Purim and the Pagan Names of Persia
​Yehudah ben Shomeyr
 
Just as many who come to the Messianic/Natsari faith take on new names to reflect ones new found faith; similarly when a conquering nation would submit a nation, the people of that vassal state would take on new names to reflect that the people are under “new management.” Also, this was done to symbolize the defeat of the defeated nation’s god(s), because back in the day, most names reflected the religion of that nation. For example; Daniel, Dan-El, meaning “God is my judge.” Or Eliyahu (Elijah) meaning, “Yahweh is my God.” It was not uncommon for a conquering nation to give new names to the people they captured, for Daniel and the Three Hebrew Children all were given pagan names and it is by those names we know the three Hebrew young men; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  Their Hebrew names were Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. Daniel was given the name Belteshazzar (Dan. 1:7).
 
Did you know that Esther, the Heroine of Purim is not a Hebrew name? It is actually a derivative of the name of the pagan goddess Ishtar. Her real name was Hadassah.  Hadassah means myrtle tree. Myrtle branches are used in the lulav and etrog bouquet we wave unto the LORD during Sukkot. The Lulav and etrog represents the human body, each element a part of the body. The hadass leaves are shaped like eyes and represent the eyes. The four species of the lulav also represent a type of person. The hadass is and aromatic species and is representory of one who has good deeds. Indeed, Hadassah (Esther) had the eyes of the king, but she also had eyes to see the trouble around her and wisely took action by fasting and her good deed was risking her life to approach the king without being summoned.  What greater deed is there than self-sacrifice (John 15:13)!?
 
Ishtar, from where the name Esther derives, was the goddess of fertility, love and war. Esther won the love of King Ahauerus and was the catalyst that brought war to the kingdom, saving the Persian Jews, and allowing the Jewish people to survive and continue the perpetuation of their various lines as well as defeating Haman and bring his line to an end.  Esther’s actions fulfilled what her pagan name meant!
 
Names, whether pagan or Hebraic have prophetic meaning in a person’s life and their name will shape their life. For example Nabal was foolishly crass enough to snub David when he was on the run from King Saul and it cost Nabal his life, and indeed his name meant folly (I Sam. 25:25).  Solomon, means “son of Peace” and He was the peace child that brought back equilibrium between God and David as well as there was peace and prosperity during Solomon’s reign.
 
Ahasuerus, the king of our story, means “lion king,” which shows how he was seen by everyone and showed that he was a mighty conquering king not to be trifled with. And we see what happened to Haman when the king though Haman was trying to seduce Queen Esther right under his nose; he was hung (Esther 7:9-10). A lion, when attacking his prey to kill him immediately goes for the neck! Ahasuerus sure did live up to his name.
 
Haman was a descendant of Esau and Amalek, enemies of Israel. Israel was commanded to wipe out Amalek and his descendants but failed to do so and the Jewish people reaped the consequences of their disobedient as we read in the book of Esther (Deut. 25:19), for Haman, an Amalekite attempted to wipe out Israel!
 
Haman means magnificent, and indeed Haman was very vain and conceited and thought of himself so magnificent that everyone should bow in recognition of that magnificence. His name also means, “noisy tumult” and indeed he was always flapping his lips causing trouble where ever he went. And traditionally, during the reading of Esther, we make a noisy tumult in order to drown out his name.
 
Mordechai’s was named after the god Marduk, the god of war and order. Haman, meaning noisy tumult is symbolic of chaos and Mordechai/Marduk is all about order and hence the clash between the two! Also a warrior does not bow to someone just because one thinks there magnificent, the warrior will only bow to a superior, and Haman was anything but. Mordechai only bowed to the God of Israel, for He is supreme and worthy of a warriors worship and allegiance.
 
In Esther Rabbah 7:8 it says, “Haman said to the courtiers: ‘Tell him his ancestors bowed to my ancestor, for it says: ‘Joseph and Rachel… bowed down [to Esau].’’ Mordechai replied: ‘But Benjamin was not born.’”
 
