Reading Through the Book of Daniel (1-4) #1

This past week I began reading through the book of Daniel accompanied by, Esther & Daniel, The College Press NIV Commentary, by Mark Mangano. The book of Daniel reminds God’s people that He is still in charge of world events, despite his seeming defeat at the hands of the Babylonians. I have been posting quotes from the book on my Facebook page on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday (NT is Mon-Wed-Fri) and we can discuss comments and questions about the passage there. As usual my comments are in black and quotes from the commentary are in blue below…

The book of Daniel is an apocalyptic book which reassured the Jewish exiles that God, despite the defeat of Jerusalem and destruction of His temple, is still in charge of His people and, all the nations, and will continue to preserve them and keep the promises He made to them. Apocalyptic literature is designed to give God's beleaguered people a glimpse of His throne room in heaven and at His plan for the future, so that they continue to have hope and trust that He is sovereign over them and over the nations.

And Israel, would she have a future? If so, what could she expect? Just as God had delivered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace (Dan 3) and Daniel from the lions’ den (Dan 6), Israel would be delivered from her captivity (9:24–27). God “rescues and he saves” (6:27). Israel is promised a future in order to fulfill God’s sovereign plan for the cosmos. 132

Chapter 1 introduces the reader to Daniel and his three friends who are exiled from Jerusalem in the first deportation to Babylon in 605BC. They are designated to serve in the Babylonian court. As part of their assimilation into Babylonian culture they are commanded to eat the king's food. They refuse to do this but provide an alternative to their overseer. When they are seen to be more healthy than their counterparts they are exalted and honored with high positions. The four friends are excellent examples of Jeremiah's instruction to the exiles in 29.5-7 of how they are to live and serve in Babylon. God's preservation and exaltation of Daniel and his friends is a picture of what God will do for Israel while the nation is in exile.

Chapter 1 has shown that “success without compromise was possible even in the midst of captivity.” Daniel’s life testifies to the challenge of cooperating with society without compromising godliness.  Daniel 1, 174

We must stand against every ideological expression of the godless spirit of the age...There is no idea more insidious than philosophical naturalism. Its explanation of human origins so devalues mankind that it leaves us without meaning, with moral anarchy, and with existential despair and misery. Parents, teachers, preachers should take every opportunity to teach that human value, dignity, purpose, and hope are based only in the biblical teaching of creation. Daniel 1, 175

Daniel enters the court of Nebuchadnezzar in much the same way Joseph came before pharaoh; as an interpreter of a dream from God about the future that would effect the "whole world." Like Joseph, Daniel humbly gives God all the credit for any wisdom and knowledge He brings to the situation. The vision is of a great statue that represents 4 great Gentile kingdoms that will rule the Mediterranean "world" until the coming of the kingdom of God. The main point is that YHWH, despite His people being in exile, is in control of world history and is moving it toward the establishment of His eternal kingdom. The pomp and power of these human kingdoms is transitory and unreliable. God's people should look, trust and hope in His coming kingdom.

When the professionals told the king that divine revelation was needed to reconstruct the king’s dream, they were quite right. This was the reason why Daniel and his friends prayed to God. They prayed that God would reveal the mystery of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, and, in so doing, show the reality, power, and wisdom of the one true God. Daniel 2.17-19, 183

“We need not give only a political significance to this colossal statue,” writes Wallace, “It can stand for our little empires, domestic, social, business, financial or ecclesiastical in the midst of which some of us sit enthroned, trying in vain to find security and satisfaction. It can stand merely for the image of our own future. But we shall never be at peace till we have really seen and acknowledged that the empire of ours, whatever it is, must give way before the coming of the kingdom of God.” Daniel 2,  190

“Do not trust the nations of this world. They are not preeminent. They do not hold your destiny in their hands. They, like you, are under the judgment of God—your God.” Daniel 2, 193

Nebuchadnezzar defies the message given to him by God in the dream of the image by constructing a giant image of gold to be worshipped by all His people. He decrees that all who fail to bow to the image, representing the greatness of Babylon and his own godhood, will be thrown into a fiery furnace. Daniel's three friends defy the decree and receive the penalty but are miraculously preserved within the fire accompanied by a "son of the gods." Nebuchadnezzar is forced to acknowledge God's superiority to himself.

