Will the Real Queen Please Stand Up?

Several weeks ago, I asked you the question, “Can you read Esther as a standalone book?”  Remember that I told you that you cannot read the Scroll of Esther as a standalone book.  I said that this book answers earlier concepts.  You have to see this book in a bigger context.   Everything has reverberations, echoes, and implications.  Over the last five weeks, we have read Esther out of sequence in a topsy-turvy manner.  We learned that Esther's and Mordechai's identities were not their own.  They were the product of their ancestral DNA.  They had to learn how to process, survive, and overcome trauma as a result of Haman's plot to wipe out Jewry throughout 127 provinces of the Persian empire.  They fought the most wicked force on earth, Amalek.  Esther and Mordecai were instrumental in the destruction of the wicked devices of Haman, a descendant of Amalek.  The evil tactics of Amalek become even clearer when we cross-read the Scroll of Esther intertextually with the Holocaust.  Hitler was a 20th century Amalek.  Both Haman and Hitler attempted to exterminate Jewry.  Although, we may never come to understand the evils of the Holocaust, God brought meaning to the pain by bringing the Jews into a new national identity.  The Scroll of Esther is filled with outlandish plot twists, topsy-turvy character dynamics, and the exaggerated practices of Persian customs.  We have extensively used intertextuality to study the Scroll of Esther.  Specifically, we have used texts from Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy,  1 Samuel, and 2 Samuel to explain the events in Esther because I told you that Esther cannot be read as a standalone book. Now, guess what?  We are going to break all the rules that I taught you over the last several weeks and we are going to read the Scroll of Esther as a standalone book.  You will see the emergence of the real Queen as you read the Scroll of Esther as a standalone book.  You too will emerge with a new sense of identity and purpose as you study this dynamic book. You are invited to join us for “Will the Real Queen Please Stand Up?”  Kind Regards, Sanjay Prajapati