends Daniel and Amber Pierce.
  • 25:59 She dressed in her finery as Queen Esther
  • 26:01 which we love to see little girls
  • 26:03 dress as their favorite princess.
  • 26:05 But she was able to bring to the forefront
  • 26:09 the passion that God has for his people
  • 26:13 and for the church together with his people
  • 26:16 to stand for the things that are important to him.
  • 26:18 So let's hear from Katharine and Lilly right now.
  • 26:23 Here we are in Purim
  • 26:25 and we're with Lilly.
  • 26:26 Lilly, you look so beautiful in your Esther costume.
  • 26:29 Tell me what you know about the Book of Esther.
  • 26:32 Ummm...that she helped the Jews
  • 26:36 and she got rid of Haman.
  • 26:41 WOW
  • 26:43 Cause he had a plot against the Jews, right?
  • 26:46 Yes
  • 26:47 He wanted to see them...
  • 26:48 dead
  • 26:49 But do you think that you might
  • 26:51 take a stand like Esther did?
  • 26:53 Yes
  • 26:54 Me too
  • 26:55 We might have to.
  • 26:56 That's right.
  • 26:59 Out of the mouths of babes, "We might have to."
  • 27:01 WOW it's just profound that someone that young
  • 27:05 can see what's emerging in the world.
  • 27:08 Because her parents have her in the Bible.
  • 27:10 She understands the connection
  • 27:11 and living in Israel of course she understands
  • 27:13 the connection between the two.
  • 27:15 You know, that's why we always
  • 27:17 end our programs by encouraging you please
  • 27:19 Sha'a'lu shalom Yerushalayim
  • 27:21 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem
  • 27:26 Our monthly newsletter, the "Levitt Letter" is free
  • 27:28 and full of insightful articles and news commentary
  • 27:31 from a Messianic perspective.
  • 27:33 Visit levitt.com to find our newsletter
  • 27:36 along with current and past programs,
  • 27:38 our television schedule,
  • 27:40 and much more!
  • 27:42 Don't forget to order this weeks' resource
  • 27:44 by calling 1-800-WONDERS
  • 27:46 or you can purchase it from our catalogue at levitt.com
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