Who is Haman?

Every story needs a villain, and on a rare concurrence of days, we can talk about two stories and two villians.  For Maundy Thursday (the traditional time of Jesus’ Last Supper) and Purim both fall on the same day.

The first villain of the day is named Haman.  He was an advisor to the king, and loved to sit at the right hand (place of power) of the king.  He is called an Agagite, meaning a son of Agag, the king of Amalek.  Amalek was the grandson of Esau.  It is said Amalek bears a grudge against Israel because Jacob stole his birthright.  Moses said, “the LORD will have war against Amalek from generation to generation.“

The man named Judas Iscariot was the treasurer for Jesus and his disciples.  He loved to sit at the right hand of Jesus.  His last name indicates he is a resident of Kerioth-hezron, which is on the border of Edom (land of Esau).

When Mordecai discovered Haman’s plot to kill the Jews, Esther fasted for three days before holding a banquet where she revealed the identity of Haman the Agagite and his plot.  Through the banquet Esther saved the nation of Israel.

Jesus identified Judas Iscariot and his plot at his last supper.  When John asked Jesus for the identity of the betrayer, Jesus said it was the one with whom he dipped the bread.  Following the dinner Judas betrayed Jesus, who was hung on a cross to die the next day. Jesus died to save all who would believe and call on His name.  He was laid in the tomb for three days, and rose again.

Both Hamen and Judas wicked wicked men.  Haman was hung by the king on his own gallows.  According to Matthew 27 5, Judas Iscariot hung himself on his own gallows.

Oh once there was a wicked wicked man,

And Judas was his name, Sir.

He would have murdered Jesus Christ,

But he would not stay dead, Sir.

CHORUS:

Oh today we'll merry merry be

Oh today we'll merry merry be

Oh today we'll merry merry be

And nosh some Matzah now sir..

He told us on the Passover

This meal would be his last, sir

His life would end upon the cross,

Oh my how he did scare us.

CHORUS

And Jesus, as His life did end,

We knew he had some chutzpah

We laid Him in an empty tomb,

Cause that is what we do, sir."

CHORUS

He laid inside the grave all night

And through the whole next day, sir,

And then on through the next night too,

The corpse was in the grave, sir.

CHORUS

When Easter came on Sunday morn

Some wanted to anoint Him,

The stone would it be rolled away?

Oh yes, so we can go in.

CHORUS

When we walked on inside the tomb,

A big surprise we found sir,

The body we saw wasn’t there

The cloth was on the ground sir.

CHORUS

The Angels they did come and say

This man, He did arise sir,

The grave, just look, it’s empty see,

His body did arise sir.

Who was Hadassah?

The heroine of the book of Esther is young lady who had a rough start.  The details of her early years are untold.  We know that before Hadassah was a teenager her parents had died and she was under the care of an uncle named Mordecai. Esther’s given Hebrew name was Hadassah, a name which comes from the sweet smell of the myrtle tree.  This could indicate the sweetness of her demeanour which later gained her favor with Hegai and the King of Persia.  Hardships in life either result in bitterness over the events of life, or a grace which comes by acceptance and overcoming of trials.

Following the disposal of Vashti (which I wrote about yesterday), an opportunity opened which would result in a new status for Hadassah.  When King Ahasuerus found the absence of his queen left him lonely, his advisors (illustrious, star, testimony, jasper, lofty, worthy and dignified) recommended the a beauty contest to find the new queen.  This was acceptable to King Ahasuerus (who blindly accepted anything anyone presented in this story), and young women were gathered from each of the 127 provinces who could please the king and his young advisors with their beauty.

Mordecai, who lived in Susa heard of the contest, and shared this with Hadassah, who was also known as Esther (or star).  Mordecai knew this was his niece’s calling.

Esther was accepted for the contest, and resided in the harem.  Esther won favor with Hagai, the steward of the harem.  He made sure she had the best of beauty treatments, and special foods.  Although it was not revealed that Hadassah was Jewish, these were probably the same foods fed to Daniel (1:8-16)

On the night assigned Esther went in to the King, and found favor with him.  She was chosen to replace Vashti, and served as queen of all Persia.  … continued tomorrow!

Who was Vashti?

Vashti was the queen of Persia, who was a beauty queen, for her name means beautiful.  The king felt she was his companion, and was indeed proud of her. He gave her great freedom, and anything she desired.