“They do not doubt the power of their God to deliver them from the king’s furnace, but they have no right to presume that He will do so.” Their faith is matched by their submission to the Lord’s will. “The young men recognized that God’s will might be different from what they would find pleasant, and they were willing to have it so, without complaining.” Daniel 3, 199

God might have effected deliverance for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego without sending such a personal messenger, and this would have been wonderful of itself. But He did more. He effected the deliverance by a special emissary who tangibly demonstrated God’s presence with them in the trying hour. God had permitted the men to be cast into the horrifying furnace, but in doing so He had literally gone in with them. Daniel 3, 202

However, he still has not learned his lesson. In chapter 4 he proudly gives himself credit for his own greatness and that of Babylon. God sends him a terrifying dream in which a great tree (representing the king) is cut down and the king becomes beast-like until he recognizes God greatness and his dependence on Him. Nebuchadnezzar recounts his humbling and acknowledges that the "God of Heaven" rules above him and he is dependent on Him and is restored to the rule of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar then urges all people to acknowledge the supremacy of the "Most High God" over the gods of the nations.

King Nebuchadnezzar would for a time be despoiled not only of his empire but also of human understanding, so that he would differ in nothing from the beasts, since he was unworthy to hold even a lowly place among the common people. Although in his own eyes he had seemed to tower above the whole human race, he was so cast down that he was not even the last among mortals.”  Daniel 4, 209

“A man who thinks he is like a god must become a beast to learn that he is only a human being.” Daniel 4, 211–212

Jesus the Sage: The Pilgrimage of Wisdom, Ben Witherington III, #3

This week, I am continuing reading, for my New Testament devotions and study, Jesus the Sage: The Pilgrimage of Wisdom, by Ben Witherington III. In the second part of this book Witherington shows that the influence of Jewish wisdom literature played an important part in the language and content of the New Testament.  I am posting from my reading in New Testament theologies and devotionals on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I welcome comments and discussion on my Facebook page. I am using the Logos version of the book.

Chapter 5, Wisdom's Legacy: From Q to James, begins the second part of the book which shows how the wisdom tradition permeates the whole New Testament. This chapter shows the wisdom content in Q and in the Epistle of James. Q is the theoretical text that is a source of Matthew and Luke. It is a collection of sayings and narratives of Jesus that pre-dates the Gospels. It is compiled from the overlapping materials in Matthew and Luke. Witherington shows that Q is a wisdom collection which includes some traditional wisdom sayings of Jesus, some counter-wisdom sayings like Qoheleth, prophetic wisdom and a portrayal of Jesus as the embodiment of wisdom.

The pre-eminence of Jesus in the Q tradition is established in two primary ways: (1) as Robinson recognized, by the identification of Jesus with the Son of Man and in particular the future Son of Man who will yet come; and (2) by the identification of Jesus with Wisdom who has already come and been rejected. 227

Jesus was a sage, but not just any sort of sage. He is a sage of counter order (like Qoheleth), but also a prophetic sage, like Ben Sira or Pseudo-Solomon in some ways (e.g. in his use of eschatology). In his use of revelatory Wisdom and the Son of Man concept he is like the sage who composed the parables of Enoch. What the final redactor is most concerned to show, however, is that Jesus is one like Solomon, or even greater than Solomon, because in him Wisdom has taken on flesh. 233

The person who put together Q appears to have been a scribe, and one may say a sage in his own right, one steeped in Jewish Wisdom material but also most profoundly impacted by the Jesus who offered aphorisms, riddles, and parables of a counter order. This sage believed not only in Jesus’ teachings but in Jesus himself, hence the central focus on Jesus in Q. 234–235

