Today is the last post on Esther as we finish the book tomorrow. Thursday, we’ll begin 1 Peter. Don’t forget to check out the reading plan at Women Living Well.
Esther was one of my favorite stories as a child because it was about a QUEEN! As I read it now, I see it almost like a play from Shakespeare with how the writer pokes fun at a powerful king who cannot control his wife and Haman, whose own hubris results in his downfall.
The Bible has often been studies as literature because it is so rich in variety, poetry, stories, letters, metaphors, each book unique in theme or purpose. But we should never forget that, while it does tell stories, it ultimately tells ONE story.
Chronologically, Esther is the last book of the Old Testament. The Bible begins with the creation of the world. And then there’s the Fall, and the chosen people of God seem to be on a downward spiral throughout the Old Testament. The one constant is that God has never forgotten or forsaken His people. When we come to Esther, a royal decree has called for the destruction of the Jews. By bizarre circumstances, a Jew finds herself in an unlikely position to save her people, God’s people. The circumstances are so unique that only God could have rendered them. The people of God are saved from annihilation, and then silence. For four hundred years, we have no Scripture to tell us what’s going on.
And then, in the town of Bethlehem, a boy is born, in a stable no less, unnoticed by the world. Yet everything has just changed. While Esther helped save her people from being killed, she could do nothing for the state of their souls. But this baby has come to SAVE the world. So many of God’s promises came to fruition in an instant. The people of God are offered Redemption as they have never known it. And that Redemption has extended to all the world. And we can anticipate the glorious Restoration of all that God has created.
As we read Esther, or any book, we can enjoy the story and learn from it, but let’s also remember The Story and how, at every moment, God intended to Redeem us all.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.
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