I want to talk to you today about Purim, and I’m not intending to get into the weeds about this holiday, other than to discuss with you whether or not Messianics should keep Purim.

Purim, which is a national Jewish holiday, the start of which dates back two and a half millennia, will fall this year on our Gregorian Roman Calendar on the 4th-day of this week, which is 2/16/2022.

Now, for those of you who may not be familiar with Purim or who may be new to the Messianic Faith and have no idea what Purim is about, the true story and meaning of Purim is found in the Book of Esther. Essentially, Purim marks or memorializes the deliverance of our ancient Hebrew cousins from what would have been certain extinction. And if you read the entire Book of Esther, it lays out the entire threat to Yisra’el, as well as the efforts by Esther and her uncle Mordecai to save the nation from extinction. And we find recorded in Esther 9:20-32 the details leading to the establishment of Purim for the Jewish nation.

Although Judaism lists three separate dates for Purim for reasons that we won’t get into here, generally speaking, the holiday takes place annually every 14th-day of the 12th-month of the Biblical Calendar year. And keeping in mind that some of you who may be reading or listening to this post may not understand what I mean by the Biblical Calendar, I will be following up this post in a couple weeks with a discussion on the Biblical Calendar. So, I encourage you to be on the look out for that.

Well, a question that persistently crops up in our Faith Community has to do with Messianics keeping such national holidays as Purim and Hanukkah. And I have to tell you, thoughts and feelings run high on both sides of the aisle on this issue. Many Messianics strongly feel that Yah’s people should not keep such man-made holidays as Purim and Hanukkah. And these will cite a number of reasons why. One being that Purim is not one of the seven-mandated feasts of Yehovah (Lev. 23). And so that being the case, Yah’s people cannot and must not keep such secular holidays.

Another reason given by some as to why Yah’s people should not observe or keep Purim is that the nation state of Yisra’el, and for that matter all modern Jews throughout the world, have essentially corrupted Purim and made it into a sort of Halloween. And I’d have to say as an side that this contention is pretty much true. And so, to these, Yah’s people should not observe Purim.

And then we have the other side of the aisle that believes Messianics should absolutely honor and keep Purim as they would any of the 7-mandated Feast of Yah; not that Purim was mandated by Yah, but rather, Purim is illustrative of Yah saving His people from destruction and so forth and that it memorializes an important event in ancient Yisra’el’s history. Others who enthusiastically support Messianics keeping or celebrating Purim do so out of a deep respect for Yisra’el.

Well, I can certainly see the side of the argument that says Yah’s people should not keep Purim because it is not one of the mandated Feasts of Yah and because it has been corrupted and secularized by modern Judaism. However, I’m not one to throw the spiritual baby out with the bathwater, so to speak.

Just because Purim is not one of the 7-mandated Feasts of Yah and the holiday has been corrupted, should not deter the well meaning, truth-seeking, covenant-walking Messianic from honoring and memorializing this national holiday.

Let’s be real about this. Many of us have no problem keeping this nation’s holidays each year: taking off from work; having family gatherings; partaking of some of the social events surrounding those holidays, despite some of those holidays being pagan-linked and even pagan-based. Yet those same individuals will reject the true meaning and day of Purim outright. So, when we’re talking about Purim not being one of the 7-mandated Feasts of Yah and how its been corrupted, let’s be reasonable and thoughtful about what we’re saying.

I personally respect those of our Faith who choose not to observe Purim, for whatever reason they may have. However, I draw the line when it comes to the arrogant of our Faith Community who criticize and judge those in our Faith Community who are, for whatever reason, are led to keep Purim, or for that matter, also Hanukkah. In defense of those in our Faith Community who do keep or observe or remember the day, these souls are keeping a day that holds tremendous historic, cultural, and even spiritual significance to the Hebrew Faith.

As for me, I would describe myself as one who each year remembers or honors the day as opposed to maybe, keeping or celebrating the day. And I’ll explain what I mean by this near the end of this commentary.

As for now, allow me to share with you how I filter such hot-topic items as Purim, which assists me in determining whether or not I will honor or memorialize or keep such things that may fall outside Torah mandates. And this is so simple, and it should be a prescription followed by every faithful, obedient covenant Messianic.

As it relates Purim I ask of myself the question: Did Yahoshua our Master celebrate or observe Purim? And I come up with the answer of a “qualified yes,” despite the Apostolic record being completely silent on this issue.

