God's Glory Church

Speaking about the expectation of God’s Purim for our people, we saw such an important aspect – the expectation should not be passive on our part, but rather an active embodiment of a miracle from the Lord. After all, a miracle not only does not happen automatically, but in order to help a miracle come true, we must act both at the limit of our strengths and capabilities, and “above them,” realizing that all the trials that befall us have the goal of teaching us to feel God’s plans and help them come true.

As we reflect on God’s Purim, we must be aware of what exactly this holiday is pointing to us today and what it is preparing us for. Historically, Purim is located between two greatest events that we, as Christians, consider fundamental for ourselves – the exit of the Jews from Egypt (Jewish Passover) and the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Passover). We may not always notice this connection, but it is very important for us today, because it indicates what we should expect today from ourselves and from the changes in the history of our people that we are witnessing. The first Easter speaks of salvation from physical slavery and, in part, spiritual slavery; Purim speaks of the literal physical salvation of Jews and their spiritual conversion to their God, and both of these holidays prepare us for the Passover of Christ, as spiritual salvation from the slavery of sin and conversion to the living God, regardless of nationality and knowledge of God.

It is in light of this that I would like to draw your attention to another aspect of preparing us for the implementation of God’s Purim and Easter in the fate of our people, as well as in your and my life:

“The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as it is written in the prophets: Behold, I send My angel before You, who will prepare Your way before You. The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.” (Mark 1:1-3)

Imagine what it was like to see a man emerging from the wilderness, after thirty years, the son of one of the high priests, the one who never had need of human things and had about himself the prophecies of Isaiah, who spoke about him: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make… his paths straight” (Is. 40:3); the baptist himself says: “Create fruits worthy of repentance,” this means the same thing as the words: “Prepare the way of the Lord.” The words spoken by the prophet and the preaching of John himself mean only that he came to prepare and arrange the way to Christ. Evangelist Luke not only cites the beginning of the prophecy, but conveys it in full: “Let every valley be filled, and every mountain and hill be made low, the crooked places made straight, and the rough paths made smooth; and all flesh will see the salvation of God” (Luke 3:5–6; Isaiah 40:4). When the prophet says: “Let every valley be filled, and every mountain and hill be made low, … and the rough paths will be made smooth,” this means that the humble will be lifted up and the proud humbled, and the difficulty of keeping the law will be replaced by the ease of faith. He also shows the reason for this, saying: “all flesh will see the salvation of God,” that is, not only Jews and those who accepted Judaism, but also all peoples and all tribes living on earth today.

Based on the above, we can draw the following conclusion: repentance opens the way for the Lord into our hearts, and this leads to a sincere promise to God of a good conscience, which is an expression of our inner desire and evidence of a new changed nature. But it is wrong to talk only about rebirth, because this only prepares the paths, or, in other words, opens the doors of the heart for our Lord, giving the start to another process integral to Christian life – transformation by the Holy Spirit. This is the process on which it will depend whether the doors of our heart will then close or not. It is very difficult and takes up our entire future life. “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18). This process can also be called the process of acquiring oil, as was the case with the wise virgins in the parable of Jesus Christ about the ten virgins (Matthew 25:1-13). Thanks to the acquired experience of communicating with the Holy Spirit and the skill of righteous living, the wise virgins were able to light their lamps and meet the groom who was delayed on the way in order to get to the long-awaited feast, but the unwise, having no oil in their lamps, could not do this. Therefore, the constant transformation of the believer is his work on accumulating in his lamp that very reserve of oil, which, in fact, is the reserve of experience of communication with the Holy Spirit, when we learn to understand God and His plan.

Therefore, if we nevertheless decide to make this important choice in life, then we must make it with only one goal – to move on in the right direction. Do not stop, do not be satisfied with the promise of Purim and salvation from the Lord, but do everything possible on our part to prepare the ways for the Lord in our lives and in the lives of other people of our people!