Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-08-10

ana JGIlOtdII 6NAAu uChtOA W.
them out of all their troubles" Psa.
"a: II.
One of the most fascinating St.
ries in all of literature is the story
of Esther, how = beautiful girl be-
longing to q captive race, rose to be
the most powerful parsonage in the
Persian empire, and used that pow
err for the good of others at the risk
of her own life.
Yes, the critics have attacked this
book, too, on a two-fold ground.
First, that it is not historical, but
merely an allegory; and, second, that
it has no place in the Bible because
the name of God is not mentioned
once in it. But, unfortunately, for
the critics again the spade is con-
stantly unearthing uncontrovertlble
facts which confirm the absolute
truth of the Scripture narrative.
For example, we shall mention only
two-the name of the king and the
palace. AsesWrus in the unpo1nted
Hebrew is hshswrsh. The Persian
name had practically the same let
tiers and in the same order,
Khshyrsh, and an attempt to trans
Iterate it into the Greek language
resulted in XerXes. We know that
in the third year of this .ng's reign
he invaded Greece and fought at
Thermopylae against the 300 par
tans. We know that he returned TO
Persia after the defeat of his forces
at Salamis;in the seventh year OF his
reign, We know that he lived five
years later. Now all of the facts
agree in toto with the book of Els
Their and prove it's historicity.
The other thing is the palace
About thirty years after the death
of Xerxes his palace was destroyed
by fire. Recently it's ruins were
discovered, and the arrangement is
identically that described in this
book.
The other criticism is answered in
two ways. In the first place it was
not necessary to mention God
name, for God stands out proni-
nently in all the history Of I, .
queen and her people, and recently
DR.. Bullinger discovered Gods name
in acrostic form in four places.
The Plot
Well, let us see the plot: In the
third year of his reign XerXes gath
ers all his princes from his 127 prov
inces of Shaushau, the palace, where
he makes them a great feast. RMS
was undoubtedly to discuss his Gre
clan campaign. The luxuriousness
of the feast can be better imagined
than described, but the chief charac-
teristic was that every one was al
lowed to do as he pleased Stimuli
taneously, Vashti, the queen, was
feasting the ladies, and as the Per
slams were notorious drinkers, the
q
Infiamed with wine XerXes called
for his queen to ONE and sheW her
beauty to his drunken mobiles. Her
fiat refusal caused her divorce. -Four
years later upon his return from his
Grecian campaign Xerxes chose,
from the most beautiful girls that
could be found in his vast empire,
a Jewish girl although he did not
know her race at the time), and
made her queen, the favorite of his
harem.
His prime minister, Hannah, was
inordinately vain, and became Of
Tended because a certain Jewish por-
ter refused to give him the obeiSance
he thought he deserved: and secured
an order that the whole race should
be eXterminated on a certain day,
the 18th day of the twelfth month.
How he was outwitted by the young
queen and how she secured the d
hverance of her PEOPLE is the rest of
the story, and explains the place
she holds in the eyes Of her people
to this day, as we'll as origin of the
feast of Purim.
Seven Characters
Possibly in this brief space we Can
best get the most out of this book
| of Esther by studying seven Charac-
| tiers in it. These are four men and
three women-Ahasuerus, Memucan
Hannah and Mordecai, and Vashti
| Zeresh and Esther.
| AhaSuerus is the Latin equivalent
| of the Hebrew Ahaswerosh, the Per
sian Khshayarsha, and the Greek
XerXes, which Identifies the king N
this Book of Esther with the Per
| sian general who made the famous
| invasion of Greece. Grecian history
agrees with the character of the
man as seen in this book, and dis
| credits him as cruel, q despot, i'm
! pulsiVe, the dupe of his underlings
and so hated by his subjects that he
was asSasSinated in the twelfth veal
of his reign. He had so large an EN-
pire that he had to farm it out, ,
so to speak. 1t was remarkable
| though, as far as it's organization
was concerned, for it's postal system
was one of the most complete eve
known. But the very size of it wa!
his problem. He thought he ruled
it all, but it ruled him. He had tt
| depend on others for information
and instead of ruling them, the!
ruled him. He is an outstanding eX
ample of the danger of over-expan
sion-the outcome of immeasurabl,
power is helpless weakness.
Ahasuerus also had the idea, a.
shown at his feast, that liberty il
license, the unbridled power mean:
unlimited pleasure. Under the int1u
ence of wine, he first insulted hi
beautiful queen and then divorce
her because he had the right. WheI
he sobered up he was sorry, but h,
wasn't strong enough to overcome
the influence of his ieutenants.
His agreeing to Humans sugges
ton that a whole race be annihilatet
without inquirinS into the reason 70
it, and his subsequent treatment o
Hannah or Mordecai reveal his ute
unfitness for a piece of unlimiteC
power. He was a weak, drunken
desperate tyrant who had power ant
did not know how to use it. He i
d warning to us, for we all hav
some pOwer-that we may learn hoV
to use it rather than abuse it.
Memucan
Memucan was the youngest of tn
| cnIyoy, 1NYiyoooc Whom