The Hope of Glory

by E. C. Dargan - 1919

The Story Of A Beautiful Girl Who Rose To A Great Occasion

ONE of the many striking features of Israel’s checkered and tragic history is the relation sustained by that little country to the great empires of ancient times. The tiny kingdom, in size no larger than our state of New Hampshire, lay on the traffic way both by land and sea. Though without any great port, it was near enough to Tyre to count for something in the commercial world. Through it, from Northeast to Southwest lay one of the great highways of land traffic. Thus the promised land of Israel played its great part, out of all proportion to its size and population, among the mighty governments of the ancient world. It was a plaything between Egypt, Assyria and Persia. It was overrun by the conquering Greek, and became a part of Alexander’s empire, and later it fell to be a pivotal province of mighty Rome. Nor was this worldwide influence confined to the race in its local habitation. The race itself was scattered among the ancient peoples, sometimes as colonists and sometimes as captives. The strange history has been perpetuated, and even to this day the descendants of Israel are interfused among all the nations of the world, yet preserving their race distinction. It is indeed a marvelous history.

At the time of our story the Jews were widely scattered, one large body of them being found at the capital of the greatest world empire then existing. The king of this mighty realm at that time was not distinguished for personal greatness, but for the great eminence of his position as monarch of one of the most widely extended empires known to history. No great nation at that time disputed his supremacy. Magnificence of display in his capital city and his palaces was rendered possible by the constant flow of revenues from more than a hundred provinces and peoples subject to his mighty sway. Millions of men acknowledged his sovereignty. Wealth and extravagance were the trappings of his glory. Self-indulgence and tyranny were his personal characteristics. Lord of great armies, he was not capable of commanding them in person. Supreme king over many subject peoples, he had little capacity for government, and was the easy puppet of designing ministers and favorites who could flatter his vanity and easily persuade him to cruel deeds. History knows him as Xerxes the Great. But he was really Xerxes the Little, for the splendor of his position is not illustrated by any corresponding greatness of action. Rather is it described by his defeat at the hands of the Greeks and by the folly and weakness of his conduct towards the Jews.

At the height of his splendor, in the third year of his reign, a great review of the provinces and people of his widely extended dominions was held at the royal capital. Captains and lords and men of wealth from all the provinces assembled to witness the royal glory and pay homage to the majesty of empire. A week was spent in the crowning festivities of that great occasion. Buildings of noble architecture and fine adornment, furniture and decorations of rare expense and beauty, feasts of all dainties and wine of choicest quality marked the brilliant display. Young, vain and proud, no doubt under the influence of drink, the king conceived while merry with wine the foolish whim to exhibit as the crowning excellence of all his possessions, the beauty of his queen. In proper feminine measure she had entered into the festivities of the time, having made feasts to the women of that great concourse. But to come at the command of a half drunken husband and king, boldly to exhibit her charms to an assembly of tipsy men was more than womanly modesty could brook, and she proudly and bravely refused. Provoked beyond measure by this act of disobedience, the foolish tyrant consulted with his lords and decided that such an act of insubordination should be punished by the divorce of the queen, and her removal from her high estate. This was accordingly done, and the hasty anger of the vain tyrant was appeased. The next thing in order was to find a new queen to take the vacant place.

Among the captive Hebrews at the imperial capital was one of fine lineage and character. He had kindly taken charge of an orphan girl, the daughter of his uncle, and brought her up piously and tenderly, according to the best traditions of his race. He seems not to have had other family, but to have devoted himself with generous affection to this lovely object of his care. We may be sure that she was well instructed in the history and religion of her people. Our Western and Christian sentiments can find only repugnance and horror in those oriental practices and laws which tolerated the polygamous custom of the harem. It was for the monarch to choose from among the maidens gathered into the royal harem one who should be designated as queen, and made the prime favorite of the royal rake. We can only be shocked that the pious Hebrew uncle of this beautiful and beloved girl, who was to him as a daughter, should have so far allowed his worldly ambitions to override the fine religious scruples of his better instructed race as to permit him to offer his ward as a candidate for the royal favor. Disdaining the artificial aids customary at that time, the fair Jewess presented herself, only in the beauty of her perfect health and native charm. The king was captivated by her loveliness, and doubtless pleased with her modesty, intelligence and general behavior. Among all those offered for his royal choice she obtained the palm, and was advanced to the dignity of queen. Not yet had she disclosed her race and people. Then, as now, that would have been to her disadvantage, because of the prejudice against her nation; for this has been the singular portion of this remarkable people. Wherever they have lived, they have lived apart, to be a prey and the scorn of those among whom they have lived. This reticence was in accordance with the instructions of the new queen’s uncle, whom she still regarded as a father. Her high place did not turn away her affections or her obedience, as far as it could be rendered, from him who had brought her up and obtained for her the great opportunity of her life. The guardian, on his part, showed every solicitude for the welfare of his young ward, and frequently came to the gate of the palace to make inquiries concerning her. One day it befell, while waiting at the gate, that he overheard a plot that was being formed between two disaffected servants of the king. He promptly informed the queen, who made it known to the king, and thus his life was saved.

