ORDER OF SERVICE
Praise and worship : Worship Team
Offertory prayer : Upa T Tuanmuanthang
Recitals : Linda, BYF Choir
Bible study : Rev Kumam Suresh Singh
Benediction : Upa Chinsum
A STUDY ON THE BOOK OF ESTHER
Rev Kumam Suresh Singh led a discussion on the topic “A study on the Book of Esther: Intentional assimilation of God’s people and great deliverance by a covenant keeping God”. At the outset, it was pointed out that the Book of Esther essentially consists of stories that are secular in nature as there has been no mention made at all of God, priests, prophets, worship, prayers, Sabbath, sanctity, righteousness and the likes in the Book. The events related in the Book of Esther are set in the Kingdom of Persia spanning a period of ten years.
After seventy years of captivity in Babylon, the Jews were finally allowed to return to Jerusalem by King Ahasuerus, ruler of Persia, who had conquered Babylon in 539 BC. However, many Jews including Esther and Mordecai were among those that stayed on in the new Persian kingdom. Mordecai is a high-ranking person in the court of the King and is a descendant of Saul, ancient King of the Israelites. Esther is the orphaned paternal cousin of Mordecai. The typical characteristic of Jews living in Persia is their intentional assimilation into the culture and way of living of the Persians, with the complete snub of the old hardline Jewish traditions and Jewish God. This characteristic is pronounced in the lives of Esther and Mordecai’s too as a survival mechanism and a means also to achieve higher personal ambitions – they both kept their Jewish identity to themselves and lived as ordinary Babylonians. The names of Esther and Mordecai were also derived from names of Babylonian gods, which is another instance of assimilation.
King Ahasuerus exiled his wife Vashti after which Esther used her charm and wit to eventually become the Queen of Persia. Haman, a high-ranking person in the court of the King and descendant of Agag, the ancient King of the Amalekites, was at loggerheads with Mordecai. On realising that Mordecai was a Jew, Haman plotted to decimate not only Mordecai but also all the Jews in the world. Amalekites and Israelites/ Jews had always been enemies since the time of Moses. However, coincidences accounted for a twist in the way the events played out at a time Jews seemed destined to be annihilated.
The hand of God was at work behind the reversal in the seemingly helpless situation of the Jews. In Genesis 12:2, God had said to Abram, “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.” It had begun to appear as if the covenant made by God with His chosen people, the Israelites, was about to be abrogated. Even then, neither Esther nor Mordecai were seen to be praying or submitting to the Lord. Esther fasting for three days (Esther 4:16) had nothing to do with worship or prayer, rather it was a Jewish practice of mourning one’s imminent death! However, the covenant-keeping God was not about to forsake His people. It came to pass that King Ahasuerus allowed Queen Esther to enter his room unsummoned and learned of the conspiracy hatched by Haman. The death of Haman and his ten sons followed immediately, and the Jews killed tens of thousands of their enemies in a complete reversal of narrative.