James employs the Q sayings in a more traditional way like the Book of Proverbs, Ben Sira and The Wisdom of Solomon. Witherington sees James as being written before the Gospels as well and drawing on either Q, or the tradition that led to Q. James tends to use Jesus' sayings to show that they are in agreement with the tradition of early Jewish wisdom collections. "James is handling the Jesus tradition as though it were proverbial Wisdom (247) and not bringing in the "already-not yet" counter-order which was in the more eschatological stream in Jesus' teaching.

James mainly sees the Jesus tradition as a development of the earlier Jewish sapiential traditions, and uses Jesus’ sayings to reinforce some traditional Wisdom agendas. 241

In chapter 6, Singing Wisdom's Praise, Witherington is looking at the influence of Jewish wisdom literature in the way the Deity of Christ was expressed in hymns quoted in the NT. From Proverbs 8 on, wisdom literature described wisdom as present and active with God in eternity past and participating in creation. The NT authors used this language, also based on Jesus' fulfillment of OT expectations and his death and resurrection, to praise Jesus as God. The praise took on a "V pattern," in which the pre-existent Jesus humbled himself to become human, died, rose and then was exalted back to his previous place as the divine-human 2nd person of the Trinity.  

Christ not only stripped himself in this way but also shunned any rightful human accolades or dignity; he took on the very form of a servant or slave. He identified himself with the lowest of the low, and he died a slave’s death. This hymn places an especial stress on the fact that the pre-existent Christ had a choice about these matters and he chose to act in the way he did. Thus it is stressed that Christ was obedient even to the point of dying on the cross. He could have done otherwise. Philippians 2.6-11, 265

The term prototokos reflects the Old Testament idea found for instance in Ps. 89:27 where God promises to make the King his firstborn—the meaning is preeminent, supreme in rank, not necessarily created. In this usage there is also some sense of temporal priority. Thus the point is that he is prior to and supreme over all creation. Colossians 1.15-20, 269

It is not just a case of fulfilling earlier promises, but a case of going beyond any previous revelations. What follows tries to establish not only that Jesus fulfills previous hopes and promises, but also that he surpasses previous forms of revelation. Only the Son is the exact representation of the being of God. Hebrews 1.2b-4, 276

This logos or Word was present with God before the space-time continuum or universe was created. Not only so, this Word is said to be God. John 1, 286

Wisdom Christology, as it is expressed in these hymns, is a very high Christology indeed. When the sapiential hymn material was applied to the historical person Jesus, this led to the predicating of pre-existence, incarnation, and even divinity to this same historical person. 290

Quick Medical Update

I visited the urologist today and got some good news. He thinks the kidney is doing an adequate job of draining into the bladder and decided to take the nephrostomy bag off today. He is concerned about the narrowing of the ureter, but he thinks that since things are working okay anyway we'll be fine. We will be leaving the tubes in my kidney and I will still have the hole in my back for 3 weeks to make sure everything is ok before they pull everything out. If he needs to widen the ureter we can always do another surgical procedure later. So I would ask for your prayers that everything goes okay. It is really nice not to be tethered to a bag and a tube.

Cancer Routine and Brief Medical Update

A few people have asked me what I have been doing lately. Since mid-March, after the kidney failure crisis and diagnosis of my T-Cell Lymphoma in February to early March, I have somewhat settled into a routine of cancer treatment, recovery, rest and my new normal daily life. I do have a lot of time to think and I struggle a bit with my new realities and finding day to day purpose, but God has ministered to me in some very real ways and I am learning a lot about myself outside of what I do and ministry. Anyway, here is a basic daily schedule of my routine the last 3 months as Joyce and I struggle together for my cancer recovery and move forward day to day. Of course, this is sometimes interrupted by a medical procedure or ER trip but this is pretty much my Monday to Saturday schedule.

