Defeated in his benevolent intentions by the unambitious spirit of the Shunammite, Elisha consulted his confidential servant Gehazi, through whom the former communication had been made, respecting what could be done for her benefit. Sincere as her refusal had been, he found it impossible to satisfy himself without some further attempt to express his gratitude; and upon the suggestion of Gehazi that she had no child, the prophet directed that she should be again called into his presence. "And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shall embrace a son."
It is not improbable, that although Elisha addicted himself to great retirement, Gehazi might be in the habit of familiar intercourse with this pious family, by which means perhaps he found that they were anxious upon this point; at least, if that spirit of perfect contentment which breathed in the language on which we have already offered some observations, influenced them on this as well as on other occasions, they no doubt had intimated, in a moment of unreserved intercourse, that a child would prove a most acceptable gift of Providence.
The brevity of the sacred history precludes that detail of circumstances attending any particular transaction which it sometimes seems necessary to suppose.
In the present case, it is not to be presumed that Elisha would have ventured,immediately, upon the mere suggestion of Gehazi, to give so important a promise to the Shunammite as that which is here recorded, without first consulting the will of Heaven, or receiving some divine intimation of an event which no human being could foresee, much less make the subject of a solemn prediction.
Upon his announcing so unexpected a mercy, she manifested that sort of incredulity which extreme astonishment blended with joy is calculated at the first moment to produce; and the well-known effect of which accounts for what, under other circumstances, would appear like disrespectful language: "Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid." She was too much acquainted with Elisha's character to intend to charge him with deliberate falsehood; but her feelings were suddenly overpowered, and consequently, she was at no leisure to weigh her words. The prophet's prediction was completely verified; and she had a son, "at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life,"--"Lo! children are a heritage of the Lord; and the fruit of the womb is his reward."
In reviewing the scriptural account of remote ages, we cannot fail to be struck with several instances of the extreme anxiety of good women for the possession of children; an anxiety which requires some other reason than the general causes to be assigned for domestic and social congratulations common upon such occasions. Sarah, for example, the wife of Abraham, was induced by this desire to practise a piece of wretched and criminal policy, in giving Hagar, her Egyptian handmaid, to her husband. Rachel, the beloved wife of Jacob, was so impatient of her own barrenness, and so envious of her sister, that she exclaimed, "Give me children, or else I die." The fact was, that they were influenced by the promises of God to Abraham, whose posterity were to inherit the most invaluable blessings, and from whom the Messiah himself was to descend in the fulness of time. As in him "all the families of the earth were to be blessed," who can be surprised that the most distant probability or possibility of introducing him, who was to be "born of a woman," into the world, should excite an ardent wish in every pious woman to become a mother? And here it must be admitted, that whatever reproach the first transgressor might have cast upon the female sex by her misconduct, it is forever wiped away by the enviable distinction of becoming instrumental to a Saviour's birth.
The time hastened in which the Shunammite was to be subjected to a species of trial different from that with which she had been hitherto exercised. The congratulations of her connections on the birth of her child were scarcely expressed, and her earthly happiness consummated, when she was destined to suffer acutely by the death of her little favourite.
Those who have never felt a similar deprivation are necessarily disqualified from forming any adequate idea of the bitterness of parental grief, when the objects of their fondest solicitude are suddenly snatched from the grasp of their affections. It is difficult to say in what period of youthful history this stroke is severest, or when it is most tolerable; because every point of age has its peculiar attractions, and parental love will always imagine that to be the most afflicting in which the event occurs. Happy those who can adopt the language of one of the sweetest epitaphs that ever adorned a monument!--
"Liv'd--to wake each tender passion,And delightful hopes inspire;Died--to try our resignation,And direct our wishes higher:--
"Rest, sweet babe, in gentle slumbers,Till the resurrection morn;Then arise to join the numbers,That its triumphs shall adorn.
"Though, thy presence so endearing,We thy absence now deplore;At the Saviour's bright appearing,We shall meet to part no more.
"Thus to thee, O Lord, submitting,We the tender pledge resign;And, thy mercies ne'er forgetting,Own that all we have is thine." [45]
It is not unusual for the providence of God to deprive us of those objects we had too exclusively and too fondly calledour own, and the long enjoyment of which we had confidently anticipated. This is no capricious proceeding: it is marked by wisdom and goodness, since our real happiness depends on the regulation of those passions which, but for such dispensations, would rove with unhallowed eccentricity from the chief good. It is necessary that we should be trained in the school of adversity; and that by a course of corrective discipline, nicely adapted to each particular case, our characters should be gradually matured for a nobler existence.
The manner in which the calamity to which we have referred overtook the Shunammite, is thus detailed by the faithful pen of inspiration. "And when the child was grown, it fell on a day that he went out to his father to the reapers. And he said unto his father, My head, my head! And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother. And when he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died."
From this brief statement it is evident that this child was smitten by the sun, in consequence of exposing himself in the harvest field to the intensity of the season. In northern climates it is difficult to realize the danger; but in the torrid zone great precaution is necessary to avoid such calamities. Observing the effects of the sun's rays, Apollo is represented, in heathen mythology, as holding a bow, and shooting his arrows upon the earth.
"Pay sacred reverence to Apollo's song,Lest watchful the far-shooting god emitHis fatal arrows."
PRIOR'S Callimachus.
The heat in some parts of Judea has often proved fatal, even at a very early period of the year. In a battle fought by king Baldwin IV. near Tiberias in Galilee, as many are said to have died in both armies by the heat as by the sword; and an ecclesiastic of eminence, although carried in a litter, expired under mount Tabor, near the river Kishon, in consequence of the excessive heat. Shunem was in the neighbourhood of Tabor. [46]
As soon as the Shunammite found that her son was dead, she took him to the prophet's chamber, and laying him on his bed, shut the door and departed. The only reason of this proceeding probably was, its being the most retired part of the house, and therefore the best suited to such a melancholy occasion. But who can express the yearnings of her maternal tenderness, when she left behind her this precious, but now insensible clay! That tongue which had so often pleased her by its innocent prattle, so often uttered
----"the fond nameThat wakes affection to a flame,"
was now silent in death; and those artless and attractive smiles, which to a mother's heart were more lovely than the looks of the morning, were subsided into the fixed and motionless aspect of one whose spirit has ceased to animate the body.
