Esther 1:1  Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces:)
2  That in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace,
3  In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him:
4  When he shewed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honour of his excellent majesty many days, even an hundred and fourscore days.
5  And when these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace;
6  Where were white, green, and blue, hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black, marble.
7  And they gave them drink in vessels of gold, (the vessels being diverse one from another,) and royal wine in abundance, according to the state of the king.
8  And the drinking was according to the law; none did compel: for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do according to every man’s pleasure.
9  Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to king Ahasuerus.

As is common with the books of the Bible, they do not begin by giving us a date as to when it was written. Some books will give dates within the context of the book. Some books give us names and events that help us to be able to determine when it was written.
God directed the author of the book of Esther to give us some details regarding the time of its writing. We are told that this book was written in the days of Ahasuerus. We are also told which Ahasuerus this was. He reigned from India to Ethiopia, over a hundred and twenty seven provinces. This Ahasuerus had a lot of responsibility. However, we do not have any definitive information to know exactly who this Ahasuerus was. There were several men who were given this title. It seems this man reigned during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. That is certainly quite possible as we will see in our study.
We know that this was during the time of the Medo/Persian empire. The Babylonian empire had fallen to this empire. God directed the Babylonian empire to invade Judah, and specifically Jerusalem, which of course was the capital of Israel first, and later of Judah. We need to keep in mind that the Jews have been out of their land now for at least seventy years. That is enough time for young people to grow up and become older people. They have been raised in a godless environment. They have seen the fall of one empire and the beginnings of a second empire. Both of those empires were godless empires. Most of the Jews living during that timeframe had become quite complacent, spiritually speaking. They entered captivity coming from a nation that was given the truth, but had rejected it. That nation was Israel. Israel was given the law of God. Israel had practiced the law of God for a time. After the reign of King Solomon, Israel was broken into two parts, by God. The north, made up of ten tribes, kept the name Israel. The south, made up of two tribes, became known as Judah. Judah had the privilege of keeping Jerusalem within its territory. Israel, the north, never had a godly king throughout its entire time. God eventually sent the Assyrians into the north to capture it and pollute it further by bring Assyrians into that land to live and intermarry, etc.
The south, Judah, had several godly kings. The south also had some kings that promoted idolatry. Over time, the idolaters took over the bulk of the mindset of the south. God eventually sent the Babylonians into the south to capture Jerusalem, destroy the temple, and kill many and take others captive. Most of the captives were still idolaters. They never learned the need to repent and get back to God. A few of the captives, like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, believed in God. Those four men had quite an impact on the nation of Babylon. They were God-fearing men and because of that, they were not ashamed to be identified with the true God in a pagan environment. They refused to assimilate with the pagan culture they were carried into. They were used of God to gain the attention of the kings of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar was greatly impacted by their testimony during his reign.
At the end of the seventy year captivity, God directed king Cyrus to make a decree to give the Jews permission to go back to their homeland. Some of them, like Ezra and Nehemiah led other Jews to go back to Judah. They went back, but they were still of a pagan mindset. Many others remained in their new lands, having become quite comfortable living in those pagan lands. They were like Lot. They were prospering materially and so what else could possibly matter?
In the book of Esther, Mordecai, her uncle raised her in that complacent environment. They were Jews, but they were not interested in going back to Israel, when the opportunity was granted to them. Some might want to suggest that they remained in the Medo/Persian empire to be a good testimony to that pagan land. The book of Esther shows us this was not so. Mordecai was not like Daniel and his three friends. He was a Jew and he cared about his people, but as we noted earlier, he never mentioned the name of God once.
Some might suggest that it is not necessary to mention the name of God. “Lifestyle evangelism” suggests that you just need to live the right way and it will impact others for Christ. How will they know you know Christ if you do not tell them? Passive Christianity does not work.