At this time there was a certain high officer in the king’s court whose promotion, as has been so often the case, fed his swelling pride to the bursting point, and made him a vain and jealous fool. He noticed as he passed in and out of the royal palace that the queen’s kinsman and guardian failed to offer him the homage which he conceived to be due to his rank. This apparent disrespect wounded his jealous soul and embittered him, because, as a famous lecturer once expressed it, he was ”one bow short.” That missing bow, trifle though it was, like so many other apparent trifles, was the little hinge of a great event. The life of a people, and the heroism of a queen revolve upon it. Hatred grew from the man to the race. Nothing short of wholesale destruction could satisfy the vindictive rage, jealousy and hatred of a cold-hearted, blood-thirsty royal favorite.

So this pampered lordling, in the heat and passion of his narrow and vindictive soul, sought as a favor to himself the life of the scattered race. Flattering the king’s petty vanity and pride of power, he offered to pay into the royal treasury a magnificent sum as the price of a people’s life. We can scarcely conceive how a king could have granted so cruel, senseless and wicked a request. Did we not know from other historic instances of cruelty and tyranny in monarchs, responsible only to their own selfish and vain whims, it would indeed be incredible. Even today, making all just allowances and deductions, it stands glaringly true before the eyes of startled humanity that one, and no insignificant element, in the present terrific world conflict, is the pride of imperial dynasties.

Strange as it may seem, the royal order, at the request of this high-placed but cruelhearted officer, went forth to accomplish in every province of the mighty empire the destruction of this scattered and hated people. The royal court went about its pleasures and its business, while swift messengers flew into every province, bearing the order that was to bring death and gloom in every Jewish home. The king and his wicked favorite sat down to feast, but the city was perplexed.

The pious Jew and his royal ward received, in their different ways, the horrible news. To the man, in his lonely home, and later waiting at the gate, clothed in sackcloth and ashes, the bitter, bitter news of his people’s threatened doom came as a crushing blow. To the beautiful queen, in her apartments, surrounded by her attendants, the message was borne, and fell a baleful shadow over the splendor of her royal state. Quickly she dispatched messengers to her grieving kinsman, that she might know the utter truth. Now that wise observer saw the supreme opportunity that had come to her who had been the darling object of his life. Perhaps it was some prevision of advantage to his people that had led him to sacrifice to royal admiration the sweet child of his care. It would not do to say that he had foreseen such a calamity impending as this. Yet, knowing the prejudice against his race, he probably had forecast some emergency in which it would be highly useful for him and his scattered people to have a friend in court. That hour had arrived. On the shrinking feminine shoulders of a fair young girl the fate of God’s chosen people was hanging now. Never before or since did a maiden so fair meet a crisis so fine. To every girl comes that sweet time when, ”standing with reluctant feet, where the brook and river meet,” she must take the path that leads to womanhood’s responsibilities. Often too, in life’s great and perplexing mazes of duty and trial occasions arise to put a woman’s heroism to its utmost test. wornen are brave, brave indeed; brave as men often are not, and would not be. It was meet and fitting that the faith, fidelity and fervor of a woman’s heart should be called to respond to duty at such an hour as this. It was inevitable that she should shrink. Any woman would, or, for that matter, any man, but shrinking is not cowardice; reluctance is not refusal. To guardian and ward alike, the bitter, yet splendid, hour has come. What it cost the man to send such a message, what it cost the girl to make her answer, even though delayed, we can perhaps imagine. To her messengers her best beloved friend said, ”Presume on your favor with the king; go in unbidden to the royal palace, and request, at any cost to yourself, the life of your people, scattered far and wide.” We do not wonder that the girl’s heart at first failed her; that she sent back another message that it was death to approach unbidden to the royal throne unless the scepter was extended. For some reason, she knew not what, she had not been summoned to the royal presence for several days. It might be he was displeased with her. It might be his royal fancy had suffered fickle change. It might be he had discovered that she was of the hated race, and had consented to her doom, along with that of her people. Fears like these would be natural to anyone, especially to a young girl, timid and inexperienced. What should she do? She sought her guardian’s counsel, begged that he and all the group of their people should fast and pray while she and her maidens would do likewise. Then rising to a moral height which far outshone the splendor of her royal state, she made her great, historic answer: ”And so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to law, and if I perish, I perish.” This was no child’s play, but a woman’s answer, great and strong. Never from human lips, masculine or feminine, has fallen any sublimer utterance than this. The perfection of heroism and self-sacrifice are here. Not to her earthly queenship, but to her spiritual queenliness we pay our just and cordial respect. Brave, splendid girl; beautiful soul in a beautiful body; dignity and strength of character surpassing royal place and power - this is her meed of praise. The name given to her in her babyhood signified Myrtle, fragile and fragrant plant, but that which glorifies her queenly state in many languages means star. And like a star indeed she shines in the galaxy of womanhood, Esther the Queen.

