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tiilns of joy and tho trolls of sprrow arc not fcir
apart. Our omo'tiohs aro often mixed; we weep
when overwhelmed with grief, and tears often
furnish au outlet for our feelings when wo are
happy.
Hero wo have tho old and the' young working
togotjaor; memories crowd in upon the old itnd
their hearts are unahlo to express the satisfac
tion that thoy fool. The young, with no memories
of tho past, live in the present and in their
visions of tho future; their joy finds an outlet
in noise. To tho old ty was unothe? passover; to
the yoting.it was more Ukoour Fourth of July
a na6naj birthday. '
ThoHoxt tolls: us tftat thQjshoutsof joy and the
noisd of the woepin'g were so mingled that those
who tyoroiafar 0ff doum not separate the sounds,
lb wapiti great day,' jsucft as foW;liave seen, for
days arot made by tho -events that are crowded
inMthemjj '.,, ' . ', , "
' At this distatfeo w,e can', only estimate the in
tensity of tho fooling, but, recalling some out
standing instanco of individual joy, wo can multi
ply it by tho number of tho Children of Israel
and then multiply that sum by the number that
represents tho ratio between national enthusiasm
and, religious feeling.
BUILDING ACCORDING TO GOD'S PLAN
The 'elders of tho Jews builded the temple
through the prophesying of the prophets; the
men of God superintended the work and com
municator! jwith the elders as they received divine
direction. J f They were engaged in a holy work
and they yielded themselves to the will of God;
it was His house upon which they worked and
they were faithful to His designs.
They builded and thoy prospered, as people
always prosper when they work according to
God's plans. It is when we substitute man's'
plans far the plans of the Creator that we meet
unexpected difficulties and come up against im
possibilities. There are no blind alleys on God's
highways; He never loads us into any situation
without: providing a way out if we but trust and
obey.
The, fiouse was finished and the Children of
Israel, the' priests and the Levites, and the rest
.of the people, kept the dedication of the house,
and they did it with joy.
The Christian life is a simple life. It is built
upon a, definite plan and js conducted along well
settled Jines that radiate from the religious cen
ter. "Seek ye first tho kingdom of God, and His
righteousness; and all those things shall be
added unto you."
Tho Christian life develops like a tree, from
the trunk out. One will never find the kingdom
of God by seeking first something else, but if he
Books -the kingdom of God first, all other good
things wil bo added to him. When the Children
of Israel were obedient,' all went well; when
thoy were disobedient they were punished until
they repented. When thoy returned to God and
proved their repentance by theMr works, they
were forgiven and life became a delight.
There is no reason why any Christian's life
should be dark or gloomy. MBe of good cheer"
was Christ's salutation. He would not that any
one should,, be sad.
Just as with the Children of Israel obedience
was followed by joy that approached ecstasy, so
today and in the days to come, obedience will
bring brightness into tho life so that oven our
sorrows will be relieved by faith.
"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy
cometh in the morning" if we are about the Mas
ter's business and willing to His will.
THE TWO GREAT WOMEN OF THE
BOOK OF ESTHER -
y WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN
BIBLE TEXT LESSON FOR AUGUST 13
(Esther iv:10 v:3)
Again Esther spake unto Hatach, 'and gave him
commandment unto Mordecai; n
All the king's servants, and tho people of the
king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether
man or woman, shall come unto tho kinir into th
inner court, who is not called, there is one law to
i,110 dci.atll except such to whom the kin
shall hold out tho golden sceptre, that ho mnv
live; but I have not been called to come in unto tho
king these thirty days. u tno
And they told to Mordecai Esther's words
Then Mordecai commanded to answer TMm..
Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in
the king's house, more than all tho Jews
'For if thou altogether holdeat thy peace at thi
time, then shall thoro enlargement and dcllvernm!!
arise to the Jews from another placo: but fw,
and thy father's house shall bo destroyed- and
who knowoth whether thou art come to the iciVwl
dom for auch a time as this? M iao Kln&m
Then leather bade them return Mordecai M
answer. i una
"Go. gather together all tho Jewa that are in
Shushan and fast yo Tor me, and neither eat nor
drink three dayr, night or day: I, also arid my
maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go In unto
the king, which la not according to the law: and if
I perish, I perish. , ,,-, ,,
So Mordecai went his way, and did according to
all that Esther had commanded him.
