Dear Doves,
      This year on 3-7, from an hour before sunrise until sunset begins the Fast of Esther, day 1 of 3 days to honor Queen Esther/ Queen Hadassah.  The fast day is during the daylight portion of Adar 13.  That day beginning at sunset is Adar 14 starting the day of celebration of  Purim continuing to 3-8 and  then Adar 15 going to 3-9 is Little Purim. Neither the fast or the next days of Purim are commanded in the Torah.  They are part of the traditions of men.  There are 4 major fast days mentioned in Zechariah 9:19, this is not included in them.  Queen Esther fasted for 3 days before she met with King Ahasuerus.
      Messiah/Christ refers to fasting in Matthew 9:15, Mark 2:19 and Luke 35 concerning the arrival of the Jewish groom for his bride to escort her to the chuppah, the wedding canopy, according to the ancient Jewish wedding model.  Will the Messiah, a kosher Jewish rabbi, follow the directives of this model?  It appears He will do so. The core of His remarks is similar in all 3 Gospels.  People do not fast when the bridegroom (Messiah/Christ) is with them.  When the bridegroom is taken from them, then they will fast.  When he, the bridegroom, returns to escort his bride (Jewish and Gentile) to the wedding canopy, then the fast is over. It is traditional for Jewish brides and grooms to fast before going to wedding canopy.   Messiah/Christ is the King of Kings.  Will His bride of the ages be like Queen Esther/Queen Hadassah, the Queen of Queens?
      Yet He warns about "cares of life" like gluttony, dissipation, drunkenness, and/or sleepiness at the time He (The Groom of the Ages) suddenly arrives.  According to their interpretations of the Talmud and Zohar, some rabbis in Israel, or elsewhere, encourage Orthodox Jewish men to get very drunk during  the 1-2 days of Purim after concluding the Fast of Esther as Adar 14 begins. This is a tremendous spiritual clue to consider, the theme and warning about drunkenness.  Drunkenness is the trigger for the other spiritual dangers of gluttony, dissipation, and sleepiness.  The KEY is DRUNKENNESS!  That convergence of the ending of the fast and the beginning of feasting, and celebration, and revelry may be THE NIGHT onto the MIDNIGHT HOUR or the NEXT NIGHT for ISRAEL,  of particular spiritual danger if that is WHEN the kosher rabbi from the Galilee SUDDENLY ARRIVES to take His bride and family AWAY to the wedding at the chuppah!  What is Purim called by some?  It is known as THE MARTI GRAS OF THE JEWS!
      We learn more in word study from the Hebrew about the names Mordechai and Hadassah.  Chai means life.  Is Mordechai an agent to preserve life for many?  His full name means pure myrrh, which reminds us of the gold, frankincense and myrrh of the Messiah of Israel.  It is a story of protection, preservation, revelation, coming out of concealment, out of hiding.  At the end of The Book of Esther is the full disclosure, transformation, and deliverance of a courageous woman and her people, the bride and queen and all her extended family.
      There is no other time of the year when members of the House of Israel are in grave spiritual danger after fasting, for gluttony, dissipation, drunkenness, and/ or sleepiness than the days of excess, of riotous living, of Purim!  For members of the House of Israel, we cannot connect the themes of fasting and riotous living concerning the fast days of Zechariah 9:19 or any other days of the year than Purim!  Purim is distinctive and stands alone as a period of days with these combined themes and grave spiritual dangers for the seed of Isaac.  These are routine days like in the days of Noah and of Lot, like any other for the vast majority of people all over the world.  These are not pagan days of celebration,  or Feasts of the Lord, or Sabbath days.  Have we been sufficiently warned by The Groom of Grooms, The Master?  Come quickly, Lord...
 
With Love and Shalom,
Jean