8.00 – Breakfast; usually cereal, banana, coffee and some kind of protein.I also take a handful of vitamins and medications

9.00 – 10.30 - Generally, this is when I go to the doctor. Every 3rd Monday I get a chemotherapy infusion which lasts until about noon, but in between I get almost daily shots to build up my immune system. There are few days when I don’t go to the doc and then I get some extra reading and study time.

10.30-1.00 – This is my devotional, Bible study, and posting time. I read and post from the New Testament on M-W-F and from the Old Testament on T-T-S on my blog and Facebook page.  This is usually the time when I have the most energy.

1.00- 2,00 – Lunch. I try to get a high protein lunch. I have to take Prednisone for 5 days after each chemo infusion. I also need to take in a lot of liquids to keep my kidney healthy. After lunch I try to move around a bit, walk etc. This is supposed to help my edema.

2.00-5.00 – Reading, study, nap time depending on how energetic I feel. I have been listening to some good theological, biblical and academic lectures on Youtube and some other sites. I have read some good books on theology of healing and some other good theological works. I have also knocked out a few novels – even some sci-fi. Sometimes I have just enough energy to close my eyes and nap or listen to music. I like to play a little Soduku and Scrabble

5.00-6.00 – Get up, move around and exercise. I need to not be lazy and and do this. Some days I just don’t feel like it, but the doc says I need to do this more.

6.00 – Dinner

6.30-9.00 – Hang out with Joyce, my parents etc. Lately my dad and I have been watching a lot of NBA playoffs and college World Series on television. It has been a nice time to re-connect with my mom and dad these past few months.

9.00 Generally I go to bed about 9. In March and April I pretty much was sleeping from 9pm to almost 8am. Since my body has been recovering a little lately I am sleeping a little less though about once a week I’ll sleep for about 10-11 hours in a night. One of the nurses told me the best way to beat cancer is to get a lot of sleep.

So that’s it. On Sundays my routine changes so that I watch church services and listen to sermons on Youtube all morning after breakfast. I have not been able to attend church since December because of my immune system and edema issues. I really do miss that kind of fellowship, but I have heard several good sermons from several sources. I have especially enjoyed Tim Keller.

My routine is about to change in the near future. The sixth and last chemotherapy session of this round will take place on June 20. After the 3 week recovery period, I get a 6-8 week “rest” so that my body can recover from the chemo. The next event on my schedule is probably a procedure to remove some blockage from my urinary system. I have a doctor appointment tomorrow to find out more about that (Monday the 5th). The big events of the “rest” period will be a bone marrow biopsy in July and another PET scan in August at Stanford to see where we stand in the battle with the T-cell lymphoma. My Fall schedule will be determined by what they find in those tests. I am glad to have good medical people looking after me and blessed to have people all over the world praying for me and caring for us. Thank you! We are in God’s hands, the best place to be.

Jesus the Sage: The Pilgrimage of Wisdom, Ben Witherington III, #2

This week, I am continuing reading, for my New Testament devotions and study, Jesus the Sage: The Pilgrimage of Wisdom, by Ben Witherington III. In the first part of this book Witherington looks at the influence of Jewish wisdom on the teachings of Jesus and how He develops and expands the wisdom tradition. We have already looked at the influence of Old Testament and intertestamental wisdom writings in Jesus’ teachings in the first post, and, in this post, will look at how that influence actually came out in Jesus’ teachings in the Synoptic Gospels .  I am posting from my reading in New Testament theologies and devotionals on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I welcome comments and discussion on my Facebook page. I am using the Logos version of the book.

