mh_parser/vol_split/17 - Esther/Chapter 4.xml

<div2 id="Esth.v" n="v" next="Esth.vi" prev="Esth.iv" progress="98.06%" title="Chapter IV">
<h2 id="Esth.v-p0.1">E S T H E R</h2>
<h3 id="Esth.v-p0.2">CHAP. IV.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Esth.v-p1">We left God's Isaac bound upon the altar and ready
to be sacrificed, and the enemies triumphing in the prospect of it;
but things here begin to work towards a deliverance, and they begin
at the right end. I. The Jews' friends lay to heart the danger and
lament it, <scripRef id="Esth.v-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Esth.4.1-Esth.4.4" parsed="|Esth|4|1|4|4" passage="Es 4:1-4">ver. 1-4</scripRef>. II.
Matters are concerted between Mordecai and Esther for the
preventing of it. 1. Esther enquires into this case, and receives a
particular account of it, <scripRef id="Esth.v-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Esth.4.5-Esth.4.7" parsed="|Esth|4|5|4|7" passage="Es 4:5-7">ver.
5-7</scripRef>. 2. Mordecai urges her to intercede with the king
for a revocation of the edict, <scripRef id="Esth.v-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Esth.4.8-Esth.4.9" parsed="|Esth|4|8|4|9" passage="Es 4:8,9">ver. 8,
9</scripRef>. III. Esther objects the danger of addressing the king
uncalled, <scripRef id="Esth.v-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Esth.4.10-Esth.4.12" parsed="|Esth|4|10|4|12" passage="Es 4:10-12">ver. 10-12</scripRef>. IV.
Mordecai presses her to venture, <scripRef id="Esth.v-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Esth.4.13-Esth.4.14" parsed="|Esth|4|13|4|14" passage="Es 4:13,14">ver. 13, 14</scripRef>. V. Esther, after a religious
fast of three days, promises to do so (<scripRef id="Esth.v-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Esth.4.15-Esth.4.17" parsed="|Esth|4|15|4|17" passage="Es 4:15-17">ver. 15-17</scripRef>), and we shall find that she
sped well.</p>
<scripCom id="Esth.v-p0.1_1" osisRef="Bible:Esth.4" parsed="|Esth|4|0|0|0" passage="Es 4" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Esth.v-p0.2_1" osisRef="Bible:Esth.4.1-Esth.4.4" parsed="|Esth|4|1|4|4" passage="Es 4:1-4" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Esth.4.1-Esth.4.4">
<h4 id="Esth.v-p1.9">Great Mourning among the
Jews. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Esth.v-p1.10">b. c.</span> 510.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Esth.v-p2">1 When Mordecai perceived all that was done,
Mordecai rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and
went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a
bitter cry;   2 And came even before the king's gate: for none
<i>might</i> enter into the king's gate clothed with sackcloth.
  3 And in every province, whithersoever the king's
commandment and his decree came, <i>there was</i> great mourning
among the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay
in sackcloth and ashes.   4 So Esther's maids and her
chamberlains came and told <i>it</i> her. Then was the queen
exceedingly grieved; and she sent raiment to clothe Mordecai, and
to take away his sackcloth from him: but he received <i>it</i>
not.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Esth.v-p3">Here we have an account of the general
sorrow that there was among the Jews upon the publishing of Haman's
bloody edict against them. It was a sad time with the church. 1.
Mordecai cried bitterly, <i>rent his clothes, and put on
sackcloth,</i> <scripRef id="Esth.v-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Esth.4.1-Esth.4.2" parsed="|Esth|4|1|4|2" passage="Es 4:1,2"><i>v.</i> 1,
2</scripRef>. He not only thus vented his grief, but proclaimed it,
that all might take notice of it that he was not ashamed to own
himself a friend to the Jews, and a fellow-sufferer with them,
their brother and companion in tribulation, how despicable and how
odious soever they were now represented by Haman's faction. It was
nobly done thus publicly to espouse what he knew to be a righteous
cause, and the cause of God, even when it seemed a desperate and a
sinking cause. Mordecai laid the danger to heart more than any
because he knew that Haman's spite was against him primarily, and
that it was for his sake that the rest of the Jews were struck at;
and therefore, though he did not repent of what some would call his
obstinacy, for he persisted in it (<scripRef id="Esth.v-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Esth.5.9" parsed="|Esth|5|9|0|0" passage="Es 5:9"><i>ch.</i> v. 9</scripRef>), yet it troubled him greatly
that his people should suffer for his scruples, which perhaps
occasioned some of them to reflect upon him as too precise. But,
being able to appeal to God that what he did he did from a
principle of conscience, he could with comfort commit his own cause
and that of his people to him that judgeth righteously. God will
keep those that are exposed by the tenderness of their consciences.
