After the report had been investigated and verified, both officials were hanged on the gallows. And all this was recorded in the Book of the Chronicles in the presence of the king. Sermons
I. THE MOST CAREFULLY-CONCEALED PLANS ARE LIABLE TO BE MARRED BY UN-THOUGHT-OF INSTRUMENTALITY. It is right to plan for success in our lawful under- takings. We should have no plans but such as those on which we can ask God's blessing. To plot against the welfare of others is always dangerous. Plotters are ever likely to "hoist with their own petard." Accident may mar our plottings. A word dropped, or a look passed, may betray. There is generally some Mordecai who carries the whisper to an Esther, and an Esther who carries it to the one most interested. Sometimes God directly thwarts wicked planning. Pharaoh said, "I will pursue," etc., but God "blew with his wind." "They sank as lead in the mighty waters." II. UNWORTHY PLANNINGS ARE OFTEN SUBJECT TO THE KEENEST SEARCHINGS. The king made thorough investigation into the matter. He did not condemn on mere hearsay or suspicion. Many, in the anxiety to protect self, are seized with prejudice which hinders just deliberation. A watch was set. Manners, companions, places of resort were marked. Inquisition was made. III. ALL WRONG-DOING WILL SOONER OR LATER BE DISCOVERED. "The thing was found out." Bigthan and Teresh learned their folly when suffering impalement, the usual punishment of traitors in Persia. They might not have been discovered. Wickedness is sometimes successful in this world, and evades justice. That which may escape detection by men cannot pass the eye of God. Ahasuerus little knew what was in the hearts of those men, but God knew. Bigthan and Teresh would have served Ahasuerus as Ehud did Egion, or Joab, Abner. Learn - 1. That there will be inquiry into our lives, our acts and motives. 2. That none will be exempt from the searching. 3. That we should take warnings given in kindness. Suppose Ahasuerus had paid no heed to Mordecai's warning; he would have lost crown, throne, and life. - H.
Two of the king's chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh ... sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus. Besides flatterers, despots are apt to have traitors and assassins about them, such as Bigthan and Teresh. Mordecai detected their villainy, and no doubt ran considerable risk in exposing it. But he was not one of those who are honest only when honesty appears to them to be the best policy; he did the right because it was the right, faithfully and fearlessly.(A. M. Symington.) (T. McEwan.) II. III. (J. Hughes.) 1. In the first place, we cannot read this narrative without drawing from it a lesson as to the uncertainty of life. The destroying sword may be hanging as by a single hair over the head of the ruler of a vast empire, making his life as contingent as that of the mariner when the storm suddenly bursts forth upon him, or of the soldier when he is under the thick fire of the enemy. Humanly speaking, those who occupy the middle class of society, whose wants are supplied without any danger or painful toil, and who have nothing to dread from the envy and enmity of others, live in greatest security, and have least occasion to fear what is usually called accident, as affecting their life. And the practical use which we should make of the uncertainty of the present life is to have a sure interest in Christ, which will render the life to come all certainty and blessedness to us. 2. In the second place, the narrative before us teaches us that whatever station in providence men are called to fill, they may be instrumental in conferring important benefits on others. Mordecai, a man of humble rank, saved the life of the king. But the remark which we have just made may be transposed to services more important than those which have reference to the present life and its concerns. What an immense power, for instance, is possessed by the nurse to whose care the children of a family are committed, and who, by the faithful execution of her trust, may implant the seeds of truth in the youthful heart so deeply that no worldly influence will afterwards efface them. There is something higher here than the mere saving of life. Every follower of Christ, in whatever sphere he moves, may do incalculable good to those around him, even to those who are placed high above him. If you cannot do so much as you would, a consistent and faithful life, spent in all the unobtrusiveness of true humility, will be a lesson to some that may be productive of vast benefit. 3. In the third place, from the narrative under review we are led to think of a record of unrequited deeds. Mordecai's information saved the life of the king, and was duly noticed in the annals of the kingdom; but it lay there for a considerable time, apparently as a dead letter. There is evidently a twofold application that may be made of this particular. The acts of wicked men are all recorded, and will be brought into judgment. The hand of justice does not always follow the perpetration of the evil act. Yet the retribution, if it be slow, is certain. But it is not so much this aspect of the question that is presented to us in the text as the more pleasing one, that the services of God's people are recorded, and are not suffered to pass unrewarded in the end. The reward, indeed, may not come in the present life. The faithful disciples of Christ have often been left to contend with the world's opposition, and to fall victims to the world's enmity, just on account of their steadfast attachment to the truth. But they are all recorded, and the record will be produced hereafter. The Scripture teaches us this very plainly. "God is not unrighteous," says the apostle, writing to the Hebrews, "to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have showed toward His name, in that ye have ministered to the saints and do minister." (A. B. Davidson, D. D.). 5232 book Esther |
    |