In chapter 3, Hokmah Meets Sophia: Jesus the Cynic, Witherington begins his discussion of Jesus as a sage. But, before he looks at Jesus' relationship to the Jewish tradition of wisdom, he looks at the influence of Hellenistic philosophy, specifically the influence of Cynicism on Jesus. While Jesus must have been somewhat influenced by Hellenism, he finds the influence of cynicism to have been minimal if any. Most Cynic writings are too late to have influenced Jesus. He sees a much closer affinity between Jesus and the Old Testament wisdom, rabbinic writings and, especially Ben Sira.

Though it is plausible that Jesus intended to be in various respects a radical reformer of early Judaism, a Jesus totally at odds with the religious life of early Judaism can not be ferreted out of the Synoptics, unless one so truncates the tradition to a very few aphorisms or parables that one conveniently leaves out all the evidence of Jesus’ Jewishness. 125

This process of re-creating Jesus in one’s own image happens all too often when one works with an overly truncated corpus of Jesus’ sayings. 140

Even if Jesus was influenced by some Cynic ideas and attitudes and practices, the influence seems to have been slight in comparison to the profound impact that the Jewish Wisdom material had on both the style and substance of his teaching. 142

Chapter 4 is entitled Wisdom in Person:Jesus the Sage. In this chapter Witherington looks at Jesus' wisdom teaching through his use of aphorisms and parables. He begins with theory of language and concludes that meaning of a text comes primarily from the author and not the reader. This means the reader must consider the historical, cultural, literary and other contexts to do proper exegesis. Jesus must be understood as a Jewish prophetic sage of the common person, announcing the in-breaking of the kingdom of God. Jesus is using traditional means and styles of speaking and is building on an ancient tradition, but He is using them in a new way for a new time, to announce a new way of thinking and being in relationship with God. There is both continuity and discontinuity with the OT in Jesus' presentation of the kingdom of God.

In short, the meaning derived must be in continuity with, or pursuing the same path as the author’s meaning. There must always be a line of continuity between the original intended authorial meaning, to the extent it can be discerned, and whatever meaning one may derive from the text. 151

The vast majority of the Gospel sayings tradition can be explained on the hypothesis that Jesus presented himself as a Jewish prophetic sage, one who drew on all the riches of earlier Jewish sacred traditions, especially the prophetic, apocalyptic, and sapiential material though occasionally even the legal traditions. 158

Jesus uses proverbs in defense of his vision of the Reign of God. Jesus wants people to see that it is time for a new experience of God’s presence in human life. This new vision challenges old ways of thinking and acting...Jesus sees the coming of the Reign of God as an opportunity for radical change.  160

Jesus’ social position and orientation as a sage of the common people probably explains to a significant degree why he offered aphorisms of counter order. He identified with and believed that through his ministry God was doing something special to help the least, the last, and the lost as well as others. 165

In the next section Witherington discusses Jesus' "aphorisms of counter-order." These were proverbs that countered the "act-consequence" proverbs with a new way of being wise in the new age of God's in-breaking kingdom. One important aspect of biblical wisdom is being able to adapt to new situations brought about by new things God was doing. Jesus incorporated OT eschatology into wisdom sayings because he was fulfilling the prophecies and His disciples needed to adjust their thinking accordingly.

The meaning of these two verses is that human beings, not least because they were created before the sabbath and the sabbath was given for their rest and restoration, are more important than the observance of sabbath regulations. Giving them rest and restoration, which was the original purpose of the sabbath, takes precedence over the strict observance of Mosaic sabbath rules. Mark 2.27-28, 168

A human being “is caught up in self-defeating care to maintain himself in the world, but his great hope lies in the word that he is already valued by God.… One must give up the maintenance of a little self-order as the primary concern and give oneself over to the new divine order, in which the meaning of individual-in-community has everlasting significance.” Mark 8.35, 174

An essential element in following Jesus and being like him is learning his teaching...It was the job of the disciple to learn and conserve the teaching of the master. The disciple could not assume authority over his teacher or his teaching. Third, the disciple could only be equal to the teacher when s/he was fully instructed—then only was s/he complete. Matthew 10.24-25a, 179

Next, Witherington looks at Jesus' "narrative meshalim" or parables. He suggests that Jesus was using a common contemporary rabbinic means of teaching, but used it in a different way to get across His kingdom message of God breaking into the world in an unexpected way. This unexpected way often included the marginalized and unexpected people like Samaritans, women and the poor. Jesus was not only commenting on the old, like torah, but was bringing in new prophetic revelation from God.

