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My Favorite Book of Scripture

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  • My Favorite Book of Scripture

    Which book do I look forward to the most?

    The link can be found here.

    -----

    What book of Scripture do I enjoy reading the most? Let's plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

    I figured I'd write something on my favorite book of the Bible since I don't think I have done that before. Now some of you are already trying to guess, which is fine. I would do the same thing. Is it one of the Gospels? Maybe it's the adventure of Acts. Maybe it's one of the epistles. Perhaps you like the idea of end-times in Revelation?

    No to all of those.

    Well, maybe you like one of the prophets most like Isaiah. Maybe you like the Exodus account or maybe you like Song of Songs so much or Proverbs. Again, these are all good guesses, but they are still wrong. The one I like most is one most of us don't think about, but we should.

    As a child going through Scripture for the first time from Genesis to Revelation, I came across the book of Esther not knowing anything about it. As I started reading through it, I could not stop. It was like reading an adventure novel and I had to know how the story turned out. I read it all in one sitting.

    Today when I get to that book, it is still a great moment of joy for me. This book is full of excitement and I have been going through it at night though using my main method of two verses at a time so I can think even better about it. I have not been disappointed so far.

    Something fascinating about the book also is that God is absent in the book. Well, He's absent in name. Now I know some people say if you go back to the original languages and look a certain way, God is smuggled in. They could be right, but the name of God does not really appear written in a normal way. God is supposedly absent, but He's also ever-present.

    When you go through the book, you see so many little coincidences that take place. What if Vashti had not refused the king's command? Would Haman have succeeded in his plot? What if Mordecai had not reported to Esther about the officials wanting to assassinate the king? What if the king had not had insomnia and asked the royal records to be read to him?

    There is also great irony in that everything is reversed. The villain of the story gets what he has coming to him. The Jews who are the victims at the start turn out to be the victors. Mordecai who refuses to honor Haman is himself given great honor recognizable by all.

    Also interesting to me is that Esther is described as a very beautiful woman, which I don't doubt was essential to her winning the heart of the king. One of the highest compliments the Bible usually gives to a woman is to describe her as beautiful. Beautiful women play a part in influencing the society around them as today for good or for evil.

    God's absence is something I think important to this story. It's how we will look at our own lives one day. Events that seem random and unrelated at the time will one day turn out to be greatly related. We often don't know what God is doing going into a situation. It's coming out that we know what's going on.

    I hope I have encouraged you if you haven't read this book of Scripture to read it. I think Christians should read all of Scripture. There are parts that we will honestly like more than others. For me, Esther is my favorite one to go through. I wind up wondering about events going on in my own life and how those can be working together for a greater good I cannot fathom.

    In Christ,
    Nick Peters

  • #2
    I love reading Ecclesiastes. It always helps me through periods of depression.
    Enter the Church and wash away your sins. For here there is a hospital and not a court of law. Do not be ashamed to enter the Church; be ashamed when you sin, but not when you repent. – St. John Chrysostom

    Veritas vos Liberabit<>< Learn Greek <>< Look here for an Orthodox Church in America<><Ancient Faith Radio
    sigpic
    I recommend you do not try too hard and ...research as little as possible. Such weighty things give me a headache. - Shunyadragon, Baha'i apologist

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    • #3
      Revelation. Best Book of Bible Evah !

      Comment


      • #4
        Hebrews is pretty intense.
        sigpic

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        • #5
          Hebrews is my choice as well, TW.

          ETA: I was just looking at Esther this morning however.
          Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

          Comment


          • #6
            I think Esther is a horrible book - though the Additions to the Hebrew make it more interesting. It’s terribly sordid, and not one of the main characters is sympathetic. The only characters who are remotely sympathetic, are the admirable Vashti, & Haman’s wife. Though I always feel sorry for the sons of Haman, and for the unfortunates massacred by the Jews. And for Haman.

