Esther 5:3














This verse speaks of an hour when darkness turned to light, gloomy foreboding to well-grounded hope; and when the anguish of trembling suspense was lifted off many a heart, as an unhealthy vapour lifts itself and vanishes before the growing sun. Though it was most true that many a heart was this hour relieved of its strain of anxiety, and was immensely gladdened, yet, as the immediate task had devolved upon Esther, so no doubt the immediate relief was hers. In her first and chiefly the battle was fought and the victory won. In what she thought, did, and obtained we may find concentrated the important suggestions of the hour in question. Notice three things: -

I. THE UNPROMISING APPEARANCES WHICH THIS HOUR PRESENTED. They were not mere dim, vague impressions which it made, nor were they fancies. These appearances were true for the human point of view, however they might be overruled by Divine power and goodness. For men they were hard facts, with which it was necessary to deal. Thus it was certain that -

1. The hour was one which found incalculable human interests at stake. The blotting out of existence, the swift swallowing up of human lives innumerable, with all their precious freightage of love and joy, of purpose and hope, was no light fancy, no vague fear now. Yet that was the appalling uncertainty beneath the burden of which the solemn hour bended. It was not dull cloudiness of sky alone, and that made worse by unnecessary apprehension and weak fearfulness. It was one defined dark mass of cloud.

2. To all human appearance the question of the hour depended on the caprice of one man. It did not resemble some case of great interest, which was going to have the best attention of a select number of the best of people, and thereupon a deliberate decision be taken. In that hour the momentary whim of a capricious despot would decide the question of life or death, for the innocent Esther first, and after her for a whole race, of which she was then the head and representative. But all the while this is, truly speaking, only a forcible case of a constant phenomenon, a genuine fact of human life. We can see, when shown in the dimensions of the instance before us here, the same thing which, because it is on a lesser scale, eludes both belief and even notice in our ordinary life.

3. The responsibility of doing the best possible, or all that was possible, for that hour rested on one gentle, loving woman. What a disproportion! The case is that of the lives of perhaps a million people. The judge is a sensual, capricious Eastern despot. The advocate and intercessor is Esther. And it may be immediate death to her so much as to stand where she does. The occasion witnesses her not defiant, not overcome. It exhibits her a pattern of human self-forgetfulness - that secret of so much of a soul's highest influence on earth, and of its "power to prevail" with heaven. She has collected most calmly a soul's whole force; strength sufficient to the day is hers; and in her may most truly be seen an example of "strength made perfect in weakness."

II. THE CAREFUL PREPARATIONS MADE FOR THIS HOUR.

1. The crisis had not been recklessly nor negligently met. Deep thought had been spent upon it. Anxious consultation had been held upon it. Loving and mature advice had been offered and accepted regarding it.

2. To meet and counteract the things of sight, and "that do appear," resort had been had to faith. The interposition of the Unseen had been sought in "lastings oft" and long. Esther had sent word to Mordecai (Esther 4:16), "I also and my maidens will fast likewise"

3. In this supplication of Heaven the aid of intercession had not been forgotten. Esther had not overlooked the importance of a general union of her people in religious exercise. She called into vitality and determined activity the whole combined and sympathetic force of multitudes, who at her instance did for three days put away from themselves every other thought, care, hope, that they might be found "watching" as regards the crisis of this hour. What an interesting suggestion arises from the words (Esther 4:17), "So Mordecai went his way, and did according to all that Esther had commanded him." The tender ward has become the strong, firm, religious teacher of her guardian.

III. THE GRAND RESULTS OF THIS HOUR.

1. The event of the hour disappointed all fear, rewarded amply all anxious preparation, fulfilled more than the most that hope had dared contemplate.

2. The event of the hour proved different from all that could be reckoned upon at the hands of mere human goodness. And an impressive lesson of religion was taught: "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord" (Proverbs 21:1). This was what secured the rest. "The king held out to Esther the golden sceptre that was in his hand. So Esther drew near, and touched the top of the sceptre."

3. The event of the hour was grander because of its contrasts.

(1) Esther's darkest hour changes to light; Haman's day, ablaze with light and confidence and boasting, is overspread, and goes out in darkness and storm.

(2) The change for Esther and her people themselves is great indeed between the beginning and the end of that hour. Toil brought rest so quickly. Fierce struggle brought peace so sweet. Anguish brought bliss so full. These are the contrasts, as safe, as blessed, as they were sudden. - B.

