Post by MIRIAM JACOB on Mar 2, 2012 12:53:05 GMT -5
CHAPTER II.
THE GREAT BANQUET.
Many hundred years ago the great city of Shushan was full of gaiety
and rejoicing because of the feast which King Ahasuerus was holding in his royal palace. He was very powerful; and as he was not a Christian king, and knew nothing of God, who loves the humble but is driven away by the pride of men’s hearts, he wanted to make a display of his riches and glory which should prove, to all who visited the city, his greatness and grandeur, and cause them to honour him still more that they did already.
So, in the third year of his reign, this king resolved to make a feast for his subjects. All the noble Medes and Persians were to be present, besides the governors over the one hundred and
twenty-seven provinces which belonged to him. In those times a great feast lasted some days; and Ahasuerus chose to keep up all this rejoicing for a hundred and eighty days, during which he and his
noble visitors were partaking of the richest banquets and drinking choice wines.
When the time had expired, a second feast wa proclaimed, and this was for all the people of the city of Shushan, from the lowest to the greatest; and it was to be held for seven days in the court of the
garden. Those Eastern palaces were grand buildings, with their lofty roofs and marble floors and cushioned beds, upon which, according to the custom of the country, people reclined as they ate and drank.
And as King Ahasuerus gave orders that everything should be costly
and splendid to celebrate this feast, rich curtains of brilliant colours such as the Persians love, were fastened up by rings of ivory between the pifiars of marble; and beds—or couches, as we should call them—made of gold and silver, were arranged upon the inlaid floor. The visitors drank out of golden cups and ate of rich meats, which were served up in great variety; and as the king sat upon his
throne looking down upon this scene of splendour, his heart swelled with pride as he thought, “All this is mine.”
It was not the custom for women and men to be present in the same banqueting-hall; so Vashti the queen held her feast with the ladies of her court, and others who were invited from the city, in another of the palaces belonging to Ahasuerus.
Not all the servants of the king were allowed to act as messengers to the, queen: there were some specially set apart for that purpose, and upon the last day of the feast the king called seven of these men to him, and bade them bring Queen Vashti in before all the princes with her golden crown upon her head, that they might behold her exceeding beauty.
It was not a just or right command; but Ahasuerus was not able to act justly at that time. The rich wines had excited him so much that he did then what he would not have done in quieter moments; and so he sent this order by these special messengers, and was very angry when they returned without Vashti, saying that she refused to come at his bidding. In this she was partly right and partly wrong.
It was both right and natural that she who was accustomed to the strict rules of the Persian court, which obliged her to live retired from the eyes of men, should hesitate and fear when this strange command reached her. But the king was her husband; he had a right to call for her presence; and besides, she must have known his proud and passionate nature would be roused by her refusal to obey.
So that it seems as if it would have been more pleasing to God had she yielded humbly, however hard it might be; and then he would have watched over her and kept her from all harm. Poor Vashti was a pagan queen; she knew nothing about the loving care with which God surrounds his people, her proud spirit rebelled against the command of her royal husband, and in the presence of her guests she very likely took pleasure in displaying the courage with which she defied him.
It often happened that there were difficult matters to be decided by the king, in which he was glad to ask the opinion of wise and prudent counsellors; and some of those who best knew the laws which their forefathers had made were always near Ahasuerus, so that he might summon them to his presence whenever it was
necessary.
When Vashti refused to appear before the assembled princes, the king asked these wise men what sentence of punishment he should pass upon her. It was not an offence which a proud Eastern
monarch would overlook; and he was especially angry then, when he had been expending his riches in order to display his power and greatness, and yet his own queen dared to show him this public
disrespect!
Then one of the counsellors answered the king, and showed the extent of the injury she had done him. It was not only her disobedience (so said this prince), but the example which she was
giving to the women of that kingdom, that made her offence so great; and when he still further showed Ahasuerus how this act of Queen Vashti would be noised abroad, the pride of the haughty monarch was roused to its full extent, and he willingly agreed that she should be turned away from the palace and her costly garments taken from her, and another woman be made queen in her place.
