Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the rural towns, hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day for gladness and feasting, as a holiday, and as a day on which they send gifts of food to one another.
The fighting is over, and the village Jews keep their feast a day earlier than the capital does. Why the different date, and how did one escape from slaughter become a festival kept every year?
Rest as the Point of the Day
The day celebrates the quiet that followed the fighting, not the fighting itself. One writer notes that the Jews took no plunder, so the fighting gained them nothing but safety:
H. L. RossierThe people, however, "laid no hand on the plunder" (vv. 10, 15, 16), in keeping with what Scripture had laid down about Amalek or the enemies of Israel. It is only a matter of carrying out God's judgment, with no profit for those who carry it out. The king's capital, where the plot against the Jews was hatched, came under God's judgment for one day longer than the other cities of the kingdom. Everywhere the fourteenth and fifteenth days become days of joy and feasting and rest.
Why Two Different Dates
The villages kept a different day from the capital. Mordecai later joined both days into one festival:
Leslie M. GrantThe Jews at Shushan, however, having spent two days destroying their enemies, rested on the 15th day of the month, making it a day of feasting and gladness (v. 18). Those in the surrounding villages had done this on the 14th day of the month (v. 19). So Mordecai wrote letters to all the Jews: both the 14th and 15th days of that month would be holidays for the Jews from then on every year, a time for giving gifts to one another and to the poor (vv. 20-22).
Joy That Sends Portions
The gifts are not an extra detail. One writer shows how gladness makes people generous:
J. G. BellettIn various Scriptures we find that the more joy we have in God, the more large-hearted we shall be toward one another. It is the very character of joy to enlarge the heart. As in Nehemiah 8, where the prophet tells the people, "Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." And all the people went their way … to send portions and to make great rejoicing. A man who is happy himself can afford to look around and make others happy with him.
The Name Nobody Mentions
The festival born from this day was named after Haman's dice. God is never named in the book, yet the naming quietly concedes who overruled the throw:
Leslie M. GrantVery likely the Jews were familiar with Solomon's proverb, "The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD" (Proverbs 16:33). Haman had expected demonic power to back him up; but no doubt the Jews recognised that the Lord had stepped in with His own clear decision. Yet, while the Jews surely did recognise the Lord's hand in this, God still did not let anyone mention His name openly.
A Feast That Can Be Ruined
A day of gladness is fragile. One writer contrasts the holy feast with what later custom made of it:
William KellyThe Talmud lays down that at the feast of Purim a man should drink until he cannot tell the difference between "Blessed be Mordecai" and "Cursed be Haman." "Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?" Judaism, and Christendom where Christ is ignored, are each sinking into the driest ditch of paganism. Both dare to approve a drunken carnival in place of what had been a holy feast.
Comfort Is Not a Verdict
These feasting villagers were the Jews who never went back to rebuild the temple. One writer compares them with those who did:
F. B. HoleThe people who, despite their defects, had cared for God's interests and rebuilt His temple were marked by affliction and reproach. Meanwhile those who did not concern themselves, staying in their comforts, have "feasting," "gladness," and "a good day." … Worldly prosperity and celebration is not necessarily a sign of His approval, even when it is the fruit of God's care and dealings behind the scenes. Nor is affliction a sign of His disapproval.
Where the Day Is Heading
Commentators read the lasting festival as a preview. The one feast this book gives is tied to a deliverance still ahead:
H. L. RossierThe memorial of these days is kept up from age to age. Only one feast, the feast of Purim, is mentioned in this book: it is a new feast that will last forever in memory of the deliverance of the earthly people of God. … So ends this account, which brings us to the dawn of the glorious time that follows deliverance.
Summary
- Rest — The day marks the end of the fighting, not the fighting itself. The Jews took no plunder, so they gained nothing but safety.
- Gladness — Rest turns into feasting. Village and capital each kept the day they stopped fighting, and Mordecai's letters joined both dates into one festival kept every year.
- Giving — Joy enlarges the heart, so portions travel from house to house; a happy man can afford to make others happy with him.
- Remembering — The Jews named the feast after Haman's lot. It is a quiet admission that every decision of the lot is the Lord's, even where His name goes unspoken.
- Guarding — A holy feast can decay into a drunken carnival. Easy comfort is no proof of God's approval, so the gladness needs guarding as much as the memory does.