The 'No' That Changed History | Sunday, May 23, 2021

Hey there, Cross Connection. Pastor Jason here. Miles was generous enough to allow me to open up the series that we're going to be doing on the book of Esther. Today, we're going to be in Esther chapter 1, so if you have your Bible, turn to Esther chapter 1.

There is some background information that we need to look at before we dive into the book of Esther. Some things will help us to see or understand things a little more clearly. First of all, Esther was almost not even in the Bible. The book of Esther was almost excluded because there is no mention of God, no mention of prayer, and no mention of worship or the Torah anywhere in the book. There is also no New Testament author that quotes the book of Esther, so it was kind of tenuous whether or not it would make it into the canon of Scripture. Thankfully, it is included, and we can be confident in that.

The book of Esther takes place between 483 and 473 BC during the reign of Xerxes. In Scripture, he is referred to as Ahasuerus, which is a different translation of the name Xerxes. So, as we go forward, Ahasuerus equals Xerxes, just in case you're trying to keep up historically.

One thing to notice in Esther, which should make your spiritual antenna vibrate a little bit, is the mention of banquets. The Hebrew word for banquets is mentioned 20 times alone in the book of Esther and only 24 times in the rest of the Bible. This should show us that it is a little significant as we go through the text.

Now, what is the book of Esther's place in the timeline of the Jews? This is important. Other than this, Cyrus the Great has defeated the Babylonian Empire, which was prophesied in 2 Chronicles 36:23. Cyrus has freed the Jews to return and rebuild the temple, and about 50,000 of them had already left by 583 BC. This is discussed in Ezra and occurs just prior to the beginning of the story that we will find in Esther. Some of the Jews are back in Jerusalem rebuilding the temple. Darius also reinforces the decree of Cyrus later on that the Jews would be allowed to return.

Rebuild the temple. The temple was finished in about 516. Ezra here leads a second band of Jews returning to Jerusalem in 548. Artaxerxes sends Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem and the city later on.

During this whole period, God uses the events in Esther to protect the Jews who had not returned to Israel when it was available to them. They had chosen to stay in the other provinces of the Persian Empire. They had decided to remain in the land of their captivity despite the opportunity to return to the promised land of their fathers. This indicates that we are probably dealing with more ethnically Jewish people than religiously Jewish people. They have chosen to remain in captivity, as it were, as free men, rather than return to the land that God has called them to inhabit. So keep that in mind as we go forward.

Now, the other thing that we need to remember is that God has an overarching plan through all of this. It starts in the Garden of Eden, leads to the cross, and looks forward to the time when Jesus is on the throne ruling and reigning, and we are all with Him there in heaven. All of history is part of this story. Sometimes, when we look at this, we can feel kind of insignificant. After all, in the span of human history, who am I? Who is Ahasuerus, or Vashti, or Esther? All of us occupy such a tiny portion of the story, but be encouraged.

You may feel insignificant historically, but look instead at the value placed on you by the cross. You, I, Ahasuerus, Vashti, and Esther were all deemed worthy of the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross so that we could be redeemed and given the opportunity to have a right relationship with God.

We can see that the book of Esther occupies a strategic place in history. It's a time when God is rebuilding the temple and the city, and He is using Esther to protect His people who are still outside the promised land. We can see the progression from here to the arrival of Jesus and the destruction of the temple after the crucifixion. We can identify this on the timeline of God's plan.

We have the advantage of an outside perspective as we look at this. But remember, as we move through Esther, and indeed as we move through our own lives, to those living out this story—like Esther, like Mordecai, like Ahasuerus, and like Vashti.

To them, it's just like any other day, like any Tuesday, where people are walking along unaware of the part that they're playing in the larger story that God is writing. We need to keep all of these things in mind as we move through Esther.

As we get into the text, let's pray. Heavenly Father, as we open Your Word today, we seek, Lord, that You would give us wisdom and guidance. Lord, help us to engage with the text in a way that leads us closer to You. So, Father God, help us to set aside our preconceived notions and our own opinions, Lord Jesus, and look to see what Your Word says. Be glorified in us as we approach Your Word, and we pray these things in Your name. Amen.

All right. The book of Esther starts out with these words: "These events took place during the days of Ahasuerus, who ruled 127 provinces from India to Cush." We see that there is a setting, a place. Ahasuerus is ruling, at this point, most of the known world—from Libya to the west, India and Kazakhstan in the east, from modern-day Romania in the north all the way down to Sudan in the south.

Modern-day nations that were all or part of the Persian Empire include Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Bulgaria, Greece, India, Pakistan, Russia, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Egypt, and Libya. It's a massive empire ruled by a king with great wealth and immense power at his disposal.

