By Peter Bloomfield
Evangelical Press. 190 pages. £7.00
ISBN 0 85234 509 7
This is the fourth book in the new series of publications by Evangelical Press called The Guide, a series covering individual books of the Bible as well as topics such as Christian comfort. What is groundbreaking is the linking of each book with its own website so that readers may ask questions which will be duly answered.
Peter Bloomfield, an Australian pastor, has written an extremely readable commentary, in an easy and sometimes conversational style. It is an excellent book for the church bookstall since many who may be put off by more conventional verse-by-verse commentaries will find themselves comfortable with it and greatly helped by it. The text is well broken up so that it is easy on the eye, and much thought has gone into presentation. There is a very contemporary feel about the whole book. Church fellowships with Home Bible Study groups will find the questions for discussion at the end of each chapter a helpful asset.
The book demonstrates how common criticisms of the book of Esther are artificial and prejudiced and how it is classic salvation history, to be understood within the covenantal setting of the Bible. Particularly helpful are comments on God's providence and guidance, the Bible's telescoping of generations, the background to the hostility of the Agagites to Israel and the demonstration of how each part of Scripture has to be interpreted in harmony with the whole. Two rather long appendices are provided on Fasting and Perspectives on Purim - long in terms of the overall length of the book. This guide is highly recommended (especially for the church member who wants to get to grips with Esther), and for use by Bible study groups.
