Just a reminder: we committed to be more "conversational" on here so please post questions, comments, answers to other people's questions, etc. We can just act like we are actually talking to each other.
Some facts about the Book of Esther to get us started:
- This book shows God's involvement with His people.
- God's name is not mentioned once in this book, however, His influence is definitely there.
- The author is unknown but was a devout Jew.
- This book was written as a historical account, recording events leading up to the Jewish observance of Purim and as assurance to God's people of His protection.
- This book was written in Persia around 460 & 350 BC.
- This book is about revealing God's character, faithfulness & provision for those who trust in Him even through tragic events.
- King Xerxes ruled from 485-465 BC and was the son and successor of Darius I.
- Susa is 150 miles North of the Persian Gulf in southwestern Iran known today as Khuzistan.
- Cush is in the upper Nile Region. (now that is perfectly clear, we all know exactly where that is right?! : ) )
This display or celebration went on for 6 months. Can you even imagine that? Why so long? Apparently Xerxes wealth came from overcoming Egypt & Babylon. This also gave Xerxes enough time to celebrate with his military & also for planning future military action. This would also impress his friends & enemies alike.
In that time it was unlawful to drink unless the king was drinking. Xerxes lifted this law & allowed everyone to drive whenever & however much they wanted.
It wasn't the norm that men & women were segregated. It is possible that the drunkenness of the men was inappropriate for the women so they had separate banquets. This explains why Queen Vashti wasn't with her King.
Why would the Queen refuse the King's summons? There are several possibilities... it could have been political but most likely it was to avoid a bad situation. It is thought that Queen Vashti was asked to appear before the drunken mess of men with nothing but a crown on her head. I could imagine after days and days of drunkenness & separation, the prospect of coming before the men would be quite scary & possibly even dangerous for her. Or maybe she was just having too much fun herself having six months of "Ladies Night" - playing games, doing pedicures, etc. Despite the reason, she still refused the king causing him much anger.
So this leads us to the big "S" word... submission. Obviously a king & queens relationship is different than that of a husband & wife relationship. However, in both instances the wife or Queen is meant to submit to her man. In a marriage relationship the wife submits to her husband & her husband loves his wife. This is a command from God not a suggestion. (Eph. 5:21) As well as both honoring the Lord. If you are married - do you have issues or hang ups about submission? If you're not married - do you think it is a hard concept to grasp? Why or why not? Let's talk about it...
The rest of the chapter includes the plan of Queen Vashti being replaced due to her lack of submission. Let the games begin...
There is so much I could delve into at this point, but I will start with Vashti's refusal to come. According to many resources, the king wanted her to come in with only her royal crown on her head, and nothing else on. So let's say she gives in and comes down. Then what? She would have been humiliated, and the king as well, after he returned to sobriety. No one was supposed to look at the king's wives in a lustful manner except the king. So even if she had been obedient and retained her crown, she would have lost her dignity, self-respect, and the respect of others. So she might have been relieved of her crown anyway because of the king's poor decision making due to his lack of sobriety.
ReplyDeleteI certainly believe that Vashti could have chosen to deal with this situation in a number of ways, including making some type of excuse for herself as to why she couldn't come. But I suspect that she thought it was beneath her dignity to even entertain such a request, even if it did come from the king himself. It could have been her arrogance that was her undoing, and not just the fact she didn't come down. I don't think she ever thought her punishment would be as severe as it was.
Now, onto submission. Submission is the opposite of arrogance. I believe that submission is for our protection. I believe that submission is something that God uses to develop our character. It takes more character to submit and let go then it does to demand our own way, because letting go means that we then have to trust the Lord. Submission is also to be done in a way that shows honor and respect to our husbands and not in a begrudging manner. Our attitude toward submission can either help or hinder the work the Lord wants to do in our spouse. If our attitude is not right towards our spouse, that pretty much ties God's hands.
I also believe that submission does not mean being a door mat so that we allow ourselves to be put in harm's way.
Ok, so that's it for now. It's still a little bit of a challenge to organize my random, chaotic thoughts. Hope it all makes sense :)
I have to admit I've been stewing over this all week! It is really difficult to submit when requests are what you consider to be thoughtless or insensitive. I don't get those kinds of requests often, but when
ReplyDeleteI do they seem to come in clumps. We'll see where God takes me with this, I've been struggling about it all week.
I know I've read this chapter before, but it never hit me quite this way. And, when I usually hear the story of Esther it begins with something like "The king was looking for a new wife..." I never really asked "Why." It's just not fair for the queen - in any way you look at it. But, we aren't given Vashti's story here. Wonder how her life was afterwards - has anyone read anything on that?
Hi Dee Dee
ReplyDeleteI haven't been able to find anything yet about Vashti's life after her exile. That would make for an interesting story. I've often wondered about her myself, whether the king made special provision for her or if she was just thrown back in with the rest of the harem with no regard or special consideration for her previous position.
Love the conversation! Thanks Ladies! I heard or maybe read somewhere once that it could have been that Vashti was actually executed for her lack of obedience but I'm not sure that is true or not.
ReplyDeleteOn the issue of submission, I think sometimes our reason and logic might tell us that what is being asked of us is ridiculous and doesn't make sense. But I really believe that if we do as the scripture tells us... to be submissive, that the Lord will truly honor that. The scripture doesn't say to be submissive when it is easy and makes sense or not to be when it seems stupid or completely illogical... but all the time just be submissive. I guess that means we need to have hearts of a servant all the time and want to always honor our spouses no matter the situation. I think once you do that, at times, it really can be easy. I don't know if that makes sense or not...
I somehow think the topic of submission will come up again in our face to face meeting after we finish Esther :)
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