With His Cruelty He Contaminated Our Piety

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Keraza Magazine issue 23-24 June 12, 2015

It is written in the book of Esther in the letter of Artaxerxes the king to the provinces of his kingdom concerning the Jews, "Haman son of Hammedatha a Macedonian both in mind and ancestry, and foreign to Persian blood, and with his cruelty contaminating our piety, was accepted by us as a sojourner" (Esther 16:10).

Artaxerxes the king mentioned in the book of Esther is a symbol to God, King of kings and Lord of lords. Therefore, this sentence, "with his cruelty contaminating our piety" can be a final report in which God prescribe the situation of many people. What a hard sentence can a man ever hear about himself by God's mouth!!

The Holy Bible talks in many places about the merciful God and how mercy is a very nature of Him. His mercies are poured not only upon human beings but also upon all His creation all the time. If God would withhold His mercies upon His creation for a mere moment then the entire world would immediately perish.

But unfortunately, there are, on the other side, people who withhold God's mercies through their cruelty. They distort His compassionate merciful image in the sight of His children due to their aggressive feelings and behaviors. Therefore, they sow the seeds of doubt and confusion regarding God's mercies within people's hearts making leading them to wrongly think that He is the true initiator and motivator of wars, disasters and cruel crimes that the entire world suffer from on all levels. But the real truth remains in the way God was prescribed, "He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth" (Isaiah 53:7).

Actually, the real Haman, who distorts God's mercies with his cruelty, is the devil who carries in his nature all attributes of cruelty, aggression and harshness. While God is going about everywhere doing good, kindness and compassion, yet the devil id going about sowing tares of cruelty within people's hearts making no place for compassion, kindness and sympathy in them.

If the cruelty of the devil and his followers contaminates God's mercies in the sense that it withholds and distorts them yet the sentence, "with his cruelty contaminating our piety" also means that God is glorified more and more by his cruelty as in such case He shows more mercies. This is actually what happened with Pharaoh whom God got use of cruel heart to do wonders among His people showing them the greatness of His mercy, "For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, 'For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, andthat My name be declared in all the earth'. Therefore, He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens" (Romans 9:17-18).

Let us now take what St. Paul said, "If any affection and mercy" (Philippians 2:1) as a motto in all our relationships with all God's creation. Let us take heed that God's sons must be, "vessels of mercy" (Romans 9:23) that always chant joyfully saying, "I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever" (Psalms 89:1).

Bishop Youssef
Bishop, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States