CRITICAL NOTES.]
Esther 9:2. For the fear of them fell upon all the people] A general terror spread from a feeling that the Jews were the special favourites of the most high God; and while this feeling disheartened and unnerved their enemies, it gave inspiration and power to the Jews. We may naturally suppose that Jewish antipathy and anger would, at least in some cases, lead them to assault their foes, and that the Jews would not remain wholly on the defensive.
Esther 9:3.] All the princes, the satraps, and governors, and also other persons of rank whom it is unnecessary here to name (comp. chap. Esther 3:9), assisted the Jews. Rawlinson says this is very important. It has been stated that, according to the narrative of Esther, the Jews were allowed to kill 75,000 Persians, and this (supposed) feature of the narrative has been pronounced incredible. The present verse shows that the real Persians, who formed the standing army which kept the empire in subjection, and were at the disposal of the various governors of the provinces, took the Jews’ side. Their enemies were almost entirely to be found among the idolatrous people of the subject nations, for whose lives neither the Persians generally nor their monarchs cared greatly.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH. Esther 9:2-3
SELF-HELP BEINGS HELP
I. Divine help. In this narrative we see all along that the Jews were helped by God. We find clear traces of a superior power delivering this people from the power of their enemies. Mere human reasons cannot account for the fact that these Jews—captive and dispersed—so marvellously triumphed over the many and skilful foes arrayed against them. We are now brought to the point where the Divine power is most manifestly revealed. All need Divine help, and all must have it more or less in the journey of life if it is to be successful in the highest point of view.
II. Divine help fosters and succeeds self-help. Some speak loudly in the praise of self-help. It must not be undervalued. But to speak to bruised and maimed humanity of self-help apart from any other help is a solemn mockery, is a withering irony. Should we tell the drowning man to try self-help, and not throw out to him the rope of help? Should we tell the bankrupt and ruined man to try self-help, and give him no capital? Should we advise the poor outcast to try self-help, and yet leave him without a character? Our ruined selves must be repaired from above before we can effectually help ourselves. Divine help must first work, and then there can be successful self-help. Jesus did not say to the man with the withered arm, Trust to self-help. Power was conveyed in the word, Stretch forth thy hand; and then the man was able to help himself. This, too, be observed—put forth all thy power, and God will not fail. Help thyself first by heartily seeking help from heaven, and then by doing thy very utmost. These Jews helped themselves by (a) co-operation. “The Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus.” In these days of vast co-operative societies—of the teachings of political economy—it may not be needful to urge the advantages of co-operation. However, the Church still needs to learn the important lesson that its members should be gathered together, not as so many mere material bodies, but as being animated by one spirit. The members of the spiritual Israel must be gathered together so as to make one compact body. The day has not yet come when Christians are of one mind. Many men, many minds; many Christians, many minds. Members of the same branch of the Christian community do not co-operate. Let us gather ourselves together around the Cross of Jesus Christ, and taste the outflowing and uniting power of the Saviour’s love. (b) By active agency. “To lay hand on such as sought their hurt.” Never mind the difficult questions suggested by the course of proceedings described in this chapter; be practical. Learn the lesson that they co-operated for work. They did not co-operate merely by assembling together at public meetings in order to be told, in eloquent language, how the thing was to be done, and then dispersing without any well-timed effort to do the thing. There was no Exeter Hall in Shushan; there was no need of priestly eloquence. Patriotism stirred their hearts; a common danger impelled to united efforts at defence. Patriotism should stir the hearts of Englishmen to-day. The common danger that threatens our holy religion should impel all lovers of Jesus to united and mighty efforts. Let us lay the hand of love on such as seek the hurt of all that is true, and noble, and virtuous. There is a call, loud and long, to-day to every one, whether clergy or laity, to active agency in order to repress evil, and to promote the best interests—that is, the Christian interests—of our humanity. (c) By a name of power. The fear of the Jews fell upon all the people, from the lowest to the highest, for the leaders of the people felt this fear. Is there not a true sense in which the fear of the Christian should fall upon the wicked? Does not the sinner quake in the presence of the pure and the holy? However, the Christian’s name should be one of power, not only to inspire fear, but to attract. (d) By aggressive measures. “No man could withstand them.” There was a time when it seemed to come near the truth to say that no man could withstand the influence of Christianity. It went forth an all-subduing force; it went forth conquering and to conquer. Wonderful the successes and the triumphs of the primitive Church! But alas! what shall we say of these times? Shall we take up our lament and say, How is the mighty fallen? Shall we not be accused of pessimism if we declare that Christianity is now being conquered by the world, instead of the world being conquered by Christianity? The world says that Christianity is effete. Does Christianity, by its modern successes, disprove the accusations of the children of this world? Certainly much, very much more requires to be done. Oh, arm of the Lord, awake!
