Unique for many reasons, the book of Esther is a story of God's providential hand even in the shadows of life.To get a sense of the power of the story of Esther, we look at the end - but not just the end of the story. As the characters are developed in the story we meet Mordecai and Esther, two Jews living in the citadel of Susa in the Persian Empire. But, they don't look or act like Jews. Instead, they look a lot like the Empire rather than the Kingdom.