E416 Navigating the Bible: Esther

On this second occasion, while they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, “Tell me what you want, Queen Esther. What is your request? I will give it to you, even if it is half the kingdom!” Queen Esther replied, “If I have found favor with the king, and if it pleases the king to grant my request, I ask that my life and the lives of my people will be spared. For my people and I have been sold to those who would kill, slaughter, and annihilate us. If we had merely been sold as slaves, I could remain quiet, for that would be too trivial a matter to warrant disturbing the king.” – Esther 7:2-4 Esther holds an interesting place in the Old Testament. It’s a post-exilic narrative similar to Ezra and Nehemiah, but rather than focusing on the Jewish community returning to Jerusalem, it tells the story of some of the Jewish remnant in Susa – people who for one reason or another chose not to return to Jerusalem. In many ways, Esther reads like a thriller. There’s a nefarious plot, divine providence, and bold actions culminating in a decisive moment for Esther herself and the Jewish people. But, at its heart, Esther is a very relatable story. There are no demonstrative miracles, just people making the choice to stand up for a cause important to them and the God who is ever-present, even if not specifically named. To help us navigate the book of Esther is Dr. Iain Duguid, Professor of Old Testament at Westminster Theological Seminary and author of a commentary on Esther. Doable Discipleship is a Saddleback Church podcast produced and hosted by Jason Wieland. It premiered in 2017 and now offers more than 400 episodes. Episodes release every Tuesday on your favorite podcast app and on the Saddleback Church YouTube Channel (https://www.youtube.com/saddleback). Resources Related to This Episode: https://www.amazon.com/Esther-Ruth-Reformed-Expository-Commentary/dp/0875527833 Subscribe to the Doable Discipleship podcast at Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.c