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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>E S T H E R</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. IV.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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We left God's Isaac bound upon the altar and ready to be sacrificed,
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and the enemies triumphing in the prospect of it; but things here begin
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to work towards a deliverance, and they begin at the right end.
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I. The Jews' friends lay to heart the danger and lament it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+4:1-4">ver. 1-4</A>.
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II. Matters are concerted between Mordecai and Esther for the
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preventing of it.
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1. Esther enquires into this case, and receives a particular account of
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it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+4:5-7">ver. 5-7</A>.
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2. Mordecai urges her to intercede with the king for a revocation of
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the edict,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+4:8,9">ver. 8, 9</A>.
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III. Esther objects the danger of addressing the king uncalled,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+4:10-12">ver. 10-12</A>.
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IV. Mordecai presses her to venture,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+4:13,14">ver. 13, 14</A>.
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V. Esther, after a religious fast of three days, promises to do so
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+4:15-17">ver. 15-17</A>),
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and we shall find that she sped well.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Es4_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es4_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es4_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es4_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Great Mourning among the Jews.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 510.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 When Mordecai perceived all that was done, Mordecai rent his
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clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the
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midst of the city, and cried with a loud and a bitter cry;
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2 And came even before the king's gate: for none <I>might</I> enter
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into the king's gate clothed with sackcloth.
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3 And in every province, whithersoever the king's commandment
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and his decree came, <I>there was</I> great mourning among the Jews,
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and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth
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and ashes.
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4 So Esther's maids and her chamberlains came and told <I>it</I>
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her. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved; and she sent raiment
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to clothe Mordecai, and to take away his sackcloth from him: but
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he received <I>it</I> not.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here we have an account of the general sorrow that there was among the
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Jews upon the publishing of Haman's bloody edict against them. It was a
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sad time with the church.
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1. Mordecai cried bitterly, <I>rent his clothes, and put on
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sackcloth,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+4:1,2"><I>v.</I> 1, 2</A>.
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He not only thus vented his grief, but proclaimed it, that all might
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take notice of it that he was not ashamed to own himself a friend to
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the Jews, and a fellow-sufferer with them, their brother and companion
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in tribulation, how despicable and how odious soever they were now
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represented by Haman's faction. It was nobly done thus publicly to
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espouse what he knew to be a righteous cause, and the cause of God,
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even when it seemed a desperate and a sinking cause. Mordecai laid the
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danger to heart more than any because he knew that Haman's spite was
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against him primarily, and that it was for his sake that the rest of
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the Jews were struck at; and therefore, though he did not repent of
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what some would call his obstinacy, for he persisted in it
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+5:9"><I>ch.</I> v. 9</A>),
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yet it troubled him greatly that his people should suffer for his
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scruples, which perhaps occasioned some of them to reflect upon him as
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too precise. But, being able to appeal to God that what he did he did
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from a principle of conscience, he could with comfort commit his own
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cause and that of his people to him that judgeth righteously. God will
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keep those that are exposed by the tenderness of their consciences.
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Notice is here taken of a law that <I>none might enter into the king's
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gate clothed with sackcloth;</I> though the arbitrary power of their
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kings often, as now, set many a mourning, yet none must come near the
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king in a mourning dress, because he was not willing to hear the
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complaints of such. Nothing but what was gay and pleasant must appear
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at court, and every thing that was melancholy must be banished thence;
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all in king's palaces <I>wear soft clothing</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+11:8">Matt. xi. 8</A>),
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not sackcloth. But thus to keep out the badges of sorrow, unless they
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could withal have kept out the causes of sorrow--to forbid sackcloth to
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enter, unless they could have forbidden sickness, and trouble, and
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death to enter--was jest. However this obliged Mordecai to keep his
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distance, and only to come before the gate, not to take his place in
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the gate.
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2. All the Jews in every province laid it much to heart,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+4:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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They denied themselves the comfort of their tables (for they fasted and
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mingled tears with their meat and drink), and the comfort of their beds
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at night, for <I>they lay in sackcloth and ashes.</I> Those who for
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want of confidence in God, and affection to their own land, has staid
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in the land of their captivity, when Cyrus gave them liberty to be
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gone, now perhaps repented of their folly, and wished, when it was too
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late, that they had complied with the call of God.
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3. Esther the queen, upon a general intimation of the trouble Mordecai
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was in, <I>was exceedingly grieved,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+4:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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Mordecai's grief was hers, such a respect did she still retain for him;
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and the Jews' danger was her distress; for, though a queen, she forgot
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not her relation to them. Let not the greatest think it below them to
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<I>grieve for the affliction of Joseph,</I> though they themselves be
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<I>anointed with the chief ointments,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+6:6">Amos vi. 6</A>.
