Does the fact that she successfully hid her Jewish identity--diet, dress, and worship--suggest that, like many modern teenagers, she temporarily abandoned the faith? Why did Mordecai refuse to extend to Haman even a legitimate gesture of respect? Did it have anything to do with a blood feud between them that spanned many generations? How do extrabiblical sources portray King Artaxerxes? Why is God never mentioned in the book of Esther? Does this have any significance to us who live today in a seductive and lavish society that celebrates His silence? And what does this story tell us about the last days?
Aroused from her enchantment with the "good life" to a sudden realisation of her spiritual identity, Esther became a hero of faith. Her story speaks to all who feel powerless and abandoned in the face of daunting circumstances. It speaks to those who are absorbed with materialism, enamoured with the self-indulgent world of the seen. It speaks of hidden faith emboldened. Compromised faith reborn. In this book Larry Lichtenwalter reminds us that even when heaven seems silent and the world so shrill, behind the dim unknown, God is standing in the shadows, keeping watch above His own.