The King, named Ahasuerus was successful, vain and rich.  He ruled over Persia at it’s height.  Although he had not conquered all of the lands leading to his empire’s greatness, he still liked to brag about his military victories.  In the third year of his reign he threw a six month long party. Nothing was off limits to his guests during the party.  The king provided food, drinks and anything else desired to all of his invited guests. Through the endurance of the party Ahasuerus became more and more extravagant.

At the end of the first week of the party, on the seventh day, Ahasuerus decided to show off the beauty of his wife.  He sent his seven eunuchs to bring Vashti to the great hall.  At this time the queen, who was hosting her own party and knew the king was in a drunken state refused to come.

Ahasuerus had been stood up.  He was embarrassed.  He did not know what to do.  (I am sure the king never considered how poor his request was in the first place, and certainly he, the most powerful monarch in the world, would not admit to a mistake, even if he had realized the error of the request or his judgment).  He called his advisers (illustrious, star, testimony, jasper, lofty, worthy and dignified) to given him advice on what to do and how to overcome the great embarrassment which came from Vashti's refusal to show off her beauty in the midst of  his party.

The king’s advisers discussed the matter.  To say the king made a mistake was off the table.  To ignore the situation was a bad idea.  To help the king see the situation from Vashti’s point of view would be unacceptable.  The advisers realized the danger which would come if Vashti were ever allowed to share her side of the story.  They must put Vashti away quickly, before here guests get wind of what just happened, and the queen’s reasoning for not appearing as a token at the king’s party.  The advisers must delicately handle the situation and so the king’s political blunder would not be found out.

The advisers talked through their options and decided to advise the king how the issue.  They informed Ahasuerus that the problem went far beyond his personal embarrassment.  They said, “If the women of the kingdom hear about the queen’s behavior, they will think they can do the same.”  They told the king that wives throughout the kingdom will refuse to obey their husband’s orders and treat everything they with contempt.  A resistance movement could start which would result in instability of home, and eventually the destabilize the entire kingdom.  The only hope for Persia is to put Vashti away.  The king must send her to the far reaches of his harem and never see her again.

The king thought (but not very long, for he had a party to attend), and decided the advisors were correct.  He must never see Vashti again.  He must distance her further than the harem, and indeed throw her out of his household, and punish her, so all of the men, and the women of the kingdom would see this example of what would happen when a wife treated her husband with contempt.

There has been much discussion on why Vashti would refuse the King’s orders, after all he was the most powerful monarch in the world at the time.  Her very existence, and all of her prosperity depended on him.  Some say she was vain and wicked.  She decided to make her stand and put the king in the place.  Others note how drunk the king was.  They say that it would be to Vashti’s embarrassment if she did show up.  She did not want to be a token, or a trophy (as the other things the king was showing off).  Some say she is a role model for women everywhere, for women should not be placed in demeaning situations.

Was she wise, naive, or just plain stupid? The question comes, what would you do.  There was not good solution. It was lose-lose for everyone, except for Esther (more on that tomorrow) and the Jews.  And of course, the party went on.  Five months and three weeks later, no one remembered the incident, or Vashti.  They only felt sorry for the King, for he needed a wife.

Stories of Palm leaves & Victory

Today is a day of victory stories and celebrations with Palm leaves.  We all know that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey amidst great celebration with people laying down palm branches and clothing to build up the road.  Why do we have this tradition?  There are stories, some of which have been forgotten.  

Having grown up in south Florida, palm branches are fun to wave and build outdoor structures (like lean-to's, pirate shacks, tree houses, picnic shelters, and Sukkot tabernacles).  Palm leaves speak of vacations in warm places.  Even in Israel the symbol of Jericho was the Palm Tree.

Palm leaves are symbolic and have been used throughout history as emblems of joy and victory (Ps 92:12).  They were engraved throughout the Temple, beginning on the basins at the entrance of the Temple.  They are used during the Feast of Tabernacles to show God’s bounties. (Leviticus 23:40)

The stories start with the triumphant entry when King David brought the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem.  “David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing.... And David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn. (2 Sam 6:12-15)

Likewise, there was great celebration when Jehu was anointed King by the prophet Elisha. “When Jehu came out to the servants of his master, they said to him,“Is all well? Why did this mad fellow come to you?” ... He spoke to me, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord, I anoint you king over Israel.’” Then in haste every man of them took his garment and put it under him on the bare steps, and they blew the trumpet and proclaimed, “Jehu is king.” (2 Kings 9:11-13)

