Can one be directed by God when one doesn't know that one is being directed?

The answer, of course, is yes.

We learn about how God directed Esther in ways that may not have been recognizable to ancient Israelites,

and in ways that still surprise us today.

We'll discuss that and more in today's episode of Abide, a Maxwell Institute podcast.

My name is Joseph Stewart. I'm the public communication

specialist at the Neely Maxwell Institute for religious scholarship at Brigham Young University.

Christian Hill is a research fellow at the Institute. In each week, we discuss the week's

block of reading from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, come follow me curriculum.

We aren't here to present a lesson, or rather to hit on a few key themes from the scripture block,

those to help fulfill the Maxwell Institute's mission to inspire and fortify Latter-day Saints in their

testimonies of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and engage the world of religious ideas.

Today we are once again joined by Dory Cameron, one of our research assistants.

Dory is a junior at BYU from Great Falls, Montana, studying art and creative writing.

She has a strong interest in literature, culture, media, and language.

Welcome back, Dory.

Glad to be back.

I promised my mom I wouldn't say anything too inflammatory this time.

Well, we can't make the same promise.

Sorry, Sister Cameron, but we will persevere.

Christian, what is going on in the Book of Esther?

So like Ezra Nehemiah, the rest of the we looked at last week, the Book of Esther pushes the genre boundaries of scripture.

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