August 18

Esther 1:1-3:15; 1 Corinthians 11:17-34; Psalm 35:17-28; Proverbs 21:19-20

Today we start the book of Esther. You didn’t think I was going to pass up the chance to write on that, did you?

In my family of origin, we all have Bible names – my brothers are Peter and David and my sisters, as you know, are Sarah and Mary. And then me, Esther. In the family I’ll building now with Ian, we’ve followed the same pattern – we have a Ruth, a Jonah and an Isaiah. We love names that mean something and hope by naming our children after some of God’s ancient people, that they will be encouraged to take their places in the kingdom, along these other great witnesses.

My parents, I think, had the same idea. I was given the name Esther and I’ve always loved my name. Part of the appeal is that my dad has this great sermon called My Name is Harbona, in which he acts out the story of Esther from the perspective of one of the king’s eunuchs, Harbona (we actually saw him listed in our reading today – Esther 1:10). He wrote the sermon when he was in seminary but he preached it every summer of my life at the family camp we went to in Colorado. I could practically do the dramatization myself, though not nearly as wonderfully as my dad.

Anyway, Esther is probably most well-known for the famous verse in chapter 4, verse 14, which we’ll read tomorrow: “And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” I love that verse and maybe tomorrow someone will write about it, but today, I wanted to share with you my dad’s take on the book. First, did you notice in today’s reading that God’s name is never mentioned? When we read tomorrow, you’ll notice it’s not there, either. Or the day after. That’s because God is never mentioned in the entire book. Esther is the only book in the whole Bible that doesn’t mention God. But don’t be mistaken – God is clearly present and active throughout the book. As my dad describes it in his telling of Esther, it’s like the characters in this book are people in a dollhouse and the Father is looking down into the dollhouse, controlling the events but never actually stepping into the dollhouse himself. God’s purpose is very clear in this book, as he guides Esther and Mordecai and as he protects his people from annihilation. His hand is directing the people and circumstances to unfold at just the right time, so that everything perfectly falls into place for the Israelites. As we read and finish the book over the next two days, be in the lookout for that and see how carefully the loving Father moves the pieces of the dollhouse around.

And I encourage you the think about God’s role in your own life and how you view him. Do you see him as a loving Father who has your best in mind? Or do you (falsely) view him as someone waiting for you to mess up so he can stick it to you? Our God is careful and thoughtful with you and your life. Keep believing, and keep reading.

- Esther McCurry

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