When we lived in England and our sons we young we would “read” the Where’s Wally (or in the US, Where’s Waldo?) books.
A tiny image of Wally in his read and white striped shirt would be hidden some where in a detailed picture with literally hundreds of other people many of whom would be wearing red and/or white objects, that at first glance might appear to be Wally.
While you might think this game would be boring, many of the individuals were doing wild, crazy, and humorous things which inevitably would keep us entertained, until at last someone would yell, “There he is.” The lost Wally was finally found.
I’m teaching a course now at BTS on the books of Daniel and Esther (Why those two books? Good question, perhaps to be discussed in another blog.). But we’ve finally gotten to the point in the class when we’ll be looking at the book of Esther. I’m really looking forward to our discussions, but this will be the first time I’ve taught the book in depth.
I’m a bit concerned it might feel a bit like Where’s Waldo?
The problem with Esther, as many Bible readers already know, is that God is never mentioned in the book. Neither of the most common terms for God appear (elohim, YHWH) any where in the book. Unlike the book of Daniel, the book of Esther never records anyone praying, receiving a vision or a dream, or meeting with an angelic being.
When Christians talk about the book of Esther, it can feel a bit like we’re playing Where’s Waldo? We search diligently as we read each verse, running our finger over the text looking for God until we reach a point and yell out, “There he is!”
I’m trying to avoid a “Where’s Waldo?” approach to finding God in the pages of Esther, but perhaps that’s inevitable. The divinely inspired biblical authors felt the need to record Esther’s amazing story, and then include in the canon of Scripture, so I’m sure they had a good reason to do so.
What do you think? Where do you find God in the book of Esther?
(As much as I’d like to think that I came up with the Where’s Waldo analogy, I may have copied it from some where. I just can’t recall. If you know where let me know. If you think I’m inconsistent, I call him Wally in the UK and Waldo in the US.)