Having gained her own consent and chosen her path after due meditation and prayer, the brave and glorious girl wisely undertakes her perilous task. She makes her plans and acts them out. One thing shall follow another. There shall be no harm done by pressing of her plea. Wisely she plans and nobly she wins. After a few days, clad in her most attractive costume, she ventures unbidden into the royal presence chamber. She takes her position near the entrance, shrinking against the wall. The king, sitting in state upon his throne, holding audience with his court, charmed with her beauty and her modest demeanor, stretched forth the golden scepter in token that her visit was welcome. She drew near and touched the extended token of majesty. Knowing that this meant some kind of petition or request, the king inquired what it could be that brought the queen to him as a suppliant. She was too wise to make known her real request at first. It was a hazardous thing to venture even a slight petition, and she must not go too fast. She kept back for the present the main great motive that brought her there, so accordingly invited the king, and his minister of state, her wicked enemy, to come this day to a banquet in her apartments. During the banquet the king, knowing that something was still in the mind of the queen, asked again what was her request. Not yet was she ready to present her petition, but begged one more day’s grace. She promised if they would do her the favor of coming to her banquet again upon the morrow she would make known her request. Events pass rapidly. The cruel, vain, heartless minister is puffed up with pride at being the guest of the queen, little knowing what was awaiting him.

Meantime that night the king could not sleep, and in his insomnia, requested that the annals of his reign should be read to him. Therein account was taken of how the guardian of his queen had revealed a plot against the king’s life. Surprised that no reward had been given the man for this information, the king, smitten with a sudden sense of justice, determined that next day due honor should be paid to the man whose timeliness had preserved the threatened life of the monarch. The rest of the dramatic story hastens on to its goal. In audience next day the king demands of his minister what should be done to the man whom the king delighted to honor. In his conceit, imagining himself to be the person intended, he makes reply of what ostentatious display of respect should be shown to such a man, almost reaching that accorded to the monarch himself. The king then informs him that the person meant was he whose fidelity and vigilance had detected and denounced a plot against the king’s life. Mortified and downcast, the crestfallen minister proceeded with a heavy foreboding to the banquet of the queen. There once more and finally the king asks his royal consort to make known her petition. In thrilling language she discloses the horrible plot in the presence of the minister himself. Rising in dignity and courage she shows to the king how he had been duped through the hatred of his minister into consenting to a murderous, unnecessary, outrageous decree of extermination against an innocent people. Incensed beyond measure, the king decrees that the fallen minister should be hanged upon the gallows that his cruelty and pride had prepared for his opponent. It was against the law and custom, however, that any decree of the king, however, unwise, should be reversed. Strange and cruel as the custom seems to us, it had its justification that the laws, which were not made by the people, but proceeded from royal decree, should be made permanent and not subject to fitful change. In many cases this custom worked hardship, as in this. But it was the established principle of that great monarchy and it could not be altered. However, sagacity found a way to counteract the decrees which could not be annulled. So the king proclaimed that the Jews should have authority in every place where their lives and property were attacked to resist and stand for themselves. Thus having the royal approval and favor back of them, they made heroic resistance to the decree throughout the length and breadth of the empire, and for several days withstood their enemies and triumphed. Great was the victory. The prime enemy was removed, the stigma upon the people was lifted, the good guardian of the queen was promoted to high honor, and she herself became the admiration of her people and of the kingdom. Rich and deserved was her reward; rich and deserved also her historic fame. High among the noble women who by courage, fidelity, intelligence and self-sacrifice, have met great opportunities and triumphed over great difficulties, stands the honored name of Esther the Queen.

Though of studious purpose the name of God is omitted in the remarkable book which tells the story, we know that religious faith lay at the basis of the actions of Mordecai and Esther in this great crisis of their people’s history. It was because he and his compatriots, and she and her maidens had fasted and prayed that she was able to take and carry out the splendid resolution which marks the turning point in her career. It was noble courage and unconquerable faith that made it possible for this timid yet faithful soul to rise to the height of her opportunity and risk her life for the safety of her people.

National and religious history alike afford many notable examples of the lofty heroism of women. Surely these recent days have shown anew what woman can dare and do, and endure in the perilous days of war. But the days that follow war, the readjustments in the racial, political, social and religious affairs of the world that must now be made, demand the highest type of womanly sagacity and courage. The right of suffrage and the opportunities of business open a new world to women in our times. Faith in God, fidelity to herself and her people, clear intelligence, prompt and decisive action, and the courage that for Christ’s sake risks and conquers - these are what the world expects of the woman of to-day.

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