Verse 3 picks up and says, "He held a feast in the third year of his reign for all of his officials and his staff, the armies of Persia and Media, the nobles and the officials from the provinces." He displayed the glorious wealth of his kingdom and the magnificent splendor of his greatness for a total of 180 days.

Now remember, this is early on in his reign. This is like year three of his reign, and he's probably looking to establish his throne in the minds of his people—not his father's throne, but his throne. Scholars think that it was at this point in time that he was planning his unsuccessful attempt to conquer the Greeks. So, part of this is for 180 days, he gathers from all of his provinces, all 127 of them.

From Kush to India, the king brings them all in, showing them the power of the empire as he prepares to head off and demonstrate that power by overthrowing the Greeks. That is his plan; that is what he is attempting to do.

So, you have all of the noble people from around the empire gathered in Susa for this massive feast, a grand display of power. At the end of this time, the king held a week-long banquet in the garden of the royal palace for all the people, from the greatest to the least who were present in the fortress of Susa. White and blue linen hangings were fastened with white and purple linen cords to silver rods on marble columns. Gold and silver couches were arranged on a mosaic pavement of red field spar marble, mother of pearl, and precious stones. Once again, he is displaying the wealth and power of the Persian Empire as embodied in his palace, walking around as the king, the one who wields this power.

In verse seven, it picks up: drinks were served in an array of gold goblets, each with a different design. Royal wine flowed freely according to the king's bounty. The drinking was in accordance with royal decree; there were no restrictions. The king had ordered every wine steward in his household to serve whatever each person wanted. Queen Vashti also gave a feast for the women of King Ahasuerus' palace.

So, you have a week-long banquet with an open bar and a royal decree that there are no restrictions. Basically, drink whatever you want in whatever quantity you want; it's all on the table. This, of course, sounds like a recipe for success, right? At the same time, Vashti is holding a banquet for the women in the palace, which would have included all the female wives, all the consorts, and all the people that the heads of the various provinces brought with them to Susa.

Now, note that this is a very male-dominated society, and it is also very segregated by gender. The king had a harem of women, but only one had the position of queen. As we go through the book of Esther, we will see that women were treated much more like possessions than people.

Now we need to remember, as we go through this, that God works through imperfect and often corrupt tools, and that customs differ in different times and in different places. Even a king like Ahasuerus is used by God. This is not God approving of Ahasuerus as a man or as a king, but a sovereign God using people and the events of history to continue to further His plan.

In verse 10, this is on the seventh day, when the king was feeling good from the wine, which gives us an indication of how the days have been going. On the seventh day, he was feeling good from the wine. Ahasuerus commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zithar, and Carcas, the seven eunuchs who personally served him, to bring Queen Vashti before him with her royal crown. He wanted to show off her beauty to the people and to the officials because she was very beautiful. This is the setup for the big conflict that's coming in this chapter.

There is a lot of speculation about what the request was and why it elicited the response that it did from Queen Vashti. Some scholars think the request was to appear in an inappropriate or immodest fashion, but like many events in the book of Esther, we don't have the inside information that we would like to have. We don't know motivations here. We don't know specifically why she refused the request; we just know that she was going to.

What we do know is that the king, while feeling good from the wine, according to Scripture, ordered her to come and wanted to show her off to the people and the officials. Clearly, her value to the king was in how she looked, and he wanted to display her, much like he was displaying his wealth and his power in the fortress at this feast. So she becomes nothing more than a symbol of his power and of his wealth because here is his beautiful queen.

In verse 12, everything takes a hard shift in this story. Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command that was delivered by his eunuchs. The king became furious, and his anger burned within him. She refused to show up. Once again, we don't have the benefit of knowing her thoughts or her reasons.

We can speculate, but all that is is speculation. What we do know is that she received a royal decree delivered in a royal manner by royal messengers, and she refused to comply with that. Was she right or wrong to refuse this order? Was this a courageous stand based on a clear violation of her morals, or was this a petulant refusal because she was tired or drunk? We just don't know.

When reading scripture where we aren't given the information, we have to be careful not to inject our own interpretation. We don't have enough information to decide if she was right or if she was wrong. So, we need to be careful not to assign motives and, in our own minds, lend meaning or direction where scripture is silent. What we do know is that she said no, and the king is furious. His anger is burning inside him, and his response changes the course of an empire.

In verse 13, it says the king consulted the wise men who understood the times, for it was his normal procedure to confer with experts in law and justice. This leads us to a biblical principle: who you seek advice from will very often determine the quality of the advice you receive. If you're looking for financial advice, don't go to someone with a terrible track record with their money. If you're seeking medical advice, try a doctor.