Now it came to pass on tho third day, that Esther
put on her royal apparel, and stood in the Inner
court of tho king's house, over against the kings
house: and the king eat upon his royal throne in
tho royal' house, over against the gate of the house.
And It was so, when the king saw Esther the
aueen standing in the court, that she obtained
fuvor in his sight: and tho king held out to Esther
the golden sceptre that was, in his hand. So
Esther drew near, and touched the top of the
' tfocptre. . , '
Then- ,said the king unto her, What wilt thpu,
queen, Esther and what Is thy request? It shall be
even given thee to the half of the kingdom.
: -
Esther is not tho only heroine the the. book of
'the Bible tjiat has made her namo immortal. She
is not the only woman mentioned in its ten won
derfully dramatic chapters whose life holds a
great lesson for men and women of all times
and all countries.
Vashti, though her part has been considered
a minor one, should not be overlooked, especially
in these latter days. She proved that she pos
sessed real nobility; she defended, not the wel
fare of a group, but all womanhood, and she
had no guardian to spur her on by appeals to
race pride and by threats addressed to her fear
for herself.
We read that Ahasuerus, King of Persia,
Vashti's husband, was a typical Oriental mon
arch, with a domain that extended "from India
even unto Ethiopia." It was divided into 127
provinces.
In the third year of his reign he made a feast
unto all his princes and his servants. He showed
them "the riches of his glorious kingdom and
the honor of his excellent majesty many days,
even an hundred and four-score days." Then he
gave a seven days' feast to all the people who
were present in the Shushan palace. "Also
Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in
the royal hpuso which belonged to king Ahasu-.
erus."
VASHTI'S NOBLE REFUSAL
On the seventh day, "when the heart of the
king was merry with wine," he commanded the
seven chamberlains to "bring Vashti the queen
before the king with the crown royal, to shew
the people and the princes her beauty: for she
was fair to look on." But Vashti refused to ex
hibit her beauty before a lot of drunken revellers
"therefore was the king very wroth, and his
anger burned in him."
Then the king called the wise men together
and asked, "What shall be done to Vashti?"
Memucan one of the princes- of Persia and
Media, suggested that Vashti, the queen, had not
only wronged the king, but all the princes and
all the people as well. Memucan seems to have
been tho prototype of quite a numerous tribe of
which some arguments which he employed have
been repeated in modern times. Here is his
suggestion to tho king:
"For this deed of the queen shall come abroad
unto all women, so that they shall despise their
husbands in their eyes, when it shall be re
ported. The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti
the queen to be brought in before him, but she
came not. ,, . ,
"If it please the king, let there go a royal
commandment from him that Vashti
come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the
king give her royal estate unto another that is
better than she."
SELF-RESPECT ABOVE POSITION
This Pleased tho kinghe was just drunk
enough to listen- to such advice and he issued
an order that Vashti should no more come before
the king, and he gave her royal estate unto an
oilier. Vashti may bo regarded as one of the earliest
martyrs to the cause of temperance. Her refus
al to obey her husband, when ho was merry with
wine, qost her her crown, but she preserved her
self-respect. She deserves to be remembered now
when wives have ceased to be the helpless vic
tims of intoxicated husbands.
