that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, in every clan, province, and city, and that these days of Purim should never fall into disuse among the Jews, nor should the commemoration of these days cease among their descendants. (Esther 9:28 ESV)
Hope and Faith
I have finally reached a point much like faith regarding my lawnmower. For many years, starting my lawn mower usually led to mechanical tinkering. Something was often wrong, and I spent time fixing it. But one year we bought an actual new lawnmower! One that was of excellent quality. This lawnmower has never given me trouble when I start it.
And I am beginning to believe this lawnmower will continue to be reliable.
At the end of the book of Esther, a new holiday was proclaimed. On Purim, the people of God were to remember. But not just with their minds. They also remembered with their hearts. They recalled their troubles, and God’s salvation. They remembered their fears, and God’s resolution. They remembered their weakness, and God’s power.
When we remember with our hearts, it can be called faith.
And this kind of faith leads to hope.
For the intertestamental Israelites, remembering what God had done through Esther gave them hope that the empires of Alexander, the Seleucids, and the Romans would not prove too much for God. Remembering that God put His people in just the right place, at just the right time gave them hope that God would bring just the right person at just the right time in the future, too. Remembering that God surprised doubters in the exile gave them hope that God would surprise doubters tomorrow, as well.
Their faith gave them hope.
Take the hope God grants us.