So an order was written in the king’s name, forbidding Vashti to come any more into his presence, as a disgrace which was considered a fitting punishment for such an act of disobedience; and this was made known throughout the city of Shushan,
and also through every province of the empire.
Vashti must have felt greatly humbled. She had to listen to the king’s messenger as he read out her sentence in the presence of all the guests she had invited to the banquet and before all her women attendants; and some, no doubt, would pity, others blame her, while any who had ever felt a dislike to the queen, or had envied her position or her rich dress or her costly jewels, would triumph over her now in her abasement.
This was how the great feast ended for Vashti. The iejoicings had turned to sorrow and shame for her. And she knew,too, that there was not the slightest hope of Ahasuerus being persuaded to pardon
her, because one of the greatest boasts of the Medes and Persians was that their laws and their decrees could never change; and the king’s command having been given for her disgrace, would always
remain the same.
In the Scripture narrative we read that afterwards the anger of Ahasuerus was appeased, and his thoughts turned once more to Vashti, and he remembered what she had done, and also what she had suffered. Perhaps he was sorry then for the rash command he had given in the excitement produced by drinking too freely at the great feast. But if he was, it was of no avail, because of this unchangeable Persian law of which we have just spoken; the nobler, higher law of Christianity, which teaches us to acknowledge and, if possible, to repair the injuries we have done, was not known to a pagan king such as he.
The servants and officers of the royal household of Ahasuerus felt that was the time for another queen to be sought for among the fairest, noblest young maidens of the kingdom, so that their ruler might not mourn for Vashti.
So an order was sent throughout all the provinces, commanding that the most beautiful women were to be sought, and brought to
Shushan, and lodged in a palace set apart for their use until Ahasuerus should have seen them one by one in turn, and made
choice of her whom he thought most worthy of the dignity of being crowned queen.
There was great excitement throughout every part of the vast empire when this decree was made known. Au the Persian maidens would naturally desire to be the wife of so great and so powerful a monarch, to be lodged in the gorgeous palace and clad in costly robes and ornaments, such as once had adorned Vashti. In their eyes it was much such an honour and distinction as that which filled the heart of Jewish maidens with desire,—the happiness of being the mother of the promised Messiah.
But as God selected the meek and lowly Mary, who had never dreamed of receiving so great a mark of favour, from among all the expectant Hebrew maidens, so in this earlier history his providence had ordained that the choice of Ahasuerus should fall upon a quiet maiden, who was not even one of the Persian race, but belonged to the Jewish nation, and who probably had never expected to receive any favour or distinction at all.
All through the long years of captivity, while the Israelites had been mourning over the misfortunes of their country, God had been keeping guard over them, and had in due time turned the heart of the Persian king to set them free; and now His care was extended over the small number of Jews who still dwelt in the empire of those
who had conquered them, and by a wonderful chain of events he was about to raise them out of their lowly and despised state.
Mordecai was one of the Israelitish people dwelling in the kingdom of Ahasuerus. It is said that it was in Babylon he was found with his fair young niece, whom he had loved and protected since the death of her own father and mother. Among her kindred she was called by
the Hebrew name of Hadassah, but to others she was known by the Persian name of Esther, and thus she is spoken of in the Scripture story of her life. Esther was very beautiful , — so beautiful that when the king’s messengers were searching throughout the provinces for young and lovely maidens who should please the eye of Ahasuerus, they heard of her also, and brought her away from
Babylon to the palace in Shushan, as one of those from whom he should choose his queen.
One officer had been appointed to receive those who were intended to appear before the king; and this man was very much pleased with the countenance and manners of Esther, and took care to have her well lodged in the palace, with seven maidens to wait upon her by night and by day.