I had this experience when I was stung by a stingray last summer. As I was Googling how to deal with a stingray bite, one of the first things I found was that I was going to die. The lifeguards were involved, and they were not acting like this was possibly fatal, so I had to recheck my sources and verify exactly what I had Googled. I found out that, no, I wasn't going to die.

You have to be careful with whom you consult for advice because the quality of the advice you receive is determined by who you consult. If you check with Google, you're probably going to find alarming information if you listen to your symptoms. In legal matters, check with a lawyer, not with a baker. A baker bakes; a lawyer handles the law. We need to make sure that we consult the right sources to determine what it is we're trying to find out.

Now, one caution: when you are seeking advice, make sure you're not just looking for someone to corroborate your own opinion.

If you have checked with several experts and none of them agree with you, be very careful going in your own direction. Here, the king consults wise men who understood the times. It was a habit for the king to confer with experts in law and justice. In this, he is probably showing some wisdom by saying, "Let's check this out, guys."

In verse 15, the king asked, "According to the law, what should be done with Queen Vashti since she refused to obey King Ohasu-Harris' command that was delivered by the eunuchs?" Notice the question: What should be done with Vashti? Not, why had she done what she did? The assumption of the one in power is that a refusal to obey is synonymous with guilt. She is clearly guilty because she didn't do what I wanted.

Once again, we need to note that we don't have the information to decide if she was a courageous hero standing up for her rights or if she was defying the king for more selfish reasons. We generally stick up for the underdog and side against those in power, and this will color our interpretation of events in Esther. We need to be conscious of that and ensure we are not leading the text and thereby drawing false conclusions.

What we do see is that the king views this as a serious problem worthy of bringing in his council of experts in law and justice. One of them speaks up in verse 16. Memuchan said in the presence of the king and his officials, "Queen Vashti has wronged not only the king, but all of the officials and people who are in every one of King Ohasu-Harris' provinces. For the queen's action will become public knowledge to all women and cause them to despise their husbands, saying, 'King Ohasu-Harris ordered Queen Vashti brought before him, but she did not come.' Before this day is over, the noble women of Persia and Media who hear about the queen's act will say the same thing to the king's officials, resulting in more contempt and fury."

Their response is that if they don't nip this in the bud, it will spread everywhere. To us, this can seem kind of laughable. Really, how is this going to be a danger to the empire of the Medes and the Persians? You have one lady who said no to her husband. But remember, all the noble women were at Vashti's banquet, and they all likely witnessed what happened.

The request and the refusal illustrate the significant impact one woman's decision can have. In the eyes of the king's experts, her refusal to comply has the potential to derail the entire kingdom. This demonstrates the amazing power that the example of one person can hold. We do not know why she is refusing; that information is not provided. We only know that her actions are considered a viable threat to the entire empire of the Medes and the Persians.

In verse 19, it states that if it meets the king's approval, he should personally issue a royal decree. This decree should be recorded in the laws of the Persians and the Medes so that it cannot be revoked. Vashti is not to enter the presence of King Ahasuerus, and her royal position is to be given to another woman who is more worthy than she. The decree the king issues will be heard throughout his vast kingdom, ensuring that all women will honor their husbands, from the greatest to the least. To stave off the danger they perceive from Vashti's example to the women of the kingdom, she is barred from ever coming into the king's presence again, and her royal position is given to someone else. Her punishment is intended to serve as a warning to anyone who might rebel against their husbands.

What does this mean for Vashti? Her influence and power stemmed from her proximity to the king. She was not queen because of her own merit; she was queen because he chose her and placed her in that position. By barring her from his presence, her power, prestige, and influence are stripped away.

We must remember that sometimes the squeaky wheel gets replaced. People are passionate about many things, and often we take stands and make bold declarations regarding our passions. However, as Christians, we need to be careful that the stands we take align with the stands that Jesus took. It is easy to justify in our minds that a particular issue or cause is biblical, using various reasons to support our views. Often, we proof-text or twist a verse or two to validate our cause in our own minds.

We need to remember that the Scriptures tell us in Jeremiah 17:9 that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; who can know it? As Christians, we must step back from our desires and rights to examine them critically.

We must test them against the plumb line of Scripture. From VeggieTales to movies to books, Vashti the queen is often cast as the righteous heroine standing up against an overbearing king. But does Scripture support this view? Or is it the case that we like the David and Goliath aspect of the story and have built a narrative that is just not supported? We don't know. We don't know why she did it, and we don't know her motivation.