An impatient temper might have invented many reasons for discontent, on this affecting occasion. It might have reproached the father for permitting the child to accompany him, at this sultry season, into the harvest field--the child for an infantine eagerness to go--or herself for indiscreetly allowing of so dangerous a gratification. A comparison of the happier lot of other families might have been drawn, whose children went out on the same day, and returned unsmitten by the infectious atmosphere, or the burning sun; and by aggravating the painful peculiarity of her own affliction, she might thus have driven the barbed arrow still deeper in her bosom, and censured, at least by implication, the Supreme Disposer. But we have to admire a conduct which bespeaks the fullest conviction that it was aprovidenceand not acasualitythat occasioned the death of her beloved offspring, and evinces the most entire acquiescence in the mournful event.
While our attention is confined solely to second causes, the mind will be involved in a labyrinth of difficulties, in judging of the changes and trials incident to the present life; but when our faith ascends above this low and limited scene, to contemplate the arrangements of an universal Providence, the deepest mysteries become unravelled, and the greatest seeming inconsistencies in a considerable degree reconciled. Or, if we cannot develope the whole plan, and ascertain the reason of every movement of almighty Wisdom, we at least acquire a spirit of submission and obedience.
Some persons are so overwhelmed by their sorrows as to be totally disqualified for their duties: but, although the world may applaud this acute sensibility, religion condemns it. As the effect of mere passion, it has nothing in it which can secure the approbation of God; on the contrary, it is offensive to him, who, while he permits us to weep, does not allow us to despond, and who often sees it best to humble a refractory spirit by a repetition of chastisement.
This excellent Shunammite, after making the necessary arrangements for her poor departed son in the prophet's chamber, instead of sitting down to indulge her own melancholy feelings, or court the compassion of her domestics and friends, despatched a messenger to her husband, to request that a servant might be sent to her with one of the asses, for the purpose of going to pay a visit to the man of God. As she had not told him the motive of this sudden determination, he remonstrated, because it was "neither new moon nor sabbath," that is, neither the usual time of secular or sacred journeys. [47] He was, however, easily satisfied when she intimated that she had a good reason for wishing to pay this visit. "She said, It shall be well."
"See," says pious Matthew Henry, "how this husband and wife vied respects; she was sodutiful to himthat she would not go till she had acquainted him with her journey, and he soloving to herthat he would not oppose it, though she did not think it fit to acquaint him with her business."
Equipped according to the eastern mode of travelling, the Shunammite mounted an ass, and ordered the man appointed to attend her and goad on the animal, to make all possible haste to mount Carmel. As soon as Elisha saw her coming, he sent Gehazi to salute her with these inquiries: "Is it well with thee? Is it well with thy husband? Is it well with the child?" As she came at so unexpected a moment, and with such evident haste, the prophet was naturally apprehensive that some calamity had befallen her, and, as he felt a deep interest in all her concerns, first inquired respecting what he well knew lay near her heart, the welfare of her family. Her reply was short, but remarkable: "IT IS WELL."
Some have considered this merely as an evasive answer, made for the purpose of avoiding conversation with Gehazi, with whom she did not wish to enter into the particulars of her present situation. This, however, is an improbable interpretation, because it would by no means comport with the general integrity of her character, nor with the respect which was due, and which we know she cherished, for the prophet. This was doubtless the message with which Gehazi returned to his master, who, from his ignorance of her precise circumstances, could not, till her own subsequent explanation, comprehend the elevated sentiments implied in such a general reply. A pious mind in similar circumstances would not hesitate to affirm, "It is well"--wellwith the living--wellwith the dead--wellwith those who, notwithstanding all their bereavements, are under the care of Heaven and enjoy the smiles of God--wellwith those whose disembodied spirits, escaped from the imprisonment of time, have ascended to the unfettered freedom, the unbounded felicity, of eternity.
In this view the Shunammite recognized the sovereignty of God; his indisputable right to dispose of her and her affairs as he pleased. "Shall the clay say to him that formed it, What doest thou?" The unbending temper of infidelity will, perhaps, receive this as "a hard saying;" but it is affirmed in the inspired page, and must ever be admitted by him who is in his "right mind." Uncontrollable power, acting irrespectively of wisdom or goodness, would be indeed a terrific idea, and must issue in a state of universal anarchy; but theperfectionof that Infinite Being who "sitteth upon the circle of the earth," secures therighteousexercise of the most irresistible authority; and of this we may ever be assured, that although his arm is omnipotent, it is never unmerciful.
The Shunammite intended also to express her confidence in the goodness of God, however disguised by the afflictive nature of his dispensations. In a proper state of mind it will not be requisite, in order to produce resignation, that we should comprehend the whole design of every sorrow. We should bow to the mysteriousness of the event; and the patience of our endurance will not depend on the full developement and explanation of the mystery. Whether events accord with our wishes or oppose them, "It is THE LORD" will strike us into silence and submission.
Upon this subject the declarations of the Scriptures are most encouraging. They affirm, that "he doth not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men"--that their own benefit requires the chastisement, of whatever description it may be--that not a needless sigh heaves the human bosom, or an unnecessary tear is made to flow--and that "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to his purpose." It cannot be doubted, that the all-wise Disposer could, if he had pleased, have prevented a single cloud from rising to darken the Christian's day, and by the interdictions of his Providence, as formerly by the blood sprinkled upon the door-posts of Israel in Egypt, have secured his people from the visitation of all the messengers of wo; but he knows that affliction is conducive to our real welfare, that it is a means of improving our character, and of preparing us for that state of perfect enjoyment where it shall be no longer necessary; and that it furnishes occasion for the exercise of those graces which adorn the Christian's character, and glorify his God.
"We should endeavour," to use the words of a profound writer, "not to be distressed about any thing, but to take every event for the best. I apprehend this to be a duty, and the neglect of it to be a sin: for in truth, the reason why sin is sin, is merely because it is contrary to the will of God. If, therefore, the essence of sin consists in having a will contradictory to the known will of God, it seems clear to me, that when he discovers his will to us by events, we sin if we do not conform ourselves to it." Again, "Our own will, though it should obtain all it can wish, would never be contented; but we are contented from the very instant that we renounce it. We never can be contented with it," [48] nor otherwise than contented without it.
It is highly proper to investigate the causes of our sorrows, to inquire how far they are occasioned by any thing sinful in ourselves. It becomes us to be humble and penitent before God, when we discover that our own misconduct has rendered it necessary for him who is "slow to anger" to inflict chastisement. It is to be feared that while we abhor the blasphemy of uttering the language of complaint, and of saying, like Jonah, "I do well to be angry," we often do not suspect the criminality of cherishing hard thoughts of Providence, doubting the propriety or repining at the continuance of afflictive dispensations. There exists, perhaps, a secret suspicion of his goodness, a latent spirit of revolt, which we dare not express, or which we flatter ourselves, because we give it another name, that we do not cherish.