(Jesus' parables) were illustrations of what was happening or would happen as a result of God’s dominion breaking into Israel’s midst in the person and ministry of Jesus the sage. In this regard, Jesus’ meshalim are not Torah-centric like other early Jewish parables but are more prophetic in character, telling the truth about some present or future situation. 187

This Samaritan went well beyond a simple act of kindness or compassion. Indeed he went beyond all bounds, not merely ethnic bounds, but even the suggested bounds in the Old Testament of what compassion would look like. Herein one finds a clue to what this parable is about. When the dominion of God breaks into human lives and situations, old prejudices pass away and a new and shocking pattern of behavior comes to pass. Luke 10.30-35, 195

The dominion of God has its own economy. All work in the vineyard is apparently equally valuable to the vineyard owner, regardless of the length of time one worker or another contributes to the overall task. The point may be that it requires a group effort, and just as a team’s members all equally share in a victory, regardless of how many minutes one or another player has played, so too every worker equally shares in the remuneration in the dominion of God. Mathew 20.1-15, 200

Finally, Witherington sees Jesus as presenting Himself as the embodiment of wisdom in his proverbs and parables. As were many of the OT prophets, He was the embodiment of His message.

The spokesman for God might not just convey a message but be the embodiment of that message in who he was, in what he did, in how he lived. Realizing this, it would not be an improbable progression in early Judaism for Jesus not to be merely an utterer of Wisdom speech, but also to represent himself as the embodiment of Wisdom, Wisdom in person. The relationship of Jesus the sage and Jesus as Wisdom lies in part in one being the personal embodiment of one’s message, but also in the fact that for Jesus, who told the parable, and what his authority was, was as important as the mashal he told. Jesus did not merely announce the inbreaking of God’s dominion on earth, he believed that he brought it, and thus in some sense even embodied it. 203–204

Visit from Howard and Brief Medical Update

We have enjoyed having visitors come by several times in the last couple months. We were blessed to have Howard Merrell come by and visit with us on Monday and Tuesday. Howard had been Board Chair at PIU for several years and is now officially the interim president of the school and is on his way back to Guam for the summer semester. It was encouraging to hear Howard’s report on how the students are doing and to have him pray with us. I have to confess that it was also painful to hear it because this was such a big part of our lives for so long and we love and miss our PIU family. We would love to be back there, and we know that God knows and has a good plan, but for us future plans are day to day, Still, it was good to discuss the school, talk about plans and pray together for this ministry. On Tuesday, Howard accompanied us to my chemotherapy treatment and we had some more time to talk. Please be in prayer for Howard and for Pacific Islands University. The school is in great need of qualified godly personnel and funding.

My brief medical update: I had my fifth round of chemotherapy on Tuesday morning – I’ll be toxic until Friday afternoon. This time I have experienced a little nausea along with the usual hot flashes and prednisone induced sleepless nights, racing mind and heightened emotions. Edema is increasing again too. I would certainly appreciate your prayers for dealing with the side effects of the chemo. I will see the urologist on June 5th. I hear that we are looking at another surgical procedure but will find out more about that then. I’d be willing to go through it if I can get the bag off and have normal kidney function again. Joyce and I really do appreciate all your prayers and support through this. As I said above, we are day to day and don’t know what is in the future for us. The good thing is that God is walking with us through it all. Thank you for being part of that.