It was not known that Esther belonged to the Jewish nation; her uncle Mordecai had charged her to be silent about it until he gave her leave to speak of herself and her people; and she was so obedient that she very willingly attended to every command and word of counsel he spoke to her. Mordecai did not forget Esther when she had been taken to the royal house. He walked in front of it every day, that he might know what happened; and no doubt he must have prayed often that the young Jewish girl might be faithful to her God, now that she was cast amongst people who did not know or fear him.
So many maidens had been brought to Shushan, that it took a very long time for each one to pass separately into the presence of the king; but all the months of waiting were used in preparing ornaments and robes, and sweet perfumes, which should increase their beauty in the sight of Ahasuerus, and each maiden received
whatever she desired to adorn herself. One by one they were conducted to the inner court of the palace, where the king awaited them, and then they returned to the keeping of the officers who had charge of them until the royal decision was made known.
At last it was the turn of Esther; and she, instead of being anxious about her ornaments, asked for nothing, but took with sweetness and gentleness whatever was given her, making no further requests. We hear that she looked exceedingly fair and beautiful as she was taken to the king’s presence, so beautiful that the great Ahasuerus loved her more than all the maidens who had been brought before him, and he chose her directly to be his queen, and the crown was placed upon her head, and it was made known throughout the city of Shushan that Esther was to succeed Vashti.
There were great rejoicings held at the palace, for the princes and officers and servants, in honour of the royal marriage, a wedding in those Eastern countries being an occasion for the greatest display. For several days continual entertainments are held, at which hired dancers and musicians amuse the company, and the court-yards blaze with illuminations and fire-works at night. On the real marriage day the bride and bridegroom are magnificently dressed, and music and torch-bearers make the streets gay; a splendid feast is given, and for many days the rejoicings are kept up at a great expense.
All this is the case in an ordinary marriage between persons of rank, but for a king such as Ahasuerus there would be royal festivities; and every one throughout the city, as well as in the more distant provinces, would keep holiday. Ahasuerus also caused magnificent gifts to be distributed by the governors amongst the common people, thus to add to the general joy.
The king did not know even then that Esther was one of the Jewish people; the secret seems to have been preserved, not as a deception, but as an act of wisdom on the part of Mordecai, according to God’s will, until the right time had come for her to acknowledge her country, even the moment of danger.
Though Esther was elevated to so high a rank, we may be quite certain that she had not grown proud and uplifted; because if so she would not have been so perfectly obedient, and we read that she did in all things the will of Mordecai just as when she had been dependent upon him. Her queenly robes must have covered a very loving and faithful heart, which did not forget all he had done for her when she was alone and friendless.
Mordecai did remain in Babylon; he came with his niece to Shushan, and dwelt quite close to the outer gate of the palace, where he might watch over her, and be at hand to receive any message she wished to send him.
It happened that there were two of the lower officers belonging to the royal household who had a deep dislike to the king, and one day they were speaking loudly and angrily together at the gate of entrance which was their post as porters, and Mordecai overheard them, and found from their words that they had formed a design to take the life of Ahasuerus.
He knew that he ought to make this known, so he found an opportunity of sending word to Queen Esther of this conspiracy; and she told it to the king, who immediately ordered his counsellors to inquire into the matter, and see if there was truth in it. Great pains were taken to make sure that Mordecai had spoken truly, and the two men were seized and charged with the crime; and as they confessed their guilt, there was no room for doubt, and they were sentenced to be hanged, as a punishment suited to the offence.
Great books, or rolls of records, were kept in all those Eastern countries, in which everything of any importance which happened during the reign of a king was written down; and therefore this act of treason was of course registered in the book, and it was stated that Mordecai had been the man who had saved the king’s life by giving a timely warning.
For such a deed some great reward would usually be granted, probably either a considerable sum of money or a tract of land; but in this case Mordecai’s service was only acknowledged by some very triffing gift. Some historians say that he did not even receive the smallest return at that time for the discovery of the treason and the information he had given.
This seemed to happen by chance, but it was the way God had chosen to bring about his own plans; and very likely Mordecai felt sure of this, and did not feel angry at the slight shown him, but went on in his quiet life, relying upon the guidance of Heaven.