The Jews look forward to the time the Messiah will come into Jerusalem in the midst of great celebration.  “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.” (Zech 9:9) “Go through, go through the gates, Clear the way for the people; Build up, build up the highway, Remove the stones, lift up a standard over the peoples. 11 Behold, the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth, Say to the daughter of Zion, "Lo, your salvation comes; Behold His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him." (Isa 62:10-11)

Stories of the Maccabees include palm leaves during two victorious marches into Jerusalem.  The first was when Judas Maccabee celebrated the recapture of Jerusalem with dancing, singing and palm branches. “The Jews celebrated joyfully for eight days as on the Feast of Booths, remembering how, a little while before, they had spent the feast of Booths living like wild animals in the mountains and in caves. Carrying rods entwined with leaves, beautiful branches and palms, they sang hymns of grateful praise to him who had successfully brought about the purification of his own place. By public decree and vote they prescribed that the whole Jewish nation should celebrate these days every year.” (2 Macc 10:6-8)

Twenty years later Jerusalem was under attack again, from Egypt, because of poor defenses.  They appealed to their High Priest and Prince, Simon Maccabee for help.  He rebuilt the defenses and the raids stopped.  “There was a great celebration in the city because this terrible threat to the security of Israel had come to an end. Simon and his men entered the fort singing hymns of praise and thanksgiving, while carrying palm branches and playing harps, cymbals, and lyres. Simon issued a decree that the day should be joyfully celebrated every year.” (1 Macc. 13:51-2)

So it is against the background of many stories about victorious entries and palm leaves that Jesus enters Jerusalem.  John tells us “The large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!’” (12:12-13).

Of course there are other stories also, like stories of donkeys ... but more on that later.

Why Wear Green?

Green, I must wear green today.  There will be lots of people wearing green, and if I do not wear green, I will get pinched.  Look around, do you see people wearing green today?  Are you wearing green today?  

Well, there used to be lots of people wearing green.  What is it all about.  When I poll people, most do not remember, and some do not know.  Why do people wear green today?  Is it because they like green?  Maybe it’s because green is their color (people tell me green is my color all the time).  Perhaps it is because green things are sprouting, so we wear green to celebrate spring.  (In New Orleans people wear green early, along with yellow for daffodils and purple for redbuds … wrong!)

When I poll people about why green is worn today I am surprised, many do not know.  When I was young, everyone knew.  It was part of our school.  It was part of what went on at home.  We all wore green on this day because if you forgot, someone would pinch you.  Everyone knew it was because of St. Patrick’s Day.  And we knew parts of the story.

When I ask people where is their green they are surprised, and wonder why I ask.  When I remind them it is St. Patrick’s day, most realize, and just say, “Oh.”  (no exclamation point!) They know.  They didn’t remember, but they did not forget.  It doesn’t matter.

Why St. Patrick’s Day? Some will say because we are celebrating some guy named St. Patrick, but they really don’t know who he is.   In some places it is because people think it’s about green beer (was this Patrick guy a brewer?  Or maybe it is just because the Irish like beer, and everyone, even those not Irish should join them.)

Some say it is because of Shamrocks.  They really don’t know the why of shamrocks, they just know shamrocks are part of it.  Was it because Patrick was a gardener, and grew shamrocks?  Did he wear shamrocks, or maybe sell shamrock pins? No, he told stories about shamrocks.  But people have forgotten the story.

Who was Patrick?  A lucky leprechaun of Ireland?  Or, was he like the Pied Piper of England … just he ridded the island of snakes (not children).  If someone rid our country of snakes, we would celebrate!!

We can look this all up on line, the point is, we have forgotten the story.

Or maybe the story does not matter.  We live in a busy world, and who has time to remember that today is March 17, and March 17 is St. Patrick’s Day, and we are supposed to wear green.  We are individualists, and do our own thing, in this generation.  We don’t need to wear green!

But this is sad, for the stories teach us.  They have passed down truths for generations.  Do you know who St. Patrick is?  The real St. Patrick … not the one who drinks beer (that is made up).  St. Patrick is a hero.  He told a story which saved Ireland.  He really did chase a snake out of the country (Not many snakes, one snake) … What snake?  The red snake.  Read the story, think, and you will understand.