Purged from its base associations of blood and cruelty, Purim may symbolise to us the triumph of the Church of Christ over her fiercest foes. The spirit of this triumph must be the very opposite of the spirit of wild vengeance exhibited by Mordecai and his people in their brief season of unwonted elation. The Israel of God can never conquer her enemies by force. The victory of the Church must be the victory of brotherly love, because brotherly love is the note of the true Church. But this victory Christ is winning throughout the ages, and the historical realisation of it is to us the Christian counterpart of the story of Esther. * * * * * Transcriber's note: Variations in spelling have been preserved except in obvious cases of typographical error. Hyphenation is inconsistent. Page 371: "As in the case of Judas, there is thought to be no call...." Missing word "is" has been inserted. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Expositor's Bible: Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, by Walter Adeney