Notice is here taken of a law that <i>none might enter into the
king's gate clothed with sackcloth;</i> though the arbitrary power
of their kings often, as now, set many a mourning, yet none must
come near the king in a mourning dress, because he was not willing
to hear the complaints of such. Nothing but what was gay and
pleasant must appear at court, and every thing that was melancholy
must be banished thence; all in king's palaces <i>wear soft
clothing</i> (<scripRef id="Esth.v-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.11.8" parsed="|Matt|11|8|0|0" passage="Mt 11:8">Matt. xi. 8</scripRef>),
not sackcloth. But thus to keep out the badges of sorrow, unless
they could withal have kept out the causes of sorrow—to forbid
sackcloth to enter, unless they could have forbidden sickness, and
trouble, and death to enter—was jest. However this obliged
Mordecai to keep his distance, and only to come before the gate,
not to take his place in the gate. 2. All the Jews in every
province laid it much to heart, <scripRef id="Esth.v-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Esth.4.3" parsed="|Esth|4|3|0|0" passage="Es 4:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. They denied themselves the comfort
of their tables (for they fasted and mingled tears with their meat
and drink), and the comfort of their beds at night, for <i>they lay
in sackcloth and ashes.</i> Those who for want of confidence in
God, and affection to their own land, has staid in the land of
their captivity, when Cyrus gave them liberty to be gone, now
perhaps repented of their folly, and wished, when it was too late,
that they had complied with the call of God. 3. Esther the queen,
upon a general intimation of the trouble Mordecai was in, <i>was
exceedingly grieved,</i> <scripRef id="Esth.v-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Esth.4.4" parsed="|Esth|4|4|0|0" passage="Es 4:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>. Mordecai's grief was hers, such a respect did she
still retain for him; and the Jews' danger was her distress; for,
though a queen, she forgot not her relation to them. Let not the
greatest think it below them to <i>grieve for the affliction of
Joseph,</i> though they themselves be <i>anointed with the chief
ointments,</i> <scripRef id="Esth.v-p3.6" osisRef="Bible:Amos.6.6" parsed="|Amos|6|6|0|0" passage="Am 6:6">Amos vi. 6</scripRef>.
Esther sent change of raiment to Mordecai, the <i>oil of joy for
mourning and the garments of praise for the spirit of
heaviness;</i> but because he would make her sensible of the
greatness of his grief, and consequently of the cause of it, <i>he
received it not,</i> but was as one that refused to be
comforted.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Esth.v-p0.3" osisRef="Bible:Esth.4.5-Esth.4.17" parsed="|Esth|4|5|4|17" passage="Es 4:5-17" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Esth.4.5-Esth.4.17">
<h4 id="Esth.v-p3.8">Mordecai's Application to Esther; Esther
Urged to Petition the King; Esther Resolves to Petition the
King. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Esth.v-p3.9">b.