The opening verses of this book show us the mentality of the king and of the people. It was a godless nation and feasting was important to them. As is common in worldly feasts, liquor plays a prominent part. Most weddings have to have liquor involved. Most other feasts also have to have liquor.
We read that this king Ahasuerus sat on his throne in Sushan the palace. That was the capital of the empire.
In verse 3 we read that in the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants. This man was somewhat generous with other people’s money. We need to understand the politicians do not spend their own money. They tax others and then take that money to buy people’s loyalties so that they can continue to tax them more.
In verse 3 we also learn where the power of the kingdom resided. The king had the pen that made a law sure. However, we read that he had nobles and princes of the provinces before him. He needed loyal people who would back him up in what he wanted to do. Even dictators need loyal people around them. They rule with an iron fist, but they need the support of the army and the police and the provincial leaders, etc.
Canada is in a precarious place right now. We have a wannabe dictator who claims to be stepping down. We have a new administration about to take hold in the U.S. if things continue as they seem. That new administration has threatened to slap a 25% tariff on goods shipped into the U.S. Certain Canadian politicians are quite frantic about this possibility. The premier of Alberta is also concerned but refuses to go along with the federal government and the other premiers on the plan forward. The other premiers and other ‘scholars’ claim this is a bad thing. There has to be a unified voice in dealing with this proposed threat. The nature of things in Canada shows that we are a very weak and divided nation. That should not surprise us, but many are surprised. Canada has long ago lost its place. We are a nation on the brink of collapse. Time will tell when that happens. The hope of Christians should not be in our nation. It should be in God.
In verse 4 of our text we see that the king felt it necessary to do some bragging. The king obviously loved to waste other people’s money. He spent 180 days preparing for the massive party he was going to put on. He obviously had the people of his kingdom quite loyal to him. He could afford to call his top people together and keep them with him for that length of time with no major problem breaking out anywhere in his kingdom.
Verse 5 tells us that at the end of those days, the king made a feast for all the people in Sushan. Verse 6 describes the majesty of the palace area in Sushan. There was a ‘need’ to display the wealth of that place. We still see that type of extravagance in many countries today. Sadly, most citizens see no problem with all this waste. They tend to love it as they are being robbed so that a few people can live ‘high on the hog’.
In verse 7 we are told that they had fancy vessels for their drunken party. In verse 8 we read that the drinking was according to the law. This is important. We often read and hear of the need to “drink responsibly”. If that were true, people would drink water or juice or milk, and things like that. They would never touch liquor if they were drinking responsibly. However, the governments make a lot of money off of the sale of liquor. They can also satisfy the anxieties of people if they can keep them drunk at least some of the time. They do not care about the medical and other financial costs involved in this wickedness.
We are told that the drinking was not forced on anyone. Every person drank according to every man’s pleasure. In verse 9 we read that Vashti the queen also made a feast for the women in the royal house. This house also belonged to the king. There was some separation here between the men and the women. This was a good thing since drunkenness often leads to immorality.
The stage was certainly being set here for further trouble.
I listened to part of the questioning of one of the main men in the upcoming U.S. administration. The man was a womanizer and loved his liquor. He is apparently reformed now. One of his supporters questioned the rest of the committee members by suggesting that many of them came to government meetings under the influence of alcohol and thus they should not go after this man, who is supposed to be the head of the armed services. Isn’t it assuring to know that the person who is supposed to be the head of the military complex can do so while being drunk. We should read what God says about liquor:

Proverbs 20:1  Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.

According to history records, many decisions in our country have been made while the decision makers were under the influence of alcohol. It is only by God’s grace that we are able to function as well as we do. That is not to suggest that we are a God-fearing nation. It is to say that God is still allowing for people to come to know Him as their God and Saviour and thus is keeping evil at bay so that the Gospel can be proclaimed to the people.
In the first chapter of the book of Esther, God is giving us the environment in which He is going to work, in spite of the careless nature of those who were His people, physically, but spiritually very cold. God made a promise to Abraham. He does not break His promises. He does not approve of any sin. He does not justify sin. He shows Himself strong in spite of man’s many failures. Man is blessed when he submits to the true God and serves Him faithfully.
Pastor Bartel