The people of God sometimes receive affliction with a gaze of wonder, as if it were the most unlikely of all occurrences. We feel no surprise when it attacksothers, but live in the true spirit of the poet's representation,
"All men think all men mortal butthemselves."
In general terms we even acknowledge that we are not exempted; and yet, when actually visited by personal or relative troubles, we seem like a traveller suddenly overtaken by a thunderstorm; all is confusion and alarm: our faith, and hope, and joy, take wing, and leave us solitary and sad. In our alarm we forget God, think it "strange," brood with a melancholy, but guilty pleasure, over our sufferings, and act as if we thought that "God had forgotten to be gracious." But "let them that suffer according to the will of God, commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator."
"Four things," observes Melancthon, "ought to be well impressed upon our minds respecting afflictions.
"1. They are appointed. We do not suffer affliction by chance, but by the determinate counsel and permission of God.
"2. By means of affliction God punishes his people; not that he may destroy them, but to recall them to repentance and the exercise of faith; for afflictions are not indications of displeasure, but of kindness--'He willeth not the death of a sinner.'
"3. God requires us to submit to his afflictive dispensations, and to expend our indignation and impatience upon our own sins; and, since he determines to afflict his church in the present state, submission tends to glorify his name.
"4. Resignation, however, is not all; he requires faith and prayer, that we may both seek and expect divine assistance. Thus he admonishes us, 'Call upon me in the day of trouble, I will answer thee, and thou shalt glorify me.'
"These four considerations are applicable to all our afflictions, and are calculated, if properly regarded, to produce that truly Christian patience, which essentially differs from mere philosophical endurance." [49]
As soon as the Shunammite came to Elisha, she fell at his feet and embraced them. Gehazi attempted to thrust her away, but the prophet told him to desist, intimating that he perceived she was in some deep affliction with which he was unacquainted. Then bursting out in the abrupt language of impassioned grief, she exclaimed, "Did I desire a son of my lord? Did I not say, Do not deceive me?"
If these words wear a complaining aspect, we must make allowance for the strength of maternal feelings; perhaps, too, notwithstanding her characteristic equanimity of temper, and the elevated piety of her mind, she was betrayed, in this instance, into some degree of impatience. It is remarkable, that some of the most eminent of saints have failed, in particular periods of their lives, in the exercise of those very dispositions for which they are particularly celebrated. That faithful page, which delineates the characters of men with perfect impartiality, represents Moses, distinguished for hismeekness, as in a state ofviolent irritationwhen he saw the idolatry of Israel; in consequence of which he broke the two tables of stone to pieces on which the finger of God had inscribed his own laws--Job, to whom sacred and profane history have assigned extraordinarypatience, in language the most emphatical, "cursed his day"--Peter, whosecourageandardent zealin the service of his Divine Master were apparent on every other occasion, not onlytrembledbefore the simple intimation of a servant-maid that he was one of his friends, butdeniedhim withoathsandcurses. Such is the inconsistency of human character! Such are the shades that darken the brightest names. Such the salutary warnings that preceding ages transmit to those who have to follow the long train of heaven-bound travellers to a better existence!
Let us turn our eyes for a moment from these specimens of mortal excellence to Him who was "holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners;" and who has left us "an example, that we should follow his steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth ... who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness."
Compassionating the distressed Shunammite, Elisha immediately adopted measures to afford her effectual consolation. He commanded Gehazi to hasten to the chamber appropriated to his use, and lay his staff upon the face of the child. He was to avoid the usual compliments upon meeting friends or strangers, in order that not a moment might be lost. [50] The bereaved mother, in the mean time refused to quit the prophet, to whom she was so much attached, and in whom she cherished such unbounded confidence; and he, affected by her sufferings, arose and accompanied her home.
Gehazi fulfilled his commission; but finding no symptoms of life, he returned to inform his master, whom he met on the way. "And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. He went in, therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the Lord. And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands, and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm. Then he returned and walked in the house to and fro; and went up and stretched himself upon him; and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son. Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out."
It is observable, that the attempt to reanimate the child by despatching the servant to place the prophet's staff upon its face utterly failed, possibly because "this act was done out ofhuman conceit, not out ofinstinct from God." [51]
Elisha, however, came,prayed unto the Lord, and succeeded in effecting a miraculous restoration of the departed child. The grateful mother may be classed among those who, through faith, "received their dead raised to life again." How animating the prospect of that moment when almighty power will be displayed in raising every human body from the grave, and reuniting it with its kindred spirit in a state of deathless existence! May we attain the "blessedness and holiness" of such as have "part in thefirstresurrection!"
Only one other circumstance is mentioned in the history of the Shunammite. When Israel was threatened with a famine of seven years, Elisha forewarned her of the danger, and advised her retirement into some place of security and plenty. She accordingly removed with her family into the land of the Philistines. At the expiration of this period she returned; but finding that her property had become the prey of rapacity, or was alienated by some royal edict, she applied to the king for its restoration. This was perfectly consistent with her former character; for although she felt no eagerness for worldly advancement, and, indeed, refused it, piety did not require a total negligence of her civil rights, or of measures calculated to preserve her and her beloved family from a state of indigency.
Providentially, at the precise moment of her application the king was conversing with Gehazi, who was informing him of Elisha's miracles, and in particular of the miracle he had performed upon the deceased son of the Shunammite. She was of course introduced under the most favourable circumstances; and having ascertained the identity of the present applicant, "the king appointed unto her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that was hers, and all the fruits of the field, since the day that she left the land even till now."
Thus is afforded a striking exemplification of the remark of Solomon, "The king's heart is in hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it withersoever he will."
The Feasts of the King of Persia--his Queen Vashti sent for--her Refusal to obey the Summons--her Divorce--Plan to fill up the Vacancy--Esther chosen Queen--Mordecai detects a Conspiracy--declines paying Homage to Haman--Resentment of the latter, who obtains a Decree against the Jews--Mordecai's Grief, and repeated Applications to Esther--she goes in to the King--is accepted--invites the King and Haman to a Banquet--Mortification of the latter at Mordecai's continued Neglect--Orders a Gallows to be built for the disrespectful Jew--the Honour conferred by the King upon Mordecai for his past Zeal in his Service--Haman's Indignation--is fetched to a second Banquet--Esther tells her feelings, and accuses Haman--his Confusion and useless Intreaties--he is hung on his own Gallows--Mordecai's Advancement--Escape of the Jews by the Intercession of Esther--Feast of Purim.