THE GREAT BANQUET.
Many hundred years ago the great city of Shushan was full of gaiety
and rejoicing because of the feast which King Ahasuerus was holding in his royal palace. He was very powerful; and as he was not a Christian king, and knew nothing of God, who loves the humble but is driven away by the pride of men’s hearts, he wanted to make a display of his riches and glory which should prove, to all who visited the city, his greatness and grandeur, and cause them to honour him still more that they did already.
So, in the third year of his reign, this king resolved to make a feast for his subjects. All the noble Medes and Persians were to be present, besides the governors over the one hundred and
twenty-seven provinces which belonged to him. In those times a great feast lasted some days; and Ahasuerus chose to keep up all this rejoicing for a hundred and eighty days, during which he and his
noble visitors were partaking of the richest banquets and drinking choice wines.
When the time had expired, a second feast wa proclaimed, and this was for all the people of the city of Shushan, from the lowest to the greatest; and it was to be held for seven days in the court of the
garden. Those Eastern palaces were grand buildings, with their lofty roofs and marble floors and cushioned beds, upon which, according to the custom of the country, people reclined as they ate and drank.
And as King Ahasuerus gave orders that everything should be costly
and splendid to celebrate this feast, rich curtains of brilliant colours such as the Persians love, were fastened up by rings of ivory between the pifiars of marble; and beds—or couches, as we should call them—made of gold and silver, were arranged upon the inlaid floor. The visitors drank out of golden cups and ate of rich meats, which were served up in great variety; and as the king sat upon his
throne looking down upon this scene of splendour, his heart swelled with pride as he thought, “All this is mine.”
It was not the custom for women and men to be present in the same banqueting-hall; so Vashti the queen held her feast with the ladies of her court, and others who were invited from the city, in another of the palaces belonging to Ahasuerus.
Not all the servants of the king were allowed to act as messengers to the, queen: there were some specially set apart for that purpose, and upon the last day of the feast the king called seven of these men to him, and bade them bring Queen Vashti in before all the princes with her golden crown upon her head, that they might behold her exceeding beauty.
It was not a just or right command; but Ahasuerus was not able to act justly at that time. The rich wines had excited him so much that he did then what he would not have done in quieter moments; and so he sent this order by these special messengers, and was very angry when they returned without Vashti, saying that she refused to come at his bidding. In this she was partly right and partly wrong.
It was both right and natural that she who was accustomed to the strict rules of the Persian court, which obliged her to live retired from the eyes of men, should hesitate and fear when this strange command reached her. But the king was her husband; he had a right to call for her presence; and besides, she must have known his proud and passionate nature would be roused by her refusal to obey.
So that it seems as if it would have been more pleasing to God had she yielded humbly, however hard it might be; and then he would have watched over her and kept her from all harm. Poor Vashti was a pagan queen; she knew nothing about the loving care with which God surrounds his people, her proud spirit rebelled against the command of her royal husband, and in the presence of her guests she very likely took pleasure in displaying the courage with which she defied him.
It often happened that there were difficult matters to be decided by the king, in which he was glad to ask the opinion of wise and prudent counsellors; and some of those who best knew the laws which their forefathers had made were always near Ahasuerus, so that he might summon them to his presence whenever it was
necessary.
When Vashti refused to appear before the assembled princes, the king asked these wise men what sentence of punishment he should pass upon her. It was not an offence which a proud Eastern
monarch would overlook; and he was especially angry then, when he had been expending his riches in order to display his power and greatness, and yet his own queen dared to show him this public
disrespect!
Then one of the counsellors answered the king, and showed the extent of the injury she had done him. It was not only her disobedience (so said this prince), but the example which she was
giving to the women of that kingdom, that made her offence so great; and when he still further showed Ahasuerus how this act of Queen Vashti would be noised abroad, the pride of the haughty monarch was roused to its full extent, and he willingly agreed that she should be turned away from the palace and her costly garments taken from her, and another woman be made queen in her place.
