GOD BEHIND THE SCENES

THE BOOK OF ESTHER

TRANSFORMATIVE WORD

WAYNE K. BARKHUIZEN

Edited by Craig G. Bartholomew

God Behind the Scenes: The Book of Esther

Transformative Word

Copyright 2016 Wayne K. Barkhuizen

Lexham Press, 1313 Commercial St., Bellingham, WA 98225

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Scripture quotations marked (esv) are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Print ISBN 9781577996590

Digital ISBN 9781577997122

Series Editor: Craig G. Bartholomew

Lexham Editorial Team: Lynnea Fraser, Abby Salinger, Claire Brubaker, Elizabeth Vince, Abigail Stocker

Cover Design: Christine Gerhart

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction

2. A Portrait of Esther

3. Narrative:

The Fascination of Story

4. Scene One:

A Pretty Jew in the Palace of a Foreign King

5. Scene Two:

A Jewish Holocaust Looms

6. Scene Three:

A Jewish Queen to the Rescue

7. Scene Four:

A Jew Honored by His Archenemy

8. Scene Five:

A Dead End for the Jews’ Enemy

9. Scene Six:

A Royal Edict Saves the Jews

10. Conclusion

Bibliography

The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.

Proverbs 16:33

1

INTRODUCTION

Everyone loves a good story. Stories are exciting and suspenseful, designed to captivate. The book of Esther is no exception. The iconic opening words of fairy tales (many of which convey truths about life, despite being make-believe), “Once upon a time, many years ago,” would fit well in the Esther story. But Esther isn’t merely a story designed to entertain or convey truth, and it isn’t even simply a means of retelling history so that it won’t be forgotten—though it accomplishes all of these things. Rather, Esther is a story that chronicles God’s surprising preservation of his people when their very existence is threatened by a superpower.

Even more important, the Esther story chronicles how God fulfills his purposes to ultimately bring salvation to the world through a Jewish descendant (Gen 3:15; 12:2–3; 2 Sam 7:16). For if all the Jews throughout the entire Persian Empire had been annihilated, God would not have been able to fulfill his promise. This is why Esther is such a memorable story—one etched into history and one from which we can learn.1