No God?

Good morning! Glad you stopped by. I hope you are persevering in your "Year of the Bible" readings. I think we're getting into some good stuff this week. But before I get into that, let's get the Q&A out of the way.

Here's the question and answer from Tuesday:
What did Nehemiah do to ensure that no load could be brought in on the Sabbath day? (Nehemiah 13)
Nehemiah 13:19 19 When evening shadows fell on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered the doors to be shut and not opened until the Sabbath was over. I stationed some of my own men at the gates so that no load could be brought in on the Sabbath day.

And the question and answer from yesterday:
Xerxes displayed his vast wealth for 180 days. How long did the banquet last? (Esther 1)
Esther 1:5 5 When these days were over, the king gave a banquet, lasting seven days, in the enclosed garden of the king's palace, for all the people from the least to the greatest, who were in the citadel of Susa.

And here's the question of the day:
There was a crowd around Jesus when he drove the demon out of the man who was mute. By whose power did some of the crowd think Jesus healed? (Luke 11)

And here's the reflection of the day:
I have to confess something. . . I'm a bit enthralled with the Esther story. At Bible Study yesterday, I made us read the WHOLE book out loud. (It was actually pretty great. I recommend it to everyone to just read it straight through.) My next door neighbor extraordinaire loaned me movie version of the story. (Which I promptly watched when I got home from Bible Study. I'm considering watching it again before I give it back!) And now I'm planning on, by hook or by crook, we're going to get the whole story on Sunday morning too. (I have specially commissioned some drawings from my brother the artist.)

It's a great story! Intrigue. Romance. Heroes and villains. Good versus evil. What more could you ask for?

Esther was written during the Diaspora, the time when the Jews had been exiled from Jerusalem for a second time, this time at the hands of Babylon. Esther is a story meant to rally the troops, to bolster the spirits of the Jews who feared they might never return home again.

So isn't it ironic (don't you think) that God's name does not appear in this text. Does it mean God is not present simply because His name does not appear on the pages? By no means! How can a book be written to assure and encouragement people in their faith without mentioning God?Such a book must be written very cleverly. And the reader must be very discerning as well.

Where are the points where God is clearly present and in control though His name is absent int today's "Year of the Bible" readings? That was one of the things we tried to keep track of as we read through it in Bible Study. I think if you read closely enough, you will be able to pick out many places where God does "appear" in the story.

When we read the story of Esther, we have to keep our eyes peeled looking for God hiding in the story. Kind of like our lives: we have to keep our eyes peeled to look for God who lingers in each scene in our lives!

Happy reading!
Allison