Esther 1
King Ahsauerus [Xerxes] has 180 day celebrationverses 1-4
Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus
(this is Ahasuerus which reigned from India even unto Ethiopia
over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces)
That in those days – when the king Ahasuerus sat on
the throne of his kingdom which was in Shushan the palace
in the third year of his reign – he made a feast to all
his princes and his servants
the power of Persia and Media
the nobles and princes of the provinces being before him
When he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom
and the honor of his excellent majesty many days
even a hundred and fourscore days [180]
Decorations for the feast recordedverses 5-6
When these days were expired – the king made a feast to all the people
that were present in Shushan the palace – both unto great and small
seven days – in the court of the garden of the king’s palace
where were white – green – blue hangings
fastened with cords of fine linen and purple
to silver rings and pillars of marble
the beds were of gold and silver
on a pavement of red – blue – white
black – marble
Drinks for celebration recordedverses 7-8
And they gave them drink in vessels of gold
(the vessels being diverse one from another)
and royal wine in abundance
according to the state of the king
and the drinking was according to the law
none did compel – for so the king had appointed
to all the officers of his house
that they should do according
to every man’s pleasure
Queen Vashti had celebration for the womenverse 9
Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house
which belonged to king Ahasuerus
Queen Vashti refused to come at king’s commandverses 10-12
On the seventh day – when the heart of the king was merry with wine
he commanded Mehuman – Biztha – Harbona – Bigtha – Abagtha
Zethar – Carcas – the seven chamberlains that served in the
presence of Ahasuerus the king
To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal
to show the people and the princes her beauty
for she was fair to look on
BUT the queen Vashti REFUSED to come at the king’s commandment
by his chamberlains
THEREFORE was the king wroth and his anger burned in him
King consults with advisors regarding issueverses 13-14
Then the king said to the wise men – which knew the times
(for so was the king’s manner toward all that knew law
and judgment – and the next unto him was Carshena – Shethar
Admatha – Tarshish – Meres – Marsena – Memucan
the seven princes of Persia and Media
which saw the king’s face
and which sat the first in the kingdom)
Issue presentedverse 15
What shall we do to the queen Vashti according to law
BECAUSE she has not performed the commandment of the king
Ahasuerus by the chamberlains?
Advisors afraid all women will rebelverses 16-18
And Memucan answered before the king and the princes
Vashti the queen has not done wrong to the king only
BUT also to all the princes – and to all the people that are
in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus
FOR this deed of the queen shall come abroad to all women
so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes
when it shall be reported
The king Ahasuerus commanded
Vashti the queen to be brought in before him
BUT she came not
Likewise shall the ladies of Persia and Media say
this day unto all the king’s princes
which have heard of the deed of the queen
THUS shall there arise too much COMTEMPT and WRATH
Advisor tell king to banish queenverses 19-20
IF it please the king – let there go a royal commandment from him
let it be written among the laws of the Persians and Medes
that it be not altered
THAT Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus
let the king give her royal estate to another that
is better than she
And when the king’s decree – which he shall make
shall be published throughout all his empire – (for it is great)
all wives shall give to their husbands HONOR
both to great and small
Decree issued throughout empireverses 21-22
And the saying pleased the king and the princes
and the king did according to the word of Memucan
FOR he sent letters into all the king’s provinces
into every province according to the writing thereof
and to every people after their language
that every man should bear RULE in his own house
and that it should be published according to the
language of every people
COMMENTARY:
DAILY SPIRITUAL BREAKFAST: Young Believers
: 8 And the drinking was according to the law; none did compel: for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do according to every man’s pleasure. (597 “compel” [’anac] means to force somebody to do something, constrain, to press, to make another one do something, or permit something to occur or happen in a certain way.)
DEVOTION: Partying is a practice that has gone on for many generations. We find that Noah was drunk after the flood. Whether he knew that drinking could end that way or not it happened to him.
Now we have a pagan king or a king that was not trying to honor the LORD with his actions who had a party that lasted over an hundred days. He gave instructions to make sure that everyone had as much as they wanted to drink.
The only limit he set on his servants was that they were not to force anyone to drink too much. Every man made his own choice regarding the amount of drinking he wanted.
Today we have a struggle between those who want to honor the LORD and those who don’t care what the LORD expects of them. Those who want to honor are told to not become drunk with wine wherein is excess. No one who wants to honor the LORD will drink to the point of becoming drunk if they want to be obedient to the LORD.
