_QUEEN ESTHER._
ESTHER iv. 10-v.; vii. 1-4; ix. 12, 13.
The young Jewess who wins the admiration of the Persian king above all
the chosen maidens of his realm, and who then delivers her people in
the crisis of supreme danger at the risk of her own life, is the
central figure in the story of the origin of Purim. It was a just
perception of the situation that led to the choice of her name as the
title of the book that records her famous achievements. Esther first
appears as an obscure orphan who has been brought up in the humble
home of her cousin Mordecai. After her guardian has secured her
admission to the royal harem--a doubtful honour! we might think, but a
very real honour in the eyes of an ancient Oriental--she receives a
year's training with the use of the fragrant unguents that are
esteemed so highly in a voluptuous Eastern court. We should not expect
to see anything better than the charms of physical beauty after such a
process of development, charms not of the highest type--languid,
luscious, sensuous. The new name bestowed on this finished product of
the chief art cultivated in the palace of Ahasuerus points to nothing
higher, for "Esther" (_Istar_) is the name of a Babylonian goddess
equivalent to the Greek "Aphrodite." And yet our Esther is a
heroine--capable, energetic, brave, and patriotic. The splendour of
her career is seen in this very fact, that she does not succumb to the
luxury of her surroundings. The royal harem among the lily-beds of
Shushan is like a palace in the land of the lotus-eaters, "where it is
always afternoon"; and its inmates, in their dreamy indolence, are
tempted to forget all obligations and interests beyond the obligation
to please the king and their own interest in securing every comfort
wealth can lavish on them. We do not look for a Boadicea in such a
hot-house of narcotics. And when we find there a strong, unselfish
woman such as Esther, conquering almost insuperable temptations to a
life of ease, and choosing a course of terrible danger to herself for
the sake of her oppressed people, we can echo the admiration of the
Jews for their national heroine.
It is a woman, then, who plays the leading part in this drama of
Jewish history. From Eve to Mary, women have repeatedly appeared in
the most prominent places on the pages of Scripture. The history of
Israel finds some of its most powerful situations in the exploits of
Deborah, Jael, and Judith. On the side of evil, Delilah, Athaliah, and
Jezebel are not less conspicuous. There was a freedom enjoyed by the
women of Israel that was not allowed in the more elaborate
civilisation of the great empires of the East, and this developed an
independent spirit and a vigour not usually seen in Oriental women. In
the case of Esther these good qualities were able to survive the
external restraints and the internal relaxing atmosphere of her court
life. The scene of her story is laid in the harem. The plots and
intrigues of the harem furnish its principal incidents. Yet if Esther
had been a shepherdess from the mountains of Judah, she could not have
proved herself more energetic. But her court life had taught her
skill in diplomacy, for she had to pick her way among the greatest
dangers like a person walking among concealed knives.
The beauty of Esther's character is this, that she is not spoiled by
her great elevation. To be the one favourite out of all the select
maidens of the kingdom, and to know that she owes her privileged
position solely to the king's fancy for her personal charms, might
have spoilt the grace of a simple Jewess. Haman, we saw, was ruined by
his honours becoming too great for his self-control. But in Esther we
do not light on a trace of the silly vanity that became the most
marked characteristic of the grand vizier. It speaks well for
Mordecai's sound training of the orphan girl that his ward proved to
be of stable character where a weaker person would have been dizzy
with selfish elation.
The unchanged simplicity of Esther's character is first apparent in
her submissive obedience to her guardian even after her high position
has been attained. Though she is treated as his Queen by the Great
King, she does not forget the kind porter who has brought her up from
childhood. In the old days she had been accustomed to obey this grave
Jew, and she has no idea of throwing off the yoke now that he has no
longer any recognised power over her. The habit of obedience persists
in her after the necessity for it has been removed. This would not
have been so remarkable if Esther had been a weak-minded woman,
readily subdued and kept in subjection by a masterful will. But her
energy and courage at a momentous crisis entirely forbid any such
estimate of her character. It must have been genuine humility and
unselfishness that prevented her from rebelling against the old home
authority when a heavy injunction was laid upon her. She undertakes
the dangerous part of the champion of a threatened race solely at the
instance of Mordecai. He urges the duty upon her, and she accepts it
meekly. She is no rough Amazon. With all her greatness and power, she
is still a simple, unassuming woman.
