T H E K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S (2) Did He prepare David for an emergency? (1 Sam. 17:28, 29). (3) W hat should he our a ttitu d e in response to a call to duty? (Acts 20 :24 ). (4) W hat was P au l’s testimony concerning Epaphroditus? (Phil. 2 :3 0 ). (5 ) W hat testim ony could E sther give? (Psa. 116 :1 ). (6) W hat does a man require of his servants? (1 Cor. 4 :2 ). (7) W h at rew ard does God promise for faithfulness? (Rev. 2 :10 ). Until recently th ere has never been any tangible proof of E sth er’s existence outside of the Bible narrative. How ever, archeologists are tran slating re cently found in- COMMENTS scriptions which SELECTED are expected to By K eith L. Brooks auth en ticate .the romantic story in every particular. A collection of ru in s south of Dizful in West Central Persia, is all th a t remains of the an cient city of Shushan. Here Darius I is supposed to have bu ilt th e gorgeous palace in which the beautiful Jewess ruled and in which was played th e ro mantic drama told of in Scripture. It was only recently th a t a French „expedi tion which numbered several Americans unearthed evidence to show th a t the largest of th e ruins was th e long lost palace. They uncovered th e very throne on which E sther sat with her husband. Inscriptions identify it as the very spot, where Ahasuerus sat when he listened to the pleading of the beautiful consort. It was here, too, th a t the King is said to have issued his command th a t led to the hanging of Haman. The ruins of the huge building contain many mysterious recesses. Some have been catalogued as treasu re vaults, others as women’s qu ar ters, promenades, reception rooms, re tiring rooms, hanging gardens and the like. It undoubtedly was th e most ela borate and magnificent royal villa of the Persian period. In the scribe rooms or royal lib rary were found many tablets and even papyri which promise to throw an additional light on the intriguing story of E sther, Haman and Mordecai. Previous excavations on th e site of this huge building yielded many im portant
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finds, including th e historic code of Hammurabi .r—Pathfinder. There are not many women in Scrip tu re, especially the Old Testament, who can be pointed to as examples. In Jewish story, the woman almost always takes a subordinate place. She dwells in silence; she wears a veil. In the great chapter which immortalizes the Jewish worthies (Heb. 11) only th ree women stand out prom inently, one of whom is not even named there. It is in the New Testament th a t woman be gins to take an equal p art with man. If a chapter could be w ritten of New Testament worthies, sim ilar to th a t which is found in Hebrews, th ere would be a very different proportion of women found among the saints. Let us th e re fore all the more thankfully use and value now the story of Esther. This imperishable nation was a t the time largely in banishment, and a large proportion of the people were in Persia. Of the captives only two come into sight and are named. One, a man of some age and strong character and intelli gence, and one a young maiden, his niece, whose parents are dead and have left her under his charge. The uncle is Mordecai and the niece Esther. Xerxes puts away his queen wife Vashti for disobedience to his unreasonable com mand. The bold project is formed by Mordecai to have his niece elevated to the position which Vashti had lost, for which her only claims are her beauty, prudence and tact. We are told how the scheme is fu rthered and how it suc ceeds, and then the in terest of the story is centered in E sther herself. At first she is solitary and her soli tude is, for the reader, one of her charms. She is removed from her only relative, whom she may not even see, and is planted among strangers in race, religion and custom. Placed in the g reat harem of the g reat Xerxes, she may communicate w ith the outer world only by messengers and even th a t is contrary to custom. In this solitude she remains in h eart a Jewess. In her own chambers, unknown to king and cour tiers and even servants, Esther, the harem queen, is serving and honoring her God. This is th e great featu re of her solitude, a wonderful testimony to the streng th of character found in this woman of Israel. Sweetness, unselfish ness, readiness to die, love for country and people, and a silent bu t strong tru st
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