Old Testament Queen Esther and P. M. Netanyahu--a Straight Line?

Old Testament Queen Esther and P.M. Netanyahu—a straight Line?  Queen Esther and the Jews were facing the possibility of annihilation at the hands of a Persian King.  P. M. Netanyahu and the Jews are again facing the possibility of annihilation at the hands of another Persian ruler, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

First, Esther.  She was a Jewish orphan adopted by her cousin Mordecai and was selected among a number of other virgins to replace Queen Vashti.  Initially Mordecai instructed her not to reveal her Jewishness to the King’s court even after she had been singled out for favor by the eunuch Hegai, who was in charge of the virgins’ harem.

King Ahaserus had allowed himself to be persuaded by Haman, a mortal enemy of the Jews, to make a thoughtless decree calling for the annihilation of the Jews.

Though Esther now has access to the king’s court and is learning of its ways, she did not know of the decree against the Jews and had to learn this from Mordecai who had learned it at “the gates”.   He then persuades Esther to intervene on behalf of the Jews, at whatever personal cost saying, “Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14b).

This she does using feminine wiles and charms compatible with the patriarchal system in which she lived, combined with fasting and prayer among those most closely related to her.  The result:  the king not only executed Haman, but reversed the decree that Jews be annihilated.

Second, P. M. Benjamin Netanyahu. The first Prime Minister born in Israel after its founding as a nation in 1948.  He joined the Israel Defense Force (IDF) during the Six-Day War in 1967, saw much action in subsequent battles and was wounded twice, achieving the rank of Captain before being discharged.  His older brother Yonaton (Yoni) was a heroic paratrooper who died commanding the raid to free 105 Israeli hostages hijacked to Entebbe, Uganda, in July of 1976—a highly successful raid with only four Israeli persons losing their lives.

Then he entered the political arena where he has been ever since.  Defense of Israel is bred into his bones and it is out of that high concern for Israel and an awareness of an “Apocalyptic Islam” ideology which he’s concerned too few in the West understand.

He explained "Apocalyptic Islam" this way in 2007 in an interview with Joel Rosenberg.  “It is a fanatic, messianic ideology that seeks to have an apocalyptic battle for world supremacy with the West.  It seeks to correct what it sees as an accident of history, where the West has risen, and Islam had declined.  The correction is supposed to be done by the resurrection of an Islamic empire and the acquisition of nuclear weapons and the use of nuclear weapons, if necessary, to obliterate Islam’s enemies, and to subjugate the rest.”

In the interview he continued, “This is a pathological ideology, much like Naziism was.  It poses a threat, in my judgment, in many ways bigger than Naziism.  Because Hitler embarked on a world conflict and then sought to achieve nuclear weapons, whereas the leading Radical Islamic regime -- Iran – is seeking to first acquire nuclear weapons and then embark on a world conflict.  And that is what is not yet understood in the West, and certainly, if it’s understood, it’s not acted upon.”

In speaking to a Joint Session of Congress March 3, 2015, P. M. Netanyahu was “sounding an alarm” to the United States and the whole world.  Ultimately, this was no different than what Queen Esther had done approximately 2536 years ago.  God blessed her venture principally because there was “fasting” and prayer behind her.  Currently there are those in Israel who believe in “fasting” and prayer, but it appears to be a minority—but that’s no problem for God.  Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.