III. Self-help secures the help of others. That is, the self help that is successful secures the help of others, for in this sense it often is that nothing succeeds like success. At all events, all the rulers of the provinces, and the lieutenants, and the deputies, and officers of the king helped the Jews—to what extent is not stated. They probably facilitated the Jews in their preparations to defend themselves. These governors saw that the Jews were on the high road to victory, and therefore they went in for the winning side. They were most likely politic men, and the fear of losing their places would induce them to help the Jews. How many helpers in this world are ready to help those who do not require help? Alas! how few are found to give help to the really helpless and forlorn. The poor and thirsty still seek the water of help and of deliverance, but find none; while the rich and prosperous have much abundance poured into the lap. This world’s helpers go to the rich and the great; Christ, the great helper of humanity, went to the publicans and harlots. He gave help to the helpless, strength to the weak, water to the thirsty, bread to the hungry, healing to the poor sick, and life to the dead.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Esther 9:2-3
The Jews were the conquerors. “The day in which their enemies hoped to have power over them was turned to the contrary, so that the Jews had rule over those that hated them.” This was the doing of the Lord, and ought to be wondrous in our eyes. But though the victory was of God, means were employed in winning it; and the first was, the valour and good conduct of the Jews themselves. They “stood for their lives,” and “remembering the Lord, who is great and terrible,” “fought for their brethren, their sons and their daughters, their wives and their houses.” And their prudence equalled their courage. Had each endeavoured to protect himself and his family, they would have become an easy prey to their foes; but they “gathered themselves together in their cities in all the provinces,” and in this way encouraged one another, and presented a formidable front to their adversaries. Secondly, their enemies were struck with terror. Disappointed of the hopes which they had cherished, perceiving the boldness and wise conduct of the Jews, and convinced in their own breasts that they were embarked in an unjust and criminal design, they lost courage and yielded up the day. Thirdly, the rulers in the different provinces encouraged the Jews by their countenance, being induced to this by the awe in which they stood of Mordecai, who not only retained his high place, but rose daily in the royal favour, and in his reputation as an able and virtuous statesman.—M‘Crie.
The Jews gathered themselves together in their cities throughout all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, to lay hand on such as sought their hurt: and no man could withstand them; for the fear of them fell upon all people. “Thou shalt not kill.” This commandment, in some cases, binds us to kill. It requires us to use all lawful endeavours to preserve our own life; and in preserving our own lives, we may be reduced to the unpleasant necessity of taking away the lives of other men. The Jews were compelled on the thirteenth day of the month Adar to take arms into their hands to destroy all that might rise up against them; and they acted wisely in uniting themselves in large bodies to resist the power of their enemies. Had they stood single in arms, they might all have been destroyed with ease. But their combination in the various cities of the king’s dominions made them terrible and irresistible. Let us learn from their example to stand fast in one spirit, and with one mind, to strive against the enemies of our souls, who endeavour to rob us of our faith, more precious than our lives. The Church is terrible, like an army with banners, when her rulers and members are closely united, under the captain of salvation, to oppose her enemies.
No man could now withstand the Jews, for the fear of them fell upon all people. They had the king, the queen, the prime minister, upon their side, and, what was still more, they had the providence of God upon their side. “He caused judgment to be heard from heaven,” as audibly as if an angel had proclaimed his favour to the Jews, and his indignation against their enemies. The wonderful works of Providence have oft struck terror into the hardiest enemies of Zion.
