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Purium, šāma’, And Palm Sunday

Purium, šāma’, And Palm Sunday

Last updated on: March 23, 2024 at 6:56 pm by Martin Thomas Johnson

Purium, šāma’, And Palm Sunday 2024-03-23T18:56:23-04:00 Martin Thomas Johnson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

This week saw a shocking twist amongst conservatives in the GOP-led house. There was a major betrayal within the power-hungry MAGA faction as a member called for the removal of the current speaker of the house who was doing the right thing—his job!

Congress

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For weeks the government has been trying to agree on a budget to keep the federal government funded and working without causing any hardships. The border crisis has been a concern for many Americans and the speaker hoped to finally fix the problem all in one swoop.

I admit I have been critical of the current speaker’s leadership and true motivations for doing his job. In the end, the speaker decided to do the right thing by God over the ways and wants of a corrupt party.

Greed
Selfishness
Deception

Ironically this weekend many Jewish people are celebrating Purium. This festival is a celebration of God’s deliverance of Persian Jews from sure destruction. Christians know this as the story of Queen Esther. She chose to obey God and disobeyed her husband for “Such a time as this” (Esther 3:1-7:10.)

Obey

As God’s chosen people, we’ve always been called to obey God rather than follow the ways of the world or our evil hearts (Exodus 19:5, John 14:15, Acts 5:29.) Lent reminds us to continue living God’s way.

Obedience

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We cannot disobey God and call ourselves His (Romans 6:16; 8:14.) The Apostle Paul reminded the early church that God’s people obey Him at all costs. Because they love Him more than themselves or this world (Numbers 15:37-41.)

šāmaʿ

God commanded Israel to hear and obey Him. The Hebrew word in the Old Testament for obey is šāmaʿ and it means, “To obey, hear, understand or discern,” depending on its context.

For thousands of years, Israel heard from God through the prophets. Below are the prophets whom God spoke through in the Old Testament.

Isaiah
Jeremiah
Ezekiel
Daniel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi

It’s no wonder Jesus is often referred to as a prophet (Luke 3: 22,) because He spoke with God and communicated to God’s people to hear and do God’s will. Jesus reminded His followers about the importance of doing God’s will (Matthew 7:21, Luke 11:28.)

Hear/obey

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We are called to obey God even if it hurts or doesn’t make sense to us (2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Hebrews 11:17-19, James 1:2-4.) Jesus Himself obeyed God by fulfilling the prophecies and going to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday where He would eventually be betrayed (Zachariah 9:9.)

Palm Sunday

Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem on a donkey was an act of humility and is a staunch contrast to how many professing Christians choose to live today. Jesus lived a life of humility without the pomp and earthly greatness many today believe they deserve.

Palm Leaves

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Jesus humbled Himself to show God’s people how to live differently than the world. The Apostle Paul said, despite being God, Jesus was obedient unto death (Philippians 2:7-8.) If Jesus hadn’t obeyed God, we wouldn’t have Easter to celebrate.

The similarities between Jesus and Esther are obvious as they both humbled themselves out of obedience to God to ransom God’s people from death. Yet, God doesn’t deliver us through force or might, God works His way.

Humility
Compassion
Patiently

Palm Sunday reminds us of God’s divine timing. The prophet Zechariah prophesied about Jesus 500 years before He entered Jerusalem on a common donkey. The Apostle Paul says God sent His Son into the world at the perfect time (Galatians 4:4-6.)

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