Esther Explained | Salvation Will Ariseনমুনা

Day 1 | Esther 1 

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Welcome to the book of Esther! Jonathan Ferguson here, ready to take you on a journey through chapter one. 

Imagine for a moment, the life of a king. Power, riches, fancy food for every meal. For the vast majority of humanity, we will never live like a king, at least not in this way. But we can easily find ourselves living like King Xerxes here by simply living for our own pleasures. But is that life really all that it claims to be? Let’s jump into the story here. 

It is the year 483 BC. The first wave of exiled Israelites have returned to their homeland, but most remain in exile, spread throughout what is now the Persian Empire. The temple in Jerusalem has been rebuilt after its destruction by the Babylonians, though Ezra and Nehemiah have not yet returned to Judah. 

King Darius I of the Persian empire has died, and his son, Xerxes has taken the throne. After spending three years consolidating his empire, Xerxes is about to invade Greece, to avenge his father. Darius lost against the Athenians at the famous battle of Marathon, and now, Xerxes was going to make the Greeks pay for the humiliation. 

In order to make sure that they did not face a similar defeat, Xerxes confers with his top commanders. In order to build support for his invasion of Greece, he parades his wealth in front of his commanders. And just look at the wealth he shows off:

“For a full 180 days he displayed the vast wealth of his kingdom and the splendor and glory of his majesty. When these days were over, the king gave a banquet, lasting seven days, in the enclosed garden of the king’s palace, for all the people from the least to the greatest who were in the citadel of Susa. The garden had hangings of white and blue linen, fastened with cords of white linen and purple material to silver rings on marble pillars. There were couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and other costly stones” (Esther 1:4-6).

Did you catch that, Xerxes is so wealthy, he used precious stones and iridescent mother-of-pearl as pavement? And he’s got couches of gold and silver. Now I don’t know how comfortable that would be, but it would be a great way to show off your wealth: 

"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 1:7-8).

The entire city is invited to this feast, and there are golden goblets for all, filled with the most expensive wines. Usually, at Persian feasts, the guests would only drink as the king drank. But here, the people of Susa are told, drink as much as you want! No limits! And drink the good stuff! 

And then Xerxes issues his challenge. Historians tell us that after six months of flaunting his wealth, he told his military commanders that he would lavish wealth upon those who arrived for battle with the best-equipped armies. The challenge had been issued, and the generals were about to return to their provinces to begin conscripting soldiers and equipping them for battle. At last, Persia would be avenged against the Greeks.

But then all of it, 6 months of planning, wining and dining his generals from Egypt to Pakistan, was nearly undone by one drunken command. Verse 10:

"On the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high spirits from wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs who served him... 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. But when the attendants delivered the king’s command, Queen Vashti refused to come. Then the king became furious and burned with anger" (Esther 1:10-12).

So, Xerxes, drunk, wants to show off his wife’s beauty to the men. But Vashti refuses. The man who would command an army reportedly as large as one million disrespected by his wife? In that culture, men had absolute authority over their wives, even more so if you were the divinely chosen king. It’s not right, but it was the culture. 

So why does Vashti refuse to appear? There are a number of possibilities. For her to show off her beauty, would mean she would have had to appear, at least, unveiled, in a culture where modesty dictated that women wear a veil. In addition, Vashti most likely does not want to appear in this fashion before a massive party of drunk men. Vashti has enough wisdom and modesty to know this must not be done and has the courage to match. She resists the royal mandate, rather than violate her morals. 

But Xerxes doesn’t see things that way. For 6 months, he’s been trying to impress people with his power and wealth. But now, people will only remember this one act of disobedience by Vashti. So, Xerxes asks his advisors, who have all been drinking as much as he has, to help him solve his dilemma. Verse 16:

"Queen Vashti has done wrong, not only against the king but also against all the nobles and the peoples of all the provinces of King Xerxes. For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women, and so they will despise their husbands and say, ‘King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she would not come.’ This very day the Persian and Median women of the nobility who have heard about the queen’s conduct will respond to all the king’s nobles in the same way. There will be no end of disrespect and discord" (Esther 1:16-18).

Seems like the strength of this kingdom is pretty frail. Xerxes commands the nations but needs his drunk advisors to try to force his wife to respect him. If honor is not freely given, if it must be coerced, then what is it worth? Honor obtained by force is no honor at all. Verse 19:

“Therefore, if it pleases the king, let him issue a royal decree and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media, which cannot be repealed, that Vashti is never again to enter the presence of King Xerxes. Also let the king give her royal position to someone else who is better than she…” (Esther 1:19).

Instead of honoring the dignity of his wife, Xerxes has her deposed and exiled. This might sound crazy, but it seems to be the norm for Xerxes. One historian reported that when a storm destroyed a bridge he had built to invade Greece, he ordered the waves to be whipped to punish the sea. 

As strange as wave-whipping may be, the actions of King Xerxes can teach us a lot about our own lives. The king has everything the world still desires, money, power, fame, pleasure, but look a little closer, and we see a man who is insecure, anger-prone, and unhappy. Why? Because pursuing the things of this world is vanity. Xerxes is the poster child for the book of Ecclesiastes:

 “Meaningless! Meaningless!”

    says the Teacher.

“Utterly meaningless!

    Everything is meaningless” (Ecclesiastes 1:2). 

When we chase after these worldly ambitions, we will find nothing but emptiness. The world promises pleasure and happiness, but let me tell you, the world is a big fat liar. No matter how good the world looks, it will never be enough for you. Xerxes was the richest and most powerful person in the world but still was not satisfied. There was always more to be had. 

It is only in Jesus that we will find satisfaction and peace. Psalm 16 says: 

“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand” (Psalm 16:11).

It is in Him alone that you can experience the joy you have been searching for.

That’s it for today, go and read Esther 1 for yourself, and join us tomorrow as we continue through Esther, and find out how the biggest beauty pageant in the world fits into God’s plan.

Read Esther 1

All verses are quoted from the NIV unless otherwise noted.