Two-hundred fifty thousand women gathered outside the National Mall in Washington, DC to rally for America to return to God. The “A Million Women” rally was a 12-hour live-streamed event organized by Lou Engle. The event was billed as “a gathering for those hungry to see the Lord’s hand cover this nation…to fast and pray in unity as a LAST STAND moment for America.” It centered on the idea of an “Esther call” for women, referencing the biblical Queen Esther who confronted her husband, the king, to save the Hebrew people. The “Esther call” comes from Esther 4:14, when Esther’s relation, Mordecai, challenges her to face the king. “For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Mordecai asks the anxious Queen Esther (emphasis added).

The event showed a heavy support for Israel, President Donald Trump, and patriotism, leading most mainstream outlets to label the rally a “Christian nationalist” rally. Lance Wallnau, labeled a “Maga evangelist” by The Guardian after prophesying Trump’s first term in office, spoke on the importance of voting. “We have 31 million Christians, I just found out, they’ve just been so bombarded by woke preachers and apathetic Christians that they don’t think they’re gonna vote this year. Folks, this meeting, on Yom Kippur, is our governmental moment to shift something in the spirit.”

Of the event, Engle said, “We believe it is an Esther-Mordecai moment, not a division of male and female, but to connect together before the heart of God and believe that God will heal us and heal us in our ideologies.” He later added, “Well, I look at Joel chapter two, when there’s no hope for a nation, when there is no remedy…blow the trumpet in Zion and call a fast. It is in those moments that God looses mercy in a day to a nation.  There are certain times when God says, you must gather and if you gather, the Lord will fight for us. We believe we’re in that kind of moment.” Engle is part of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), which has received criticism from conservative Christian commentators like Allie Beth Stuckey, Mike Winger, and Melissa Dougherty for its Apostolic succession, its emphasis on new revelation from prophets, and push for miracles.