Women of Note in the Old Testament
41
time for communion with God, the source of her strength. “Go,” she
directed Mordecai, “gather together all the Jews that are present in
Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night
or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in
unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I
perish” (
verse 16
).—
Prophets and Kings, 598-601 (1917)
.
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The events that followed in rapid succession—the appearance of
Esther before the king, the marked favor shown her, the banquets of the
king and the queen with Haman as the only guest, the troubled sleep
of the king, the public honor shown Mordecai, and the humiliation and
fall of Haman upon discovery of his wicked plot against the Jewish
people—all these are parts of a familiar story. In a marvelous manner
God wrought in behalf of His penitent people; and a counter-decree
issued by the king, allowing them to fight for their lives, was rapidly
communicated to every part of the realm by mounted couriers who
were “hastened and pressed on by the king’s commandment.” “And in
every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king’s command-
ment and his decree came, the Jews had joy and gladness, a feast and
a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews; for the
fear of the Jews fell upon them.”
Esther 8:14, 17
.—RH, January 23,
1908.
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