Then said Zeresh his wife and all his friends.
If a proud man make his complaint to you of his unhappiness, you but make him more unhappy if you advise him to gratify his pride by unreasonable and sinful means. You might as well advise a man dying of a dropsy to pour into his throat large quantities of water. Advise him to mortify his pride, and to learn of Him who was meek, and lowly of heart; to deny himself, to prepare himself for bearing the cross, to take upon himself the yoke of Christ, which is easy. The humble man is always happy. The proud man can never be happy till he is effectually humbled. It is not consistent with the nature of things, nor with the will of the High and Lofty One, who abhors the proud, that the gratifications which pride requires should ever give pure or lasting pleasure to the soul.

(G. Lawson.)

The truth is women are the best and the worst. Because they can be the best, they can be the worst. Because they can rise to the highest in moral grandeur, in self-sacrificing love, in the things which bring human nature nearest to the angelic mood, therefore they can sink to the lowest, and when "past feeling" can be most like the angels fallen. Thank God that your best friends would renounce your society rather than stand by you in anything revengeful or mean.

(A. Raleigh, D. D.).

People
Esther, Haman, Mordecai, Zeresh
Places
Susa
Topics
Desire, Esther, Half, Kingdom, O, Queen, Request, Troubling, Whatever, Wilt
Outline
1. Esther, adventuring on the king's favor, obtains the grace of the golden sceptre,
4. and invites the king and Haman to a banquet.
6. She, being encouraged by the king in her suit, invites them to another banquet.
9. Haman, proud of his advancement, repines at the contempt of Mordecai.
14. By the counsel of Zeresh he prepares for him a gallows.

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Esther 5:3

     1657   numbers, fractions

Esther 5:1-3

     5702   husband

Esther 5:2-3

     5487   queen

Library
Of the Subject to whom to the Key of Church Priviledge, Power, or Liberty is Given.
THIS key is given to the Brethren of the Church: for so saith the Apostle, in Gal. 5. 13. (in the place quoted and opened before) Brethren, you have been called to liberty. And indeed, as it is the eu einai, euexi'a, & eupraxi'a of a Commonwealth, the right and due establishment and ballancing of the liberties or priviledges of the people (which is in a true sense, may be called a power) and the authority of the Magistrate: so it is the safety of Church estate, the right and due settling and ordering
John Cotton—The Keyes of the Kingdom of Heaven, and Power Thereof

Walking with God
Genesis 5:24 -- "And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him." Various are the pleas and arguments which men of corrupt minds frequently urge against yielding obedience to the just and holy commands of God. But, perhaps, one of the most common objections that they make is this, that our Lord's commands are not practicable, because contrary to flesh and blood; and consequently, that he is an hard master, reaping where he has not sown, and gathering where he has not strewed'. These
George Whitefield—Selected Sermons of George Whitefield

The Life of the Blessed in Heaven.
Having examined the glorious gifts with which the risen body is clothed, and seen that it perfects the soul in all her operations; understanding, moreover, that the glorified senses are to contribute their share to the happiness of man--we shall now consider the happy life of the blessed in heaven, including the resurrection. But, remember, it is not a new life that is now to occupy our thoughts. It is a continuation of the same life that was begun the moment the vision of God flashed upon the soul.
F. J. Boudreaux—The Happiness of Heaven

Dining with a Pharisee. Sabbath Healing and Three Lessons Suggested by the Event.
(Probably Peræa.) ^C Luke XIV. 1-24. ^c 1 And it came to pass, when he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a sabbath to eat bread, that they were watching him. [The Pharisees were an unorganized party, hence their rulers were such not by office, but by influence. Those who were members of the Sanhedrin, or who were distinguished among the rabbis, might fitly be spoken of as rulers among them. The context favors the idea that Jesus was invited for the purpose of being
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Poor in Spirit are Enriched with a Kingdom
Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3 Here is high preferment for the saints. They shall be advanced to a kingdom. There are some who, aspiring after earthly greatness, talk of a temporal reign here, but then God's church on earth would not be militant but triumphant. But sure it is the saints shall reign in a glorious manner: Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.' A kingdom is held the acme and top of all worldly felicity, and this honour have all the saints'; so says our Saviour, Theirs is the
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

Esther
The spirit of the book of Esther is anything but attractive. It is never quoted or referred to by Jesus or His apostles, and it is a satisfaction to think that in very early times, and even among Jewish scholars, its right to a place in the canon was hotly contested. Its aggressive fanaticism and fierce hatred of all that lay outside of Judaism were felt by the finer spirits to be false to the more generous instincts that lay at the heart of the Hebrew religion; but by virtue of its very intensity
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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