Esther 9:24-25 – “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 .)”

Esther explains the origin of the Jewish holiday “Purim,” which occurs every year in February or March.  The modern holiday celebrates the victory that God gave His people against the genocide plotted by Haman.  The name “Purim” refers to casting lots, as the passage mentions above.  This practice was an important feature of Israel’s relationship with God in the Bible.  It has an important application for believers today in the form of asking God to speak through His Word.

In the story of Esther, it is actually the most evil character in the book who casts lots – Haman.  Yet the Jews used this name (Purim or “lots”) for the holiday because they understood that God had miraculously intervened in Haman’s casting of lots.

“In the twelfth year of King Xerxes, in the first month, the month of Nisan, they cast the pur (that is, the lot) in the presence of Haman to select a day and month.  And the lot fell on the twelfth month, the month of Adar.” (Esther 3:7).

Haman was planning to commit genocide against the Jewish people.  He planned to trick the King into authorizing civilian mob violence against the Jews on a particular day.  He needed to pick a specific day before he approached the King with his proposal.

Something strange happened here.  Haman began casting lots in the first month.  Presumably, he would have started with a date in the near future – later that month or the next month.  Yet the lots kept giving unfavorable results, time after time, until he reached the twelfth month – the last month of the year.  This must have been a frustrating experience.  God was intervening, but Haman was oblivious.  He finally settled on the twelfth month – almost a full year later.

Why did the dates matter? First, this prolonged delay allowed the necessary time for the rest of the events of Esther to unfold.  God’s people learned of the plot and fasted together; Esther approached the King and eventually revealed the upcoming disaster.  Haman died and Mordecai became second in the Kingdom; and letters authorizing the Jewish counter-measures had time to reach every part of the Persian Empire in time for God’s people to assemble, arm themselves, and obtain a victory.  If Haman’s lots had fallen on an earlier date, there might not have been sufficient time for all these steps in the deliverance to happen.  God spoke through the casting of lots without Haman realizing it.  Prophetically, the dates falling at the end of the year would point forward to Israel’s experience in the Last Days.

We also learn that “lots” was one way God spoke in the Bible.  “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” (Proverbs 16:33; see also Proverbs 18:18).  The “Urim & Thummim” were lots that the High Priest kept in his breastplate (see Exodus 28:30; Leviticus 8:8; Numbers 27:21; Deuteronomy 33:8; 1 Samuel 28:6; Ezra 2:63; Nehemiah 7:65).  Casting these lots was one way they inquired of the Lord.  They cast lots to ask God whether to enter a battle (Judges 20:9; 1 Samuel 14:18-19; 1 Samuel 23:2-6).  They used this method to determine the inheritance of each tribe and family of Israel (see Numbers 26:55-56; Numbers 33:54; Numbers 36:2; Joshua 18:6-19:51).  Even the duties of individual priests in the Temple came through this means (1 Chronicles 25:8-26:16; Nehemiah 10:34).  The Apostles continued this practice in the New Testament (Acts 1:26).

Today our Great High Priest, Jesus, gives us answers and directions from eternity through the Word.  Now we have the Bible, so we use this instead of any other object for the casting of lots.  It is the perfect means for asking the Lord to speak.  We can ask God to speak through His Word, to give us a verse that speaks to our situation, or confirming whether a supposed revelation is really from Him.  God wants to speak to us.  He wants to tell us His will so we know how to please him, how to obey him.  He wants to speak to us through the living and active Word, to give us words that come from eternity and speak into our hearts.

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