Has God Raised Up a Modern-Day Esther?

During his visit to the Middle East last week, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Chief Political Analyst David Brody and Middle East Bureau Chief Chris Mitchell of the Christian Broadcast Network (CBN) in Jerusalem. The interview occurred soon after The Times of Israel reported Pompeo’s visit to Jerusalem’s Western Wall as “the first time a U.S. secretary of state visited Jerusalem’s contested Old City accompanied by a senior Israeli official.”

That senior Israeli official was Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

During the CBN interview, Pompeo responded to a question about whether God was using President Trump as a modern-day Esther to save the Jewish people.

“As a Christian, I certainly believe that’s possible,” Pompeo replied.

It seems Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agrees.

On March 21 (the last day of Purim), Pompeo and Netanyahu held a joint press conference. Netanyahu mentioned Trump’s pledge to fully recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights – a historic act made official this week – calling it a “Purim miracle.”

“We’re celebrating Purim, when, 2,500 years ago, other Persians, led by Haman, tried to destroy the Jewish people,” Netanyahu said. “They failed then. And today, 2,500 years later, Persians led by Khamenei are trying to destroy the Jewish people and the Jewish State. They are going to fail again.”

On March 25, President Trump fulfilled his pledge and signed a proclamation acknowledging Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Saving Israel Means Stopping Iran

As Netanyahu hinted at the joint press conference with Pompeo, Queen Esther 2,500 years ago courageously used her position to intercede in a plot to exterminate the Jewish people by an adviser of Persia’s King Ahasuerus, Haman the Agagite (Esther 3:1). Haman most likely was a descendant of Agag, king of the Amalekites and a bitter enemy of the Jewish people.

Ancient Persia is modern-day Iran.

Steven M. Collins, author of five books documenting the migrations, kingdoms and locations of the biblical “Lost Tribes of Israel,” the 10 tribes from the ancient Northern Kingdom of Israel, suggested that the spirit of Haman “lives on in the modern leadership of Iran, which wants to exterminate the Jews, as did Haman long ago.“

Toward this end, Iran is working to surround Israel.

Iran has bases in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iraq. They fund and supply terrorist groups, including Hezbollah on Israel’s northern border in Lebanon and Hamas on Israel’s southern border in the Gaza Strip.

Just two days after Pompeo returned to Washington – on Monday morning of this week – Hamas fired 30 Iran-supplied rockets into central Israel, destroying a family’s home and injuring seven people including two small children. Israel responded within 12 hours by conducting 15 airstrikes on Hamas military sites.