論以斯帖皇后的人格特質

On the Personality Traits of Queen Esther

現今社會，人人都嚮往渴望安定富足的生活及恆久的幸福。然而，目前的安穩不一定是永恆幸福的保證。富可敵國的富豪也可能會在一夕之間變成身無分文的乞丐。青春洋溢的俊男美女終究會被歲月征服。人際關係也可能會因利益衝突而隨時破裂，這正是所謂的沒有永遠的朋友或敵人。人們往往將安全感建立在財富、社會地位、權力、或名聲，鮮少人能真正參透這些都是朝露，當太陽升起時這一切都會化為烏有。況且，無常無所不在，最後人人難逃一死。因此，真正的平安只能在永生中找到，只有我們將安全感架構於永不改變的真理上，我們才能坦然無懼的面對生命中的各種挑戰。上蒼賜給人不同的能力及任務並不是要人只為自己活。相反地，祂甚至於是要我們放棄富足安逸的生活，去幫助比我們不幸的人。此篇文章將描繪波斯帝國中的一位猶太戰俘孤女以斯帖的一生，她冒著生命危險以及放棄皇后地位的安逸，去拯救整個希伯來民族，使其免於被滅種的精彩故事。此外，更重要的重心將會探討分析以斯帖的深思熟慮、討人喜愛、守口如瓶、孝順、不畏懼死亡、以及機智的人格特質。由於以斯帖的果斷行動，希伯來民族才能幸免於難。以斯帖能緊緊抓住上帝所賜與的機會，她的英勇使整個民族受益，她深知她來到人世間絕非偶然，而是有其神聖的使命。以斯帖記全書雖然未提到上帝的名字，但上帝的指紋卻無所不在，處處彰顯上帝的大能和保護；祂保護居住在波斯帝國境內的希伯來人，渡過滅族滅種的危機。同樣地，今天上帝一樣眷顧保護祂的子民，無論他們的遭遇如何。

In Today’s society, everyone longs for a stable, prosperous life and eternal happiness. However, the comfortable present life is not necessarily a guarantee for eternal happiness. Multibillionaires could go broke overnight and become impecunious beggars. Beautiful women and handsome men might eventually be conquered by time. Interpersonal relationships may also be ruptured at any time by conflicts of interest. This is the so-called no permanent friends or enemies. People tend to build their sense of security on finance, social status, authority, or reputation; rarely can one really fathom that all of these are just like the morning dews, and when the sun rises, they will evaporate. Furthermore, impermanence is ubiquitous and death is inevitable for everyone. Therefore, real peace can only be found in eternal truth. Only when we build our sense of security on the unchangeable truth since time immemorial, can we have confidence facing life's challenges. God gives people different capabilities and assigns them different tasks accordingly. He does not want people to live just for themselves. Quite on the contrary, He even wants us to give up prosperous and comfortable life and help the less fortunate people. This research paper is going to depict a marvelous story of a Jewish slave orphan girl named Esther, living in the Empire of Persia. She risked her life and the possibility of losing the comfort of being a queen, saving the Jewish people from the danger of genocide. Furthermore, the paper attempts to deal with the personality traits of Esther: consideration, adoration, reticence, filial piety, fearlessness, and quick-wittedness. Because of Esther's decisive actions, the whole people of Israel were free from massacre. She could seize the opportunity given by God and benefited the entire nation. She knew that her birth was not a coincidence, but a sacred mission assigned. The name of God is not mentioned in the book of Esther; however, the fingerprints of God are seen everywhere, especially His omnipotence and protection. He protected His people living in the Persian Empire as slaves. In the same way, He is protecting his people no matter what obstacles they are encountering.