Esther 10:1  And the king Ahasuerus laid a tribute upon the land, and upon the isles of the sea.
2  And all the acts of his power and of his might, and the declaration of the greatness of Mordecai, whereunto the king advanced him, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia?
3  For Mordecai the Jew was next unto king Ahasuerus, and great among the Jews, and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people, and speaking peace to all his seed.

The book of Esther begins with a display of what a pagan government looks like. Drunkenness is a key characteristic of a pagan government. Together with that comes woman problems. The Bible teaches us that due to the fall of man, immorality is an all too common sin among men and women. Men are by nature the more aggressive of the two genders. Men are designed by God to be leaders. Lost men still desire to be leaders, but they lack the moral compass to be good leaders.
The Bible is also clear that drunkenness does not begin when a person begins to stagger around and slur their words. Drunkenness begins with that first sip of liquor. The sin of drunkenness actually begins when a person looks at the liquor with desire. Drunkenness inhibits the ability to think clearly. One of the natural negative effects of drunkenness is the dropping of the God designed inhibitions. God’s design for man is moral purity. The fall of man already weakens that design. Adding liquor to the mix further causes a problem there.
In Esther 1 we read of the king throwing a massive drunken party for his entire empire. He does not force anyone to drink but he makes it clear that it is fully permissible. He indulged in the consumption of alcohol and the result was that he looked at his wife as a plaything to be put on display for all to see. Vashti, who had her own drunken party with the women, despised this attitude from her husband. She refused to go along with his wickedness on this issue. This refusal threatened the superiority of the king over his wife, and by extension over his kingdom. His ungodly counsellors accentuated this “problem” and insisted that the king get rid of his wife to teach the entire nation that men needed to be honoured and respected, regardless of their demands. Women needed to be subordinate to their husbands in all things.
We have a P.M. who hates God and likely has never read the Bible. However, by nature he functions much like king Ahasuerus. He claims to be a “feminist” but he has proven over and over again, that women need to be subject to his whims and wishes. They need to protect him even when he breaks the law. He is not ashamed of his wicked treatment of women. We do not know the details of his own divorce, but his wife left him. She is a very self-centred woman which is to be expected from a lost woman.
In the book of Esther we see that the entire nation was affected by the wickedness of the king. As noted, his counsellors were corrupt and his wife was of equal character to himself. After the king had some time to reflect on his actions during his drunken party, he began to miss his wife. The Bible makes it clear that a man and a woman become one flesh when they come together. I Corinthians 6 speaks of the confusion that is caused when a man chases after harlots. Every intimate action creates another union. Man is not designed to live that way.
Back in our book, the king longed for his wife, but his pride would not allow him to admit he had been wrong. He shared his longing with his wicked counsellors and they had a solution. They told him to find a woman that would be better to him than Vashti.
When a man chooses to marry a woman, he needs to understand that this is a commitment for the life of the couple. If the man is lost, he will likely not choose wisely with regard to this commitment. That is his problem. He does not have the right to divorce his wife.
The solution is to get saved and start to honour God in his life. The solution for the wife is also to get saved and honour God. A godly marriage will work. We know that we as people are quite capable of making bad choices. When a person does not know the Lord and does not listen to Him, he can make a real mess of his life. That includes the choice of a spouse. When a marriage fails, it should be an opportunity to get on your knees and get right with God. It should be an opportunity to seek wise counsel to make the right decision. Sadly, for many, they seek bad counsel that agrees with their lust of the flesh. Even worse is the large number of religious leaders who will suggest that God approves of adultery. That is what the Bible calls the act of lusting after another man or woman while your spouse is still alive. The act of Biblical love is missing in a divorce and remarriage. God shows us how to resolve conflicts of any kind.
I Corinthians 7 tells us that marital conflicts can get quite intense. At times there will be a separation in the marriage. When there are unresolved conflicts, it is important to seek true Biblical counsel from a godly individual. An important source for that should be a true local pastor that can meet with the couple to help them resolve the conflict. When a pastor twists God’s Word to condone sin, that man is in trouble with God and is guilty of casting a stumblingblock before those he is supposed to be helping. He is under God’s judgment and that is not a good place to be. The couple that listens to that bad counsel is not excused just because some person gives them bad counsel. Each person will be accountable for their own decisions. Without the fear of God, things will not go well.
The book of Esther also shows us the results of people assimilating with a wicked culture. The Jews were sent into captivity by God due to their rejection of Him. God gave them a land and special protection in that land. They despised that and the result was that God brought the Babylonians open access to Jerusalem and Judah. They killed some Jews and took others captive. They also destroyed the temple and took the treasures out of it. The majority of the captives did not like being moved to another land but they just tried to fit in with the Babylonian society so as to be able to live in peace. Thus the mention of God is not in the book. The majority of the captives lived as secular Jews. The result of this compromise was a disaster for both the Jews and the Persians.
At the close of this book, we are again reminded by God of the failure of the Jews in captivity. They celebrated the rise of the power of Mordecai. The Jews gained a higher respect among the Persian empire. All of the actions mentioned in this book took place over the span of about a year. God gave us this book as part of His teaching for us. The book is not given in isolation. God never contradicts Himself.
God gave very clear instructions regarding marriage in the very first book of the Bible. Jesus took the Pharisees, who were false teachers, back to Genesis 2 when He answered their false teaching on marriage. God also established the order for a proper government prior to the book of Esther.
The secular Jews and Gentiles would ignore the clear teaching of the Bible, and would like to put Esther as the standard rather than seeing the failure of that society.
It is important to study to meet God’s approval. God does not give us His Word to counsel us to sin. He warns us of the danger of sin. Fifty five times we find the phrase “take heed” in the Bible.

Acts 20:28  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

I Corinthians 3:10  According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

There is a danger of ignoring and even rejecting the truth and accepting lies and false teaching. There is a danger of looking around and taking our counsel from the world, rather than from God. If a person wants to look like the world, they will not be able to help anyone. We see that in the Bible and we see that in our current society. Pastors need to know the Lord in order to be able to point people to the Lord. Individuals need to read their Bibles and be sure you know the true God and follow Him. Every person is accountable for their choices in life. God has not changed. He is a holy God Who requires holiness of man. Man can only please God when he is saved and walking humbly with the true God.
Pastor Bartel