So should Christians or can Christians drink alcoholic beverages? That is a good question. Those who believe that it is better not to drink alcohol at all think that it is a better solution to the problem. They will never become drunk if they never drink alcoholic beverages. They can obey the command without any problem.
Some think that they can drink but not get drunk and think that they are obeying the command of the LORD. This causes those who chose to not drink at all a couple of problem.
Those who don’t drink any alcoholic drinks think they are better than those who drink. They think that they are more obedient to the LORD than others. It becomes a pride issue for them.
Others think that a drink once in a while is not wrong in God’s eyes as long as they don’t get drunk. The problem here is that sometimes people don’t know their limit and they cross the line.
Drinking is an issue in the church and many have covenant statements that state that the members of their church cannot drink at all to keep their membership in that local church. It seems that this practice has helped many stop drinking after they became a believer. It also sets a standard that can be met by those who chose to meet it to honor the LORD’S command.
Each of us will face the LORD regarding this issue. We need to make sure we are not part of the group who has a false pride that they are better than those who might drink once in a while. Those who drink have to make sure that they are not being judgmental of those who chose not to drink. The issue is still real today.
CHALLENGE: Our standard needs to be one that pleases the LORD not those who are around us.
DAILY SPIRITUAL LUNCH: Transitional Believers
: 12 But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s commandment by his chamberlains: therefore, was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him. (3985 “refused” [ma’en] means to show unwillingness or disagreement towards something or some action, to be unwilling, resist, or to make another one do something.)
DEVOTION: Anger issues are a real problem in the lives of all of us. Here we have a king who commanded his wife to come and dance before a drunken group of men and she refuses to come.
The normal reaction of a husband when his wife refuses to do something he thinks she should would be to become angry. How he handles his anger is another issue. The LORD wants us to be angry at sin but not sin because of that anger. We can be angry but we can’t sin because we are angry and the LORD not hold us accountable.
This is a pagan king so the commands of the LORD didn’t affect him at all. He didn’t have righteous anger which is the only kind of anger that believers are allowed to have when someone is not obeying the commands of the LORD.
So this is unrighteous anger and this is common for those who are not willing to honor the LORD. Many decisions are made by people who are not followers of the LORD during a time of anger that even they regret once they get over their anger.
We have to ask ourselves if we are angry if it is righteous anger or unrighteous angry if we are to please the LORD. Jesus was angry at those who were selling in the temple area. They had made the temple area a place to take advantage of those who were traveling from far away and needed animals to sacrifice to the LORD. They were charging too much money and they were located in the wrong place. Jesus turned over their booths to show they were doing wrong. HE had righteous anger.
When we see those who are believers not serving the LORD properly we need to make sure we are not blaming righteous anger over our wrong reaction rather than handling the situation in an attitude of restoration of those who are acting improperly.
Righteous anger wants to see the LORD honored in the lives of those who are genuine followers of the LORD.
CHALLENGE: This requires wisdom from above to handle the situation properly.
: 13 Then the king said to the wise men, which knew the times, (for so was the king’s manner toward all that knew law and judgment (1697 “manner” [dabar] means speech, word, speaking, business, occupation, acts, or thing.)
DEVOTION: Remember that God is not mentioned in this book of the Bible because it would have gone into the archives of the kingdom of the Medes and Persians. We witness the providence of God throughout the book. HE is in control of history.
The kingdom had a problem. The king’s wife refused to come when he called her. She didn’t want to be put on display to all the men that had been celebrating for many days. She refused on that basis. However, this was an offense to every husband in the kingdom. This action would affect the entire nation. He should not have called her when he was drunk. However, it was a problem. The king of Medo-Persia called his wise men in to find out what should be done. They told him that what she had done would affect every marriage in the nation. They said that a wife should honor her husband. They said that a husband should rule his household with the support of his wife.
These last two sentences are Biblical truths. Here is a pagan nation that realized that what happens in the home affects a nation. God had that principle down from the very beginning of time. HE ordered leaders to “rule” their own house well. HE commanded that wives were to “honor” their husbands.
The wise men of the nation told the king that his wife had to be replaced. We find that this was happening according to the providence of God. The LORD knew what was going to happen in the future. HE knew that it was time for the right person to be queen in the land. This opened the door. This book of the Bible never mentioned the LORD but we can see HIM working throughout the book.
