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Parallel Paradigms of Passover and
Purim
The Permission Paradigm
If we want our lives to bring honor and glory to G-d in the same
way that Moses & Mordecai did, we must daily yield to His sovereign
authority, trusting the leading of His Spirit through His written
Word and by communion with Him in prayer and worship. Yielding is
giving G-d permission to use our lives as instruments of His eternal
kingdom purposes. Will we go where He leads and will we do what
He asks? No matter how challenging it may be to our own ideas, our
likes or dislikes, to our comfort and convenience? Will we choose
to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him (Mark 8:34)?
To sum it up, will we give the King of the Universe permission to
be our L-RD and Master?
The Persistence Paradigm
The Feasts of Passover and Purim clearly demonstrate the paradigm
of persistence. It appears that every breakthrough in the history
of G-d's dealings with His people has required not just faith, but
faithfulness or persistence to see the fulfillment of the promises
of G-d. Internationally respected bible teachers Bob Mumford and
John Hagee have taught three simple points that explain how the
paradigm of persistence works in a way that helps make them easy
to remember.
- Promise - G-d loves His people and makes
wonderful promises to us that we can totally rely on.
- Problem - G-d takes us through difficulty
to reveal where our heart is, what are we trusting in.
- Provision - G-d provides our need, as we
trust Him (His promise) to get us through the problem.
"Will not G-d bring about justice for His chosen ones, who
cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? I
tell you, He will see that they get justice and quickly. However,
when the Son of Man comes, will He find persistent faith on the
earth?" Luke 18:7
The Persecution Paradigm
The last paradigm and definitely not the least, is the paradigm
of persecution. Most of us who live in the western world, in free
societies that allow religious freedom, know very little about persecution.
Not that I am wishing it on any of us, yet I have seen in the lives
of those who have endured persecution, the clearest expression of
the likeness of Messiah. It has been my honor and privilege to meet
Corrie Ten Boom and Richard Wurmbrand, both of whom have gone to
their much-deserved heavenly reward. These two saints exemplify
the rich spiritual rewards that result from suffering for our faith
with trust in the sovereign goodness of G-d. When we respond to
persecution with an attitude of trust that enables us to give praise
to G-d, it testifies to the overwhelming reality of G-d's love and
the awesome power of His grace in our lives. Rabbi Saul, later known
as the Apostle Paul, lived with suffering and persecution as a regular
part of his daily life and learned to use it for G-d to make him
spiritual dynamite for the kingdom of G-d.
"I have been in prison often and have frequently been severely
flogged. I have been exposed to death again and again. Five times
I received from the Jewish leaders thirty-nine lashes. Three times
I was beaten with rods, and once I was stoned and left for dead.
Three times I have been shipwrecked, once spending a day and a
night in the open sea. I have been constantly on the move, in
danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen,
in danger from the Gentiles; in danger in the city, in the country,
at sea, and from false brethren. I have labored and toiled and
gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst, and have been
cold and naked. Along with all of this, I daily face the pressure
of concern for all the congregations that I have started."
2 Corinthians 11:23b-28
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