The Pulpit Commentary — Esther — Section 139

of Ezra and of Nehemiah, among the children of the captivity, show us wh,it true patriotism will lead men to undertake and do and bear. But the supreme exampl'!, alike of patriotism and of philanthropy, is to he beheld in Jesus Christ, who wept over Jerusalem as well as over the world, and who would fain have averted ruin from the city he favoured with his teaching and ministry, and in which he shed his preciouiJ blood. Vere. 7-14.-Self-defence. The permission of Ahasuerus appears to us singular almost to madness. Indeed, it could only have been such a character as we know Xerxes to have been that could have coolly contemplated plunging every province and every city of his empire into the horrors of civil war. However, it seemed better to him to grant permission to the Jews to arm and to defend themselves than to reverse formally the decree he had already issued for their destruction. So first the despot commands the enemies to arm against the Jews, and then commands the Jews to arm themselves against their enemies. I. SELF-DEFENCE IB, WITHIN LIMITS, A NATURAL RIGHT. What is the alternative? In the case of an individual it may be a violent death ; in the case of a nation it may be either subjection or annihilation. Thus, civilisation may be replaced by barbarism, and Christianity by idolatry or fetishism. II. SELF-DEFENCE IS A LEGAL RIGHT. Here the Jews were expressly directed to defend and deliver themselves And there are cases where the law justifies the put- ting forth of force in defence of life and property, and he who smites his assailant is held guiltless. Great defenders of their country are enshrined in a nation's memory. III. SELF-DEFENCE IS SOMETIMES PUT FORWARD AS A HYPOCRITICAL PRETENCE. It has often happened that an aggressive, ambitious nation has endeavoured to persuade itself, to impose upon its neighbours, to believe that its action is merely defensive in mustering armaments, enlisting warriors, and making war. All the while designs of empire, of spoliation, of subjugation may be before the nation's mind. IV. SELF-DEFENCE IS A SPIRITUAL LAW. If we are anxious to defend ourselves, our property, our families from violence and theft, how anxious should we be to secure ourselves against the assaults of the devil. Every Church should be a confederation for common protection against the inroads of error and of sin. Ver. 15.-.A city's joy. It is observable that the inhabitants of Susa are repre- sented, in more than one place in this book, as entering into the circumstances and sharing the emotions of their Hebrew neighbours. It is believed by eminent scholars that the educated Persians had strong sympathies with the religious beliefs and practices of the Jews. Thus they wept with them in their fears and griefs; they rejoiced with them in their deliverance and happiness. I. THERE IS SUCH A THING AS CIVIC LIFE. Not only an individual, but a city, a nation, has a character, a unity, a life of its own. As in our own country Manchester and Birmingham have a distinctive life, as in France Paris has a remark- able individuality, as in the middle ages the Italian cities had each its own corporate, intellectual, and social individuality ; so it is reasonable to look for the evidences of such civic life wherever a co=unity has existed for several generations, and traditions, memories, sympathies have grown up and prevailed. II. COMMUNITIES ARE CAPABLE OF IMPULSES AND MOVEMENTS DISTINCTIVE OF THEM- SELVES. When London turned out to welcome Garibaldi, it was a remarkable instance of the way in which a population is moved as with the stirring of one mighty impulse. There is something terribly grand in the spectacle of a vast city moved with one mighty wave of emotion. Such a wave passed over London upon the occa- sion of the death and burial of the great Duke of Wellington. Ill. THE SPONTANEOUS MANIFESTATION OF A POPULAR SENTIMENT IN A CITY HAS SOMETIMES GREAT MORAL SIGNIFICANCE. Indignation, grief, sympathy, relief, gladness, may all find a voice in the cry that rises from the bosom of a vast population. O~en the popular instinct is unmistakably right. Vax populi, vox Dei. So in the case- before us, when" the city of Shushan rejoiced, and was glad." Vere. 16, 17.-.A nation's relief and gladness. God often interposed on behalf of hie chosen people the Jews, but never more signally than on this occasion. No wonder ESTHER. l,  ]46 THE BOOK OF ESTHER. [OB. VIII. 1-17.