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- When King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to attend his banquet wearing her crown to display her great beauty, he was entirely within his rights as a King and a husband. It was a state function and she was to attend in her capacity as a Queen (wearing her crown).
- There is nothing in the text that even suggests there was anything improper in his command.
- Queen Vashti ignored an official request made before a multitude of people at an official banquet. Her behavior could not be ignored.
- Queen Vashti’s refusal to appear is in stark contrast to Queen Esther’s reluctance to appear before King Ahasuerus. At one point Queen Esther had not seen her husband in 30 days because he had not asked for her.
- Haman, the King’s second in command, had a plot to exterminate all the Jews. If Queen Vashti were still Queen he would have had no opposition.
- God dethroned Queen Vashti and elevated Esther to take her place as Queen and protect his people.
- Esther and her fellow Jews were Jews who decided to stay in Persia and not be repatriated to Judea.
- One lesson from the Book of Esther is that God protects his people wherever they are. Even if they decide to stay in a foreign land.
- How many wives and concubines did King Ahasuerus have? Who knows? King Solomon had 1000 wives and 300 concubines.
- Now we see why King Ahasuerus made it a crime punishable by death to approach him in his inner court uninvited. If you have over a thousand women and their children in your harem you might like some alone time.
- King Ahasuerus was about 36 years old when he became King. 39 years old when Vashti ignored his command. 43 years old when he married Esther. The time spent between Vashti and Esther was four years. Ahasuerus was busy invading Greece during this time. Ahasuerus and Esther had been married about 5 years when Haman plotted to kill all the Jews.
- Esther was not involved in a beauty contest where there is one winner and everyone else goes home. They were all concubines of the King except Esther who was wife and Queen. They would live the rest of their lives in the King’s Harem.
- Esther was a willing participant in the Queen contest.
In the Book of Esther we are introduced to King Ahasuerus (Xerses I) of the Persian Empire. We find in the story that King Ahasuerus commands Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, to come before him so he could show off her great beauty. This was not merely a command from a husband to a wife but a command from a King to a Queen. She refused to come before him.
Keep in mind that a Persian Queen could not, of her own will, come to the King under the penalty of death. Even when Esther became Queen she was afraid to come before her husband without being summoned and at one point she hadn’t seen her King/Husband for 30 days.
Queen Esther was afraid to come before Ahasuerus without being summoned... Queen Vashti ignored Ahasuerus when she was summoned and invoked his great wrath. Who was the better wife?
So this caused a huge problem in the court of King Ahasuerus... the Queen ignored his command in a very public setting. Everyone knew it was a problem and knew the disastrous consequences. People follow the example of their leaders and rebellion against a King and a husband could create problems with citizens in general and with families specifically. So the wise men of the day advised King Ahasuerus to command that since Queen Vashti refused to come into his presence that she would forever be banned from his presence and also lose her Queen-ship. In addition, an edict would go out throughout the land that wives should respect and honor their husbands.
You see King Ahasuerus understood something the President of the United States and its other leadership does not understand; the foundation of a great nation is its families. If the families are weakened and re-defined... the nation is weakened. If families are strong... the nation is strong.
Imagine if the leadership of modern nations should send out a proclamation like King Ahasuerus did stating that “every man should be the master in his own house” (Esther 1:22). That takes moral courage and foresight, something that is lacking in our day and age.