But when Esther has assented to the demands of Mordecai, she appears
in her people's cause with the spirit of true patriotism. She scorns
to forget her humble origin in all the splendour of her later
advancement. She will own her despised and hated people before the
king; she will plead the cause of the oppressed, though at the risk of
her life. She is aware of the danger of her undertaking; but she says,
"If I perish, I perish." The habit of obedience could not have been
strong enough to carry her through the terrible ordeal if Mordecai's
hard requirement had not been seconded by the voice of her own
conscience. She knows that it is right that she should undertake this
difficult and dangerous work. How naturally might she have shrunk back
with regret for the seclusion and obscurity of the old days when her
safety lay in her insignificance? But she saw that her new privileges
involved new responsibilities. A royal harem is the last place in
which we should look for the recognition of this truth. Esther is to
be honoured because even in that palace of idle luxury she could
acknowledge the stern obligation that so many in her position would
never have glanced at. It is always difficult to perceive and act on
the responsibility that certainly accompanies favour and power. This
difficulty is one reason why "it is easier for a camel to go through
the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of
God." For while unusual prosperity brings unusual responsibility,
simply because it affords unusual opportunities for doing good, it
tends to cultivate pride and selfishness, and the miserable worldly
spirit that is fatal to all high endeavour and all real sacrifice. Our
Lord's great principle, "Unto whom much is given, of him shall much be
required," is clear as a mathematical axiom when we look at it in the
abstract; but nothing is harder than for people to apply it to their
own cases. If it were freely admitted, the ambition that grasps at the
first places would be shamed into silence. If it were generally acted
on, the wide social cleft between the fortunate and the miserable
would be speedily bridged over. The total ignoring of this tremendous
principle by the great majority of those who enjoy the privileged
positions in society is undoubtedly one of the chief causes of the
ominous unrest that is growing more and more disturbing in the less
favoured ranks of life. If this supercilious contempt for an
imperative duty continues, what can be the end but an awful
retribution? Was it not the wilful blindness of the dancers in the
Tuileries to the misery of the serfs on the fields that caused
revolutionary France to run red with blood?
Esther was wise in taking the suggestion of her cousin that she had
been raised up for the very purpose of saving her people. Here was a
faith, reserved and reticent, but real and powerful. It was no idle
chance that had tossed her on the crest of the wave while so many of
her sisters were weltering in the dark floods beneath. A clear, high
purpose was leading her on to a strange and mighty destiny, and now
the destiny was appearing, sublime and terrible, like some awful
mountain peak that must be climbed unless the soul that has come thus
far will turn traitor and fall back into failure and ignominy. When
Esther saw this, she acted on it with the promptitude of the founder
of her nation, who esteemed "the reproach of Christ greater riches
than the treasures of Egypt"; but with this difference, that, while
Moses renounced his high rank in Pharaoh's court in order to identify
himself with his people, the Queen of Ahasuerus retained her perilous
position and turned it to good account in her saving mission. Thus
there are two ways in which an exalted person may serve others. He may
come down from his high estate like Moses, like Christ who was rich
and for our sakes became poor; or he may take advantage of his
privileged position to use it for the good of his brethren, regarding
it as a trust to be held for those whom he can benefit, like Joseph,
who was able in this way to save his father and his brothers from
famine, and like Esther in the present case. Circumstances will guide
the willing to a decision as to which of these courses should be
chosen.
We must not turn from this subject without remembering that Mordecai
plied Esther with other considerations besides the thought of her
mysterious destiny. He warned her that she should not escape if she
disowned her people. He expressed his confidence that if she shrank
from her high mission deliverance would "come from another place," to
her eternal shame. Duty is difficult, and there is often a call for
the comparatively lower, because more selfish, considerations that
urge to it. The reluctant horse requires the spur. And yet the noble
courage of Esther could not have come chiefly from fear or any other
selfish motive. It must have been a sense of her high duty and
wonderful destiny that inspired her. There is no inspiration like that
of the belief that we are called to a great mission. This is the
secret of the fanatical heroism of the Madhist dervishes. In a more
holy warfare it makes heroes of the weakest.
