Esther 1:22 - Homiletics

Rule in the house.

The purport of the edict here recorded was good, although there seems something almost ludicrous in the feelings and the fears which prompted its framers and promulgators. "That every man should bear rule in his own house" seems scarcely a regulation to be prescribed by political authority.

I. IT IS A PRINCIPLE FOUNDED UPON NATURAL , DIVINE AUTHORITY . It is written upon the very constitution of human nature that a wife should be directed by her husband, and children by their father. If purpose is visible anywhere, it is in this domestic law.

II. IT IS A PRINCIPLE SANCTIONED BY SCRIPTURE . From the first it was said to the woman, "Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." The apostle thus admonishes the female sex: "Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord." "The husband," we are told, "is the head of the wife."

III. THE RULE IN QUESTION SHOULD BE COMMENDED BY THOUGHTFUL WISDOM ON THE PART OF HIM WHO EXERCISES IT . If the husband is a fool, it is not easy for the wife to submit. Bat if he be a man of knowledge, experience, and self-control, the wife will usually, gladly and gratefully, be guided by his desires and requests.

IV. THIS SWAY SHOULD BE EXERCISED WITH GENTLENESS AND FORBEARANCE . Nothing is more hateful or contemptible than the rule of a domestic tyrant, and such a rule encourages either rebellion or deceit. Children lose all respect for an unreasonable and passionate father. The household with such a head is wretched indeed. Affection and consideration should be manifest in the demeanour and requirements of all in authority over a family.

V. SUCH A RULE SHOULD BE ACKNOWLEDGED WITH FRANK SUBMISSION . Women are very much what men make them. Let them be treated with affection and courtesy, and the response will usually be cheerful compliance.

VI. SUCH A RULE IS CONTRIBUTIVE TO ORDER AND HAPPINESS . The family is so far like the state; tyranny awakens resentment and provokes resistance, whilst a righteous and considerate rule is acknowledged with gratitude, and is productive of happiness. A home where there is anarchy is a hell upon earth; a home where a woman rules is a monstrous and loathsome spectacle. Darius and Xerxes are said, both of them, to have been too much governed by their wives. History abounds with instances in which the legitimate power of the wives of kings has been exceeded, and in which kings' mistresses have corrupted courts, and to some degree nations also.