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In this talk, we\u2019ll look at how Esther recognises the call of God on her life in a crisis moment in Israel\u2019s history. \n\nWe\u2019ll briefly remind people of the story so far:\n\nGod created us to thrive in a healthy and whole relationship with Him, with each other, with ourselves and with creation. We rejected God and choose our own way and as a result, all those four relationships are broken - and we cannot fix it.\n\nGod began His rescue plan through characters like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, and last time we looked at Samuel who led the transition of Israel from the period of Judges to the period of Kings. \n\nSadly, despite repeated warnings over 100s of years from God\u2019s prophets, most of the Kings of Israel rejected God and so became more and more vulnerable to attacks from enemies.\n\nIn the end, the Northern Kingdom of Israel was attacked and destroyed by the Assyrian empire.\n\nSome years later the Southern Kingdom was attacked by the Babylonian empire. Jerusalem was destroyed, and most of the people in the Southern Kingdom were exiled to Babylon where they remained for at least 70 years.\n\nDuring this time, Babylon was invaded, and defeated, by the Persians which is where we pick up the story today.\n\nGod is never directly mentioned in the book of Esther BUT his fingerprints are all over the story. Esther finds herself in exile and part of the Persian Kings harem as his favourite queen. When her people, the Jews, are threatened with extinction she is faced with a choice. Will she do that right thing and turn to God, and take action to try to prevent this genocide at risk to her life?\n\nKey Scriptures: Esther 4:1-17