And all the rulers of the provinces, and the lieutenants, and the deputies, and officers of the king, helped the Jews; because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them. There were two decrees in equal force which might have given them a fair pretence for taking the part of the Jews, or of their enemies, as they pleased; but it was plain that the king’s favour was towards the Jews, and that if they expected any favour from him, it was necessary to secure the good will of Mordecai. They chose that side in the contest which their own interest prescribed. What a pity is it that all princes do not favour the cause of religion! If they did, iniquity would be compelled to stop her mouth, and those men who do not value religion would treat it at least with respect.—Lawson.
They acted in unison. “They gathered themselves together, and stood for their lives.” Union is power: concentration of strength is mighty for good and for evil. How awful the extent of the mischief perpetrated by the evil spirits, because they act in concert—unitedly: whereas disunion would cause even their kingdom to fall. By virtue of this perfect combination they succeed in deceiving the nations, and leading myriads captive at their will. Satan thus maintains such a sway over mankind as to entitle him to the name of “God of this world.” “If Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then can his kingdom stand?” Union and co-operation are likewise powerful for the production of good. Hence copies of the Divine writings are flying to all parts of the world; and missionaries to unfold their precious contents to those who are perishing for lack of knowledge. What would individual efforts do in cases like these? Hence arise hospitals for the bodies of men, and places of instruction for their souls. Amid the favourable signs of our day, this is among the most cheering—the frequent formation of associations for the amelioration of the state of man. May new plans of usefulness be still devised, and may the blessed Spirit of God stir up the people to support them, so that at home and abroad truth and holiness may flourish and abound.
They laid hands on all such as sought their hurt, and no man could withstand them. They were acting legally; for the royal law permitted them to defend themselves: and when we act legally, we may act boldly and courageously.
Trust in God, in his power and faithfulness, is the only source of true magnanimity. It is this alone that makes man undaunted on rational grounds. St. Paul tells us of the ancient believers, that “out of weakness they were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, and turned to flight the armies of the aliens.” And this, he tells us, was the effect of relying on God.
God filled the Persians with fear and trembling, so that, when the battle took place, they were so intimidated, that they made but the feeblest resistance, and fell an easy prey into the hands of their enemies. “No man could withstand them” (the Jews), “for the fear of them fell upon all people.” This was one way by which the Lord promised of old victory to the Israelites over their enemies. If they would regard his laws, he engaged to deprive their adversaries of their courage and fortitude. “I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.”
Brethren, none can injure whom God is resolved to protect. He has all hearts in his hand. Though earth and hell combine against his people, they shall not prosper. He is a munition of rocks—a strong tower, into which the righteous flee, and are in safety. What was David compared with Goliath? Yet, inasmuch as he went forth in the name of the God of the armies of Israel, the vaunting Philistine soon fell before him. God is a man of war, and makes his people more than conquerors over the opponents of their salvation. “None shall pluck them out of my Father’s hands.” Trust in him, ye infirm and feeble, and ye shall tread down your enemies—one of you shall chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight. Brethren, we have more formidable enemies than these Jews had,—more crafty and more inveterate,—even the principalities and powers of hell; and the consequences of being vanquished are infinitely more woeful. None can defeat and destroy these enemies but he who defeated the counsel and prevented the evil designs of wicked Haman. Apply to this great Being—this Omnipotent Being—in the all-prevailing name of Christ, and you shall triumph over every foe: you shall have a day of feasting and gladness—a good day—a day of pure and holy and everlasting joy. Trust in him, and heaven shall be your dwelling-place for ever. “The Lord will give strength to his people: the Lord will bless his people with peace.”—Hughes.
And no man could withstand them. A good cause, a good conscience, and a good courage; what cannot these three do when they meet? How should any stand before those who are strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might? Pilate’s wife could warn him of meddling with such; and Haman’s wife could tell him that a Jew might fall before a Persian and get up again and prevail. But if a Persian, or whosoever of the Gentiles, begin to fall before a Jew, he can neither stand nor rise. There is an invisible hand of omnipotency that striketh in for his own, and confounds their opposites.
For the fear of them fell upon all the people. This was the work, not of some Pan Deus Arcadiæ, but of God, the sole giver of victory, who, when he pleaseth, affrighteth the Church’s enemies, as he promiseth to do in many places. And as accordingly he did it on the Egyptians, Midianites, Philistines, Syrians, &c. And the like he did for Baldwin, king of Jerusalem, against the great Caliph; for the Hussites against all the force of Germany; for the Angrognians against the Pope’s army that came against them.
