Esther by Kelly Minter
Bible Study. 192 Pages. 4 Stars
Synopsis:
A beautiful queen, her courageous cousin, a foreign land, and a murderous adversary—the book of Esther has all the elements of an epic drama. The story unfolds at a time when the people of God are split between nations with an uncertain future. While the name of God may not be mentioned in the book of Esther, its pages highlight His work among His people and foreshadow Jesus’s very ministry to us—darkness to light, mourning to celebration, death to life.
In this 7-session study, Kelly Minter invites you into the daring faith modeled by Esther and her cousin Mordecai—a faith developed over time, rooted in the goodness of God, lived out through extraordinary circumstances, and used to change the world. Although our time looks different from Esther’s, our God is just as active and faithful today, and He has called you for such a time as this.
My Review:
Esther is packed full of great lessons to study and learn from.
I struggled with this study a little, but there were some great nuggets in there. Minter is a good teacher, but I didn’t love the structure of this study and the kinds of questions she asked in the homework. They often felt repetitive and not particularly enlightening. We’d read a text and then she’d ask a question and then the answer would be in the next paragraph of the study. And I didn’t always feel like the questions challenged me to dig deep, though as the study progressed, I think we got a little deeper.
I did really enjoy the recipes at the end of each week. It was a creative addition to the study and the one I made was really good! There were also some pages scattered throughout the text with cultural or historical information that added context to the story of Esther.
The group discussion for the study was fruitful and I’m glad I did the study. Even if it wasn’t my favorite one, it had some great bits in it and others may enjoy it more than I did.
On GraceBought
If you enjoyed this, you may want to check out these other Bible studies!
Nehemiah by Kelly Minter, Jude by Jackie Hill Perry, Better (Hebrews) and Revelation by Jen Wilkin