Esther 1:17 For this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto 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.
18 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 contempt and wrath.
19 If it please the king, let there go a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered, That Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she.
20 And when the king’s decree which he shall make shall be published throughout all his empire, (for it is great,) all the wives shall give to their husbands honour, both to great and small.
21 And the saying pleased the king and the princes; and the king did according to the word of Memucan:
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.
We continue to watch the implosion of a pagan system. One woman decided not to allow her husband to abuse her and panic set in. The bigger problem here was king Ahasuerus. He was the fool who demanded that his wife come and parade herself before him and the drunken men with him. The lust for power blinds people to that which is good and right.
In verse 17 we see the thinking of the drunken men who were supposed to be able to give direction to the nation. Men need to be responsible. Men are supposed to be the leaders in the home and in society. Men cannot lead properly if they reject the Lord.
In verse 18 these ‘wise men’ continued to voice their shock at the current situation. God gave the Medes and the Persians the opportunity to be a world empire. They had the opportunity to shape the people under their control but they chose to do so without God. Thus they were a failure.
In verse 19 these ‘wise men’ continued to dig their hole deeper. Not only were they concerned with what Vashti had done and its impact on the women of the country, they counselled the king to divorce her. What a foolish statement.
When there are problems in a marriage, there needs to be sober reflection on what the problem is and there needs to be a humility to seek wise counsel from God-fearing men who can actually help resolve the problem. Neither the king nor the queen were God-fearing people. They did not have anyone close to them that was God-fearing. King Ahasuerus had Mordecai in his employ, but Mordecai was a severely compromised man. He was not a Daniel.
The Bible is clear that when a man chooses to marry a woman, he needs to understand this is a lifelong commitment. The woman is the weaker vessel and she needs to submit to her husband. The husband needs to be a God-fearing man who submits to God first of all. When a marriage is built without God in the picture, it is quite a risky venture. The marriage may last, but the joy of the Lord is certainly not in it. King Ahasuerus did not need a woman better than Vashti. He needed to be the man who could show his wife how to be a better woman. He did not have anyone around him who could help him with that.
In verse 20 these foolish men reasoned that when the king would divorce his wife and not allow her into the palace any longer, this act would send such a fear in the hearts of all the women, that they would honour their husbands according to the corrupt standards established by the king. What a sad state of affairs.
In verse 21 we see that the king was pleased with this bad counsel. He was so pleased that he did exactly what Memucan counselled him to do. In verse 22 we read that he sent letters into all the king’s provinces. He had them translated into all the various languages of the provinces. Every man should bear rule in his own house. That is a good statement, but it cannot be made in a vacuum. It needs to have the right context.
We have many homes today where the wife is abused, either verbally or physically. Many times the woman is putting up with this abuse because every once in a while her husband buys her something she likes. She tolerates the abuse, but the relationship is far from what God designed a marriage to be.
The Bible declares:
I Corinthians 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
Men are supposed to take leadership. However, there are far too many examples of what happens when a man takes leadership without knowing the Lord. There are many different versions of how that looks in our world. All of them are a disaster. You can have a husband and father who is laid back and lets a lot of things slide. You can have a husband and father who is more aggressive. There are many shades of this in our world. The godly husband and father loves the Lord first of all. He is learning how to walk with the Lord. He guides his family in the fear of the Lord. Every member of the family needs to decide what they will do with that godly guidance. A godly man will be careful to marry a godly woman. Thus that matter is settled. As both parents determine to grow in the Lord, it will make things better for any children that God gives them. It does not mean the children will be saved. That is the goal, but the children need to decide what they will do with the truth. It is important to put the truth before the children. The home needs to focus on walking with the Lord. The father needs to take his family to a good church, not a social club. The faithful preaching of the Word of God should be the priority. The family life needs to be focused on knowing the Lord and enjoying His blessings. Differences of opinion need to be dealt with with the Word of God as the authority and the answer.
Psalm 127:1 A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.
God’s way works every time and all the time. It is important to know Him and trust in Him. He has a good plan in place. We can know Him through His Word. We can know His blessing through following His plan.
Pastor Bartel