"IDUS"

"IDUS"

"To stablish this among them, that they should keep

the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the

fifteenth day of the same, yearly, as the days

wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and

the month which was turned unto them from sorrow

to joy, and from mourning into a good day: that

they should make them days of feasting and joy,

and of sending portions one to another, and

gifts to the poor."

(Esther 9:21-22)





Purim, Ides of March, the day of the decree that the Jews were delivered from extinction, the fourteenth and fifteenth of every month to be celebrated by the Jews from year to year, the result of the courage of Queen Esther, the day designated by Mordecai as a Feast day from generation to generation for all Jews.

The word "Ides" refers to days; it comes from the latin word "Idus" and it means "half division" especially in relation to a month.  This, then, refers to the numbers "14" and "15."  Numbers in the Bible have strong significance:

The Ark was borne by the flood 15 cubits upward. (Gen. 7:20)  

Hezekiah's reprieve from death was fifteen years.  (2 Kings 20:6)

The Jews were delivered from death under Esther on the fifteenth

day of the month.  (Esther 9:18,21)

Bethany, where Lazarus was raised, and from whence the Lord 

ascended, was fifteen furlongs from Jerusalem.  (John 11:18)

Paul's ship anchored safely in 15 fathoms on the 14th day.  (Acts 27:21)

On the 15th day of the first month was the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  (Levit. 23:6)

On the 15th day of the seventh month was the Feast of Tabernacles.  (verse 34)

The number 15 pictures rest, which comes after deliverance, represented by the number 14.  The Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Tabernacles, both on the 15th, are days of rest for the children of Israel.  

"God delivered Israel's firstborn from death on the 14th; then, at the beginning of

the 15th day at sunset, the children of Israel began to leave Egypt by night.  On 

this same day 430 years earlier, after the sun had gone down ending the 14th, God 

told Abraham in a vision that his descendants through Isaac would end up as 

slaves in a foreign country  -- but that he would release them from this bondage 

after 400 years (Gen. 15:12-16)  Exactly 430 years later  --  on the same night  --

this prophecy was fulfilled as the children of Israel left Egypt on the 15th day of the

first month. (Ex. 12:40-41)  On the same night in order to guarantee his covenant 

promises to Abraham, the Lord passed between the parts of sacrificial animals, as 

evidenced by a burning lamp and a smoking furnace, which wholly consumed 

the sacrifices. (Gen. 15:17-20)  In performing this ceremony, God was pledging his 

future death as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world -- guaranteeing the 

future 'rest' from sin for all who inherit eternal life."  (*biblestudy.org)

"On the same day as Abraham's vision and the children of Israel leaving Egypt, 

the 15th day of the first month in 30 AD, as the sun was setting to end the 

14th -- Jesus' body was placed in the tomb." *

What does all this mean?  It means Almighty God doesn't do things without meaning, significance, and purpose.  Nothing is coincidence in the realm of the Creator.  "For Christians, the 15th day of the first month, the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, pictures rest from their sins, having had them removed by Christ's shed blood on the 14th."*

Jesus' empty tomb

Do Christians have something to celebrate on the 15th?  Oh yes, we do!  The Lord Jesus Christ is risen; He lives, and He's coming back!  Fight on, Christians; hold fast to your faith; stand strong in the face of persecution; wear your full armor; pull down those strongholds; persevere and occupy until He comes; be an Esther for the cause of Christ; let His blood, His Word, and His name cover you; go forth watchful and alert as Gideon's army, lapping with the hand; and follow His presence  ...

Esther



God is not mentioned or referred to at all in the Book of Esther; yet, His providence and presence are felt throughout the Book.  It is a lesson to us that even in the most pagan of places in the world, God is in control, moving to the glory and benefit of His name.  It's interesting that research reveals that the Nazi's banned the reading of this Book in the concentration camps.  The comparison is to be noted; even as in the time of Esther, the enemy, Haman, meant to destroy the Jews, but he himself was destroyed and the Jews were spared.  The Nazi's were defeated, but the Jews remain.  The magnificent paradox of Esther is that God is omnipotently present even where He is conspicuously absent.  Even when we don't see evidence of Him clearly; when God is seemingly silent; when even at times we can't feel Him  ...  He's there, behind the scenes working for our good!

Esther could have said No; she was, after all, now living in the lap of luxury in the palace.  She could have thought, as Mordecai informed her, that even if she didn't do it  ...  someone would be raised up to do it.  We have all been guilty of those thoughts  ...  someone will help that hungry person; someone will stand up for the Truth; someone will GO and preach; someone will witness to her  ...  someone will  ...

Christian martyrs

Daniel in the lions' den

Esther, the Christian martyrs, Daniel, and so many others taught us to have courage in the face of trials, tests, temptations, and even death for the biggest cause of all  ...  The Lord Jesus Christ and the gospel.

We are "in between," or in the middle  ...  Huh?  We are between the law and the kingdom, in the apostolic era or the dispensation of grace, also known as the laodicean church age.  We are in a No. 15 position, and it's a place of Joy, feasts, and glory to celebrate what the Lord Jesus Christ did for us on the cross.  After having repented, filled with His Spirit and baptized in His name, we have cause to dance, rejoice, and worship Him for His deliverance, even as the Jews do in the feast of Purim.  But, there's a difference; the Church has many more yet to be delivered  ...  there are still people in danger of death without Jesus Christ  ...  The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is the present day Esther; she stands in the gap between Heaven and Hell, and only she, the Bride of Christ, has the power to bring deliverance.  She's the "IDUS" of the final hour, the Esther between life everlasting and death everlasting, the middle number of warriors to bring the final number of saved  ...  She's the Church  ...  God's 2012 Esther.

(Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.

PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)