THE PERFECT GOD WORKS THROUGH IMPERFECT PEOPLE (1 OF 5)
Scripture: Esther 1:1-19, Esther 1:21-22, Esther 2:1-18
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The Perfect God Works through Imperfect People (1 of 5)
Series: Turning the Tables
Jonathan McLeod
Esther 1-2:18
The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti (Esth. 2:17).
A BOOK ABOUT REVERSAL OF FORTUNE
''The tables are turned.'' The saying comes from board games. The tables are turned when you go from a losing position to a winning position (i.e., experience a reversal of fortune). The book of Esther is a book about reversal of fortune. In the NIV, Esther 9:1 says, ''Now the tables were turned.''
The book of Esther was written around 400 B.C. by an unknown author. It has been popular among Jews. (It tells about the origin of Purim.) But it has been unpopular among Christians. (No Christian commentary on Esther was written for the first 800 years of the church.)
The story of Esther takes place during the reign of the Persian King Ahasuerus (also known as Xerxes). It was a time when a man was judged according to his wealth and power, and a woman was judged according to her beauty-so in some ways, the world hasn't change much at all.
[Read Esther 1:1-5, 10-12; 2:1-18.]
WHERE IS GOD?
Surprisingly, the book of Esther never once mentions God. Was it an oversight by the author? (''Oops!'') No, a Jewish author would not forget to mention God. It had to be intentional. But why?
Karen Jobes writes that ''the complete absence of God from the text is the genius of the book.'' The book of Esther shows how God-even when he seems to be absent-is working out his good will in and through the lives of his people. Joyce Baldwin comments, ''The unseen hand behind the events in Susa is no less active in guiding history today. The book of Esther is still relevant.''
Debra Reid writes that God is ''the 'hidden' God in the text [of the book of Esther] rather than the 'absent' God.'' God's hiddenness i ...
Series: Turning the Tables
Jonathan McLeod
Esther 1-2:18
The king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti (Esth. 2:17).
A BOOK ABOUT REVERSAL OF FORTUNE
''The tables are turned.'' The saying comes from board games. The tables are turned when you go from a losing position to a winning position (i.e., experience a reversal of fortune). The book of Esther is a book about reversal of fortune. In the NIV, Esther 9:1 says, ''Now the tables were turned.''
The book of Esther was written around 400 B.C. by an unknown author. It has been popular among Jews. (It tells about the origin of Purim.) But it has been unpopular among Christians. (No Christian commentary on Esther was written for the first 800 years of the church.)
The story of Esther takes place during the reign of the Persian King Ahasuerus (also known as Xerxes). It was a time when a man was judged according to his wealth and power, and a woman was judged according to her beauty-so in some ways, the world hasn't change much at all.
[Read Esther 1:1-5, 10-12; 2:1-18.]
WHERE IS GOD?
Surprisingly, the book of Esther never once mentions God. Was it an oversight by the author? (''Oops!'') No, a Jewish author would not forget to mention God. It had to be intentional. But why?
Karen Jobes writes that ''the complete absence of God from the text is the genius of the book.'' The book of Esther shows how God-even when he seems to be absent-is working out his good will in and through the lives of his people. Joyce Baldwin comments, ''The unseen hand behind the events in Susa is no less active in guiding history today. The book of Esther is still relevant.''
Debra Reid writes that God is ''the 'hidden' God in the text [of the book of Esther] rather than the 'absent' God.'' God's hiddenness i ...
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