ESTHER

ESTHER
by Mary Elizabeth Baxter
Esther 4; 5; 6; 7.
The name Esther means "Secret," and the history of this famous Jewess
finds its chronology between the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah, in the
days when many of the Jews were still captives in Persia, which
kingdom had conquered Babylon. The state of morality in these Eastern
kingdoms had become terribly low, and the harem system was in its
fullest force. O how grievous that the children of God through their sins
should be subject to a people the standard of whose life was such!
Amongst the captives in Shushan, the palace, there was a certain Jew,
whose name was Mordecai, and the history of this man was so
important in the eyes of God that He mentions the affairs of the king
Ahasuerus, or Artaxerxes, simply to bring out the faith and loyalty of
Mordecai to God and to his people. Ahasuerus, a sensual man, held a
feast, in the course of which, when probably inflamed with wine, he
called for his queen, Vashti, to appear, that his lords should look upon
her beauty. Whether it was womanly modesty, or whether it was selfwill,
which caused the queen to disobey, we know not, but, in any case,
Vashti was degraded from her position, and the king determined to
elect another in her place, and for this purpose sought to replenish his
harem.
It is grievous to think that a maiden of Israel should have been
introduced into the king's harem, but so it was, and the young cousin of
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