Esther chapter 1. We'll read the first chapter of Esther. Esther is before Job, after Nehemiah. We'll begin this new series. It'll probably take us about nine weeks or so. There's ten chapters in Esther, but the last one is three verses. So we'll look at it about a chapter at a time. And so today we're going to look at the first chapter, and I'll begin in verse one. Now in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia, over 127 provinces, in those days when King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in Susa, the citadel, in the third year of his reign, he gave a feast for all his officials and servants. The army of Persia and Media and the nobles and governors of the provinces were before him, while he showed the riches of his royal glory and the splendor and pomp of his greatness for many days, 180 days. And when these days were completed, the king gave for all the people present in Susa the citadel, both great and small, a feast lasting for seven days in the court of the garden of the king's palace. There were white cotton curtains and violet hangings fastened with cords of fine linen and purple, to silver rods and marble pillars, and also couches of gold and silver on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother of pearl, and precious stones. Drinks were served in golden vessels, vessels of different kinds, and the royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king. and drinking was according to this edict. There is no compulsion. For the king had given orders to all the staff of his palace to do as each man desired. Queen Vashti also gave a feast for the women in the palace that belonged to King Ahasuerus. On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded, Mem-hu-man, biz-tha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Karkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown in order to show the peoples and the princes her beauty, for she was lovely to look at. But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command delivered by the eunuchs. At this, the king became enraged, and his anger burned within him. Then the king said to the wise men who knew the times, for this was the king's procedure toward all who were versed in law and judgment, and the men next to him being Karshena, Shethar, Admetha, Tarshish, Merez, Marcena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, who saw the king's face and sat first in the kingdom. According to the law, what is to be done to Queen Vashti? Because she has not performed the command of King Ahasuerus delivered by the eunuchs. Then Memucan said in the presence of the king and the officials, Not only against the king has Queen Vashti done wrong, but also against all the officials and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. For the queen's behavior will be made known to all women, causing them to look at their husbands with contempt, since they will say, King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him and she did not come. This very day the noble women of Persia and Media who have heard the Queen's behavior will say the same to all the King's officials, and there will be contempt and wrath in plenty. If it please the King, let a royal order go out from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, so that it may not be repealed that Vashti is never again to come before King Ahasuerus. and let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she. So when the decree made by the king is proclaimed throughout all the kingdom, for it is vast, all women will give honor to their husbands, high and low alike. This advice pleased the king and the princess, and the king did as Memucan proposed. He sent letters to all the royal provinces, to every province in its own script, and to every people in its own language, that every man be master in his own household, and speak according to the language of his people. This is the word of the Lord. Amen. Let's pray for God's blessing upon his word. Dear Lord, we give thanks to you for giving us your word written in scripture for our learning, for our profit, for our training and righteousness, for our rebuke and reproof. We pray that you would teach and instruct us this day through your word, through this preaching, and that you would guide us to our hearts, that it would be faithful to scripture. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. As we look at the book of Esther, it is something of an unusual book in the Bible. One thing that is unique about this book is that God is not mentioned by name in this book. In fact, in this first chapter, not even the Jews are mentioned. The first chapter opens up with a scene in the palace of Persia. And you wonder, why are we here? Why are we set in the city of Susa, far away from Jerusalem? And at first, there's not even any Jews, much less mention of the true and living God. What is going on? And why is this in the Bible? Well, one major theme of the book of Esther is the providence of God. God is at work everywhere, carrying out his purposes, even among the pagans, even outside of Israel. He's not just a God of the valleys, not just a God of Israel, not just a God of Jerusalem. He is the living God of all the earth. And even when he is not mentioned, and even if he seems to be absent to the superficial observer, God is nevertheless working out his will. I think the silence in this respect is purposeful to make a point that even when God seems absent, even when it's not the great and miraculous works like the parting of the Red Sea, that nevertheless, even there, God is working to preserve his people and his purpose, at least in this case, becomes evident. in time. The book will allude to a purpose at work, an intention at work that is different than the human characters of the story. A purpose that becomes clear by the end of the book. The purpose of God, to preserve his people, And in preserving his people, also by extension to preserve the promised line of the Messiah. That the offspring of Abraham, through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed, would not be blotted out from under