Watch and see HIM work HIS plan for the nation of Israel. The home is under attack in our nation today. Our married couples are not “loving” and “honoring” one another as the Bible commands. Many homes are battlefields. Even Christian homes!!! IF we are going to reach our nation for the LORD, we need homes that honor the LORD. We need pastors who teach Biblical principles of what a good Christian home is supposed to look like, not politically correct homes.
Marriage is a great institution, if the husband loves his wife and the wife honors her husband. Please put this into practice. It is not easy but it is Biblical. Start NOW!!!
CHALLENGE: If you have been practicing these principles – teach them to others. Encourage couples that are struggling.
DAILY SPIRITUAL SUPPER: Mature Believers
: 17 For this deed of the queen shall come abroad to all women, so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes, when it shall be reported. Then king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not. (959 “despise” [bazah] means contemptible, disdained, hold in contempt, to cause to look down on with disdain, or ro accord little worth to something.)
DEVOTION: The question here is very difficult to answer. Here we have a husband that is a king telling his wife to come to where he is for the purpose of him showing off the beauty of his wife. The problem is that she will be coming into a group of men that have been drinking wine for quite some time.
In the culture of the day a wife was to be obedient to her husband. It was not something that was unreasonable but it is thought the women were having their own party at the time and that she was busy.
There are no acceptable reason for a wife to not obey her husband if he is reasonable but what is a reasonable request. Here we have a pagan kingdom that didn’t honor the LORD and they did as they pleased.
Should a wife do what a husband requires if it is reasonable? The answer seems to be yes. Each situation is different and there needs to be prayer involved if the couple claims to know Jesus. If this is true that a good Christian man would not require his wife to come into a room just for show.
Here her actions would affect a kingdom. It would affect the relationship because all the men and women in the kingdom.
We know that this happened for Esther to become queen and so the LORD had it all worked out but it is still a problem that needs to be solved today.
CHALLENGE: Husband and wife relationships should always be done in accord to the commands of the LORD. There should be love in every request. Making requests that are unreasonable are not right but loving requests should be honored.
: 22 For he sent letters into all the king’s provinces, into every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language, that every man should bear rule in his own house, and that it should be published according to the language of every people. (7786 “bear rule” [suwr] means reign, to have oversight of, govern, prevail over, or dominion.)
DEVOTION: The relationship between a husband and wife has been one that is disputed for many generations. Here we have a king whose wife refused to dance in front of a crowd of men who were drunk. She refused because she didn’t think she should have to obey a command that came from a drunken husband. This was not the right way of thinking in a pagan culture.
However, in the pagan culture the men decided that it was not good for a wife to refuse her husband’s request whether he was drunk or not. They thought it would cause rebellion on the part of all the women in the kingdom.
The decision was that men should reign in their own home no matter what his request might be toward his wife. The husband has the final say in any decision in the household.
So the king issued a decree that men should have dominion in their own home and that the wife should obey him no matter what his request of her should be. The man was the king of his own home. The wife was to listen and obey or face the consequences.
The consequence in this case was that the queen could no longer come into the presence of the king. It was like receiving divorce papers without the privilege of remarrying because she was not available.
What does this mean to believers today? The Bible teaches that a husband is to love his wife and because of that love she is to submit to him in ways that are pleasing to the LORD. She is not to disobey the commands of the LORD in order to please her husband.
There is a difference between how a Christian man should treat his wife and the way a pagan man can treat his wife. There is a difference between how a Christian woman can treat her husband and the way a pagan woman can treat her husband.
What example does your marriage show the world? Do people see your marriage as a Christian marriage or a marriage just like every other marriage they observe?
CHALLENGE: Christian husbands and wives should show the world something different based on the Word of God not society.