            But Mordecai is detestable, and his niece is not much better. If I want to read about sordid court intrigues, there is enough of those in 2 Samuel 11-1 Kings 1. David at least has a conscience, but Ahasuerus is little more than a brutish voluptuary, swayed not by morals but by whoever is last to catch his attention. The second part of 2 Samuel is an ugly and depressing narrative of vices and crimes, but it is redeemed by having God take an active part in it - there is no attempt to paint lust, murder, and revenge as pious actions. And people like Barzillai relieve the gloom. In Esther, OTOH, that is not the case. The book lacks purity of heart, compassion, humility, meekness, mercy, and so many other virtues; its main characters display the opposing vices, which is disgraceful.

            “All/Every Scripture is God-breathed”, to be sure, but that does not cancel the moral ugliness of parts of it. Presumably even a repulsive book like Esther has some kind of positive theological function; as a warning, maybe. It may be significant that Esther seems to be the one book of the Hebrew Bible that is not cited, named, referred to or quoted in the NT.

            This assessment of the book is worth a read: http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/189421/immoral-esther
            If this post has no place in this thread, please, by all means get rid of it. Thanks
            Last edited by Rushing Jaws; 06-02-2018, 07:20 PM.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Rushing Jaws View Post
              I think Esther is a horrible book - though the Additions to the Hebrew make it more interesting. It’s terribly sordid, and not one of the main characters is sympathetic. The only characters who are remotely sympathetic, are the admirable Vashti, & Haman’s wife. Though I always feel sorry for the sons of Haman, and for the unfortunates massacred by the Jews. And for Haman.

              But Mordecai is detestable, and his niece is not much better. If I want to read about sordid court intrigues, there is enough of those in 2 Samuel 11-1 Kings 1. David at least has a conscience, but Ahasuerus is little more than a brutish voluptuary, swayed not by morals but by whoever is last to catch his attention. The second part of 2 Samuel is an ugly and depressing narrative of vices and crimes, but it is redeemed by having God take an active part in it - there is no attempt to paint lust, murder, and revenge as pious actions. And people like Barzillai relieve the gloom. In Esther, OTOH, that is not the case. The book lacks purity of heart, compassion, humility, meekness, mercy, and so many other virtues; its main characters display the opposing vices, which is disgraceful.

              “All/Every Scripture is God-breathed”, to be sure, but that does not cancel the moral ugliness of parts of it. Presumably even a repulsive book like Esther has some kind of positive theological function; as a warning, maybe. It may be significant that Esther seems to be the one book of the Hebrew Bible that is not cited, named, referred to or quoted in the NT.

              This assessment of the book is worth a read: http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/189421/immoral-esther
              If this post has no place in this thread, please, by all means get rid of it. Thanks
              I think you're weird, and entirely off base here. You feel sorry for Haman?
              Enter the Church and wash away your sins. For here there is a hospital and not a court of law. Do not be ashamed to enter the Church; be ashamed when you sin, but not when you repent. – St. John Chrysostom

              Veritas vos Liberabit<>< Learn Greek <>< Look here for an Orthodox Church in America<><Ancient Faith Radio
              sigpic
              I recommend you do not try too hard and ...research as little as possible. Such weighty things give me a headache. - Shunyadragon, Baha'i apologist

              Comment


              • #8
                If you don't like violence and vengeance in your Bible, you might as well stick to the New Testament and leave off Revelation.
                "I am not angered that the Moral Majority boys campaign against abortion. I am angry when the same men who say, "Save OUR children" bellow "Build more and bigger bombers." That's right! Blast the children in other nations into eternity, or limbless misery as they lay crippled from "OUR" bombers! This does not jell." - Leonard Ravenhill

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                • #9
                  Haman was a wannabe Hitler. And the Jews were practicing SELF DEFENSE AGAINST THE GUYS TRYING TO MURDER THEM!
                  If it weren't for the Resurrection of Jesus, we'd all be in DEEP TROUBLE!

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Christianbookworm View Post
                    Haman was a wannabe Hitler. And the Jews were practicing SELF DEFENSE AGAINST THE GUYS TRYING TO MURDER THEM!
                    Yep.
                    sigpic

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