So, you may be asking what I mean by a “qualified yes” to my question did Yahoshua celebrate or observe Purim. Well, whether we like to admit it or not, we must recognize that our Master was born into, raised and operated in an orthodox Jewish world. And Master continued to operate as an observant orthodox Jew up to the day He was crucified. Therefore, it’s a better than likely chance that He observed, in some form or another, Purim. Yes, Yeshua rejected Rabbinic traditions and laws that had the effect of nullifying His Father’s Torah. But we’re not talking about Rabbinic traditions and laws that nullify Torah here. We’re talking about the Biblically-supported and based national holiday of Purim.

Every year, first century Yisra’el would celebrate and keep Purim, the specifics as to how they kept Purim is beyond the purpose of this post. But we can be assured that Yahoshua, along with His disciples kept Purim as did their first-century Palestinian Jewish kinsmen.

That being said, it comes down to a few things as it relates to us, disciples of Yahoshua. The first is that we are to imitate our Master in all His Ways and according to all His teachings. And we imitate Him within the framework of our Spirit and Truth based covenant relationship with Yah. If we do not imitate or follow His example and teachings, we are not His true disciple.

Master was emphatic about His disciples following His example; keeping His commandments; imitating Him:

“(24) Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me (I.e., if anyone wishes to be My disciple), he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me” (Mat. 16:24; NASB). 

 

 

“(12) “So when He (Yeshua) had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? (13) You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. (14) If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. (15) For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. (16) Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. (17) If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them” (Joh. 13:12-17; NASB).

The apostles Shaul, Yochanan (aka John) and Peter (Kefa) also promoted this understanding of imitating and following the example of Master Yahoshua.

“For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps…” (1 Pet. 2:21; NASB).

 

 

“Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1; NASB).

 

“The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked” (1 Joh. 2:6).

You see, Yahoshua rejected, in principle and in truth, the traditions and laws of the so-called sages, but because He was the walking, talking Torah, He kept and walked and operated according to all of the established and written precepts of scripture. For He certainly knew, as did Shaul that:

“(16) All scripture (in Yahoshua’s day scripture consisted solely of the Tanach; the whole of Tanach) is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training/instruction in righteousness; (17) so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17; NASB).

And so, as I and other like-minded brethren see it, we are best served to honor, keep, and guard the whole of Torah—the Torah being the whole of the Tanach—in Spirit and in Truth; keeping the Spirit and expressed truths of all Tanach instructions. And we honor such days as Purim and Hanukkah with the respect and honor that is due those who sacrificed all and secured the lineage by which our Master Yahoshua would come, as well as we praise Yah for His mighty saving arm that delivered Yisra’el from certain destruction.

If Purim would not have happened, Yahoshua’s bloodline would have been wiped out of existence. The plot to wipe out the entire nation of Yisra’el was a ploy set into motion by none other than hasatan. And it was none other than Yehovah who, through Esther and Mordecai, delivered the nation from extinction. Father made sure that His Plan of Salvation, Restoration and Redemption would take place despite the best laid plans of Haman and his ilk. So, why wouldn’t we give all the praise and glory and honor that our Father so justly deserve in relation to Purim?

So yes, we who are engrafted into the commonwealth of Yisra’el and who are in an obedient, faithful covenant relationship with the Creator of the Universe, should follow the implied example of our Master, and memorialize in some way Purim. Certainly not in the foolish manner that our wayward orthodox Jewish cousins do, but rather, in the manner in which our Master likely observed it.

How do I intend to memorialize Purim? Well, as I do each year, I give Yah praise for what He’s done, in particular what He did to deliver Yisra’el and guarantee that our Master, the serpent-head crusher, would come to complete His missions. I also read the Book of Esther to re-familiarize myself with the story and meditate on its truths. There are indeed spiritual riches to be mined from this beautiful story. And if there are online Messianic fellowships or teachings honoring Purim, I may check those out as well on the day.

Beloved, everything we do in this Faith of ours must be filtered through our Master Yeshua. Everything. Otherwise, in our keeping Torah, we are no different than our Jewish, rabbinic, orthodox cousins who seek to purchase their salvation through works of the law. And we certainly don’t want to find ourselves in that state. Because if we do, we stand to hear our Master on that terrible day say to us: “I never knew you, depart from Me, you practicer of lawlessness” (Mat. 7:23). But rather, we should look forward to hearing our Master say to us: “Well done, good and faithful servant. You were faithful with a few things…enter into the joy of your Master” (Mat. 7:23).

I pray that this post was helpful to you. Again, whether you choose to keep or honor or memorialize Purim is entirely between you and Yah. I just felt led to share my perspective on this historic and spiritually rich day of the annual Biblical Calendar.

So, for those of you who choose to have nothing to do with Purim, it’s all good. I would not be mad at you nor do I judge you. We’re all on a journey and we’re all at different places in our respective walks with Messiah.

And for those of you who choose to keep or honor or memorialize the day, have a meaningful and blessed Purim.