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Hello, my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
What’s the most remarkable party you’ve ever attended? Come with me to one in the Bible which will, I’m sure, overshadow anything you’ve ever seen.
Yesterday I left you in Jerusalem about 515bc during the great Passover festival. This Passover was unique in that it was the first Passover to be celebrated at the newly constructed second Temple, which had been built on the Jerusalem Temple mount, exactly on the same foundation as King Solomon’s first Temple. As you may know, in our day the Golden Dome of the Rock structure occupies much of the exact same space on the Temple mount which both those Jewish Temples occupied in Bible times. Ezra 6:22 gives us a wonderful, one sentence overview of that historic Passover experience.
More than 50 years of time elapsed after that verse and before the beginning of Ezra 7. During those years a very significant event happened which is still celebrated around the world in our time. Do you know what the festival of PURIM is all about? That story is found in the Bible book of Esther and let’s go there today.
Perhaps you know Esther is the only book in the Bible which does not contain a name of God, yet this powerful story is all about God working His great purposes for His people the Jews and for our world.
Esther chapter 1 opens in the great city of Susa which was about 200 miles straight east of Babylon in the Persian empire. King Xerxes I followed King Darius, the King who had helped accomplish the rebuild of the Jewish Temple by his letter found in Ezra 6 which we discussed last week. King Xerxes reigned over the entire Persian kingdom from 486-465bc, thus he came to power almost exactly 100 years after King Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in 586bc. (2 Chronicles 36:15-21) By the time King Xerxes succeeded King Darius on the throne those Jewish exiles, who had returned to Jerusalem from Babylon in 538bc, had been working on rebuilding their city Jerusalem for more than 50 years and the second Temple had been functioning for almost 30 years.
Susa was even further from Jerusalem than Babylon was, so it’s safe for us to assume life in Jerusalem was continuing with little thought given to leadership changes in Susa almost 900 miles walk away! King Xerxes was an extravagant man and Esther 1 details a huge party, thrown by King Xerxes for his officials from all 127 provinces in the empire.
As you read through this chapter, I think you’ll be overwhelmed with the description of opulence and abundance almost beyond imagination. The record says: “In the third year of his reign King Xerxes gave a royal banquet for all his nobles and officials. The military leaders of Persia and Media, the princes, and the nobles of the provinces were present. For a full 180 days King Xerxes displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and glory of his majesty.” (Esther 1:1-4) Even if you live in a kingdom like Saudi Arabia or a city like Dubai, I doubt you can imagine such extravagance!
The author of Esther next writes: “…the king gave a banquet, lasting seven days…for all the people, from the least to the greatest, who were in the citadel of Susa…Wine was served in goblets of gold, each one different from the other, and the royal wine was abundant, in keeping with the King’s liberality. By the king’s command each guest was allowed to drink with no restrictions, for the king instructed all the wine stewards to serve each man what he wished.“ (Esther 1:5-8)
Now pause a moment and reflect on the most extravagant banquets you’ve ever attended. You’ll notice this was a male only event with no restrictions on wine. Now why would the Holy Spirit want us to know those details? Because in every culture, every generation, the description of this banquet is a recipe for disaster, would you agree?
It should not surprise us that King Xerxes, surrounded by hundreds, maybe thousands of drunken men in this extravagant, seven-day long banquet, would call for some entertainment. We can safely presume that entertainment included some scantily clad beautiful young women dancing for the men. Can you already see the disaster brewing here my friends? King Xerxes even sent word to his Queen that she should come to the King’s banquet. And the record explains why: “…to bring before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at.” (Esther 1:10,11) Men, what reputation do you have about how you treat women, especially your wife?
But Queen Vashti refused her King’s invitation, knowing full well what would be expected of her in that raucous party. And when word came to the king that his Queen refused to come the king flew into a drunken rage. He called for his advisors and asked them what he should do about this complex situation.
His question was straight forward: “According to the law, what must be done to Queen Vashti? She has not obeyed the command of King Xerxes…” (Esther 1:13-15) I commend this king for seeking wise counsel, considering he was greatly under the influence of too much wine and due to his own arrogance, he now found himself in a no-win situation. Pause for a few seconds.
When you find yourself in difficult, complex situations, who do you consult, and why? Do you pray, seeking God’s guidance? Xerxes did not pray, nor do we know if he had any awareness at all of the one, true God, the God of Israel, who was being worshipped back in Jerusalem, at that rebuilt Temple.
Esther 1:16-18 gives their remarkable response to the king’s question. His advisors urged the King to realize that Queen Vashti’s refusal to obey the king’s invitation, if left unpunished, could result in widespread insubordination by all women, all across the empire! They said: “There will be no end of disrespect and discord.” (Esther 1:18) Furthermore, these wise men advised the king to issue in irrevocable edict that Queen Vashti be banished, never permitted in the king’s presence, ever again. Also, they said: “let the king give her royal position to someone else who is better than she.” (Esther 1:19,20) WOW, now that would be an extravagant punishment! But what alternatives did he have?
Evidently King Xerxes had surrounded himself with officials and nobles very much like himself and it seems unanimous agreement was reached quickly that this would be the appropriate response to Queen Vashti’s intolerable disrespect for the king. And so, a proclamation was made: “The king sent dispatches to all parts of the kingdom, to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language, proclaiming that every man should be ruler over his own household…” (Esther 1:21,22)
It’s a remarkable opening chapter to the story of Esther and I urge you to listen or read all of it today my friends. While you read, listen carefully to the poor decisions the most powerful man in the world made which created for him an inescapable trap which would have unimaginable results during the rest of his life.
It’s very important we learn from such terrible mistakes my friends, for very similar, poor, regrettable decisions are being made every day, in your town and mine. These decisions are ruining lives, families, businesses and even nations. So don’t rush to leave Esther chapter one.
Read it and pray over it, asking God to teach you what you need to learn so you don’t find yourself in a similar, self-destructive situation.
Tomorrow we’ll return to see what happened next, in the meantime here’s an important worship song to help us reflect on this major, world changing event.
Today’s Scripture: Esther 1.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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