One of the most delightful employments of the heavenly state will probably be, to investigate the past dispensations of Providence, and to make perpetual discoveries of its mysteries. In that world of light, events which are now covered with clouds and darkness impervious to the eye of sense, will become obvious to the view of "just men made perfect" in all their proportions, connexions, and combinations. The shadows of the morning having disappeared, the brightness of eternal noon will irradiate our existence.
We are by no means to imagine, however, that it is inconsistent with the present arrangements of divine goodness to afford us information, even in this world, respecting his plans and purposes; we do "know," though it be but "in part." The book of providence is indeed the least intelligible to us of all that the wisdom of God has written: but we can readsomeof its pages, and understandsomeof its hieroglyphical characters. The histories of Scripture constitute a volume of elementary instructions, of which the narrative of ESTHER has always been regarded as singularly interesting.
[Sidenote: Years before Christ, about 460.]
In order to introduce this story, it will be requisite to take a cursory view of some previous occurrences. The scene is laid in Persia, in the days of Ahasuerus, another name, as learned men have generally agreed, for Artaxerxes Longimanus. After struggling with those perplexing competitions for empire which often obstruct the path to a crown, and agitate the first years of power in arbitrary governments, he at length secured the dominion of Persia with its hundred and twenty-seven provinces. To proclaim his undisputed possession, and to display his glory, he appointed a feast, which may perhaps be deemed unrivalled in the majesty of its circumstances and the length of its continuance. At the expiration of a hundred and fourscore days the king gave another entertainment of seven days, for "all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small." It was held in the court of the garden, for the purpose of accommodation, and with great magnificence. Vashti also, his royal consort, in conformity to the usages of the times, which, it must be admitted, were admirably calculated to preserve the purity of morals, prepared a separate entertainment for the women in another part of the palace. "Vashti feasted the women in her own apartment: not openly in the court of the garden, but in theroyal house. Thus, while the king showed thehonour of his majesty, she and her ladies showedthe honoux of their modesty, which is truly the majesty of the fair sex." ... HENRY.
Alas! how little did Ahasuerus comprehend wherein true riches and dignity consisted; and how little are these heathen "lovers of pleasure" to be envied by us, who are invited as welcome guests to a nobler table and a better banquet! "Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars, she hath slain her oxen, she hath mingled her wine." Into the highways and hedges, into every quarter of the world, and amongst every class of mankind, the messengers of heaven are commissioned to go and call the poor as well as the rich, the peasant as well as the prince, to the "feast of fat things," which celestial mercy has provided in the Gospel, where admission is not exclusive, where indulgence cannot be construed into excess, where not a brutal appetite, but a mental and spiritual taste, is amply supplied. The princes of Persia congratulated themselves upon the favour of Ahasuerus; but how much greater reason have Christians to rejoice in the friendship of Christ! Now they are admitted to participate the blessings of his grace and the sacramental festival; hereafter they have substantial reasons to anticipate a diviner intercourse and a more exalted familiarity, when they shall drink new wine with him in his Father's kingdom.
On the seventh day of the feast already mentioned, the king commanded the seven chamberlains of his household to wait upon Vashti, and bring her before him arrayed in the crown-royal. His heart is said to have been "merry with wine," or he would not have thought of indulging his own vanity, and insulting his queen's dignity, by such an exhibition. She ventured to refuse a compliance with this royal order, in which she was probably countenanced by the concurring opinion and feelings of the ladies who were present at the entertainment. As a woman she felt for the honour of her sex, and as a queen for her individual reputation and dignity. It was unquestionably a foolish command, contrary to the Persian customs, and dishonourable to the character of Ahasuerus as a sovereign and a husband. It is not by indulging pomp that the glory of a prince is best displayed, but by useful enactments, virtuous associations, and an upright uniformity of conduct.
Unreasonable, however, as the demand of Ahasuerus was, Vashti ought not to have been so peremptory. In such an age, and under such a government, a moment's consideration must have excited in her an apprehension of danger. Besides, it was not the time for remonstrance. She was no private character; it was, therefore, an injudicious resistance of his authority. Obedience would have involved no guilt; but disobedience, even though the command were ridiculous, necessarily exposed her husband's authority to contempt. It must be admitted in Christian communities, that the Gospel requires submission on the part of a wife; nor is this requisition limited solely to those commands which the woman herself may deem just and proper, otherwise her own humour, caprice, or misconception, would perpetually infringe upon a positive law, and in fact, render it nugatory. On the other hand, if the husband would secure a cheerful obedience, and cherish, instead of spoil, an amiable temper, or regulate a peevish one, let his wishes be reasonable in themselves, and uttered without a look or a term expressive of an insolent consciousness of superiority.
Ahasuerus instantly resented the refusal of Vashti. His passion became outrageous, sensible that his dignity was insulted and his authority questioned. He not only felt the uncomplying message of the queen as a sufficient mortification to his personal vanity, but as a public attack upon his influence and power as a king. It was not in a retired apartment, or on a private occasion, but, in a sense, before the eyes of ahundred and twenty-seven provinces!
Immediate recourse was had to his counsellors, who concurred in the opinion of Memucan, that it was a public question of great importance to the future welfare of the state, and affecting the domestic felicity, not of the king only, but of every family in the Persian empire. The advice he gave them, which Ahasuerus promptly followed, was to divorce Vashti, and interdict her forever from reappearing in the royal presence. "If it please the king, let there go a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered. That Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus: and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she. And when the king's decree which he shall make shall be published throughout all his empire (for it is great,) all the wives shall give to their husbands honour, both to great and small." It is not surprising that such a gratifying, butunchristianproposal, should be adopted by an arbitrary heathen monarch. Neither Memucan nor his royal master had drunk at the purifying fountain of evangelical truth.
God was now making "the wrath of man to praise him." Human passions, prejudices, and errors were promoting divine designs. The feast, and the riot, and the vanity, and the rage of Ahasuerus, all concurred, though unconsciously on his part, to fulfil the mighty arrangements of Providence, and to introduce, a train of events which now march through the page of sacred history in rapid and wonderful succession.
