Recently I was struck with the similarity between two of the kings in the Old Testament, the first being King Darius and the other King Ahasuerus. We know their stories; King Darius sent Daniel to the lions’ den, and King Ahasuerus signed the decree that would mean the death of the Jews, until Esther stepped in. What is it that these two men had in common?
Their pride. In each instance, they were prevailed upon by men in their court to do something they knew was wrong, and because the men used flattering words, the kings caved in and acted against their own better judgement.
In King Darius’ case, found in Daniel chapter 6, a petition was brought before him that no one should make a petition of man or God for thirty days. The men who brought this petition forth were jealous of Daniel and had been trying for days to find a way to discredit him. The only weakness they could find was that he prayed three times a day. Making prayer illegal was the only thing they could come up with, and so with cunning, they encouraged the king to sign the document.
King Ahasuerus was told in Esther chapter 3 that there were those in the kingdom who did not respect his authority. As his pride was smarting, it was proposed that those insolent persons be killed. Again, with cunning, the decree was brought forth and signed. The king did not know that the persons in question were the Jews, and he did not know that his own wife, Queen Esther, was a Jew.
In both cases, the kings were shocked to realize what they had done, and they both sought to stop it. King Darius was unable to change the decree, and Daniel had to be cast into the den. An angel of the Lord stopped the lions’ mouths, and he came out free. Daniel prophesied many things about the latter days after this experience; he truly was a great prophet. King Ahasuerus reverses the decree and the Jews are saved.
How much pain and suffering could have been avoided if these two kings had listened to their hearts and not to their conniving advisors? And what lesson can we take from this?
Very often, those who would seek to destroy us come at us with flattering words or half-truths. Finding it easier to let us destroy ourselves than to destroy us outright, they plant seeds of discontent and pride within our hearts and then stand back to watch what happens next.
This is where it is crucial to maintain a close relationship with the Holy Ghost, so we can be prompted to heed or to ignore the fancy words that are fed to us. It can be difficult to know who is truly our friend and who is just grooming us for their own gain. As we follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost and beware of pride, we can avoid pitfalls in our own lives.