The No-Brainer Message of Esther It amazes me how scripture deals with so many practical, moral, spiritual, and theological issues. Different books deal with different subjects, and it seems that nothing is left out. It’s also true that many topics that appear repeatedly throughout the Bible get special treatment in particular books or at least chapters. So it’s no surprise that antisemitism, which is referenced in various parts of the Bible from Genesis 12:3 to Revelation 12:13, gets its own book as well. And that is the Book of Esther. From the plot line to the character development of the protagonists and antagonists, no one could argue that the Esther story deals with undeserved hatred of the Jewish people. It’s also worth noting that the people of Israel are clearly referred to as Jews throughout the book and not as Israelites or Hebrews. This term, which covers all the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in Persia, is used by Esther in 5:13, the king in 7:8, and about Haman’s plans in 3:6. The narrator also uses the term in 39 other places. The term Jew is specific enough for Adolf Hitler to use it as his primary designation for the people of Israel. It can only refer to one people. So why doesn’t the entire Church acknowledge, through the lesson of the book of Esther, the evils of antisemitism and the heart of G-d for the Jewish people? The answer lies in a teaching that employs one of the primary demonic tricks of antisemitism…the strategy of turning truth upside-down, resulting in good becoming evil and black becoming white (For example, through antisemitism the Holocaust becomes a lying tool of plotting Jews and Zionism becomes Jewish racism). The church teaching I refer to is known as Supersessionism, or in layman’s terms, Replacement Theology. Supersessionism teaches that after Yeshua came the special role of Israel ceased and the Church took Israel’s place as G-d’s chosen people. Therefore, the Church inherited Israel’s blessings while the curses remained with Israel. The early writings of Saint Augustine reflect this view when he states: “Israel exists for no other reason but to show what G-d does to a people He curses.” Justin Martyr, who lived much earlier– in the second half of the second century– shares an even more interesting concept. He turns G-d’s original positive purpose of circumcision and the Shabbat into an eventual negative one, as this quote shows. “Indeed the custom of circumcising the flesh, handed down from Abraham, was given you as a distinguishing mark, to set you off from other nations and us Christians. The purpose of this was that you and only you might suffer the afflictions that are justly yours...as I stated before, it was by reason of your sins and the sins of your fathers that, among other precepts, God imposed upon you the observance of the Sabbath as a mark.” Indeed, replacement theology is a clear form of antisemitism. The result of this teaching often leads to a distortion of the main purpose of the Book of Esther – that is, to expose the age-old evils of antisemitism – transforming it into a book for the Church, about the Church, to encourage Church members to see themselves as the “new Jews” and the main subject of the book. A more objective reading of the Book of Esther might yield these three important principles, which I will touch on briefly. The first is the principle of the pure irrational evil of antisemitism. No motive is attributed to Haman other than pure hatred…the kind that is attributed to Satan in John 10:10. From the Palestinian Authority’s Mahmud Abbas, who refuses to acknowledge a Jewish state while he demands a Palestinian one, to the leaders of Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, and other groups and nations, the irrational hatred of Haman is alive and well. The second principle is the importance of intercession, which includes prayer and fasting, to combat the insidious and dangerous spirit of antisemitism. This includes praying about antisemitism’s existence in the Church. The third principle is Israel’s right of self-defense. I must say that whenever we prepare for a Purim skit at Beth Messiah, we generally don’t look beyond Chapter 8 when developing the script. The death of seventy-five thousand antisemitic Persians at the hands of Jewish defenders never quite seems to fit into the merriment of the evening. It’s sufficient for the climax to be the hanging of the evil Haman followed by an after-skit oneg celebration enhanced by the devouring of several dozen hamantashen. However, the killing of Israel’s enemies is right there in the text. And it reflects a sober reality in our present day. Israel’s security and her right of self-defense are scriptural…right down to the last moment before Yeshua’s second coming, when Israel will defend herself against all the nations that attack her. (Zechariah 12:8-10) In a world where the story of the Book of Esther is told in Christian novels, comic books, and movies, it’s important to remember that it’s not primarily a love story between queen Esther and King Achasuerus. Nor is it just a lesson in uncompromising Christian commitment. It is first and foremost a case study in the evils of anti-Semitism, Jew hatred, and G-d’s response to that hatred. And that’s a no-brainer.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 14:49:54 +0000
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