After the divorce of Vashti, the ministers of Ahasuerus advised him to adopt speedy measures to fill up the vacancy in his affections and his throne. Their plan exhibits the barbarity of the age and the sensuality of the king. He was to have his choice of all the "fair young virgins," collected from the provinces of the empire: and it devolved upon Hadassah, or Esther, an orphan educated under the inspection of Mordecai, her cousin and guardian, one of the captive Jews at this period attached by some employment to the royal establishment. That God, who had bestowed upon this young Jewess unusual beauty, gave her favour in the eyes of the king, and secretly accomplished his own gracious purposes respecting his people by her advancement.
Little did any of the persons immediately concerned in this affair imagine the predestined results. Ahasuerus was gratifying his passions; Esther and Mordecai conforming to an irresistible influence; Hegai, the keeper of the women, following the impulse of a secret admiration, and, perhaps, aiming to ingratiate himself in the favour of one whom he might suppose likely to become the future queen; while the Supreme Disposer was making use of all this variety of feeling and design as the means of securing the ends in his omniscient view.
Esther retained her humility of spirit after her elevation of circumstances; for she "did the commandment of Mordecai like as when she was brought up with him." She was one of the very few that resist the allurements of splendour--that cherish kindness for their poorer relatives--and remember with gratitude the guardians of their youth.
Mordecai, having detected a conspiracy against the king, mentioned it to Esther, who named it to her royal consort; by which means the traitors were soon brought to execution. This circumstance rendered the faithful Jew known to his sovereign. It was attended, indeed, by no immediate recompense; but he felt a satisfaction in having done his duty, incomparably more grateful to an unambitious mind.
The danger to which the great king of Persia was exposed by the machinations of his domestics, shows the counterbalancing disadvantages which attach even to the most prosperous condition of human life; the conduct of Mordecai, on this occasion, teaches the allegiance we all owe both to our lawful king, and to the Sovereign of the universe; and the circumstances of the whole transaction, though for the present otherwise unnoticed, being "written in the book of the Chronicles before the king," reminds us of the "Lamb's book of life," that faithful register of the pious services of his people, which, if not in this life, shall be fully requitted in another.
Great princes often act capriciously, and advance to the highest stations those whose personal insignificance or baseness must otherwise have rendered them contemptible. Thus Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the Agagite, to the place of his prime minister; who received that homage from the multitude, which persons of rank and eminent station usually secure in all countries, but which is peculiarly exacted under arbitrary governments. The flattering incense of the king's servants was accepted by Haman as a fragrant offering, while his vanity feasted itself most luxuriously upon popular admiration.
But, in proportion to a man's eagerness after honour, will be his sensibility to the slightest affront, and his readiness to interpret, in the worst sense, even unintentional neglect. It will not appear surprising to those who are acquainted with the heart of man, that this new favourite should have felt even more pain from the disrespect of one individual, than pleasure from the reverence of ten thousand others: and this, not because of any extraordinary importance which the dissentient had acquired, but simply on account of the extreme susceptibility to applause which the dignity and the pride of Haman had superinduced. Mordecai, in fact, refused to pay that homage to the prime minister which the king commanded; and he persisted in his refusal, notwithstanding the remonstrances of the king's servants, who "spake daily unto him." The known loyalty of Mordecai renders it certain that this determination did not proceed from any disesteem of the king; his character is an equal pledge that it did not originate in envy, or any ridiculous pique: it must have been a conscientious scruple, and the probability is, that the king required for his favourite areligioushomage, similar to what the Persian monarchs were accustomed to claim for themselves. The minister was, besides, an Agagite, and therefore, probably, of the race of Amalek, a people against which Jehovah had proclaimed a perpetual and exterminating war. If these were his motives, he is rather to be extolled for his heroism, than censured for his temerity. A man of God should persevere in his duty at all hazards, unseduced by the flatteries, and unawed by the threats of mankind. He must contend against spiritual wickedness, oppose internal lust, and resist external temptation. He must brave alike caresses and sneers; the importunity of the timid, and the insistance of the powerful; so, however reproached by men, he will be honoured by God.
The officers of the king, at length, resolved to inform his favourite of this determined omission to pay him reverence. Haman became incensed, and his rage burned with destructive violence. Having been told that Mordecai was a Jew, he instantly vowed to revenge his mortification, not only by punishing the individual, but by destroying the nation: and as the Persian monarchy, at this period, included Judea, had not Providence signally interposed, few if any could have escaped. How cruel is wrath, how outrageous anger! Thousands are devoted to death for an individual's conduct, who were utterly incapable of participating in it, and who had never even heard the name of their offending countryman! Supposed guilt and unquestioned innocence were doomed alike to perish in one indiscriminate massacre! O let us daily pray for that "wisdom which is from above, which is first pure, thenpeaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy, and good fruits!"
With a view of discovering the will of the gods, according to the common practice of Pagan antiquity, Haman ordered the lot to be cast, which was supposed to discriminate between lucky and unlucky days, little aware that "the wholedisposingthereof is of the Lord."
His address to the king was artful and insinuating. Instead of stating the real cause of his desire for the extermination of the Jews, he touches only upon what the principles of policy might seem to dictate; and induces Ahasuerus to accede to his sanguinary proposal, by lending him his ring to use at his own discretion. Thus the weakness of favouritism combines with the wickedness of pride, to destroy a people whose name was scarcely known to their prince, and whose crime was not even attempted to be proved by their malignant accuser.
The decree was at length issued, and letters were despatched into every province of the empire, "to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey." After this inhuman proceeding, "the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city Shushan was perplexed."
It is an outrage upon public decency, which even modern times and civilized nations have unhappily witnessed, to see princes dissipating their days in festivity, and enfeebling their reason by excess, riot, and intoxication, when the calamitous circumstances of their country have demanded a serious investigation, a sympathizing regard, and a prompt relief; but still more lamentable is it to observe such conspirators against the lives of mankind as Haman and Ahasuerus, sitting down to indulge in merriment, while Persia was bathed in tears, and innumerable of her inhabitants written for execution. Was not one governor then to be found, to return an answer similar to that which the king of France, in a later age received, who had commanded the massacre of the Huguenots? "In my district," said one of his virtuous lieutenants, "your majesty has many brave soldiers, but no butchers!"--This was a people, however, ignorant as the haughty favourite of Ahasuerus was of the fact, that no human power could annihilate--a people under the immediate protection of the eternal God--a people respecting whom important prophecies were yet unaccomplished--a people of whom it is affirmed, Jehovah "kept him as the apple of his eye."