heaven. And so all of that is indeed quite important. And there's a good reason why this book is in our Bibles. Why it was delivered to the ancient people of old among the oracles of God. Now, this chapter opens up with a description of the Persian Empire and its king, Ahasuerus. The Medes and the Persians had arisen as God had prophesied under King Cyrus. They were the kingdom portrayed in Daniel 2 and 7 as the chest and arms of iron on that statue Nebuchadnezzar saw, and as that second beast, that lopsided bear with three ribs in its mouth. The lopsidedness showing the Medes and the Persians composing this empire, and the three ribs in its mouth probably referring to its three major conquests early on. The Persians conquered Babylon, they conquered Lydia, which is in modern-day Turkey, and Egypt. And of course all the territories that those empires controlled, including, of course, the land of Judea. Really the whole Middle East. The Persian homeland was in modern-day Iran, and their empire was bordered by India to the east. It included, you know, what's now Pakistan, and it went all the way to the borders of Ethiopia in the southwest, controlling Egypt. The empire also included, like I said, Judea and Jerusalem, and it was under the Persians that some of the Jews returned to rebuild the temple. It also extended even into Macedon, into the areas in the north of Greece. In fact, at the end of the book, it'll mention the coastlands, the islands, referring to that part of the empire. And that's probably the most famous part of the empire because of its stories of how the Persians fought the Greeks. The empire was divided up, according to the historians, into 20 to 30 satrapies. But the Bible seems to refer to a smaller unit that it was divided up into that had 127 provinces that composed the empire. And that's what it refers to here. It was a vast and large empire. the capital city of persia of this empire was susa susa the citadel That's today in southwestern Iran. On Google Maps, I found it's about a six-hour drive by car from Susa to ancient Babylon, to give you in modern terms of the distance here. Susa, not Babylon, is the setting of this book. You think of how the Jews were brought into exile, they were brought into exile in Babylon, but we're not even in Babylon. We're further, past Babylon. We're in Susa, the citadel, the capital of the Persian Empire. Now this book is set in the days of King Ahasuerus. That is his name written in Hebrew. Really, it's his name written in English based on the Hebrew, based on the Persian. So there's multiple versions of this man's name. The names of the Persian kings found in the history textbooks are usually based on the Greek, the English versions of the Greek versions of the Persian names. So if you study the books and you speak of Xerxes and Darius, and these we often get from the Greek historians. So there's some debate about which king was Ahasuerus. The first king of the Persian Empire was Cyrus the Great. He reigned from 559 to 530. He was the conqueror of Babylon. The return to Jerusalem began with him. Then Cambyses came. He was the conqueror of Egypt, 530 to 522. Then came Darius the Great, not the Darius of Daniel and the Lion's Den, but another Darius, 552 to 486. In his reign, the temple was completed in Jerusalem. Then came Xerxes, Xerxes the Great, Xerxes the First. 486 to 465, and then after him came Artaxerxes, or Artaxerxes I, 464 to 423. And in his reign, Ezra and Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem, and the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt. And so we have a period here with multiple Persian kings, multiple returns to the land. A lot of the Jews continue to live among the nations scattered among them. Now all three of these last kings that I just mentioned, Darius, Xerxes, and Artaxerxes, have been suggested over the years as King Ahasuerus. Is Ahasuerus Artaxerxes? That's what the Septuagint, at least one major strand of it, proposed. Is he Xerxes? And that's the main opinion today, and is my opinion. Or is he Darius the Great? The argument for Darius is that Esther 2 verse 6 seems to say that Mordecai had been carried away from Jerusalem with Jeconiah. That was in 597. And so if that's true, then Xerxes would have been too late. He would have been really really old if Xerxes is the king and he was carried away then. Darius the Great began to reign 75 years after that exile. So maybe Mordecai could have been like an 80 year old or something if that was the right king. Even there, it's kind of a stretch. But Esther 2 verse 6 can also be understood to say that Mordecai's great-grandfather, Kish, had been carried away among the captives. Or it might simply refer to the fact that Mordecai was one of the exiles whose exile was due to the removal with Jeconiah. As if I said that, you know, that we came over from england that i come over from england no but i'm here because the people from no england came over here and and that's how i'm here we could get to that when we get to chapter two But that's not necessarily, we don't have to think of Mordecai as being carried away in the exile, at least that's one of the arguments for Xerxes being Ahasuerus. So the majority opinion today, which I think is correct, is that Ahasuerus is King Xerxes. And in favor of this, first of all, archaeologists and others have discovered his name in Persian. And that sounds very similar to the Hebrew Ahasuerus. In Hebrew, it's actually pronounced more like Akhash-Vaz-Rash. Akhash-Vay-Rash. We say Ahasuerus in English, but the Persian name would be something even similar to that Hebrew name. So it's understandable that this could be simply the Hebrew variant of that. Secondly, Ezra chapter 4 verse 6 mentions King Ahasuerus and places his reign between that of Darius and Artaxerxes. And the king between Darius and Artaxerxes was Xerxes. So Xerxes, I think that's probably the strongest argument. Xerxes is a well-known king in the West because of his wars against the Greeks. He is the king who led the Persian army into Greece, defeated the Greeks and their 300 at Thermopylae. He