The Pulpit Commentary on Esther 3:15

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

Swift couriers.

"And the posts went out, being hastened by the king's commandment." The Persians had good arrangements for interchange of thought and desires. A nation's civilisation may be gauged by its facilities for intercommunication. Roads, canals, and railways, penny posts, and electric telegraphs are the present means of communication in this country. The ancient Romans sought to facilitate interchange. They were great road builders. The English have more than any nation helped to cover the world with a net-work of railways. Their couriers are in every land

I. PREACHERS SHOULD BE DILIGENT< AS HASTENED BY THE KING'S COMMANDMENT. They carry good news to souls. They are to do what their hands find to do with all their might. If Christ was "straitened," they should be.

II. PREACHERS ARE TO BE FAITHFUL, WHETHER THEIR MESSAGE BE A "SAVOUR OF LIFE UNTO LIFE OR OF DEATH UNTO DEATH." The couriers of Ahasuerus faithfully delivered the despatches they carried. In the eighth chapter (verse 14) we see how extra means and greater pressure were used to overtake wrong.—H.

HOMILIES BY P.C. BARKER

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