Mordecai was no uninterested spectator of these transactions; but went about the city, and approached even to the king's gate, attired in sack-cloth, and uttering cries of grief and lamentation. Esther, who was no less accessary to sorrow in the palace than in the cottage, being informed of this circumstance, sent him a change of raiment, that she might enjoy a conversation to which he could not be introduced in the habiliments of mourning. Alas! though thesignsof affliction may be interdicted, the unwelcome visitant herself will intrude even into the most splendid residences and most elevated conditions! Mordecai refused the dress, not out of disrespect to the queen, but to express his poignant anguish, and to incite her to deeper sympathy. Esther immediately despatched her attendant, one of the king's chamberlains, to inquire into the cause of his distress; and this faithful messenger soon hastens back to detail all the proceedings which had been adopted in reference to the Jews, with a request from Mordecai, that "she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people."
This was a dangerous requisition. She, therefore, sent back her attendant to Mordecai, to remind him that it was a matter of universal notoriety, whoever, man or woman, should venture into the royal presence without being called, must suffer death, unless the "golden sceptre" were held out as an intimation of mercy; and that she questioned the probability of this in case of her intrusion, since her not having been sent for during thirty days past seemed to indicate some alienation.
It must be confessed, there is less of the heroine and the martyr in this reply than we could wish to have witnessed; but, on the one hand, we may observe that a similar blemish disfigured the early conduct of Moses: and on the other, as some extenuation, that she does notrefuseto comply with Mordecai's suggestion; but merely referred to the danger awaiting such a proceeding, in order perhaps to induce him, if possible, to contrive some safer and no less effectual expedient. The love of life is a principle of human nature implanted by our Creator for the purpose of self-preservation, a principle which, in ordinary cases, cannot be violated without guilt; and, on no occasion, can be dispensed with but from some imperious necessity. He who gave life, however, has a right to reclaim it; and that sacrifice which it would be a vice to make to our own passion, becomes a virtuous and pious offering when yielded to divine requirements.
Mordecai sent another message to Esther, at once spirited, pointed, and effectual. It was a moment that demanded instantaneous action; and if the timorous queen cherished apprehensions on her own account, he showed her that she was even more likely to suffer by an ignominious retreat than a bold advance. He reminded her of her Jewish extraction, and the consequent danger to herself in the arrangement to exterminate all that hated race. For though the prime minister probably would not have lifted his hand against the queen; and though her connexion with his master, who married her from affection as great as we can imagine a sensual and despotic prince capable of cherishing, seemed to promise security; yet there could be no absolute dependence, and the favourite of to-day might be discarded to-morrow. He added to this other and weighty considerations--"If thou altogether boldest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed; and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"--q.d. 'Thy timidity may prevent thy becoming the means of rescuing the people of God; nevertheless, they shall assuredly escape--his resources are inexhaustible--his chosen nation shall not be annihilated--and he will not only perform the work without thy instrumentality, but inflict an awful but merited chastisement for thy misconduct. After all, I have better anticipations--perhaps thy wonderful advancement to the crown was intended by him who sometimes conceals his plans of mercy in clouds of mystery, for the very purpose of accomplishing the deliverance of Israel at this critical emergency.'
Mordecai, in this appeal, shines as a "wise reprover;" and it was "upon an obedient ear." He is, moreover, illustrious as a man offaith. The confident tone he assumed did not arise merely from that solicitude he felt upon the subject, and which will sometimes inspire a boldness not commonly manifested; but from a knowledge of the prophecies, and a trust in the faithfulness of God respecting their fulfilment. The lyres of Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, celebrated in accordant strains the restoration of the Jews from captivity, and the advent of Messiah; and he was persuaded that infinite Wisdom could not be deceived, nor infinite power frustrated. O that in every minute affair of our lives, as well as with regard to every great event of time, we could cherish a similar faith in the providence of the "God of salvation!"
Observe, in passing, that it is reasonable and just to expect services from us proportioned to the situations which we occupy. Favours involve obligations; and whatever influence, talent, or means of any kind we possess, ought to be conscientiously appropriated to the great Bestower. Every being in the universe has duties arising out of his condition by doing which he glorifies, and by omitting which he displeases, his Creator. Esther was, therefore, responsible for her actions as a queen, as a Jewess, and as one furnished with extraordinary opportunities at a crisis most singular and important, and the remonstrance of Mordecai proved irresistible. With what exultation must he have received this message from her--"Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day. I also, and my maidens, will fast likewise: and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish!"
These devotional preparations for the experiment about to be hazarded, were not only highly proper in themselves, but expressive of the piety of Esther. Abstinence from food, an ancient practice of the church sanctioned by divine authority, is an evidence of humiliation before God; and at the same time, adapted to produce it, by inflicting a salutary mortification upon the corporeal appetites. If carried to excess, it will indeed hinder rather than promote piety; but when adopted on proper occasions, and observed with judicious regulations, it is attended with consequences manifestly beneficial. The queen did not impose a service on others which she was indisposed to practise herself; but sympathizing with the condition of her countrymen, she participated in their self-denying duties. Let us never forget the promise of eternal mercy, which has consoled the church of God in her deepest afflictions, and upon which every pilgrim in Zion may depend with unhesitating confidence, "Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." [52]
When it is recollected, that the proceeding of Esther, in going in to the king uncalled, was a deliberate violation of a law of the state, and that Vashti had been discarded for an offence of far inferior consideration; we cannot but notice the overruling providence of God, in giving the queen acceptance in the eyes of Ahasuerus. On the third day she laid aside her mourning dress, and putting on her royal apparel, presented herself in the inner court of the palace, opposite the king's private apartment, where he sat upon his throne. What a moment of suspense and of secret agony! If previous devotion had not, in some measure, tranquillized the agitations of her bosom, and inspired a holy courage, it is scarcely conceivable how a woman could sustain the trial of such an hour. If the sharp conflict had smitten her to the ground, and she had expired upon the spot, we should not, religious considerations apart, have been greatly astonished; but hope in God, and a composure gained, no doubt, at the mercy-seat, and diffused over her spirit by recent intercourse with heaven, prepared her to hear the mandate of death, or receive the outstretched token of clemency. Her splendid attire--her attractive mien--her beautiful countenance, in which grief, anxiety, and devotion blending their influence, produced a new and interesting character, fixed the king's attention, and reinspired his love; but neither the one nor the other of these, nor all of them in the most happy combination, could have produced the effect, had not the tears, the prayers, the fastings of Israel and of Esther, brought down the blessings from above. Howimportantare means! howessentialis religion!
Behold the golden sceptre! The queen trembles with rapture at the anticipated sign--it is held out--she approaches--touches--triumphs--and lives! "Let us come boldly unto the THRONE OF GRACE, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need!"