Because the fear of Mordecai fell upon them. But much more, because God himself over-awed them, and dispirited them. How else should he appear to be the God of the spirits of all flesh, and that in the thing wherein people deal proudly he was above them? How should they come to know themselves to be but men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit; if he did not other whiles make their hearts heartless, their hands feeble, their eyes fail, and their knees knock together, as Belshazzar’s did. How else would they ever be brought to bring presents unto him that ought to be feared? If Mordecai be feared, it is because God hath put a majesty upon him, and made him dreadful, as Abraham was likewise to Abimelech, David to Saul, the Baptist to Herod, our Saviour to the Pharisees, Paul and Silas to their persecutors. And this the Lord still doth, that he may dwell upon earth, in his faithful worshippers, which wicked men would not suffer, if not thus reined in and restrained. And, secondly, that praise may wait for him in Zion, and unto him may the vow be performed.—Trapp.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO Chapter S 9, 10
The Alpine Travellers. Three tourists were ascending the Alps. After they had gone a considerable distance, and were getting nearer to the eternal snows, and thus the danger increased, it was considered necessary to attach the company by ropes to one another and to the guides. But one of the tourists, an old traveller, was self-confident and self-reliant. He carried the doctrine of self-help too far, and refused to help his neighbours. He fell down the precipice and lost his life. We often best help ourselves by helping others.
Mutual help, need of. As an apple in the hand of a child makes other children run after and consort with him and share his sports, so does he convert affliction, and the need we have of each other’s aid, into a girdle of love, with which to bind us all together; just as no one country produces all commodities, in order that the different nations, by mutual traffic and commerce, may cultivate concord and friendship. How foolish they are who imagine that all the world stands in need of them, but they of nobody; that they know and understand all things, but others nothing; and that the wit of all mankind should be apprenticed to their wisdom.—Gotthold.
Whitfield. An old woman relates, that when she was a little girl Whitfield stayed at her father’s house. He was too much absorbed in his work to take much notice of, and pay much attention to, the little girl. She did not remember any of his eloquent utterances. She was, however, observant, and noticed the great preacher when he did not think that any one was observing his conduct. And the impression made upon her mind by his holy and cheerful demeanour, by his patience under trials and difficulties, and his evident consecration to his work, was of a most lasting and salutary character. Well were it if all great preachers would preach at home! We must be great in the palace of home, and then let our influence work outwards in all directions. Home religion is powerful.
The young Switzer. There was a young man among the Switzers that went about to usurp the government and alter their free state. Him they condemned to death, and appointed his father for executioner, as the cause of his evil education. But because Haman was hanged before, his sons (though dead) should now hang with him. If all fathers who had given an evil education to their sons were punished there would be a large increase of the criminal classes. At the present time the State is doing much in the way of educating; but the State cannot do that which is the proper duty of the parent. By precept, and even by the fear of penalty, should we enforce upon parents the duty of seeing faithfully to the true up-bringing of their children.
Faith of parents. An aged minister of Christ had several sons, all of whom became preachers of the Gospel but one. This one lived a life of dissipation for many years. But the good father’s faith failed not. He trusted God that his wicked son, trained up in the way he should go, in old age should not depart from it. In this sublime faith the aged father passed away. Five years after, this son of many prayers sat at the feet of Jesus.
Influence of parents. The last thing forgotten in all the recklessness of dissolute profligacy is the prayer or hymn taught by a mother’s lips, or uttered at a father’s knee; and where there seems to have been any pains bestowed, even by one parent, to train up a child aright, there is in general more than ordinary ground for hope.—The experience of a Prison Chaplain.
Says the venerable Dr. Spring: “The first afflicting thought to me on the death of my parents was, that I had lost their prayers.”
Great men Just as the traveller whom we see on yonder mountain height began his ascent from the plain, so the greatest man of whom the world can boast is but one of ourselves standing on higher ground, and in virtue of his wider intelligence, his nobler thoughts, his loftier character, his purer inspiration, or his more manly daring, claiming the empire as his right.—Hare.
True greatness. The truly great consider, first, how they may gain the approbation of God; and, secondly, that of their own consciences. Having done this they would willingly conciliate the good opinion of their fellow-men.—Cotton.