Mordechai was a descendant of Benjamin, who was prophetically represented by a wolf, a warrior of the woods and seeing as when Joseph and Rachel bowed before Esau, Benjamin was not born yet and so Mordechai’s descendants never bowed to Esau and his line and he wasn’t about to start.
 
You see, even when one is conquered one is not defeated.  And in order to attempt to wipe out Hebrew life, religion and culture the Persians gave the Jews pagan names, yet that was their downfall because they failed to see the prophetic significance in a name. By giving Hadassah the name Esther and Mordechai the name Marduk, the Persians were actually christening them warlords of the Hebrew people! God truly does work everything out for the good (Rom. 8:28).  
 
Chag Semeach Purim!
Yehudah ben Shomeyr

A MoDeL MoRoN:
Stages a Believer Goes Through When Coming to Torah
 
Walking this walk for about 20 years now I knew it was a process and a journey; coming out of “Church-ianity;” man’s version of what they feel is Biblical Christianity and into the Way and Walk of Messiah Yeshua but didn’t know how to put it into words until know. From my experience this is the steps, give or take, which ALL Believers who come to Torah go through. I come up with a tongue and cheek acronym that I feel describes well process. I call it: A MoDeL MoRoN.
 
Sometimes, in navigating these stages with all the up’s and down’s and conflicting feelings, I did feel like I was the “Model” of what a “Moron” was!
 
The following are the steps that I have observed that virtually every Believer goes through when coming to Torah. I do hope it helps people gage where they are, where they are going and understand what they have gone through and perhaps it will help them better explain things to their family and friends.
 

• AWAKENING: One day you wake up to the fact that Modern Day Christianity does not line up with Scripture or the Yeshua and is full of contradictions and inconsistencies and when you bring it up to other Believers or Religious leaders you either get brushed off or ridiculed, branded a troublemaker, legalist or heretic.

 
You begin to make changes in your life like not observing certain holidays and adopting the observance of Biblical ones.

Here you family and friends become concerned and they attempt “interventions.” They try love, reason, and ultimately ridicule and ostracization.

• MOURNING: You go through the Stages of Grief: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance. You reject and ridicule everything Christian because you feel you’ve been lied to and deceived all your life.

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Here, you tend to find out who your real friends are you lose the majority of your family and friends.

• DEFECTOR: You reason that because Jews never left the Torah, they must have it all together and end up going all traditional and rabbinical. Yeshua gets put on the back burner and some loose there way and end up denying the Divinity and Messiahship of Yeshua.

 
Here many of your former friends and family become your enemies.
 

• LITEARL: You realize that there are just as many contradictions and inconsistencies in Judaism as they are in Christianity you simply try to follow the Torah literally with little or no customs and traditions connected to it.

 
Here people from your past life begin to see positive changes and begin to question their own beliefs and practices.

• MISSING: You realize that in both cases of Christianity and Judaism that you threw the baby out with the bathwater and begin to cut and paste and pick and choose elements from both faiths into this hybridized, Frankenstein faith, observance and identity. This ends up feeling clunky and unnatural.

 
Here you begin to mend a few relationships from your past life and they allow you to share more and actually listen.
 

• REVELATION: You feel like you have learned all you can from Christianity and Judaism and want something more and deeper and  many go into Jewish mysticism, Gematria, Word pictures, extra Biblical Scriptures and conspiracy theories and here is another point Yeshua is placed on the sidelines and many lose their faith or return to Judaism, Christianity or become atheists.

 
Here you question and evaluate everything you have learned up to this point and hash out your beliefs and practices. Family and Friends from your past life take notice and it makes sense to some.
 

• NATURAL: Everything from the initial Awakening till now just seems to mesh and fall into natural rhythm, belief system and lifestyle.

 
Here you regain healthy relationship with Christian and Jews and people from your past life and get to share and are invited to share because they see your love, happiness and balance and they realize something is missing from their spiritual life.