DISCIPLINES OF THE FAITH:
BODY
Chastity (Purity in living)
Fasting (Time alone with LORD without eating or drinking)
Sacrifice (Giving up something we want to serve the LORD)
Submission (Willing to listen to others and LORD)
Solitude (Going to a quiet place without anyone)
SOUL
Fellowship (Gathering together around the Word of God)
Frugality (wise use of resources)
Journalizing (Writing down what you have learned from the LORD)
Study and Meditation (Thinking through your study in the Word)
Secrecy (Doing your good deeds without others knowing but God)
SPIRIT
Celebration (Gathering around a special occasion to worship LORD)
Confession (Tell the LORD we are sorry for our sins on a daily basis)
Prayer (Conversation with God on a personal level)
Silence (Letting the LORD deal with some problems and needs)
Worship (Time to praise the LORD alone or in a group)
DOCTRINES OF THE FAITH:
Scripture (66 inerrant books of the Bible)
God the Father (First person of the Godhead)
God the Son (Second person of the Godhead – God/man, Messiah)
God the Holy Spirit (Third person of the Godhead – our comforter)
Trinity (Three persons of the Godhead who are co-equal = ONE God)
Angels (Created before the foundation of the world – Good and Evil)
Man (Created on the sixth twenty-four hour period of creation)
Ahasuerus – king of Persia and Mediaverses 1-22
Shushan the palace
Third year of reign made a feast
Nobles and princes before him
180 days of he showed riches of his Kingdom
Made a feast to all the people in Palace
7th day of feast sent chamberlains to bring Vashti to his party
She refused
He was angry
Published a decree regarding Vashti
All wives shall give their husbands honor
Vashti – the queenverses 9, 11, 12, 15
Made feast for the women in
Royal house
She refused to come to king’s party
Seven princes of Persia and Mediaverses 14-17
Carshena, Shethar, Admatha,
Tarshish, Meres, Marsena,
Memucan
Menucan answered before the kingverses 16-21
said she has no done wrong just to
king – it will affect all the
women of kingdom
King did what he said
Laws of the Persians and the Medesverses 19-22
Vashti will no more come before
King
Give her royal estate to another
Sin (Missing the mark set by God on man and angels)
Drink to every man’s peasureverse 8
Merry with wineverse 10
Angerverses 12, 18
Despise husbandsverse 17
Contemptverse 18
Salvation (Provided by Christ’s death on the cross for our sins)
Israel (Old Testament people of God)
Church (New Testament people of God)
Last Things (Future Events)
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QUOTES regarding passage
17–18 More was involved than the queen’s affront to the king. With keen perception Memucan saw that if left unpunished, Vashti’s rebellious attitude toward her husband would influence other women in the kingdom to rebel against their husband’s authority (v.17). If the defiant queen could successfully ignore the king’s commands, the nobles anticipated there would be no end of disrespect and discord in their own homes (v.18). If the queen did not obey her husband, the wives of lesser nobles would be encouraged to disobey their husbands. (Huey, F. B., Jr. (1988). Esther. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job (Vol. 4, p. 802). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
18. Memucan suggests that this very day Vashti’s behaviour will be imitated and will bring disrespect and discord (better perhaps ‘despising and anger’) to the nobles’ households ‘according to sufficiency’ (niv, nrsv ‘no end of’; nkjv ‘too much’; rsv ‘in plenty’). Xerxes is saved from criticism: no one mentions that if women are to imitate Vashti, men first have to imitate Xerxes! (Reid, D. (2008). Esther: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 13, pp. 71–72). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
The idea pleased the king and his nobles so an edict was sent throughout the empire in various languages (cf. 3:12), stating that every man should be ruler over his own household. A vast relay communications system, something like an ancient pony express, made it possible to spread news throughout the empire quickly (cf. 3:13; 8:10). This bit of information helps set the stage for the rise of Esther. (Martin, J. A. (1985). Esther. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 1, p. 703). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
Ver. 18. Likewise, shall the ladies of Persia and Media say this day unto the king’s prince, which have heard of the deed of the queen, &c.] From henceforward they’ll give a like answer to their husbands, when they by their commands upon them, as Vashti has to the king; they’ll tell them to their faces they’ll not obey their orders: thus shall there arise too much contempt and wrath; there will be in wives a general contempt of their husbands, which will cause discord and strife, quarrels, wrath and anger; contempt on one part, wrath on the other, and contention between both. (Gill, J. (1810). An Exposition of the Old Testament (Vol. 3, p. 165). London: Mathews and Leigh.)
FROM MY READING:
(Remember the only author that I totally agree with is the HOLY SPIRIT in the inerrant WORD OF GOD called THE BIBLE! All other I try to gleam what I can to help me grow in the LORD!!)
Daniel 1
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, chooses Israelite captives to be trained to serve him.