So we are left with this question as we look at our own lives in the light of this: How do we go about being faithful servants when we're serving unfaithful masters? Are we always called to resist any authority that we feel is unjust? Are there times when God uses unjust masters to further His will and His plan?

Think of Joseph and Daniel. They are both Old Testament examples of God's people serving ungodly masters while in exile because of their people's rebellion against God. The people rebelled against God, and that set the stage for both Joseph and Daniel to serve men who were not godly, but to serve them faithfully and rise to positions of power and influence because they served faithfully.

We can also look at the New Testament passages, such as Titus 3:1, where it says, "Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work." In 1 Peter 2:13, it states, "Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be the emperor supreme or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and praise those who do good. For this is the will of God that by doing good, you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people."

Additionally, in 1 Peter 2:18, it says, "Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust." This paints a picture for us, but we need to balance these with other Scriptures, like Acts 4:19, where it says, "But Peter and John answered them, 'Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.'"

In Acts 5:27, it states, "And when they had brought them, they set them before the council, and the high priest questioned them, saying, 'We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.' But Peter and the apostles answered, 'We must obey God rather than men.'"

You also have the example in the Old Testament of Jer, who soothed the king to sleep and then drove a tent peg through his head. This illustrates resistance to authority.

We see a similar example in Daniel. He served faithfully until the decree that no one could pray to anyone other than Darius. In Daniel chapter 6, verse 3, it states that Daniel distinguished himself above all the governors and satraps because an excellent spirit was in him. Daniel served because of the excellent spirit within him; he was serving because God was working through him. The king considered setting him over the entire realm.

In verse 4, the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom, but they could find no charge or fault because he was faithful. There was no error or fault found in him. Then these men said, "We shall not find any charge against Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God." This shows that Daniel was being set up to disobey the king because he was following God.

So how do we choose which issues we will stand up to authority on? What hill do we choose to die on? We have to look at the hill that Jesus died on and align our values with His, not the other way around. It is very easy to take our values and say, "This is what God wants," but that is not the correct approach. The better way, the only way as a Christian, is to look at His will, His desires, what He did, and His revealed word, and align ourselves with that.

This is the blessed messiness of the Christian walk. In seeking to follow Jesus, we often look more like a tightrope walker balancing between submission to authorities on one side and submission to God on the other, rather than someone casually walking down a path. We find ourselves wobbling on the wire, swaying from side to side, and occasionally failing and falling off the wire. Thankfully, we have the net of grace to catch us when we mess up.

However, we need to understand that each of our decisions comes with consequences. For Vashti, it was expulsion from the king's presence, and she likely lived out the remainder of her days in obscurity in a part of the harem reserved for those who were not in the king's favor.

In verse 21, back in Esther chapter one, the king and his counselors approved of the proposal.

He followed Memucan's advice. He sent letters to all the royal provinces, to each province in its own script and to each ethnic group in its own language, stating that every man should be master of his own house and speak in the language of his own people. In response to what Vashti did, they sent this decree out, which went to every one of the 127 provinces in each place's language, all saying the same thing: every man should be the master of his own house, and his wife had better listen.

The decree went out, but now the stage is set for Esther and Mordecai as the story continues to unfold. We can see the unseen hands of God working His plan through the lives of the people in the story of Esther. It is often harder for us to see God's hands working in our own lives, but remember to take comfort and have confidence that God is indeed writing your part in His story. Even as we speak, follow His lead and realize that while your part may seem insignificant on any given Tuesday, the value of your part is immeasurable because God set your value at the cross of Jesus Christ. Who knows, maybe your decision on any given Tuesday will change the course of an empire.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, as we head out here from Esther and prepare to get into the larger story presented in the book of Esther, I pray that You would help us navigate what it means to be those who follow You. Help us to be those who seek to honor You and honor the authorities that are placed over us. Sometimes, Lord, those things clash horribly. Help us to walk this tightrope wisely and effectively, glorifying You as we do it.

Father God, as we go through our week, help us to not see any of the things that we do as insignificant. Help us to see them all, Lord, as acts of worship to You, and help us to set our priorities and make our decisions with that in mind. Thank You, Lord God, for the examples You give us in Your Word. Thank You for the concepts and the precepts and all the things You lay out for us, Jesus. Most of all, thank You, Jesus, for Your sacrifice for us, and thank You for the grace that it buys us so that we can occasionally fail.

As we sometimes seem to do over and over, Lord, You are good, and You are full of grace. Your mercy endures forever. Thank You, Jesus. I pray these things in Your name. Amen.

All right, guys. Next week, Pastor Mark is going to pick up chapter two in Esther. I hope to see you all there. God bless you. Have a great day. Amen.