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Esther sent change of raiment to Mordecai, the <I>oil of joy for
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mourning and the garments of praise for the spirit of heaviness;</I>
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but because he would make her sensible of the greatness of his grief,
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and consequently of the cause of it, <I>he received it not,</I> but was
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as one that refused to be comforted.</P>
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<A NAME="Es4_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es4_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es4_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es4_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es4_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es4_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es4_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es4_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es4_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es4_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es4_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es4_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Es4_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Mordecai's Application to Esther; Esther Urged to Petition the King; Esther Resolves to Petition the King.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 510.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>5 Then called Esther for Hatach, <I>one</I> of the king's
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chamberlains, whom he had appointed to attend upon her, and gave
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him a commandment to Mordecai, to know what it <I>was,</I> and why it
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<I>was.</I>
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6 So Hatach went forth to Mordecai unto the street of the city,
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which <I>was</I> before the king's gate.
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7 And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and
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of the sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the
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king's treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them.
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8 Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that
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was given at Shushan to destroy them, to show <I>it</I> unto Esther,
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and to declare <I>it</I> unto her, and to charge her that she should
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go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make
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request before him for her people.
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9 And Hatach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.
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10 Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment
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unto Mordecai;
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11 All the king's servants, and the people of the king's
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provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall
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come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called,
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<I>there is</I> one law of his to put <I>him</I> to death, except such to
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whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may
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live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these
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thirty days.
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12 And they told to Mordecai Esther's words.
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13 Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with
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thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all
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the Jews.
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14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time,
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<I>then</I> shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews
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from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be
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destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom
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for <I>such</I> a time as this?
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15 Then Esther bade <I>them</I> return Mordecai <I>this answer,</I>
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16 Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in
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Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three
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days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and
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so will I go in unto the king, which <I>is</I> not according to the
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law: and if I perish, I perish.
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17 So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that
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Esther had commanded him.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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So strictly did the laws of Persia confine the wives, especially the
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king's wives, that it was not possible for Mordecai to have a
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conference with Esther about this important affair, but divers messages
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are here carried between them by Hatach, whom the king had appointed to
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attend her, and it seems he was one she could confide in.</P>
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<P>
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I. She sent to Mordecai to know more particularly and fully what the
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trouble was which he was now lamenting
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+4:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>)
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and why it was that he would not put off his sackcloth. To enquire thus
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after news, that we may know the better how to direct our griefs and
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joys, our prayers and praises, well becomes all that love Sion. If we
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must weep with those that weep, we must know why they weep.</P>
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<P>
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II. Mordecai sent her an authentic account of the whole matter, with a
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charge to her to intercede with the king in this matter: <I>Mordecai
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told him all that had happened unto him</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+4:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
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what a pique Haman had against him for now bowing to him, and by what
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arts he had procured this edict; he sent her also a true copy of the
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edict, that she might see what imminent danger she and her people were
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in, and charged her, if she had any respect for him or any kindness for
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the Jewish nation, that she should appear now on their behalf, rectify
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the misinformations with which the king was imposed upon, and set the
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matter in a true light, not doubting but that then he would vacate the
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decree.</P>
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<P>
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III. She sent her case to Mordecai, that she could not, without peril
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of her life, address the king, and that therefore he put a great
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hardship upon her in urging her to it. Gladly would she wait, gladly
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would she stoop, to do the Jews a kindness; but, if she must run the
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hazard of being put to death as a malefactor, she might well say, <I>I
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pray thee have me excused,</I> and find out some other intercessor.</P>
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<P>
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1. The law was express, and all knew it, that whosoever came to the
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king uncalled should be put to death, unless he was pleased to <I>hold
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out the golden sceptre to them,</I> and it was extremely doubtful
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whether she should find him in so good a humour,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+4:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
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This law was made, not so much in prudence, for the greater safety of
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the king's person, as in pride, that being seldom seen, and not without
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great difficulty, he might be adored as a little god. A foolish law it
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was; for,
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(1.) It made the kings themselves unhappy, confining them to their
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retirements for fear they should be seen. This made the royal palace
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little better than a royal prison, and the kings themselves could not
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but become morose, and perhaps melancholy, and so a terror to others
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and a burden to themselves. Many have their lives made miserable by
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their own haughtiness and ill nature.
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(2.) It was bad for the subjects; for what good had they of a king that
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they might never have liberty to apply to for the redress of grievances
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and appeal to from the inferior judges? It is not thus in the court of
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the King of kings; to the footstool of his throne of grace we may at
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any time <I>come boldly,</I> and may be sure of an answer of peace to
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the prayer of faith. We are welcome, not only into the inner court, but
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even into the holiest, through the blood of Jesus.