Reading Through the Book of Esther

This past week I have been reading through the book of Esther accompanied by, Esther & Daniel, The College Press NIV Commentary, by Mark Mangano. Esther is a powerful story about how God can work behind the scenes to save His people and accomplish His plan for them, when they have no control, or don’t even know what is really going on. I have been posting quotes from the book on my Facebook page on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday (NT is Mon-Wed-Fri) and we can discuss comments and questions about the passage there. As usual my comments are in black and quotes from the commentary are in blue below…

Esther is a story about how God works behind the scenes (He is not mentioned once in the story) to save His vulnerable people in Jerusalem from extermination by the powerful Persian empire. The amazing thing is that He works mainly through two unfaithful Jews, Esther and Mordecai (they ignored the prophetic call to return to Jerusalem, they have Babylonian names and have adopted the culture of their captors, they never pray or quote Torah) and the Jerusalemites don't even know they have been saved until the story ends. Esther is a powerful story of reversal. Esther and Mordecai must choose to do the right thing after years of not doing so and then their impossible situation is reversed: they are honored and Jerusalem is saved.

In the Old Testament God sometimes expressed his displeasure with his people by withdrawal (Ezek 11:23) and silence (Amos 8:11), in short, hiddenness. The absence of God’s name from the Book of Esther implies then his displeasure with the sinfulness of his people... Clearly, then, the actions of Mordecai and Esther reveal them to be less than exemplary. They both failed in consistently living according to the standard of God’s holiness. In spite of God’s displeasure, the Book of Esther still implicitly teaches God’s providential care of his people. Esther, 24–25

“The narrator understandably refrains from any reference to the deity in order to accentuate the role of human responsibility in shaping history, and to indicate the hiddenness of God’s control of history.” “God’s action is indeed involved, but it seems clear that the Book of Esther sees the manner of God’s action … as strategic help periodically supplied to those who with full awareness struggle for his cause and theirs.” Esther 27

The first two chapters of the book set the stage by describing the ascent of Mordecai and Esther to positions from which they will be able to play a part in the saving of God's people. Queen Vashti is demoted because she refuses to dance before the king's guests at his banquet. The story of the king's response, the edict, is designed to show the ineptness and foolishness of the king and his advisors. Esther is then taken to the king and, unlike Daniel, cooperates fully with the harem protocol and gains his favor and becomes queen. Mordecai saves the king from an assassination plot. They both are now in place, despite their bad decisions, to save the Jews.

Michael Fox has suggested that humor teaches us a valuable lesson. In his words, “Humor, especially the humor of ridicule, is a device for defusing fear. The author teaches us to make fun of the very forces that once threatened—and will threaten again—our existence, and thereby makes us recognize their triviality as well as their power...The book of Esther begins a tradition of Jewish humor.” Esther 1, 48–49

If the names of Mordecai and Esther allude to their assimilation into Babylonian culture, “the outcome of the story suggests to the Babylonian pagans that Marduk and Ishtar are subservient to the purposes of the unnamed God of the Jews. The victory of the Jews in this story would then function as a polemic against the pagan deities.” Esther 2.1-7, 54

The author never exonerates Esther’s actions by inferring that her marriage, perhaps the lesser of two evils, led to the greater good for God’s people. The author does not commend to us the actions of Esther as a case of “the end justifies the means.” Esther 2, 60

Mordecai provokes the ensuing persecution by, again unlike Daniel, refusing to bow before Haman. Haman is the prototype (the Agagite) of anti-Semitism and everything God hates (Proverbs 6.16-19), and in his anger at Mordecai decides to destroy the entire Jewish people. He gives an enormous bribe to the king to sign off on his plan and sets the date by lot; 11 months later. Mordecai goes into mourning when he hears of the plot and gets word to Esther, asking her to use her influence to help. Esther is reluctant, probably because she is out of favor with the king. The turning point of the story comes when Esther decides to identify with her people and risk her life to save them. When Esther goes before the king he receives her graciously. The text gives several clues that this is because God has given her favor before the king. She invites the king and Haman to a banquet. When they come, she prolongs the suspense by saying she will reveal her request at another banquet the following night. Haman returns home and builds a large pole to impale and humiliate Mordecai. The danger is at its highest but the stage is set for a great reversal.