The greatest man is he who chooses the right with invincible resolution; who resists the sorest temptations from within and without; who bears the heaviest burdens cheerfully; who is the calmest in storms, and whose reliance on truth, on virtue, on God, is the most unfaltering.—Dr. Chening.
Distinguishing, great men. I think it is Warburton who draws a very just distinction between a man of true greatness and a mediocrist. “If,” says he, “you want to recommend yourself to the former, take care that he quits your society with a good opinion of you; if your object is to please the latter, take care that he leaves you with a good opinion of himself.”—Cotton.
Thus Mordecai was truly great, considering, first, how to gain the approbation of God; and, secondly, that of his own conscience. He rises above others by virtue of his wider intelligence, his nobler thoughts, his loftier character, and his more manly daring.
A good name. A name truly good is the aroma from character. It is a reputation of whatsoever things are honest, and lovely, and of good report. It is such a name as is not only remembered on earth, but written in heaven. Just as a box of spikenard is not only valuable to its possessor, but pre-eminently precious in its diffusion; so, when a name is really good, it is of unspeakable service to all who are capable of feeling its aspiration. Mordecai’s fame went out throughout all the provinces.—Dr. J. Hamilton.
Eastern hospitality. Nehemiah charges the people thus: “Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared.” Also in Esther: “Therefore the Jews made the fourteenth day of the month Adar a day of gladness and feasting, and a good day, and of sending portions one to another.” An Oriental prince sometimes honours a friend or a favourite servant, who cannot conveniently attend at his table, by sending a mess to his own home. When the Grand Emir found that it incommoded D’Arvieux to eat with him, he politely desired him to take his own time for eating, and sent him what he liked from his kitchen at the time he chose. So that the above statements must not be restricted to the poor.—Paxton’s ‘Illustrations.’
The heaviest taxes. “The taxes are indeed heavy,” said Dr. Franklin on one occasion, and if those laid on by the Government were the only ones we had to pay, we might more easily discharge them; but we have many others, and much more grievous to some of us. We are taxed twice as much by our idleness, three times as much by our pride, and four times as much by our folly; and from these taxes the commissioners cannot ease or deliver us by allowing any abatement.
Safeguard of nations. France tried to go on without a God in the time of her first revolution; but Napoleon, for reasons of State, restored the Catholic religion. M. Thiers gives this singular passage in his history: “Napoleon said, ‘For my part, I never hear the sound of the church bell in the neighbouring village without emotion.’ ” He knew that the hearts of the people were stirred by the same deep yearnings after God which filled his own, and so he proposed to restore the worship of God to infidel France. Later, and with deeper meaning, Perrier, successor to Lafayette as prime minister to Louis Philippe, said on his death-bed, “France must have religion” (C. D. Fors). So we may say, the nations, if they are to live, must have religion.
Punishment of nations. It was a sound reply of an English captain at the loss of Calais, when a proud Frenchman scornfully demanded, “When will you fetch Calais again?” “When your sins shall weigh down ours.”—Brooks.
Nations. In one sense the providence of God is shown more clearly in nations than in individuals. Retribution can follow individuals into another state, but not so with nations; they have all their rewards and punishments in time.—D. Custine.
England’s privileges.—It’s the observation of a great politician, that England is a great animal which can never die unless it kill itself; answerable whereunto was the speech of Lord Rich, to the justices in the reign of king Edward VI: “Never foreign power,” said he, “could yet hurt, or in any part prevail, in this realm but by disobedience and disorder among ourselves; that is the way wherewith the Lord will plague us if he mind to punish us.” Polydor Virgil calls Regnum Angliæ, Regnum Dei, the kingdom of England, the kingdom of God, because God seems to take special care of it, as having walled it about with the ocean, and watered it with the upper and nether springs, like that land which Caleb gave his daughter. Hence it was called Albion, quasi Olbion, the happy country; “whose valleys,” saith Speed, “are like Eden, whose hills are as Lebanon, whose springs are as Pisgah, whose rivers are as Jordan, whose wall is the ocean, and whose defence is the Lord Jehovah.” Foreign writers have termed our country the Granary of the Western World, the Fortunate Island, the Paradise of Pleasure, and Garden of God.—Clarke’s ‘Examples.’