ESTHER'S PETITION.-- Esther 4:10-17; Esther 5:1-3. GOLDEN TEXT. --_ So will. go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if. perish,. perish._ -- Esther 4:16. TIME. --About B. C. 477. PLACE. --Shushan or Susa, the capital of Persia. HELPFUL READINGS. -- Esther, Chapter s. to 4:1-9.... [ Continue Reading ]
THERE IS ONE LAW OF HIS TO PUT HIM TO DEATH. The person of. Persian king was held to be sacred, and none could intrude on his privacy under peril of death, unless invited. Even then etiquette required subjects to crawl prone upon the earth, concealing even their hands in their sleeves. Herodotus, t... [ Continue Reading ]
THINK NOT THAT THOU SHALT ESCAPE IN THE KING'S HOUSE, MORE THAN ALL THE JEWS. In order to strengthen the indecision of Esther, and to overcome her timidity and womanly reserve, Mordecai assures her that the decree involves her as well as the rest of her race. The king may not be aware of that fact,... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SHALL ENLARGEMENT... ARISE.. FROM ANOTHER PLACE. Mordecai's message conveys the idea that God, in his providence, has exalted Esther and placed her near the king, in order to be the deliverer of her imperiled people. If she shall prove faithless to her high trust and shrink from the responsibi... [ Continue Reading ]
FAST FOR ME, AND NEITHER EAT NOR DRINK FOR THREE DAYS, NIGHT OR DAY. Esther had made up her mind. She would intrude herself upon the king and ask the salvation of her race, even if she perished. Conscious of her danger in breaking the law, filled with anxiety over the effect of confessing that she... [ Continue Reading ]
MORDECAI WENT HIS WAY. He had waited at the gate for Esther's decision. When he heard it he was satisfied, and went his way to have all done that she had requested. He did not confer with her in person, or see her, but through. chamberlain (Eunuch) which class were the only males admitted to the ki... [ Continue Reading ]