Lesson 8: The Esther Story
When I reread the Esther story this time, I was constantly reminded of the cowboy movies that were a big part of my young life. Every Saturday afternoon, my parents would give my brother and me 12 cents, and off we went to the big social event of the week— the 2 o’clock movie at the Rialto theater. Almost all of our young friends would be there.
This storyline in the movies was always the same: the introduction of a good guy whom everyone loved, followed by the introduction of a bad guy whom everyone hated. The bad guy threatened some terribly evil action that often involved murder. The good guy took responsibility and defeated the bad guy, usually shooting him dead. When this happened, the theater erupted with cheers. The world was saved. Good defeated evil once more.
Esther introduces us to Mordecai, a good Jew who is threatened along with all of his people by the evil Persian, Haman. Esther has the courage to stand up for her people. When the king hangs Haman on the gallows prepared for Mordecai, I hear the Rialto theater erupt with cheers that mount to a crescendo when Jews throughout the empire kill all those who were out to kill them.
As you have detected, I think Esther is pretty cheap fiction. Nonetheless, it deserves some cheers for addressing the human struggle for survival. A key part of the Jewish identity throughout their entire history has been the threat of genocide. Many of their festivals truly celebrate “They tried to kill us. They failed. Let’s eat.” So the fun of Purim features a reading of Esther.
However, as our young love of cowboy movies illustrates, we all fear our own death and the threat that bad guys will destroy our people. The Esther story gives us hope by proclaiming this will not happen because God will prevent it. He will always inspire some who take responsibility to stand up to those who want to wipe us out.
To tell the truth, rereading the story recently also brought to mind our present political situation. We, too, face the vanity of kings who insist on having their own way and princes who strike out when someone does not bow down before them. This is especially dangerous in our modern technological age when the threat of genocide is very real. God still promises to be with us when we speak truth to power. But our responsibility is not to shoot the opposition dead, but to win them over with love so we all gain the victory.
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Excellent! Thank you!