So the Jews agreed to continue the celebration they had begun, doing what Mordecai had written to them. For Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them and had cast the pur (that is, the lot) for their ruin and destruction. But when the plot came to the king’s attention, he issued written orders that the evil scheme Haman had devised against the Jews should come back onto his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. (Therefore these days were called Purim, from the word pur.) Because of everything written in this letter and because of what they had seen and what had happened to them, the Jews took it upon themselves to establish the custom that they and their descendants and all who join them should without fail observe these two days every year, in the way prescribed and at the time appointed. These days should be remembered and observed in every generation by every family, and in every province and in every city. And these days of Purim should never cease to be celebrated by the Jews, nor should the memory of them die out among their descendants.
Esther 9:23-28
Today was Purim. As summarized above, it celebrates the victory of the Jews over Haman, who had plotted to exterminate them.
Unfortunately, this was not the only time in history that such an attempt was made. The most memorable was the Nazi holocaust, where 6 million Jews perished in Hitler’s concentration camps. However, despite such an atrocity, the Jewish people live on. The comparison to Hitler’s defeat to Haman’s was not lost in the wake of World War 2. Julius Streicher saw a connection. Like Haman’s ten sons being executed, Streicher and nine others were hanged the morning of October 16, 1946 for the role he had played in inciting persecution against the Jews. After mounting the platform he defiantly exclaimed “Purim-Fest 1946!”
God’s ways are higher than our ways. People can try to interfere with his plans, but God will do what he will do. When the early believers in Acts were first brought before the Sanhedrin, Rabbi Gamliel advised the following about them: “Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God” (Acts 5:38-39). Fighting God never leaves us in a good position. He will always win.