Thomas M’Crie
M’Crie (the elder) was a respected Secession minister in Edinburgh until his death in 1835. He is best known for his biography of John Knox, which has been reprinted by Free Presbyterian Publications (paperback, £6.50, reduced to £3.90 till the end of March). This article is reprinted from the concluding chapter of M’Crie’s Lectures on Esther.
In general, we have here a golden leaf in the book of providence, teaching us that “the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men”, and that His government extends over the whole earth. This was the lesson which the king of Babylon was taught emphatically when he was driven from men to dwell with the beasts of the field. And it is also taught in the history of Mordecai. The veil is withdrawn and we see the hand of God directing, controlling, overruling and managing the events of time and the hearts of men. We see that “promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is judge; He putteth down one, and setteth up another”. The same lesson is taught us even in the histories of other nations, for nothing can befall a people, a family or an individual without the divine appointment or permission. “God ruleth among the nations.”
In the second place, we learn from this portion of Scripture the special care with which God watches over His Church and His people. This is often celebrated in Scripture and presented under various similitudes. At one time it is compared to the attention which a husbandman pays to a favourite spot on which he has bestowed great labour and cost: “Sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine. I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day.” In another place it is likened to the instinctive affection with which the fowl guards its unfledged brood: “As birds flying, so will the Lord of Hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also He will deliver it; and passing over He will preserve it”. And again, we find it compared to the tender solicitude with which an affectionate mother watches over the infant on her breast: “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will not I forget thee.”
The Church has been like a lily among thorns, like a spark in the ocean, like a besieged city. But no weapon formed against her has prospered. We see this exemplified in the divine conduct towards the posterity of Abraham, throughout their whole history. “When they were but a few men in number, yea, very few, and strangers in” the land, “He suffered no man to do them wrong; yea, He reproved kings for their sakes; saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do My prophets no harm.” How did He watch over them when oppressed in Egypt, when wandering in the wilderness, and after they were settled in Canaan! Nor was His care of them confined to the promised land; it continued after they were scattered for their sins, and when “they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people”. Though they were sown among all nations, yet not one grain of the seed was lost. The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah testify to the divine preservation of the remnant which returned from the captivity; and the Book of Esther bears witness that those who were left behind were not forgotten.
The same care was extended to the Church under the new dispensation. Remember what a watchful providence was exerted over the infant child Jesus, and over the infant Christian Church! Consult the records of this care in the Acts of the Apostles (chs 9 and 12), and the prophetic descriptions of it in the Book of Revelation (ch 12). And the same eye which watches over the Church watches over its individual members: “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry”.
In the third place, we are called to observe the wonderful manner in which God raises up instruments for the preservation and deliverance of His people. The way in which Esther and Mordecai were raised up for this purpose was truly remarkable and recalls many other instances of a similar kind recorded in Scripture. How wonderful to think that Joseph, hated by his brethren, sold for a slave and cast into prison, should be raised up to preserve the chosen family of God, in consequence of these very disasters! How wonderful that, in the days of Pharaoh, when a decree was passed to destroy all the male children of Israel, it was at this “time Moses was born”; he was exposed on the waters; and this bloody edict was the means, not only of his preservation, but of bringing him into the family of the oppressor, in which he was qualified for the public charge which he afterwards sustained as the deliverer of his people! David was taken from the sheepfold to feed God’s people; and Esther, an orphan and an exile, was exalted to be a mother in Israel.
“Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” How unlikely it was, and how many difficulties were in the way! To remove these, “a decree went out . . . that all the world should be taxed . . . and Joseph went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem”. And there Mary brought forth her first-born son, and laid Him in a manger. Again, another decree went forth for the destruction of little children, in consequence of which the parents fled into Egypt, “that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called My son”. Truly this was a root springing “out of a dry ground”! Could it have been anticipated that this was “the Saviour of the world”?
Who would have thought that a man, born in an obscure village of Germany and brought up in a cloister, would be the instrument of bursting the fetters of superstition and priestcraft and of kindling a fire which the united powers of Europe, civil and ecclesiastical, could not extinguish or suppress? To have seen a young man of rank
Patrick Hamilton.
leaving Scotland, accompanied by two servants, on a tour to the Continent, who would have anticipated that his return would be the signal for emancipating his native country from antichristian bondage, and the means of shedding down on it all the blessings which it enjoys to this day! “O, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgements, and His ways past finding out!”
In the fourth place, we cannot fail to have observed the surprising manner in which providence opens up the way in which these instruments are destined to act, and provides beforehand for the preservation of His people, and for defeating the plots of her enemies. What could Mordecai or Esther have done for their people if God had not placed them in situations of influence, in which their voice might be heard and their patriotism find scope for its exercise? How much was it beyond the bounds of all probability that an orphan captive should become the favourite spouse of the sultan of Persia! Vashti was established, not only on the throne, but in the affections of her husband, and she had it in her power to preserve both. And yet she was deposed and disgraced to make way for Esther, just in time to enable the latter to crush a vile plot for the extermination of her people. Then there was Mordecai’s discovery of the conspiracy against the life of Ahasuerus, and the singular manner in which the king was brought to recollect that favour at the very time that Haman came to request permission to put Mordecai to death. The history of the Church abounds with similar instances of divine interposition; and the life of every private Christian, when closely reviewed, will present to him a multitude of coincidences almost equally surprising which, though apparently fortuitous, are in reality the doings of Him who is “wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working”.
Again, how emphatically we are taught by this history the duty of placing our sole trust and dependence on God! “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.” How slippery is the path of ambition! How deceitful the gale of worldly prosperity! And how easy it is for God to bring down the mighty from their seats and exalt them of low degree! “Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God; which made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that therein is; which keepeth truth for ever; which executeth judgement for the oppressed; which giveth food to the hungry. The Lord preserveth the strangers; He relieveth the fatherless and widow; but the way of the wicked He turneth upside down.”
In fine, we learn from an examination of this book, the great usefulness of the Old Testament Scriptures and their standing authority as a rule both to individuals and communities. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” This book, in particular, contains lessons fitted alike for the prince on the throne and the lowest menial in his kingdom. It shows us how Christians are expected to act when they are, in providence, elevated to stations of rank, influence and authority. And these lessons are not the less to be regarded because they are to be found in the Old Testament.