Having once accepted her dreadful task, Esther proceeded to carry it
out with courage. It was a daring act for her to enter the presence of
the king unsummoned. Who could tell but that the fickle monarch might
take offence at the presumption of his new favourite, as he had done
in the case of her predecessor? Her lonely position might have made
the strongest of women quail as she stepped forth from her seclusion
and ventured to approach her lord. Her motive might be shamefully
misconstrued by the low-minded monarch. Would the king hold out the
golden sceptre to her? The chances of life and death hung on the
answer to that question. Nehemiah, though a courageous man and a
favourite of his royal master, was filled with apprehension at the
prospect of a far less dangerous interview with a much more reasonable
ruler than the half-mad Xerxes. These Oriental autocrats were shrouded
in the terror of divinities. Their absolute power left the lives of
all who approached them at the mercy of their caprice. Ahasuerus had
just sanctioned a senseless, bloodthirsty decree. Very possibly he had
murdered Vashti, and that on the offence of a moment. Esther was in
favour, but she belonged to the doomed people, and she was committing
an illegal action deliberately in the face of the king. She was Fatima
risking the wrath of Bluebeard. We know how Nehemiah would have acted
at this trying moment. He would have strengthened his heart with one
of those sudden ejaculations of prayer that were always ready to
spring to his lips on any emergency. It is not in accordance with the
secular tone of the story of Esther's great undertaking that any hint
of such an action on her part should have been given. Therefore we
cannot say that she was a woman of no religion, that she was
prayerless, that she launched on this great enterprise entirely
relying on her own strength. We must distinguish between reserve and
coldness in regard to religion. The fire burns while the heart muses,
even though the lips are still. At all events, if it is the intention
of the writer to teach that Esther was mysteriously raised up for the
purpose of saving her people, it is a natural inference to conclude
that she was supported in the execution of it by unseen and silent
aid. Her name does not appear in the honour roll of Hebrews xi. We
cannot assert that she acted in the strength of faith. And yet there
is more evidence of faith, even though it is not professed, in conduct
that is true and loyal, brave and unselfish, than we can find in the
loudest profession of a creed without the confirmation of
corresponding conduct. "I will show my faith by my works," says St.
James, and he may show it without once naming it.
It is to be noted, further, that Esther was a woman of resources. She
did not trust to her courage alone to secure her end. It was not
enough that she owned her people, and was willing to plead their
cause. She had the definite purpose of saving them to effect. She was
not content to be a martyr to patriotism; a sensible, practical woman,
she did her utmost to be successful in effecting the deliverance of
the threatened Jews. With this end in view, it was necessary for her
to proceed warily. Her first step was gained when she had secured an
audience with the king. We may surmise that her beautiful countenance
was lit up with a new, rare radiance when all self-seeking was
banished from her mind and an intense, noble aim fired her soul; and
thus, it may be, her very loftiness of purpose helped to secure its
success. Beauty is a gift, a talent, to be used for good, like any
other Divine endowment; the highest beauty is the splendour of soul
that sometimes irradiates the most commonplace countenance, so that,
like Stephen's, it shines as the face of an angel. Instead of
degrading her beauty with foolish vanity, Esther consecrated it to a
noble service, and thereby it was glorified. This one talent was not
lodged with her useless.
The first point was gained in securing the favour of Ahasuerus. But
all was not yet won. It would have been most unwise for Esther to have
burst out with her daring plea for the condemned people in the moment
of the king's surprised welcome. But she was patient and skilful in
managing her delicate business. She knew the king's weakness for good
living, and she played upon it for her great purpose. Even when she
had got him to a first banquet, she did not venture to bring out her
request. Perhaps her courage failed her at the last moment. Perhaps,
like a keen, observant woman, she perceived that she had not yet
wheedled the king round to the condition in which it would be safe to
approach the dangerous topic. So she postponed her attempt to another
day and a second banquet. Then she seized her opportunity. With great
tact, she began by pleading for her own life. Her piteous entreaty
amazed the dense-minded monarch. At the same time the anger of his
pride was roused. Who would dare to touch his favourite queen? It was
a well-chosen moment to bring such a notion into the mind of a king
who was changeable as a child. We may be sure that Esther had been
doing her very best to please him throughout the two banquets. Then
she had Haman on the spot. He, too, prime minister of Persia as he
was, had to find that for once in his life he had been outwitted by a
woman. Esther meant to strike while the iron was hot. So the
arch-enemy of her people was there, that the king might carry out the
orders to which she was skilfully leading him on without the delay
which would give the party of Haman an opportunity to turn him the
other way. Haman saw it all in a moment. He confessed that the queen
was mistress of the situation by appealing to her for mercy, in the
frenzy of his terror even so far forgetting his place as to fling
himself on her couch. That only aggravated the rage of the jealous
king. Haman's fate was sealed on the spot. Esther was completely
triumphant.
After this it is painful to see how the woman who had saved her people
at the risk of her own life pushed her advantage to the extremity of a
bloodthirsty vengeance. It is all very well to say that, as the laws
of the Medes and Persians could not be altered, there was no
alternative but a defensive slaughter. We may try to shelter Esther
under the customs of the times; we may call to mind the fact that she
was acting on the advice of Mordecai, whom she had been taught to obey
from childhood, so that his was by far the greater weight of
responsibility. Still, as we gaze on the portrait of the strong,
brave, unselfish Jewess, we must confess that beneath all the beauty
and nobility of its expression certain hard lines betray the fact that
Esther is not a Madonna, that the heroine of the Jews does not reach
the Christian ideal of womanhood.