So an order was written in the king’s name, forbidding Vashti to come any more into his presence, as a disgrace which was considered a fitting punishment for such an act of disobedience; and this was made known throughout the city of Shushan,
and also through every province of the empire.
Vashti must have felt greatly humbled. She had to listen to the king’s messenger as he read out her sentence in the presence of all the guests she had invited to the banquet and before all her women attendants; and some, no doubt, would pity, others blame her, while any who had ever felt a dislike to the queen, or had envied her position or her rich dress or her costly jewels, would triumph over her now in her abasement.
This was how the great feast ended for Vashti. The iejoicings had turned to sorrow and shame for her. And she knew,too, that there was not the slightest hope of Ahasuerus being persuaded to pardon
her, because one of the greatest boasts of the Medes and Persians was that their laws and their decrees could never change; and the king’s command having been given for her disgrace, would always
remain the same.
In the Scripture narrative we read that afterwards the anger of Ahasuerus was appeased, and his thoughts turned once more to Vashti, and he remembered what she had done, and also what she had suffered. Perhaps he was sorry then for the rash command he had given in the excitement produced by drinking too freely at the great feast. But if he was, it was of no avail, because of this unchangeable Persian law of which we have just spoken; the nobler, higher law of Christianity, which teaches us to acknowledge and, if possible, to repair the injuries we have done, was not known to a pagan king such as he.
The servants and officers of the royal household of Ahasuerus felt that was the time for another queen to be sought for among the fairest, noblest young maidens of the kingdom, so that their ruler might not mourn for Vashti.
So an order was sent throughout all the provinces, commanding that the most beautiful women were to be sought, and brought to
Shushan, and lodged in a palace set apart for their use until Ahasuerus should have seen them one by one in turn, and made
choice of her whom he thought most worthy of the dignity of being crowned queen.
There was great excitement throughout every part of the vast empire when this decree was made known. Au the Persian maidens would naturally desire to be the wife of so great and so powerful a monarch, to be lodged in the gorgeous palace and clad in costly robes and ornaments, such as once had adorned Vashti. In their eyes it was much such an honour and distinction as that which filled the heart of Jewish maidens with desire,—the happiness of being the mother of the promised Messiah.
But as God selected the meek and lowly Mary, who had never dreamed of receiving so great a mark of favour, from among all the expectant Hebrew maidens, so in this earlier history his providence had ordained that the choice of Ahasuerus should fall upon a quiet maiden, who was not even one of the Persian race, but belonged to the Jewish nation, and who probably had never expected to receive any favour or distinction at all.
All through the long years of captivity, while the Israelites had been mourning over the misfortunes of their country, God had been keeping guard over them, and had in due time turned the heart of the Persian king to set them free; and now His care was extended over the small number of Jews who still dwelt in the empire of those
who had conquered them, and by a wonderful chain of events he was about to raise them out of their lowly and despised state.
Mordecai was one of the Israelitish people dwelling in the kingdom of Ahasuerus. It is said that it was in Babylon he was found with his fair young niece, whom he had loved and protected since the death of her own father and mother. Among her kindred she was called by
the Hebrew name of Hadassah, but to others she was known by the Persian name of Esther, and thus she is spoken of in the Scripture story of her life. Esther was very beautiful , — so beautiful that when the king’s messengers were searching throughout the provinces for young and lovely maidens who should please the eye of Ahasuerus, they heard of her also, and brought her away from
Babylon to the palace in Shushan, as one of those from whom he should choose his queen.
One officer had been appointed to receive those who were intended to appear before the king; and this man was very much pleased with the countenance and manners of Esther, and took care to have her well lodged in the palace, with seven maidens to wait upon her by night and by day.
It was not known that Esther belonged to the Jewish nation; her uncle Mordecai had charged her to be silent about it until he gave her leave to speak of herself and her people; and she was so obedient that she very willingly attended to every command and word of counsel he spoke to her. Mordecai did not forget Esther when she had been taken to the royal house. He walked in front of it every day, that he might know what happened; and no doubt he must have prayed often that the young Jewish girl might be faithful to her God, now that she was cast amongst people who did not know or fear him.