c.</span> 510.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Esth.v-p4">5 Then called Esther for Hatach, <i>one</i> of
the king's chamberlains, whom he had appointed to attend upon her,
and gave him a commandment to Mordecai, to know what it <i>was,</i>
and why it <i>was.</i>   6 So Hatach went forth to Mordecai
unto the street of the city, which <i>was</i> before the king's
gate.   7 And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto
him, and of the sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to
the king's treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them.   8 Also
he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at
Shushan to destroy them, to show <i>it</i> unto Esther, and to
declare <i>it</i> unto her, and to charge her that she should go in
unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request
before him for her people.   9 And Hatach came and told Esther
the words of Mordecai.   10 Again Esther spake unto Hatach,
and gave him commandment unto Mordecai;   11 All the king's
servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that
whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the
inner court, who is not called, <i>there is</i> one law of his to
put <i>him</i> to death, except such to whom the king shall hold
out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been
called to come in unto the king these thirty days.   12 And
they told to Mordecai Esther's words.   13 Then Mordecai
commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt
escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews.   14 For
if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, <i>then</i>
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
<i>such</i> a time as this?   15 Then Esther bade <i>them</i>
return Mordecai <i>this answer,</i>   16 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 <i>is</i> not according to the law: and if I perish, I
perish.   17 So Mordecai went his way, and did according to
all that Esther had commanded him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Esth.v-p5">So strictly did the laws of Persia confine
the wives, especially the king's wives, that it was not possible
for Mordecai to have a conference with Esther about this important
affair, but divers messages are here carried between them by
Hatach, whom the king had appointed to attend her, and it seems he
was one she could confide in.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Esth.v-p6">I. She sent to Mordecai to know more
particularly and fully what the trouble was which he was now
lamenting (<scripRef id="Esth.v-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Esth.4.5" parsed="|Esth|4|5|0|0" passage="Es 4:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>) and
why it was that he would not put off his sackcloth. To enquire thus
after news, that we may know the better how to direct our griefs
and joys, our prayers and praises, well becomes all that love Sion.
If we must weep with those that weep, we must know why they
weep.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Esth.v-p7">II. Mordecai sent her an authentic account
of the whole matter, with a charge to her to intercede with the
king in this matter: <i>Mordecai told him all that had happened
unto him</i> (<scripRef id="Esth.v-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Esth.4.7" parsed="|Esth|4|7|0|0" passage="Es 4:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>),
what a pique Haman had against him for now bowing to him, and by
what arts he had procured this edict; he sent her also a true copy
of the edict, that she might see what imminent danger she and her
people were in, and charged her, if she had any respect for him or
any kindness for the Jewish nation, that she should appear now on
their behalf, rectify the misinformations with which the king was
imposed upon, and set the matter in a true light, not doubting but
that then he would vacate the decree.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Esth.v-p8">III. She sent her case to Mordecai, that
she could not, without peril of her life, address the king, and
that therefore he put a great hardship upon her in urging her to
it. Gladly would she wait, gladly would she stoop, to do the Jews a
kindness; but, if she must run the hazard of being put to death as
a malefactor, she might well say, <i>I pray thee have me
excused,</i> and find out some other intercessor.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Esth.v-p9">1. The law was express, and all knew it,
that whosoever came to the king uncalled should be put to death,
unless he was pleased to <i>hold out the golden sceptre to
them,</i> and it was extremely doubtful whether she should find him
