Boy, do I love getting together with you for these Bible studies because, you know, the word of God is alive and it will speak.

Matter of fact, let's pray right now.

Let's pray that the words that are in the book of Esther are going to leap out to us today, speak to us, Lord, let our spirits come alive,

to hear what the spirit is saying, open our eyes to see wondrous things in thy law

and teach us today what you want us to hear that we might live life in the spirit

and walk in a manner that is pleasing unto you in Jesus' name. Amen.

The book of Esther is, in my opinion, one of the most interesting books of the Bible, unique in that,

you know, it was one of the only books

where as the canon of Scripture was being debated,

what books are inspired, what books aren't inspired.

I got friends of mine that are into the book of Enoch.

Lance Enoch, because Jude and Peter both quote Enoch.

You won't find their quotes in the Old Testament.

They're quoting a book.

But that book was like it was a contemporary book of writings, but it didn't pass the whiff test of being inspired scripture. Remember, somebody had to sit down. This is the word of God.

But at the end of the day,

some people had to figure out which books to put together into the thing we call the word of God.

Esther was debated. Why? Well, Esther was debated because God's name isn't mentioned. Every other book in the Bible, God is all over the place. In the book of Esther, some

had problems with the fact that, well, we can't argue with the story and the historicity,

but where is God? That's what's cool about it. It's the book of the hidden hand of God.

You could say it's the book of God's providence.

So you could say it's the book where instead of having the shepherd, David, who is one of God's sheep slaying the big giant, this is the book of Ninja Sheep. Esther is hidden in Persia, her identity is hidden,

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