INSIGHT
Moral courage. It is the resolve to do what is right–even if no one knows. Regardless of the consequences. Even when you are weary. Even when there are extenuating circumstances and when everyone would understand if you “caved in.” Daniel is a man of moral courage. The food he is offered probably violates the dietary restrictions in the Law of Moses. Note the words: “Daniel purposed in his heart” (1:8). Then God brings Daniel into favor. He gives him skill; He gives him a healthy glow. When faced with moral challenges, we must do our part–be obedient from the heart. And then trust God to do His part. (Quiet Walk)
GOD’S POWER
…his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead.
Ephesians 1:19-20
God’s power is endless. He is omnipotent. “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” God asked Abraham (Genesis 18:14), and the angel Gabriel said to Mary, “For with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37). His might, His power, His strength are endless. The Bible is full of this! He made everything out of nothing; He spoke and it happened. He said, “Let there be light: and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). He sends His frosts and His snow. Read the Psalms, and you will find that they glory in the endless power of God. This sovereign will and power of God have been manifested most of all, and most clearly, in three ways: in creation, in salvation, and in providence. And I suppose there is no greater manifestation of the power of God than the one to which Paul refers in the first chapter of Ephesians: “…his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead.”
This idea of omnipotence is staggering! There are many things we do not understand about the will of God. But we are not meant to understand them; we are meant to look at them with reverence and awe and worship. We are meant to realize that there would be no hope for us at all were it not for the omnipotence of God. I say with reverence, nothing less than the omnipotence of God could save a single soul. But thank God, He is omnipotent, and we are saved by the power of God in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.
The glory of God is the biblical way of describing God’s greatness, His splendor, His majesty. We read of the glory of God filling the Temple (1 Kings 8:11) and of the glory of God being manifested in dimmed vision to certain people. This means they had some conception of the greatness, the splendor, the majesty, the might of His being.
A Thought to Ponder: Read the Psalms, and you will find that they glory in the endless power of God. (From God the Father, God the Son, pp. 67-68, by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
Questioning God
“Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?” (Romans 9:20)
Whenever one begins a question with “why,” he should realize that the answer must necessarily be theological, not scientific. Science can deal with the questions of “what” and “how,” sometimes even with “where” and “when,” but never with “why”! The “why” questions have to do with motives and purposes, even when dealing with natural phenomena. (“Why does the earth rotate on its axis?” “Why do we have mosquitoes?”) Even though we can partially explain such things by secondary causes, we finally encounter a “first cause,” and then the “why?” can be answered only by God.
The wise thing to do is simply to believe that He has good reasons for everything, whether we can discern them now or not. “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25). God the Creator “worketh all things after the counsel of his own will” (Ephesians 1:11), and it is our high privilege simply to trust Him, not to question Him.
On the other hand, He often asks us: “Why?” “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?” Jesus asked His disciples when they thought they were in great peril (Matthew 8:26). “If I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?” (John 8:46), He would say to those who question His Word.
Then, to those who doubt His deity, the apostle Paul, speaking in His name, asks: “Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead?” (Acts 26:8). As the popular chorus goes: “God specializes in things thought impossible!” Our God is omniscient and knows what’s best; He is omnipotent, so He can do it. He is all-loving and will surely do what’s best for those who trust Him.
(HMM, The Institute for Creation Research)
When We Don’t Understand
In all this, Job did not sin in what he said. Job 2:10
“I don’t understand His plan. I turned my whole life over to Him. And this happens!” Such was the message of a son to his mother when his dream to succeed as a professional athlete was temporarily derailed. Who among us hasn’t had some kind of unexpected, disappointing experience that sends our minds into overdrive with exclamations and questions? A family member cuts off communication without explanation; health gains are reversed; a company relocates unexpectedly; a life-altering accident happens.
Job 1–2 records a series of tragedies and setbacks in Job’s life. Humanly speaking, if there was anyone who qualified for a life free from trouble, it was Job. “This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1:1). But life doesn’t always work out the way we’d like it to—it didn’t for Job, and it doesn’t for us. When his wife counseled him to “curse God and die!” (2:9), Job’s words to her were wise, instructive, and fitting for us as well when things happen—big or small—that we’d rather not face. “ ‘Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?’ In all this, Job did not sin in what he said” (v. 10).
By God’s strength, may our trust in and reverence for Him remain, even when we can’t understand how He’s at work during life’s difficult days.
By Arthur Jackson, OUR Daily Bread)
Leader don’t force people to follow, they invite them on a journey.
Charles S. Lauer
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