in so good a humour, <scripRef id="Esth.v-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Esth.4.11" parsed="|Esth|4|11|0|0" passage="Es 4:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>. This law was made, not so much in prudence, for the
greater safety of the king's person, as in pride, that being seldom
seen, and not without great difficulty, he might be adored as a
little god. A foolish law it was; for, (1.) It made the kings
themselves unhappy, confining them to their retirements for fear
they should be seen. This made the royal palace little better than
a royal prison, and the kings themselves could not but become
morose, and perhaps melancholy, and so a terror to others and a
burden to themselves. Many have their lives made miserable by their
own haughtiness and ill nature. (2.) It was bad for the subjects;
for what good had they of a king that they might never have liberty
to apply to for the redress of grievances and appeal to from the
inferior judges? It is not thus in the court of the King of kings;
to the footstool of his throne of grace we may at any time <i>come
boldly,</i> and may be sure of an answer of peace to the prayer of
faith. We are welcome, not only into the inner court, but even into
the holiest, through the blood of Jesus. (3.) It was particularly
very uncomfortable for their wives (for there was not a proviso in
the law to except them), who were <i>bone of their bone</i> and
<i>flesh of their flesh.</i> But perhaps it was wickedly intended
as much against them as any other, that the kings might the more
freely enjoy their concubines, and Esther knew it. Miserable was
the kingdom when the princes framed their laws to serve their
lusts.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Esth.v-p10">2. Her case was at present very
discouraging. Providence so ordered it that, just at this juncture,
she was under a cloud, and the king's affections cooled towards
her, for she had been <i>kept from his presence thirty days,</i>
that her faith and courage might be the more tried, and that God's
goodness in the favour she now found with the king notwithstanding
might shine the brighter. It is probable that Haman endeavoured by
women, as well as wine, to divert the king from thinking of what he
had done, and then Esther was neglected, from whom no doubt he did
what he could to alienate the king, knowing her to be averse to
him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Esth.v-p11">IV. Mordecai still insisted upon it that,
whatever hazard she might run, she must apply to the king in this
great affair, <scripRef id="Esth.v-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Esth.4.13-Esth.4.14" parsed="|Esth|4|13|4|14" passage="Es 4:13,14"><i>v.</i> 13,
14</scripRef>. No excuse will serve, but she must appear an
advocate in this cause; he suggested to her, 1. That it was her own
cause, for that the decree to <i>destroy all the Jews</i> did not
except her: "<i>Think not</i> therefore that <i>thou shalt escape
in the king's house,</i> that the palace will be thy protection,
and the crown save thy head: no, thou art a Jewess, and, if the
rest be cut off, thou wilt be cut off too." It was certainly her
wisdom rather to expose herself to a conditional death from her
husband than to a certain death from her enemy. 2. That it was a
cause which, one way or other, would certainly be carried, and
which therefore she might safely venture in. "If thou shouldst
decline the service, <i>enlargement and deliverance will arise to
the Jews from another place.</i>" This was the language of a strong
faith, which <i>staggered not at the promise</i> when the danger
was most threatening, but <i>against hope believed in hope.</i>
Instruments may fail, but God's covenant will not. 3. That if she
deserted her friends now, through cowardice and unbelief, she would
have reason to fear that some judgment from heaven would be the
ruin of her and her family: "<i>Thou and thy father's house shall
be destroyed,</i> when the rest of the families of the Jews shall
be preserved." He that by sinful shifts will save his life, and
cannot find in his heart to trust God with it in the way of duty,
shall lose it in the way of sin. 4. That divine Providence had an
eye to this in bringing her to be queen: "<i>Who knows whether thou
hast come to the kingdom for such a time as this?</i>" and
therefore, (1.) "Thou art bound in gratitude to do this service for
God and his church, else thou dost not answer the end of thy
elevation." (2.) "Thou needest not fear miscarrying in the
enterprise; if God designed thee for it, he will bear thee out and
give thee success." Now, [1.] It appeared, by the event, that she
did come to the kingdom that she might be an instrument of the
Jews' deliverance, so that Mordecai was right in the conjecture.
