The Book of Esther takes place in Persia, inside the court of Ahasuerus king of Persia. The opening chapter tells how Queen Vashti disobeyed the king and fell out of favor. While he was giving a feast for the princes of Persia and Media, he called for the queen to come to them but she refused. (It’s possible she refused to obey the command because she was going to be required to make an indecent exposure of herself before a company of drunks.) Ahasuerus turned to the princes with him and asked what her punishment should be for refusing his call. It was like taking the issue to the Supreme Court of his day, as their ruling was equal to the rulings of the highest court. They did not compliment Queen Vashti on her morals, nor did they recommend that the king punish her, but rather that she should never be allowed to come before the king again and for her position to be given to another. They also stated that his decree should be irrevocable. This is an interesting characteristic of Persian law, the ability to make a decree that can’t be reversed or altered. This aspect of its permanency is recorded several more times in the Book of Esther and also in Daniel 6:8.<\/p>\n
We remind ourselves that the king and his advisors did not deal with the matter biblically. Scripture simply records it as they approached it from the standpoint of their eastern, chauvinistic culture. They no doubt saw women as inferior to men, and thus to be used by men for their pleasure. And we can see from women’s rights in Hindu, Buddhist, and Islamic cultures today that this attitude toward women in Esther 1 is still the norm in almost all nations where the gospel has not been allowed. In contrast, Scripture points to women as being equal, a concept that has slowly been changing the world ever since Jesus came. Our heavenly Father sees all His children as equal. As the apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (3:28).<\/p>\n
“LORD, remind us today that You are the redeemer of all. Please help us to see everyone we meet today as someone You desire to spend eternity with, and help us show them You.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n =============================================================<\/p>\n\n\n\n Esther 1 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup>\u00a0Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia,\u00a0over\u00a0<\/em>an hundred and seven and twenty provinces:)\u00a02<\/sup>That\u00a0<\/em>in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>in Shushan the palace,\u00a03<\/sup>\u00a0In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces,\u00a0being\u00a0<\/em>before him:\u00a04<\/sup>\u00a0When he shewed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honour of his excellent majesty many days,\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>an hundred and fourscore days.\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0And when these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king\u2019s palace;\u00a0\u00a06<\/sup>\u00a0Where were<\/em>white, green, and blue,\u00a0hangings\u00a0<\/em>, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the beds\u00a0were of\u00a0<\/em>gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black, marble.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a07<\/sup>\u00a0And they gave\u00a0them\u00a0<\/em>drink in vessels of gold, (the vessels being diverse one from another,) and royal wine in abundance, according to the state of the king.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a08<\/sup>\u00a0And the drinking\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>according to the law; none did compel: for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do according to every man\u2019s pleasure.\u00a09<\/sup>\u00a0Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women\u00a0in\u00a0<\/em>the royal house which\u00a0belonged\u00a0<\/em>to king Ahasuerus. 10<\/sup>\u00a0On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven chamberlains that served in the presence of Ahasuerus the king,\u00a0\u00a011<\/sup>\u00a0To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to shew the people and the princes her beauty: for she\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>fair to look on.\u00a0\u00a012<\/sup>\u00a0But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king\u2019s commandment by\u00a0his\u00a0<\/em>chamberlains: therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him.\u00a013<\/sup>\u00a0Then the king said to the wise men, which knew the times, (for so\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>the king\u2019s manner toward all that knew law and judgment:\u00a014<\/sup>\u00a0And the next unto him\u00a0was<\/em>Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena,\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, which saw the king\u2019s face,\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>which sat the first in the kingdom;)\u00a015<\/sup>\u00a0What shall we do unto the queen Vashti according to law, because she hath not performed the commandment of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains?\u00a016<\/sup>\u00a0And Memucan answered before the king and the princes, Vashti the queen hath not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all the people that\u00a0are\u00a0<\/em>in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus.\u00a017<\/sup>\u00a0For\u00a0this\u00a0<\/em>deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes, when it shall be reported, The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not.\u00a018<\/sup>\u00a0Likewise\u00a0<\/em>shall the ladies of Persia and Media say this day unto all the king\u2019s princes, which have heard of the deed of the queen. Thus\u00a0shall there arise\u00a0<\/em>too much contempt and wrath.\u00a019<\/sup>\u00a0If it please the king, let there go a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered, That Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a020<\/sup>\u00a0And when the king\u2019s decree which he shall make shall be published throughout all his empire, (for it is great,) all the wives shall give to their husbands honour, both to great and small.\u00a021<\/sup>\u00a0And the saying pleased the king and the princes; and the king did according to the word of Memucan:\u00a0\u00a022<\/sup>\u00a0For he sent letters into all the king\u2019s provinces, into every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language, that every man should bear rule in his own house, and that\u00a0it\u00a0<\/em>should be published according to the language of every people.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Book of Esther takes place in Persia, inside the court of Ahasuerus king of Persia. The opening chapter tells how Queen Vashti disobeyed the king and fell out of favor. 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