Volume I Part 19 (1/2)
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 circ.u.mstance 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 circ.u.mstances 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 mult.i.tude, 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 a _religious_ homage, 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 G.o.d 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 l.u.s.t, 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 G.o.d.
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 punis.h.i.+ng 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 partic.i.p.ating 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 ma.s.sacre! O let us daily pray for that ”wisdom which is from above, which is first pure, then _peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy_, and good fruits!”
With a view of discovering the will of the G.o.ds, 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 whole _disposing_ thereof 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 circ.u.mstances 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 ma.s.sacre 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 G.o.d--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 circ.u.mstance, 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 the _signs_ of 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 not _refuse_ to 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 pa.s.sion, 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 cheris.h.i.+ng, 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 G.o.d; nevertheless, they shall a.s.suredly 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 chastis.e.m.e.nt for thy misconduct. After all, I have better antic.i.p.ations--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 accomplis.h.i.+ng the deliverance of Israel at this critical emergency.'
Mordecai, in this appeal, s.h.i.+nes as a ”wise reprover;” and it was ”upon an obedient ear.” He is, moreover, ill.u.s.trious as a man of _faith_. The confident tone he a.s.sumed 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 G.o.d 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 ”G.o.d of salvation!”
Observe, in pa.s.sing, 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 peris.h.!.+”
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 G.o.d; and at the same time, adapted to produce it, by inflicting a salutary mortification upon the corporeal appet.i.tes. 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 partic.i.p.ated in their self-denying duties. Let us never forget the promise of eternal mercy, which has consoled the church of G.o.d 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 G.o.d, 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 G.o.d, 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. How _important_ are means!
how _essential_ is religion!
Behold the golden sceptre! The queen trembles with rapture at the antic.i.p.ated 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 pet.i.tion 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 a.s.sured 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.”