Instead of rejection and death, Esther soon found herself treated with perfect familiarity, and more than usual kindness. Imagining that some important business had occasioned this visit, the king desired to know it, and promised to gratify the queen "to the half of the kingdom." She thought it prudent, however, at present, to waive the particular request she had to present, simply inviting Ahasuerus and his favourite to a banquet, by which mark of attention she hoped more effectually to confirm his reviving fondness, and thus secure the accomplishment of her ultimate purpose. Her invitation was accepted. He repaired with Haman to the festival, where, being highly delighted with the entertainment, he renewed his protestations in reference to whatever petition she might have to present. The wary queen ventured only to request a renewal of the royal visit on the morrow, at which time she assured him of a full explanation of her wishes.
There is an appearance of undue timidity in this procrastination; and yet, if we were better informed of her secret motives, we might perhaps award her the praise of wisdom. The partiality of the king for Haman might render her doubtful of success in the contest with that favourite; and she might think it necessary to excite both the curiosity and the affection of the king still more, in order that he might not, through being startled at the magnitude of her demand, instantaneously refuse it. Extremes are dangerous. It would be well for us always to avoid both dilatoriness and precipitancy in our conduct; in order to which we should implore, with habitual fervency, the "wisdom from above."
Whatever were the views of Esther, the designs of God were secretly maturing. Haman retired to his own house, full of mortification at the continued neglect of Mordecai, which disturbed him even when every external good seemed to concur in promoting his enjoyment. He called his friends together, expatiated upon all his possessions and glory, noticing with peculiar emphasis the favour of Esther in admitting him as the sole companion of his sovereign and queen at the day's festivity, to a repetition of which he had the honour of being invited on the morrow; "yet," he added, displaying at once the festering wound of his heart, "yet all this availeth nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the king's gate."
Never, surely, was a more complete exposure of the insufficiency of worldly glory to constitute happiness, and never a more impressive exhibition of the littleness of vanity. What an insignificant disappointment is sufficient to mar the comfort of him who depends upon creatures! The merest feather may be turned into a weapon of hostility, and destroy his peace; and whatever he may possess or acquire, he must necessarily he as remote from true felicity as at the first step of his pursuit, since something will always he wanting tocompletehis bliss, and the phantom ofidealgood will continue to dance before his eyes.
Zeresh, the wife of Haman, advised him to have a gallows made of fifty cubits in height, upon which he should instigate the king to hang Mordecai. To this advice, in which all his friends concurred, he listened, and gave immediate orders for the construction of this instrument of death.
What is to be done--what can beattemptedby Esther or by Mordecai, in this critical emergency? Neither of them were, indeed, aware of the murderous determination. The queen had delayed her petition till the succeeding day, at the intended banquet; but malevolence was hastening to frustrate her designs, without her knowledge, and previously to her intercession. Could she ever pardon herself for this delay, when Mordecai is suspended? Could she recall the past hours of festivity, in which so favourable an opportunity seemed to present itself for urging her supplication to the king?--
"Stand still and see the salvation of God!" He who "sitteth upon the circle of the earth," is about to fulfil his own purposes, which no human projects can frustrate, and no apprehension of contingencies need hasten. "On that night could not the king sleep." But little did he know the true cause of this unusual wakefulness, or suspect that God was about to render it subservient to accomplish his divine intentions. "And he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king." But why did not a prince like this, addicted to pleasure, seek a diversion of his restlessness, by calling in the aid of music, rather than that of history? It seems more natural, that, he should wish for temporary amusement, rather than sold instruction. What more soothing than the "concord of sweet sounds?" True; but that Providence which kept him awake, influenced him to the choice of this extraordinary expedient. "And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king's chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus." But how came this particular circumstance in his personal history, to be selected on this occasion? The Persian records contained events of astonishing magnitude, and romantic interest. They told of mighty exploits, and splendid conquests!--Again we discern that divine superintendence, by which Ahasuerus wasledto a circumstance of his own time, in which that very individual was named, whose life was now in imminent danger, and upon whom depends so many of the incidents of this story. The king inquired, whether the fidelity of Mordecai had been properly rewarded! To which his servants replied, "There is nothing done for him." The cares of empire are so multifarious and complicated, that we ought to make considerable allowances for those omissions in princes, which would be utterly inexcusable in others; yet it does appear surprising, that so signal a service as that which Mordecai had rendered in the discovery of a dangerous conspiracy against the throne, should have been totally unrequited. Happily for Christians, they serve a Master who cannot forget even "a cup of cold water, given in the name of a disciple" to one of his "little ones!"
Early the ensuing morning, Haman hastened to the palace, for the purpose of obtaining the royal consent to his malignant preparations. Now he was about to rid himself at a stroke of the disdainful Jew that refused him homage; and anticipated the hour when he should witness his enemy on the gallows, so soon and so eagerly prepared! It was, indeed, a strange coincidence. Ahasuerus is as anxious to see his minister, as Haman to be introduced to the apartment of his king. Each has a great object in view, for which the other's concurrence is desired--each too is solicitous respecting the disposal of the same individual, and each ignorant of the other's wishes and projects.
After the usual salutations, the king entreated, the opinion of his favourite minister with regard to the best mode of expressing his attachment to one whom he "delighted to honour." Haman concluded that his royal master, of course, alluded tohim, since he well knew no other shared so largely in the royal confidence; and thinking to gratify the vanity of his little soul, he proposed that the favourite alluded to should be, for once, clothed in the royal apparel and crown, carried through the city upon the horse which was appropriated to the king, attended by one of the first princes of the empire, and have proclamation made before him, "Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour." Approving of this mode of testifying the regard he wished to express, extraordinary as it was, Ahasuerus instantly commanded its punctual execution. "Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to"--whom? to my favourite Haman?--No--insufferable mortification;--"toMordecai the Jew!"
Behold Haman again in his house, "mourning and having his head covered, and expatiating upon the misery of his situation." His wise men and his wife agree, that if Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, all his contrivances to ruin him would prove ineffectual; so fully aware were even the heathen of the peculiar interposition of Providence, in former times, on behalf of that scattered people.
In the midst of their consultations, the king's chamberlain came to attend Haman to the banquet prepared by Esther. He goes--but rather like a man led to execution, than one invited to a festival. But he must conceal his chagrin, and assume the smile of gayety.