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(3.) It was particularly very uncomfortable for their wives (for there
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was not a proviso in the law to except them), who were <I>bone of their
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bone</I> and <I>flesh of their flesh.</I> But perhaps it was wickedly
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intended as much against them as any other, that the kings might the
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more freely enjoy their concubines, and Esther knew it. Miserable was
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the kingdom when the princes framed their laws to serve their
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lusts.</P>
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<P>
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2. Her case was at present very discouraging. Providence so ordered it
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that, just at this juncture, she was under a cloud, and the king's
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affections cooled towards her, for she had been <I>kept from his
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presence thirty days,</I> that her faith and courage might be the more
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tried, and that God's goodness in the favour she now found with the
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king notwithstanding might shine the brighter. It is probable that
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Haman endeavoured by women, as well as wine, to divert the king from
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thinking of what he had done, and then Esther was neglected, from whom
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no doubt he did what he could to alienate the king, knowing her to be
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averse to him.</P>
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<P>
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IV. Mordecai still insisted upon it that, whatever hazard she might
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run, she must apply to the king in this great affair,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+4:13,14"><I>v.</I> 13, 14</A>.
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No excuse will serve, but she must appear an advocate in this cause; he
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suggested to her,
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1. That it was her own cause, for that the decree to <I>destroy all the
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Jews</I> did not except here: "<I>Think not</I> therefore that <I>thou
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shalt escape in the king's house,</I> that the palace will be thy
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protection, and the crown save thy head: no, thou art a Jewess, and, if
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the rest be cut off, thou wilt be cut off too." It was certainly her
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wisdom rather to expose herself to a conditional death from her husband
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than to a certain death from her enemy.
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2. That it was a cause which, one way or other, would certainly be
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carried, and which therefore she might safely venture in. "If thou
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shouldst decline the service, <I>enlargement and deliverance will arise
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to the Jews from another place.</I>" This was the language of a strong
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faith, which <I>staggered not at the promise</I> when the danger was
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most threatening, but <I>against hope believed in hope.</I> Instruments
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may fail, but God's covenant will not.
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3. That if she deserted her friends now, through cowardice and
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unbelief, she would have reason to fear that some judgment from heaven
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would be the ruin of her and her family: "<I>Thou and thy father's
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house shall be destroyed,</I> when the rest of the families of the Jews
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shall be preserved." He that by sinful shifts will save his life, and
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cannot find in his heart to trust God with it in the way of duty, shall
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lose it in the way of sin.
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4. That divine Providence had an eye to this in bringing her to be
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queen: "<I>Who knows whether thou hast come to the kingdom for such a
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time as this?</I>" and therefore,
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(1.) "Thou art bound in gratitude to do this service for God and his
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church, else thou dost not answer the end of thy elevation."
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(2.) "Thou needest not fear miscarrying in the enterprise; if God
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designed thee for it, he will bear thee out and give thee success."
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Now,
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[1.] It appeared, by the event, that she did come to the kingdom that
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she might be an instrument of the Jews' deliverance, so that Mordecai
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was right in the conjecture. <I>Because the Lord loved his people,</I>
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therefore he made Esther queen. There is a wise counsel and design in
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all the providences of God, which is unknown to us till it is
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accomplished, but it will prove, in the issue, that they are all
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intended for, and centre in, the good of the church.
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[2.] The probability of this was a good reason why she should now
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bestir herself, and do her utmost for her people. We should every one
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of us consider for what end God has put us in the place where we are,
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and study to answer that end; and, when any particular opportunity of
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serving God and our generation offers itself, we must take care that we
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do not let it slip; for we were entrusted with it that we might improve
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it. These things Mordecai urges to Esther; and some of the Jewish
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writers, who are fruitful in invention, add another thing which had
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<I>happened to him</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+4:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>)
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which he desired she might be told, "that going home, the night before,
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in great heaviness, upon the notice of Haman's plot, he met three
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Jewish children coming from school, of whom he enquired what they had
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learned that day; one of them told him his lesson was,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+3:25,26">Prov. iii. 25, 26</A>,
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<I>Be not afraid of sudden fear;</I> the second told him his was,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+8:10">Isa. viii. 10</A>,
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<I>Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought;</I> the third
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told him his was
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+46:4">Isa. xlvi. 4</A>,
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<I>I have made, and I will bear, even I will carry and will deliver
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|
you.</I> 'O the goodness of God,' says Mordecai, 'who out of the mouth
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of babes and sucklings ordains strength!'"</P>
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<P>
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V. Esther hereupon resolved, whatever it might cost her, to apply to
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the king, but not till she and her friends had first applied to God.
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Let them first by fasting and prayer obtain God's favour, and then she
|
|
should hope to find favour with the king,
|
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|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Es+4:15,16"><I>v.</I> 15, 16</A>.
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She speaks here,</P>
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<P>
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1. With the piety and devotion that became an Israelite. She had here
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|
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,
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(1.) Desired that Mordecai would direct the Jews that were in Shushan
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|
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>
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|
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|
<P>
|
|
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|
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
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+7:4">2 Kings vii. 4</A>):
|
|
|
|
"<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
|
|
|
|
(<U><I>ch.</I> xiii. and xiv.</U>)
|
|
|
|
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>
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