Haman’s logic is a classic example of the stereotype. If Jewishness is the basis for Mordecai’s opposition to the royal command, then all Jews are potential lawbreakers. Genocide would solve Haman’s “Jewish problem.” Esther 3, 66

Esther’s defining moment comes when she is faced with taking responsibility for the life God has given her by identifying herself with the people of God. Jobes writes, “After her decision to identify herself with God’s people, Esther becomes the active agent, commanding Mordecai, planning a strategy to save her people, and even confronting Haman to his face. Her decision energizes her, gives her purpose, and emboldens her to face a threatening and uncertain future.” Esther 4, 77

Esther’s initial response includes the words יָבוֹא הַמֶּלֶךְ וְהָמָן הַיּוֹם (yābô˒ hammelek wəhāmān hayyôm), “let the king and Haman come today.” The first letters of these four words, YHWH, spell God’s personal name, the LORD. The divine name may be explicitly absent from the narrative, but he is not. Esther 5.4, 82

In chapter 6 the great reversal begins. A sleepless night for the king leads to the overturning of positions for Haman and Mordecai. Haman must give to Mordecai what he wanted for himself. At the banquet Esther reveals her request to the king leading to the demise of Haman on the very gallows he had intended for Mordecai. Esther is the hero as she acts boldly, but God created the scenario, behind the scenes, that made it all possible.

In the book of Esther God works without miracles through seemingly insignificant events and through the decisions of flawed people. “God delivered an entire race of people in Persia because the king had a sleepless night, because a man would not bow to his superior, because a woman found herself taken to the bedroom of a ruthless man for a night of pleasure. How inscrutable are the ways of the Lord!” Esther 6, 92–93

God’s plan cannot be thwarted. Haman was delighted with the suggestion to hang Mordecai on a tree (gallows). Satan was elated that the Son of God was crucified on a tree (cross). Would evil overpower good? Would God lose to the Evil One? Would the plan and promise of salvation be aborted? No! In time Haman was hanged on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. On the third day after the crucifixion, Jesus was raised to life, overcoming the power of both death (1 Cor. 15:54–57) and Satan (Gen 3:15). God’s plan cannot be thwarted! Esther 7, 101

In chapters 8 and 9 Esther and Mordecai must deal with Haman's irrevocable decree. They wisely come up with a plan that gives the Jews the right to defend themselves and enrich the king at the same time. This leads many other groups to come to the Jews' defense and they win a resounding victory. Haman's sons and supporters are killed and Mordecai and Esther assume the positions of power in the nation to the benefit of their people.

Mordecai’s decree permitted the Jews the right to defend themselves against attackers. Chapter 9 reveals that God did defend his people from the attackers. And if the attackers do lose their lives, as chapter 9 will make clear, their deaths are evidence of God’s judgment upon sin and evil. Even in the action that follows the scene of highest narrative tension (ch. 7), God is ever present! Esther 8, 111

“No other woman among God’s people wrote with authority to confirm and establish a religious practice that still stands today. The importance of most biblical women, such as Sarah and Hannah, lies in their motherhood. Esther’s importance to the covenant people is not as a mother, but as a queen.” Esther 9, 123

Esther shows that God has not forgotten His people in exile. Even when they are not aware of what is going on, God can easily maneuver the great powers of this world to accomplish His kingdom plan for His people. Despite present circumstances, God's promises will be kept, He will win the battle and His kingdom will come.

The book of Esther sets aside the fear expressed in Lamentations 5:21–22. Even though Israel’s sin led to the forfeiture of the promised land, and even though Israel had been driven into exile, the LORD still protects and sustains his people. In short, he is still interested in their well-being. Esther 10, 126