Having partook of the feast, Ahasuerus requires of Esther the fulfilment of her promise, in the explanation of her wishes. He assures her with reiterated protestations, that her petition shall certainly be granted, "even to the half of the kingdom." How was he astonished, when she entreated for her own life, and that of her people! It had never entered into the mind of the king, that such a request was necessary. Is it possible that he hears aright? Ignorant that he had really prostituted, his authority to sanction the destruction of the queen as a Jewess, he looks at her and Haman with wild confusion, while she proceeds in a strain of firm, dignified, and eloquent statement: "For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish; but if we had been sold for bondmen and bondwomen, I had held my tongue, although the enemy could not countervail the king's damage."
Who can paint the terrors that gathered, at this moment in the countenance of Haman, or the indignant frown of Ahasuerus, when he thundered forth--"Who is he? and where is he that durst presume in his heart to do so? The hour of detection was come. Detestable conspirator, thou shall not escape! Truth shall, at length, come from her concealment, and wither at a touch thy unmerited and unenviable distinctions!" Esther said, "The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman."--"The word was loath to come forth, but it strikes home at last. Never till now did Haman hear his true title. Before, some had styled him noble, others great; some magnificent, and some perhaps virtuous; only Esther gave him his own, 'wicked Haman.' Ill-deserving greatness doth in vain promise to itself a perpetuity of applause." Bp. Hall.
Overwhelmed with astonishment and indignation, the king hastily withdrew from the banquet into the palace-garden: while the offender, who was too well acquainted with the countenance of his master not to perceive that "there was evil determined against him," writhing in all the agonies of despair, produced by a consciousness of guilt, and a dread of merited punishment, implored the queen to intercede for his safety. He who was profuse of the lives of others, with a consistency which is characteristic of villany and despotism cannot endure the thought of forfeiting his own, but betrays a cowardice proportioned to his recent insolence. The king returning at the moment in a state of the utmost exasperation, imputed the worst motives to his suppliant attitude, and allowed his servants to rush forward and cover Haman's face, as a person under sentence of death. The miserable criminal had, probably, many flatterers in the days of his greatness, but his adversity shows that he had no friends. Every one is eager to accelerate his destruction. Harbonah, especially, a chamberlain, proposed his being executed on the gallows of fifty cubits in height, which he had prepared for Mordecai; to which the king immediately assented. In this manner did Providence take the cunning persecutor in his own snare, and vindicate the cause of his oppressed people. Let the enemies of religion tremble, while the children of God are joyful in their King. The arrows which malignity shoots at the church of Christ shall either be broken against her walls, and fall pointless to the earth; or rebounding on the foe that ventures upon the attack, shall pierce his own heart.
The advancement of Mordecai was the natural result of Haman's ruin. Esther having fully informed Ahasuerus of her relationship to the much-injured Jew and his nation, she was empowered to bestow upon him the house of the fallen minister. The Jews, however, were not yet exempted from the decree which the wickedness of Haman had inveigled the king to issue against them! so that Esther, not merely solicitous for her personal security or that of her friend and relative, ventured again before the king, "and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews." The king renewed the testimony of his kindness, by stretching forth the golden sceptre; and the queen addressed him in these words, "If it please the king, and if I have found favour in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews which are in all the kings' provinces: for how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred?"
The king was ready to concede every thing it was in his power to grant: but as the laws of Persia were irreversible, and he could not rescind an edict already issued in his several provinces, he adopted the plan of putting his ring into the hands of Mordecai and Esther, to seal whatever decree they might think it right to frame in the present emergency. Accordingly, they gave unlimited permission to the Jews to defend themselves, which it was likely would so plainly evince the royal wishes to nullify his former edict, that few if any would indulge their malice against this people, or endanger their own lives by availing themselves of the first order. Many, however, did so; and even in the royal city five hundred men attacked them, probably some of the partisans of the late minister; but their temerity hurried them on to their own destruction. The ten sons of Haman, were also slain, and at the request of the queen, hung on the gallows.
An annual festival, calledPurim, [53] was established in commemoration of the deliverances we have recorded, which the Jews continue to observe at this day. It seems to have been appointed by Mordecai and Esther, as a civil, rather than a religious feast; unless it be supposed, that they received some special revelation to authorize such a measure. It is observed in the monthAdar, which corresponds with ourFebruaryandMarch.
The interesting history we have been reviewing, is calculated not only to impress those general sentiments of Providence, to which we cannot too often recur, but to awaken in the minds of Christians a pleasing conviction of that minute inspection of their affairs, and that unremitted care for their welfare individually, which God exercises towards them. Is it possible to imagine a doctrine more elevating than this, or more calculated to produce sensations of reverence, gratitude, and joy? It is not presumptuous, even in a mortal "worm," to believe that his interests engage the attention of the INFINITE BEING; and that to promote them, the immense machinery of moral and natural means is put in motion--the animate and inanimate creation--mortal agents and spiritual beings--events great and small, past and present.Wormas thou art, still the central point in the vast circle of Providence!Wormas thou art, God has "graven thee upon the palms of his bands, and thou shalt never perish."Wormas thou art, but for thee "the brightness of the Father's glory" had not left his radiant sphere to become incarnate, to endure reproach and execration, and finally to be "brought as a lamb to the slaughter!" To hearthysupplications the King of heaven has erected athrone of grace--to vindicatethycharacter, to condemnthyfoes, to perfectthyfelicity, he is preparing, and will soon come to sit upona throne of judgment!
Review past dispensations, and gather encouragement for present confidence! "If God be for us, who can be against us?" Did he not chooseAbraham, and call him his "friend?" Did he not releaseJosephfrom the pit, and raise him to princely glory? Did he not rescueMosesfrom the destructive waters, and constitute him the leader of his people Israel? Did he not deliverDavidfrom the lion and the bear, from the giant of Philistia, and the royal madman of Israel! Did he not feedElijah--advanceEsther--promoteMordecai--supportJob--saveJonah--rescuePeter, and honourPaul? Has he not, in all ages, supplied the necessities of his saints--alleviated their sorrows--sweetened their bitter cup--turned death itself into life? Can he not extricate them from all difficulties--preserve them amidst ail temptations--render them invulnerable to all attacks--make them more than conquerors over external misery, internal pollution, and satanic malice?--Can he not eventually elevate them above the reach of all evil, the fear of death, and the possibility of falling? Can he not array them in the robe of light--adorn them with a crown of glory--make them "drink of the rivers of his pleasures"--associate them with holy angels, in a state of immaculate purity--stamp immortality on their blessedness, and "wipe away all tears from their eyes?"--HE CAN--HE WILL--"Our Father which art in heaven ...thine is the POWER and the GLORY, forever. Amen!"
End of Volume I.