The dethroning of. Vashti opened the way for
the selection of a new queen. Mordecai, a Jew
who had been carried away, from Jerusalem with
the captivity entered his uncle's daughter
Esther, whom he had raised as a member of hfs
family in tho contest, which was open to "all
the fair young virgins." After the 12 months
required foj their purification, the maidens
werebrought before the king, and the kinTSo
We read that "the king loved Esther above all
tho women, and she obtained grace and favour in
his sight more than all the'virginb; so that hi
f .. -
set tho royal crown upon tferhead, and mad h
queen instead of Vashti." made ller
AN INFAMOUS CONSPIRACY
This brings us to the lesson. Haman wilft
"had bee promoted to the chief place under fS
long, was enjoying the reverence of the kinS
servants that is, of all except Mordecai iL
"bowed not, nor did him reverence." This filinri
Haman with wrath and for this lack of reverend
on the part of one Jew, Haman decided to Sp
fctroy all the Jews in the kingdom.
He did not tell the king his personal Krov
anco, but did as the wicked always' do, viz nip
tended that he was' prompted, by noble motive
For the king's benefit, 33 he .put it, he asked an
thority to kill them. Mordecai had concealed
Esther's race and the Icing did riot know that hia
queen was fncludod in the decree. (Hanriii
probably did; not know it.) The conspiricv
promised to be successful; orders were sent forth
to "destroy, to k'lland to cause to perish al
Jows, both young and old, little children "and
women, in one day."
When Mordecai learned what was done he at
once put oh sackcloth and went before the king's
gate. Esther, learning of his mourning, dis
patched a trusted messenger to him to know the
cause. He sdnt word to her, urging her to go in
unto the king and make supplication in behalf
of the people.
TWO WONDERFUL UTTERANCES
. Esther sent back word that, according to the
law, any one presumptuous enough 10 go before
the king without being called would be put to
death, unless the king held out the golden scep
ter, adding that she had not befen called into the
king's presence for thirty days.
Mordecai then appealed to Jier own interest
he sent back an answer to her. "Think not with
thyself that thou shalt escape In the king's
house, more than all the Jews." And then the
faith of Mordecai blazed forth, he spoke in the
tone of the prophets and warned Esther that if
she held her peace, deliverance would arise to
the Jews from another place and that she and
her father's house would bo 'destroyed. He con
cluded with a wonderful sentence, often used in
appeals to those in authority:' "Who knoweth
whether thou art come to the kingdom for such
a time as this?"
Esther, strengthened and inspired by Mor
decai's appeal, returned an answer that ranks
with the words of Mordecai. . She asked Mor
decai to gather together all the Jews in Shushan
to fast for her for three days and three nights;
she and hef maidens would tast also, and then
she promised Mordecai, "So will I go in unto
the king, which according to the law: and if I
perish, I perish."
A DRAMATIC CONTRAST , ,.
Behold the contrast! On one side was the
chief man of the kingdom, with a decree author
izing him to kill all the Jews, and with all the
power of the kingdom to carry out the con
spiracy. On the other side was a Jew condemned
to death and a Jewess queen whom her husband
ha'd unknowingly included in the death sentence.
What an unequal combat and what a difference
in character is disclosed!
The scheming Haman, working under cover
and practicing deceit, was seemingly near to a
wicked triumph, but he had not numbered the
unseen forces the hosts, concealed upon the
mountain top, which form the unconquerable re
serve in every righteous cause. Moses declares
that one with God shall chase a thousand and
two shall put ten thousand to flight. Mordecai
was number one and Esther was number two in
the rival army that was to shatter the plans of
Haman.
The Jews fasted, Mordecai and Esther with
them. And on the third day Esther put on her
royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the
king's house; she obtained .favor in the sight of
the king; he held out the golden scepter; tho
crisis was past she had triumphed. The king
asked what she desired and she invited him and
Haman to a banquet with her that day. When
the two guests appeared and the king asked
what her petition was, Esther deferred the pre
sentation of her petition and aBked them to bo
-her guests again on the following day.
A HUMOROUS SITUATION
Haman, in the meantime, had further occasion
to be stirred with wrath against Mordecai for
lack of reverence. Unaware of impending peril,
he ordered that a gallaws fifty cubits high ho
made for Mordeca'l.
Something also happened to the king. That
night he could not sleep; he spent his restless.
hours listening to the reading of the' chronicles.
It so happened' was it' just an accident?'
that they road to the king :of the act of Mor
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