Sid: Guess what this week is? It is the week of Purim. On Purim and in synagogues throughout the world the megillah, or the scroll, of the book of Esther is read aloud. I believe that Esther is the end time book for the church. I mean that’s so different what most people have heard. I better say it again because maybe you said to yourself “I didn’t hear Sid right.” No, you did. I believe Esther is the end time book to the church. There is so much joy in Esther that the rabbis say “It is the most joyful festival of all the festivals in the calendar year that we Jewish people observe.”
An interesting thing occurred in reference to Purim, Stalin on March 1, 1953 planned to exterminate all the Jewish people. I mean it’s the book of Esther repeating itself so to speak. So March 1, 1953 he put the plan into operation to kill all the Jewish people. Guess what happened the very next day March 2, 1953? He died. What happened March 3, 1953? It was Purim.
As I said this is a festival because of the miracle that occurred that the Jewish people survived. Of course looking at it another way, if we had not survived there would have been no need for a festival. Why did we survive? There’s a spiritual principle involved that very few Christians understand, but I believe it’s one of the greatest proofs that the Bible comes from God and we should understand it.
Jeremiah chapter 31 verses 35 and 36 says: “As long as there is a sun and moon and stars there will be a physical Jew on the face of this earth.” So if there were no physical Jews that means there’d be no earth. As long as there’s the natural order of things, the physical Jew will be here. The greatest proof that the Bible is from God, against impossible odds, the Jewish people have survived as a distinct people, and that’s what Purim is all about. Another diabolical plan to prove God is a liar; to prove the Bible is not His book; to stop the return of the Messiah was thwarted. It was thwarted with Stalin, with Hitler, with Haman, and we could go all throughout history.
In that same chapter of Jeremiah 31 there’s another verse that’s just as important. It talks about, verse 31-36:
“Behold the days come in which I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. Not according to the covenant I made with their forefathers which they violated, but this is the covenant I will make with them:
- I will remember their sins no more
- They will know me”
The word “know” in the Hebrew is the same word when God said Adam knew Eve, had intimacy with God.
So that new covenant, interesting enough, it’s all tied together with the survival of the Jewish people. I don’t believe that’s an accident. I also believe according to the prophetic word of God history’s about ready to repeat. It’s unbelievable what I see in the headlines of the newspapers today. I see the number of skin heads in the former Soviet Union that hate the Jewish people. When I see in France, of all places in France, the most popular young person’s book has to do with hating the Jew. When I see in the United States the Jewish cemeteries are being desecrated, that synagogues when they have special services like we will this week are on high-alert against attacks by suicide people, suicide bombers.
Now, the word Haman, interestingly enough, sometimes when you look up the name that’s used in the Bible it gives you insight to their character. The word Haman means rager, and Haman’s ancestors go back a lot further than the book of Esther. In Exodus the 17th chapter, the 16th verse we find that Haman was an ancestor of Amalek. It says that “The war with Amalek will go on from generation to generation.” So you see Haman had that same spirit that Amalek had in him. In Deuteronomy chapter 25 verse 19 we are told “To blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” That’s why if you went to a traditional synagogue and you saw a Purim play you would see all the men, the women, and the young children just stamping their feet every time Haman’s name is mentioned. Why? Because the scripture says we are to “Blot out even the remembrance” so we don’t even want to hear his name. Sometimes they have something called a grogger, it’s a noise maker, and a whistle, or they may even say “Boooo!” It’s actually a real fun time in the synagogue.
But according to what I see happening in the world right now it’s not going to be a fun time for Jewish people. As you know recently we had the tragedy of the Space Shuttle Columbia crashing to earth.
I talked with my friend John McTernan and the reason I did this I got a lot of email and saying “Would you check with John, or do you think there is any tie in between the fatal disaster of the Columbia and what President Bush said a few days before, and what Secretary of State Powell said even a day before President Bush?” My first thought was “No there’s tie in between the two that’s ridiculous!” But then I started researching and talked to my from John McTernan who wrote a book that showed that every time the United States did something pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel there was a repercussion. As a matter of fact just look at President Bush’s father at the time he had the highest ratings for a president in history, it was right after the Gulf War.
Then it was almost hard to believe, he was a shoo-in to be president of the United States, and a relative, unknown, Clinton won. Why? Because Bush senior said some very negative things about Israel, and I believe, and John McTernan believes, that’s why his fate was turned around.
You see Genesis 12:3 is true God says “I’ll bless those who bless the Jewish people, and I will curse those who curse them.” Every time someone has been a blessing to the Jewish people, we’ve been blessed. For instance, let’s take the United States of America we have been a safe haven for Jewish people, and I believe that’s one of the reasons we are such a blessed country. Take a look at every country throughout history throughout scripture that’s been a curse to Israel. What has happened?
So now let’s go back to the Columbia. Interesting enough the Columbia was in affect was named after Christopher Columbus. A lot of people thought America should be called Columbia to be named after Christopher Columbus. Here’s what happened, Secretary of State Powell said “There can be no negotiation on occupied territory, West Bank, all those settlements must go.” Then the next day, President Bush had his State of the Union Address and he said “There must be a Palestinian state.” What happened a few days later? Of all the states for the space shuttle to crash over it was Texas. And of all the cities in Texas for parts to fall in, one of the cities that parts of the space shuttle fell in was Palestine, Texas. Could this be a connection? I mean John McTernan found every single time this has happened there have been this, he calls them “Warning Judgments from God.”
I believe one of the key scriptures for the future of America is found in Matthew chapter 25 verse 40. I believe that what happened to the space shuttle could very well have been a warning as to what might happen in America in a Gulf type war without being a blessing to Israel. Matthew chapter 25, as you recall is the chapter in which a farmer is told to separate the goats from the sheep, and they’re called nations. There’s goat nations and there’s sheep nations. It’s easy to separate a goat from the sheep. We’re told in Matthew 25:40 what not… one of many points of distinction will be, but what the only point of distinction between a goat nation and a sheep nation in the last days when it comes to judgment.
Jesus says “As you have done unto the least of these my brethren.” Who is brethren? This physical brethren were they the Christians, no. Why? There were no Christians at that point. Why? Jesus hadn’t died and rose from the dead. So who is brethren? The word brethren if you look it up in the Greek it means from the womb, His physical brothers the Jewish people. So what is Jesus saying? I mean you need help to get confused on this. “As you have done unto the least of these my [physical] brethren from the womb you’ve done unto me, and your nation will be judged as a goat nation or a sheep nation.” You know the difference between a goat and a sheep don’t you? A goat has a mind of its own; a sheep follows the shepherd.
The fate of America, I believe even the fate of the church is contingent on whether they are a goat or a sheep. “As you have done unto the least of these my brethren you’ve done unto me.”
Tags: its supernatural, Sid Roth