Moral Courage in the Book of Esther

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.