<i>Because the Lord loved his people,</i> therefore he made Esther
queen. There is a wise counsel and design in all the providences of
God, which is unknown to us till it is accomplished, but it will
prove, in the issue, that they are all intended for, and centre in,
the good of the church. [2.] The probability of this was a good
reason why she should now bestir herself, and do her utmost for her
people. We should every one of us consider for what end God has put
us in the place where we are, and study to answer that end; and,
when any particular opportunity of serving God and our generation
offers itself, we must take care that we do not let it slip; for we
were entrusted with it that we might improve it. These things
Mordecai urges to Esther; and some of the Jewish writers, who are
fruitful in invention, add another thing which had <i>happened to
him</i> (<scripRef id="Esth.v-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Esth.4.7" parsed="|Esth|4|7|0|0" passage="Es 4:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>) which
he desired she might be told, "that going home, the night before,
in great heaviness, upon the notice of Haman's plot, he met three
Jewish children coming from school, of whom he enquired what they
had learned that day; one of them told him his lesson was,
<scripRef id="Esth.v-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Prov.3.25-Prov.3.26" parsed="|Prov|3|25|3|26" passage="Pr 3:25,26">Prov. iii. 25, 26</scripRef>, <i>Be
not afraid of sudden fear;</i> the second told him his was,
<scripRef id="Esth.v-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.8.10" parsed="|Isa|8|10|0|0" passage="Isa 8:10">Isa. viii. 10</scripRef>, <i>Take
counsel together, and it shall come to nought;</i> the third told
him his was <scripRef id="Esth.v-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:Isa.46.4" parsed="|Isa|46|4|0|0" passage="Isa 46:4">Isa. xlvi. 4</scripRef>,
<i>I have made, and I will bear, even I will carry and will deliver
you.</i> 'O the goodness of God,' says Mordecai, 'who out of the
mouth of babes and sucklings ordains strength!'"</p>
<p class="indent" id="Esth.v-p12">V. Esther hereupon resolved, whatever it
might cost her, to apply to the king, but not till she and her
friends had first applied to God. Let them first by fasting and
prayer obtain God's favour, and then she should hope to find favour
with the king, <scripRef id="Esth.v-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Esth.4.15-Esth.4.16" parsed="|Esth|4|15|4|16" passage="Es 4:15,16"><i>v.</i> 15,
16</scripRef>. She speaks here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Esth.v-p13">1. With the piety and devotion that became
an Israelite. She had here eye up unto God, in whose hands the
hearts of kings are, and on whom she depended to incline this
king's heart towards her. She went in peril of her life, but would
think herself safe, and would be easy, when she had committed the
keeping of her soul to God and had put herself under his
protection. She believed that God's favour was to be obtained by
prayer, that his people are a praying people, and he a
prayer-hearing God. She knew it was the practice of good people, in
extraordinary cases, to join fasting with prayer, and many of them
to join together in both. She therefore, (1.) Desired that Mordecai
would direct the Jews that were in Shushan to <i>sanctify a
fast</i> and <i>call a solemn assembly,</i> to meet in the
respective synagogues to which they belonged, and to pray for her,
and to keep a solemn fast, abstaining from all set meals and all
pleasant food for three days, and as much as possible from all
food, in token of their humiliation for sin and in a sense of their
unworthiness of God's mercy. Those know not how to value the divine
favours who grudge thus much labour and self-denial in the pursuit
of it. (2.) She promised that she and her family would sanctify
this fast in her apartment of the palace, for she might not come to
their assemblies; her maids were either Jewesses or so far
proselytes that they joined with her in her fasting and praying.
Here is a good example of a mistress praying with her maids, and it
is worthy to be imitated. Observe also, Those who are confined to
privacy may join their prayers with those of the solemn assemblies
of God's people; those that are absent in body may be present in
spirit. Those who desire, and have, the prayers of others for them,
must not think that this will excuse them from praying for
themselves.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Esth.v-p14">2. With the courage and resolution that
became a queen. "When we have sought God in this matter, <i>I will
go unto the king</i> to intercede for my people. <i>I know it is
not according to the king's law,</i> but it is according to God's
law; and therefore, whatever comes of it, I will venture, and not
count my life dear to me, so that I may serve God and his church,
and, <i>if I perish, I perish.</i> I cannot lose my life in a
better cause. Better do my duty and die for my people than shrink
from my duty and die with them." She reasons as the lepers
(<scripRef id="Esth.v-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.7.4" parsed="|2Kgs|7|4|0|0" passage="2Ki 7:4">2 Kings vii. 4</scripRef>): "<i>If I
sit still, I die;</i> if I venture, I may live, and be the life of
my people: if the worst come to the worst," as we say, "<i>I shall
but die.</i>" Nothing venture, nothing win. She said not this in
despair or passion, but in a holy resolution to do her duty and
trust God with the issue; welcome his holy will. In the apocryphal
part of this book (<scripRef id="Esth.v-p14.2"><i>ch.</i> xiii. and xiv.</scripRef>) we have
Mordecai's prayer and Esther's upon this occasion, and both of them
very particular and pertinent. In the sequel of the story we shall
find that God said not to this seed of Jacob, <i>Seek you me in
vain.</i></p>
</div></div2>