Bible Wives

Scripture: Esther 1:1-9

C.I.: Vashti: The Battle of the Sexes (The captain of the football team & the head cheerleader)

I. Lessons from a King's “Trophy Wife,” (Esther 1)

A. Understanding the Times, ( vs. 1-9)

1. Timeline
a. Darius, ( Dan. 5:30-31 ), “That same night Belshazzar the Chaldean [Babylonian] king was slain. So Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age of sixty two.” - This was the king of Daniel & the lion's den.
1) During the Babylonian era the power was placed solely in the hands of the king.
2) However, during the Medo-Persian Empire the power was placed in their laws. b. Cyrus, ( Ezra 1:3 ), “Whoever there is among you of all the Lord's people, may His God be with him! Let him go
up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel.”
1) God has disciplined His people for their sins. Now they are returning to their land!
c. Xerxes: in Hebrew his names is written Ahasuerus (the king of the book of Esther).
1) He is the Persian king who fought the 300 Spartan-Greeks at Thermopylae.

2. ( 1:3-9 ), “In the 3 rd year of his reign, he gave a banquet for all his princes and attendants, the army officers of Persian and
Media, the nobles and princes of his provinces. And he displayed the riches of his royal glory and majesty for many days, 180 days. And when these days were completed, the king gave a banquet lasting 7 days for all the people who were present in Susa the capital, from the greatest to the least, in the court of the garden of the king's palace … drinks were served in golden vessels of various kinds, and the royal wine was plentiful according to the king's bounty. And the drinking was done
according to the law, there was no compulsion, for so the king had given orders to each official in his household that he
should do according to the desires of each person. Queen Vashti also gave a banquet for the women in the palace which belonged to king Ahasuerus.”
a. The king displays his wealth in order to gain the favor of the people and his military.
1) The point of this entire exercise was to display his power for the forthcoming war w/Greece.
2) The quote by the Greek historian Herodotus, LCL: Herodotus 7.8.
b. This is nothing new: Hitler's parades, May 1 in Moscow, etc.
c. Contrast this with what Jesus taught His people, ( Matt. 20:25-28 ), “You know the rulers of the Gentiles…”


B. A “Rebellious Wife” or is it a “Drunken King”? ( vs. 10-12 )

•  ( 1:10-12 ), “ On the 7 th day, when the king's heart was merry with wine, he commanded his 7 eunuchs who served in his presence, to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown in order to display her beauty to the people, and the princes, for she was beautiful.”
a. Notice, the writer makes no moral judgments (so neither should we). These are well made elsewhere…
1) Physically, ( Pro. 23:29-35 ), “Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long over wine, those who go to taste mixed wine. Do not look at the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly; at the last it bites like an serpent, and stings like a viper. Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will utter perverse things. And you will be like one who lies down
in the middle of the sea, or like one who lies down on the top of a mast. They struck me, but I did not become ill; they beat me, but I did not know it. When shall I awake? I will seek another drink.”
2) Spiritually, ( I Cor. 6:9-10 ), “Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom….”

•  ( 1:12 ), “But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command. Then the king became very angry & his wrath burned within him.”
a. Remember, the entire purpose for the banquet was to display the king's wealth and power so that he might gain the support of his military and people for the up-coming war with Greece.
1) But now, it appears that he doesn't even how the power to rule in his own home!!!
2) Next week we will see how Esther handles these issues in her life!
b. Today feminists applaud Vashti.
1) Alice Laffey, “An Introduction to the Old Testament: A Feminist Perspective.” , “…feminist interpreters have begun to see that buried in Esther's character is full compliance with patriarchy (male- rule). In contrast to Vashti, who refused to be men's sexual object and her husband's toy, Esther is the stereotypical woman in a man's world. She wins favor by the physical beauty of her appearance…,”
c. We make a mistake however when we interpret the scriptures according to current moral values.
1) Our responsibility is to use the word of God to determine our own values & actions.
2) Let us remember, however, that neither Xerxes nor Vashti were God's people seeking to please Him.
2) We are watching, at the beginning of the story of Esther, how non-believers live and how they treat each other. Later we will see how God's people interact within the framework of a fallen world.
3) Ultimately, we are compelled to see God's providence at work in this world, ( Rom. 8:28; Jn. 5:17 ).

C. How the World versus God Deals with Marital Issues, ( vs. 13-22 )

1. Here is a man who is bent on ruling the world when he cannot rule even over his own house!
a. So he does what guys do; he gets together with a bunch of other guys to figure out what to do.
b. ( 1:13-21 ), “Then the king said to the wise men who understood the times… ‘According to the law, what is to be done
with Queen Vashti, because she did not obey the command of the king?' And Memucan said, ‘Queen Vashti has wronged not only the king, but also all the princes, and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Xerxes .
For the queen's conduct will become known to all the women causing them to look with contempt on their husbands by
saying, “King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to be brought into his presence, but she did not come.” If it pleases the king, let a royal edict be issued by him that Vashti should come no more into the presence of King Xerxes, and let the king give her royal position to another who is more worthy than she. And when the king's edict which he shall make is heard throughout all his kingdom, great as it is, then all women will give honor to their husbands, great and small.' And this word pleased the king and the princes, and the king did as Memucan proposed.”
c. This would almost be laugh out loud funny if it wasn't so serious!
1) The king is ordering for others what he could not accomplish for himself in his own palace!
2) Not surprisingly, they come up with the wrong solution, seeking respect through the use of power!
3) A husband who listens to foolish counsel to cover his pride – abdicates his role & his power.

2. Ultimately, what we find are men of great powerful who display great weaknesses of character.
a. “Congressional Record,” (Oct. 3, 1996), p. S12341, “…there is a great need for legislation against domestic violence. Every 15 seconds in the United States a woman is beaten by her husband or boyfriend.”
b. “Congressional Record,” (Feb. 26, 1997), p. S1659-81, “Domestic violence costs employers between 3-5 billion dollars per year, because the abused women are typically late for work at least 5x a month, leaves work early at least as often, and miss at least 3 full days of work per month.”

3. Our God confronts us today with the responsibilities we have to each other in a Christian marriage.
a. A husband is worthy of his wife's submission when he shows himself willing to love/serve her.
1) ( Eph. 5:25 ), “Husbands, love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her . ”
2) Any man who lives way will have his wife's willing submission. If he doesn't, she is still called to submit, but he, like Xerxes, has shown himself unworthy of her submission!!
b. The wife also has a responsilibity before God, ( Eph. 5:22, 33 ), “Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord … let each wife see to it that she respect her own husband.”
c. This is true even if her husband is not a Christian, ( I Pt. 3:1-2 ), “…wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior.”
1 ) Clearly God desires for a wife to submit to her husband but no husband has the right to demand it.

CONCLUSION:

1. The lesson is ultimately NOT about us acting a certain way in our marriage so that we can be in a right relationship with
JESUS!
a. Rather, it is about us being in a right relationship with Jesus so that we will act as we should in our marriage!
b Remember, Vashti and Xerxes were not in a right relationship with God! So we are not surprised at how they acted towards each other!


2. So… if you are currently going through a bad patch in your marriage, my question to you is, “How is your relationship with Christ?!”

3. From time to time, even Christians can get off track. We can lose our focus and get our priorities out of whack!
a. When this happens we need to return our focus to the source of every blessing, ( Matt. 6:33; Heb. 12:1-2 ).

4. If, however, you find yourself in a captain of the football team & cheerleader relationship (but not in a right relationship with God), then today would be an excellent time to make that relationship right – Gal. 3:26-27!