Esther 1:10-22[1]
As preached at Rolling Hills Church on Sunday, March 20th, 2011
No appeal from Queen Esther, no Jews.
No Jews, no Jesus.
No Jesus, no cross.
No cross, then no atonement.
No atonement, then no hope of avoiding the wrath of God against us.
Now I said that in context of showing how God uses the courage of man to act; for surely Haman meant to utterly annihilate this people. But I didn't want to leave the impression that God's providential working is limited to or by man's courageous acts. Let me be quick to say that this logic trail was to emphasize how God did work through Esther, as well as what was at stake. Of course, being God, He would have worked another way to fulfill His plan – for no man thwarts God! So, that being hopefully corrected, let's move on through chapter one of Esther today.
Marital spats, they happen, right? Apparently even in the Palace. We're going to read about one today and make some simple observations together from this part of the story. We're still in Act 1 of this play called Esther, so let's go there and read together from Chapter 1.
Esther 1:10-22
10 On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha and Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus,
11 to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown, in order to show the peoples and the princes her beauty, for she was lovely to look at.
12 But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command delivered by the eunuchs. At this the king became enraged, and his anger burned within him.
13 Then the king said to the wise men who knew the times (for this was the king's procedure toward all who were versed in law and judgment,
14 the men next to him being Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, who saw the king's face, and sat first in the kingdom):
15 "According to the law, what is to be done to Queen Vashti, because she has not performed the command of King Ahasuerus delivered by the eunuchs?"
16 Then Memucan said in the presence of the king and the officials, "Not only against the king has Queen Vashti done wrong, but also against all the officials and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.
17 For the queen's behavior will be made known to all women, causing them to look at their husbands with contempt, since they will say, 'King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, and she did not come.'
18 This very day the noble women of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen's behavior will say the same to all the king's officials, and there will be contempt and wrath in plenty.
19 If it please the king, let a royal order go out from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes so that it may not be repealed, that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus. And let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she.
20 So when the decree made by the king is proclaimed throughout all his kingdom, for it is vast, all women will give honor to their husbands, high and low alike."
21 This advice pleased the king and the princes, and the king did as Memucan proposed.
22 He sent letters to all the royal provinces, to every province in its own script and to every people in its own language, that every man be master in his own household and speak according to the language of his people.
Again, let us come before God to seek His blessings. Our Father, we acknowledge here together, as your children, that there is none like You. We have no being at all to compare to You: how could the created ever compare to the Creator!? You alone have all power, You alone hold the keys to life and to death in Your hand. You alone can reveal truth about Yourself to Your creation, Father – and I thank You that you did, in this extraordinary Bible I hold. As we open it together, allow us to learn, even in the absence of direct teaching about You, of Your faithfulness to watch over Your own, Your good mercies, and Your amazing ability to work with, against, and even through believers as well as unbelievers to accomplish Your plan for Your glory. Let us receive strength for our faith, comfort for our souls, and wisdom for our walk. We certainly want to be a part of Your working, and of bringing You glory. I pray this through Christ our Lord, Amen.
We have no well-informed platform from which to judge this unfortunate divorce other than our own western cultural perspectives. And these Persians weren't westernized and they certainly weren't Christians – they were pagans. There were similarities to Christian doctrines shown in this situation, such as "wives, submit to your own husbands, as unto the Lord"[2], and "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God"[3]. Ahasuerus was both husband and king and, by our thinking, she should have come when he called for her. She did not. So let's ask a couple of questions here…
Why did Ahasuerus call her? He was merry with wine and wanted to show his guests the beauty of his wife. Some have said that he called for to come wearing only the crown; I don't think the Scriptures imply that at all. Others have said that he was drunk and wanted to allow his drunk-fest of men to boorishly leer over his lovely queen in public; that implies too much, I believe. We are at a loss to assign motive to him here, as many have; we only know he called her. I believe there is were enough useful words to distinguish between being 'merry' and 'drunk' that the writer in these days could have said drunk; he did not.
History tells us that Xerxes, if this Ahasuerus was the same man, was giving this feast to motivate his princes to approve an attack on Greece; what showing his wife to them has to do with that we don't know. Really, Here is what we do know; he was merry with wine and he called her to come – and she refused.
Why did Vashti refuse to come? We simply don't know. Many have assigned motive to the queen as well, both good and bad. Some have said she was appalled that her drunken King commanded her to come and be exposed to this gang of drunken partiers who wanted to see her beauty, like she was some cheap dancing girl! She was too dignified, too virtuous to do such a thing, and righteously refused! Others have said she was rebellious and evil, refusing to obey her husband that way. She has been assigned with motives of personal gain or political machinations, which drove her decision. We don't have enough information to accurately assess her motives at all. All we can say for sure is that the King called for the Queen to come, and she did not; this, enraged the King. In his rage he still showed some wise restraint, though. Ahasuerus called for his counselors.
Notice the irony and satire here, folks? This king of the greatest nation can, in a simple letter, summon provincial leaders from thousands of miles; he speaks, they come. He is the undisputed, unquestioned solitary sovereign king of this vast, powerful, Empire of Persia. And he can't make his wife come into the room; he gets angry and calls for the counselors.
The King hears the advice of his counselors. Instead of a rash decision out of wrath or embarrassment, he called for those who helped him make wise decisions, who are assigned to know the laws and to think things through as to their possible affect on this great nation; you see, everything a leader does affects those under him to some extent.
After these wise men considered the situation, Memucan spoke for the seven, and he gave this advice: remove and replace the Queen. You'll need to divorce her (for all practical purposes, if not in our terms) in order to maintain order and stability in your kingdom.
The wives in all the land, his counselors believed, will be emboldened by Vashti's example to disdain their husbands. You'll have chaos in your kingdom. There is power in the example of leadership; both for good and for ill. I believe we can attest to the truth of the power of both moral and immoral leadership in our White House; both for good and for ill. I believe Memucan was certainly on to something.
The husbands in all the land will be undermined in their homes. So in order to prevent this, you must remove this rebellious queen and find another who is better than she.
Sound advice? Again, from Western Christian worldview, divorce is a terrible thing. In Persia, who knows why he even married Vashti, if she was his only wife or just the queen (we know he had concubines). We are left grasping for details in this big-picture rendering of this removal of Queen Vashti. Why do you think that is?
Because what is important in this story isn't the why; it is only that she was removed, and room was made for her replacement.
Now we could make all kinds of observations about authority, marriage, leadership, the power of example in leadership, and the wisdom of consulting counselors. There is godly wisdom from Proverbs to support almost all of these principles on display in this godless nation. But that isn't what this part of the story is about.
Esther 1:10-22 is about this; Queen Vashti is removed. Through this unfortunate circumstance there is a need for a replacement, one who is, as Memucan said, 'better'. This new queen is to be sought for through all the land. So while this may not be a good situation in the palace, it is made to work for the good of those who are the called.
Now church family, we have no need to accuse God of wrecking a marriage to set up Esther; not any more than we can accuse God of killing some poor believing soul in a terrible accident so that his nephew would hear the gospel at his funeral and finally repent and turn to Christ. Looking back we can see how God uses terrible situations to His glory. Being sovereign, God is completely in charge of His world. But God doesn't commit sin to work His plan out; He is, however, sovereign over sinners to the extent that He can easily use their sin for the good of all who are the called according to His purpose. We simply observe the setting of the stage, and how God is providentially working. So we see the first truth:
Providence: the invisible hand of God working on behalf of His people and His plan.
There is also courage and commemoration in this story, but that is yet to come. Chapter two is next week. Let's pray.
