Esther 1:1-22

Banquets (1-9) *Read -Esther 1:1–22 “Now it took place in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces, in those days as King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne which was at the citadel in Susa, in the third year of his reign he gave a banquet for all his princes and attendants, the army officers of Persia and Media, the nobles and the princes of his provinces being in his presence. And he displayed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor of his great majesty for many days, 180 days. When these days were completed, the king gave a banquet lasting seven days for all the people who were present at the citadel in Susa, from the greatest to the least, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace. There were hangings of fine white and violet linen held by cords of fine purple linen on silver rings and marble columns, and couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl and precious stones. Drinks were served in golden vessels of various kinds, and the royal wine was plentiful according to the king’s bounty. The drinking was done according to the law, there was no compulsion, for so the king had given orders to each official of 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. On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, 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. But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command delivered by the eunuchs. Then the king became very angry and his wrath burned within him. Then the king said to the wise men who understood the times—for it was the custom of the king so to speak before all who knew law and justice and were close to him: Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media who had access to the king’s presence and sat in the first place in the kingdom— “According to law, what is to be done with Queen Vashti, because she did not obey the command of King Ahasuerus delivered by the eunuchs?” In the presence of the king and the princes, 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 Ahasuerus. “For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women causing them to look with contempt on their husbands by saying, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought in to his presence, but she did not come.’ “This day the ladies of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen’s conduct will speak in the same way to all the king’s princes, and there will be plenty of contempt and anger. “If it pleases the king, let a royal edict be issued…” *Setting(1-2) -Xerxes, 486-465 BC, Greek conquest(Battle of Thermopylae, movie “300”) -Susa, Shush, SW Iran -2500 miles NW India/ Pakistan to Nile -only 2450 miles from New York to LA *Two Banquets (3-9) -Daniel 11:2 ““And now I will tell you the truth. Behold, three more kings are going to arise in Persia. Then a fourth will gain far more riches than all of them; as soon as he becomes strong through his riches, he will arouse the whole empire against the realm of Greece.” (riches / Greeks) -6 months -grandiose decor -God’s creation.

Psalm 19:1 “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.”

-drinking -extension of wealth displayed *Vashti -separate / smaller -cultural norm to be separated ----------------------------------— Beauty (10-11) *First Mistake -drunkenness -Proverbs 20:1 “Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, And whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.” *Second Mistake -trophy wife? -extension of wealth, ignorant of gift -Still in our culture (monster energy girls) ----------------------------------— Beligerance (12) *Refusal -multiple reasons possible -suspected/new Xerxes drunk -countercultural (usually only concubines) -Aladdin / Jasmine “I’m not a prize” *Wine to Whining -ego pricked -King / power / image attacked ----------------------------------— Bad Advice (13-21) *Wise Men? -Daniel 2:20–22 “Daniel said, “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him. “It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding. “It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him.” -did not seek God -Romans 1:18–23 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.” *Self Preservation (Memucan) -Not admirable -Ephesians 5:22, Ephesians 5:33 “Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.” -protect own power *Law -Knew law, non-existed, new law! -irrevocable *Banishment -basically divorce -still show of power ----------------------------------— Binding Broadcast *Follows Bad Advice -much slower than today -Verizon outage Wednesday *Language -at least a dozen, probably more -again, slow translation effort -own native language for men -Not wife’s foreign language *Repeat -Daniel 2:20–22 “Daniel said, “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him. “It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding. “It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, And the light dwells with Him.” -King’s edict going out, true King orchestrated edict before the foundations of the Earth.