Esther 9:27
The Jews ordained, and took upon them, and upon their seed, and upon all such as joined themselves unto them, so as it should not fail, that they would keep these two days according to their writing, and according to their appointed time every year;
The verse records how God by overruling providence saved the Jews from Haman's attempt under Ahasuerus to destroy all His people in Medo-Persian rule, giving a counter decree that overthrew their enemies. It establishes Purim as the memorial of that deliverance from Haman, the descendant of Agag among the Amalekites, with the name coming from Pur meaning lot for the lots that were cast. The Jews ordained a continuing communal obligation upon themselves and their descendants and all who joined them to keep the two days every year at the appointed time according to the writing, so as it should not fail. It marks the triumphant vindication of God's people and the utter defeat of Haman as the devil's agent, frustrating Satan's attempt through the second head of the beast system of church-and-state government to destroy the woman through whom the Man Child should come. That threat and deliverance illustrates a future effort to force Sabbath observance by human command and to kill those who refuse, while the appointed time illustrates the times in Daniel 7:25 that the little horn would think to change in defiance of God's authority.
History and Wording of Purim
The account belongs to Haman's attempt under Ahasuerus, that is Xerxes, in Medo-Persian rule to destroy all God's people, in which God by overruling providence gave a counter decree that saved the Jews and overthrew their enemies. Esther 3-9 recounts that attempt and God's intervention to frustrate the plan. The verse records the origin of Purim as the memorial of how God saved the Jews from the plotting of Haman, the descendant of Agag among the Amalekites scattered through Persia, to destroy them. The name Purim comes from Pur meaning lot, referring to the casting of lots, and the verse records the ordaining of the two-day feast to be kept every year at its appointed time according to its writing.
The Jews ordained a continuing communal obligation, taking upon themselves and upon their seed and upon all such as joined themselves unto them to keep these two days every year at the appointed time according to the writing, so as it should not fail. They made the annual observance a lasting and enduring obligation for themselves, their descendants, and those who joined them, according to the written instruction and appointed time. The words appointed time translate the Hebrew zeman, meaning an appointed occasion, season or time, from a root meaning to fix or appoint. It has no definite reference to feast in itself but means a definite time appointed by man or God, here the yearly time for keeping the two days.
Zeman is one of fifteen occurrences rendered as season, seasons, time, and times, all carrying the same sense of definite appointed time. Adar is the twelfth month of the Jewish sacred year, which began with Abib or Nisan and continued through Zif, Sivan, Thammuz, Ab, Elul, Tisri or Ethanim, Bul, Chisleu, Tebeth, Shebeth, and Adar. Purim is identified as a one-day feast on Adar 14 commemorating the events in the book of Esther.
Deliverance, Prophecy and Application
The verse marks the triumphant vindication of God's people and the utter and absolute defeat of wicked Haman as the devil's agent. That vindication came when God frustrated Satan's attempt through Haman in the reign of Ahasuerus to destroy all the people of God during Medo-Persian rule, the second head of the beast system of church-and-state government. The Jews whose deliverance is recorded are the woman through whom the Man Child should come, and their survival marks Satan's failure to destroy them.
The keeping of Purim according to appointed time every year turns on the Hebrew zeman, meaning definite time or season, an appointed time of God or man. It is one of fifteen occurrences of that word, rendered season, seasons, time, and times, all carrying that same sense of definite appointed time. It illustrates the times in Daniel 7:25 that the little horn would think to change, which are times connected with the law, whose changing changes the law and defies the authority of God.
The verse shows that the Jews made the annual observance of the two days a lasting obligation for themselves, their descendants, and those who joined them, according to the written instruction and appointed time. In that setting the account in Esther chapters 3, 8, and 9 illustrates the threat against God's people and their deliverance. That pattern is connected with a future effort to force Sabbath observance by human command and to kill those who refuse.