The Nevada County picayune. (Prescott, Ark.) 190?-current, 1911-11-03

MEMOIR NEhSES-4.l3, IA.
GOLDEN TEXT-'The Lord preser,n., /
all them that love im"-Psa. ism
TIME-Accession of Xerxes, b. G. 4sa
xerxes conquers Egypt, LIST and I'd years.
b. C.. ass, 4. He prepares to invade
Greece, I'd to 9Th years, B. c. 4s4-4sl
Vashd deposed in his Sd year. B. c. 4ss
Invades Greece, B. c. ASH. Defeated a,
Thermopylae and salamis. B. c. B. Aso.
Esther becomes Queen, b. c. 40 Ha-
mans plot and defeat by Esther (occuny-
ing nearly the whole year,, b. C. 474
PLACE-Shusan (Susa) the winter can't
tai of the Persian Empire, about 200 miles
southeast from Babylon and 10 miles
north of the Persian Gulf
There are TWO prlnclpai theories
concerning the historical nature OF
the Book of Esther: one, that it is a
veritable history; the other, that II
is a historical romance founded on
fact, like Shakespeare's julius Caesar
and Henry VIII, or like SCOTS novels
or Homer's great epics. While there
are a number of serious difficulties.
yet there are few If any unanswerable
arguments against its being a true his
tory. Xerxes is the Greek shortened
form of the Ahasuerus Of Esther. as
York, for instance, is a shortened form
of the Latin Eboracum. He began to
reign B. C. 4S5 and ruled for 20 years.
We can best understand Esther by
means Of those parts OF his history
which reveal his character Xerxes
at the very beginning of his reign
completed the conquest of Egypt
which his father Darius had begun.
On his return he Immediately began
to prepare for the invasion of Europe,
and especially of Greece.
Xerxes sought q queen In place Of
the deposed Vashti. The one select
ed from the most beautiful women
of the empire was Esther, charming
Jewess, a descendant Of one Of the
exiles, her great-grandfathe being
among those carried captive to Baby
lon by ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS in 598. Her
Hebrew name was Hadassah, the
myrtle, a beautiful and favorite shrub
In the east. Esther" means "a star"
and many think it the same as lshtar
the Babylonian equivalent of Venus
She must have been quite young at
the time of her marriage, not over
Is years -Four or five years pass,
and then begins the tragic story Of
Hannah, his rise as a kings favorite,
his pride incensed at the conduct Of
Esther'e cousin Mordecai, his attempt
to bring vengeance upon the whole
Jewish race on Mordecai's account,
his success in obtaining a decree
from the king, throughout his empire
ito destroy, to kill. and to cause to
perish all Jews, beth young and old.
little children. and women, in one
day"
Great mourning and terrible dis
tress came upon the Jews all over
the empire as they learned OF the de-
cree. Mordecai sent word to Esther.
now about 20 years old. asking her
to go to the king and request the de-
liverance of her people. Esther re-
piled "Whosoever shall come unto
the king into the inner court. who *
not called, there is ono law OF his to
put him to death. Except such I'd
whom the king shall hold out the
golden scepter" There was, there
fore. a possibility of Esther's reach
ing the ears Of the king, but Win
the greatest uncertainty as to now
such capricious king would act,
especially as his love for her had
cooled. The mission Mordecai COM
mitted to Esther was one of great
danger and difficulty. 1t required tho
utmost heroism.
Esther put on her royal apparel
She was a sensible, practical woman,
and used her beauty and charm Oh
lerson and Of dress to accomplish
her object.
She waited for the fitting time.
The king held out the golden sceptre.
The sign that he received her. anu
that the most dangerous part OF her
mission was over. Instead OF asking
her favor, where she would be sur
rounded by spies and possible enc
mics. she invited the king to a pan
quet in the seclusion OF the Harem
gardens. She invited Hannah her en-
envy to join with the king and thus
ward off all suspicion. and at inc
same time have him where he couid
not escape.
Esther presented her petition In
wise words ana pointed out Hanlan
as the enemy who was seeking nef
life and the life OF her people. inc
king was very angry and immediate
ly deposed Hannah, and had nun
hanged on the gallows he had pre-
pared for Mordecai.
The result was counteracting de-
cree. permitting the Jews to stahu
up in their own defense. and large
numbers OF their enemies were SIAM
The Jews were saved from destruo-
ton. and exalted before the peopie'
Mordecai took Humans place IN 'he
government. The feast of Purim was
instituted with great feasting anu
10y ba haap celebrated daHua