Jerusalem is a city of mystery, to be sure. I learned just how mysterious one afternoon, having lunch with a friend who is a retired diplomat. He’d taken me to a place off the beaten path.

As we ate, he told me a story so amazing, I couldn’t get it out of my mind. It concerned the Jewish holiday of Purim, commemorating the deliverance of the Jewish people from the plot of the evil Haman.

My friend told me that not only is the Purim story told in the book of Esther, but that there is a “hidden” prophecy that looks far into the future…to the time of the Nazis, another barbaric group determined to eliminate the Jews.

It seems, so my friend told me, that in Esther 9:6-10), we read of Haman’s 10 sons, who were hanged on the gallows intended for the Jews.

It seems that three letters in that series of names—Taf, Shin, and Zayin—are written smaller than the rest, and that this represents a prophecy, as the letters correspond to the Hebrew year, 5707 (or, 1946).

In October, 1946, 10 Nazi war criminals were hanged at Nuremberg. As the notorious Julius Streicher was led to the gallows, he blurted out, “Purim, 1946!” It was as if he almost involuntarily screamed the fulfillment of the prophecy, that he somehow understood.

A prophecy, or weird coincidence? Not surprisingly, I believe it is clearly the fulfillment of a strange and electrifying prophecy. The Lord’s anger at the enemies of His people burns hot, and He Who knows all things provides humans with a great gift of proof of His existence…prophecy.