So many maidens had been brought to Shushan, that it took a very long time for each one to pass separately into the presence of the king; but all the months of waiting were used in preparing ornaments and robes, and sweet perfumes, which should increase their beauty in the sight of Ahasuerus, and each maiden received
whatever she desired to adorn herself. One by one they were conducted to the inner court of the palace, where the king awaited them, and then they returned to the keeping of the officers who had charge of them until the royal decision was made known.
At last it was the turn of Esther; and she, instead of being anxious about her ornaments, asked for nothing, but took with sweetness and gentleness whatever was given her, making no further requests. We hear that she looked exceedingly fair and beautiful as she was taken to the king’s presence, so beautiful that the great Ahasuerus loved her more than all the maidens who had been brought before him, and he chose her directly to be his queen, and the crown was placed upon her head, and it was made known throughout the city of Shushan that Esther was to succeed Vashti.
There were great rejoicings held at the palace, for the princes and officers and servants, in honour of the royal marriage, a wedding in those Eastern countries being an occasion for the greatest display. For several days continual entertainments are held, at which hired dancers and musicians amuse the company, and the court-yards blaze with illuminations and fire-works at night. On the real marriage day the bride and bridegroom are magnificently dressed, and music and torch-bearers make the streets gay; a splendid feast is given, and for many days the rejoicings are kept up at a great expense.
All this is the case in an ordinary marriage between persons of rank, but for a king such as Ahasuerus there would be royal festivities; and every one throughout the city, as well as in the more distant provinces, would keep holiday. Ahasuerus also caused magnificent gifts to be distributed by the governors amongst the common people, thus to add to the general joy.
The king did not know even then that Esther was one of the Jewish people; the secret seems to have been preserved, not as a deception, but as an act of wisdom on the part of Mordecai, according to God’s will, until the right time had come for her to acknowledge her country, even the moment of danger.
Though Esther was elevated to so high a rank, we may be quite certain that she had not grown proud and uplifted; because if so she would not have been so perfectly obedient, and we read that she did in all things the will of Mordecai just as when she had been dependent upon him. Her queenly robes must have covered a very loving and faithful heart, which did not forget all he had done for her when she was alone and friendless.
Mordecai did remain in Babylon; he came with his niece to Shushan, and dwelt quite close to the outer gate of the palace, where he might watch over her, and be at hand to receive any message she wished to send him.
It happened that there were two of the lower officers belonging to the royal household who had a deep dislike to the king, and one day they were speaking loudly and angrily together at the gate of entrance which was their post as porters, and Mordecai overheard them, and found from their words that they had formed a design to take the life of Ahasuerus.
He knew that he ought to make this known, so he found an opportunity of sending word to Queen Esther of this conspiracy; and she told it to the king, who immediately ordered his counsellors to inquire into the matter, and see if there was truth in it. Great pains were taken to make sure that Mordecai had spoken truly, and the two men were seized and charged with the crime; and as they confessed their guilt, there was no room for doubt, and they were sentenced to be hanged, as a punishment suited to the offence.
Great books, or rolls of records, were kept in all those Eastern countries, in which everything of any importance which happened during the reign of a king was written down; and therefore this act of treason was of course registered in the book, and it was stated that Mordecai had been the man who had saved the king’s life by giving a timely warning.
For such a deed some great reward would usually be granted, probably either a considerable sum of money or a tract of land; but in this case Mordecai’s service was only acknowledged by some very triffing gift. Some historians say that he did not even receive the smallest return at that time for the discovery of the treason and the information he had given.
This seemed to happen by chance, but it was the way God had chosen to bring about his own plans; and very likely Mordecai felt sure of this, and did not feel angry at the slight shown him, but went on in his quiet life, relying upon the guidance of Heaven.