*That*, Detective, is the right question...

In the 2004 film I, Robot, Will Smith’s character Del Spooner becomes increasingly frustrated at the inability of robot Sonny to answer his questions. As he seeks to uncover the truth behind the apparent murder of a scientist, Sonny can simply reply “I’m sorry, my responses are limited. You must ask the right questions”.

We find ourselves in a similar predicament as we start to study the book of Esther. At first glance, it doesn’t appear to answer some of our most burning questions. We might like to know why God isn’t mentioned either by name, or as a noun. Alternatively we might seek greater insight into the motivations of the main characters. We might wonder why no-one prays, why there are no miracles, or why there’s nothing intrinsically Jewish about this book.

As we study, we need to ask the right questions.
Here are a few points to remember that should help to keep us on track as we work through the book together (both in our Sunday morning meetings and here on this blog):

·       The main purpose of the writer is to explain the origins of, and continue the celebration of the festival of Purim among the Jews (ch 9:28), which marked the start of a period of peace and is still celebrated today. Everything we find recorded here is to serve that purpose.

·       This book is a narrative recording real historical people in the context of a real culture and time period. At this point in history the Jews had been removed from Israel and taken into captivity in Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. Although many had now taken advantage of the opportunity to return to their own land offered by the Persian King Cyrus after he conquered Babylon, some still remained.

·       We’re looking at a very active period in history – Pericles, Sophocles, Confucius, Socrates and Pythagoras were among the more prominent thinkers of the age.

·         It’s not a biography of Esther or Mordecai. Nor is it a detailed history of Persian culture. We only find out enough about the people and the place to demonstrate how they helped to shape the origins of the festival.

·       Our ‘why?’ questions were not the concern of the author. That can be really annoying. Remember that this  is a Hebrew narrative, where character is often revealed by what people do and say - we can try and work out their motives from that, but they are not explicitly stated here.

Paul instructed the Church in Rome that what was written and recorded  was to teach us, build our endurance, encourage us and give us hope in Christ, so we’re looking forward to learning how to ask the right questions and grow together as we study Esther.
 

Don’t forget you can find a short summary of Esther here