was the one who was defeated by the Greeks at Salamis. In fact, another reason that it makes sense that Ahasuerus is Xerxes is that the events recounted in Esther seem to match the chronology of his campaigns against the Greeks. Soon after he became king, there was a rebellion in Egypt, and Xerxes had to suppress that rebellion, and so he came back to his capital. And he made preparations for the invasion of Greece. His father had wanted to do this because Darius had been defeated at Marathon and died before he could. Xerxes wanted to take this up. And so this feast at the beginning of Esther in the third year of his reign, around 483, corresponds to the council that Xerxes held to convince his nobles to follow him into the invasion of Greece. Because that was a major undertaking and he would have to have all their support. And so the historians like Herodotus mentioned this gathering and notice that verse three of Esther mentions the army of the Persians and the Medes and the nobles and governors of the provinces all being gathered there. What was the purpose of this feast, stated in Esther? Why were they feasting? Just to have a good time? Not just to have a good time. Why did they pull out the golden vessels and all these jewels and fabrics and feasting and go for so long? It was to show the riches of His royal glory and the splendor and pomp of His greatness. It was to impress the people. It was to make Xerxes' name great, or Ahasuerus' name great, so that people would follow him. That if he said, let's go and fight the Greeks, or whatever, that people would get on board. That this is a leader that we could follow. See how great he is. See how rich he is. He was gathering support, gaining commitment, reassuring his followers, making his name great. That is what we find even in the book of Esther. Now after this feast, there's four years before Esther is brought to the king. That shows up in chapter two, but there's a gap of four years. And that would fit with the idea that Xerxes was away fighting the Greeks during that time and comes back home afterwards. My point in all this is that the book of Esther is set in history. It actually interacts with a pretty well-known empire and leaders that you would read about just as much as you would read about Napoleon and Alexander the Great or George Washington. This is the history that you and I live in. Of course, that's true of all biblical history, but it's true here as well. It's not a fairy tale. It is a well-written book, but it's not a fairy tale like Cinderella or Snow White. This is a thing that happened in the course of history. Any good storyteller can weave details into a good conclusion, right? But while this book is well written, there is more to it than that. This tells a story that God wrote and that God worked out in history. And he designed these details and they actually worked out in fact. The importance of the story hinges on this, that God is sovereign over history. Not that just he had a good storyteller write a story for us to be encouraging, but God himself is sovereign over the events of empires and men high and low. And in the midst of the Persian Empire and its great ambitions and wars, God was working out a plan for his people. And ultimately his plan to save people through the Savior who had come from the Jews, Jesus Christ. So God was at work in the Persian palace. No one else yet saw it, but what took place at the feast and the fall of Queen Vashti would later lead to the deliverance of the Jews. Her fall led to Esther later becoming queen. And with Esther as queen, she was able to intercede for her people. Of course, this was God's plan for his people. But for now, the Jews aren't even mentioned. They did not have the foresight. The Persians didn't know what was coming, but God was at work already. This is true among all the nations. God is at work today, working all things according to the counsel of His will. No mere man is able to coordinate all the events and actions and circumstances of his life, much less his day, as hard as he might try. But there is an intention at work in them all, weaving together the details to further his purposes, the will of God. Now, for their part, the king and queen, Vashti and Ahasuerus, the king and queen demonstrate a bit of folly. Their weakness also. This is the king and queen of Persia, right? But their weakness kind of becomes evident. It's a little more fragile than it might appear at first. Despite the vast riches and great power, it becomes evident how weak they both were or how vulnerable they were. A little embarrassing circumstance takes place and causes a crisis. The king is embarrassed before his nobles. he encounters a crisis. The queen loses her royal position and was replaced by another, is banished from the king's presence. The fame and power of man is often more fragile than it may appear. Do not trust on riches, what Bible refers to as the deceitfulness of riches. The riches, they themselves, they're inanimate objects, they can't do anything, but people want to trust in them, and then they fly away. Time and circumstance happens, moth and rust destroy, and it's gone. In this case, it was more the fame and glory, at least for the queen, and temporarily for the king, that was gone. So do not trust on riches and fame, but look to the glory that comes from God and his everlasting kingdom. Now, think about the king. The king found himself in an embarrassing circumstance after he gave a rather foolish order. He had been drinking. He was merry with wine. In this context, it probably means that he was drunk. At least he was a little disoriented. He was influenced by the wine, it seems. And he wanted to show off the beauty of his queen to the other men. He had the men feasting, he had the women feasting. Last day of the feast, he wants to bring his wife and to show everyone her beauty. The king sent seven eunuchs to bring the queen. Perhaps they were going to carry a litter. Maybe that's why they needed so many, and to display her before them all. But the queen did not want to be shown off in front of a bunch of drunken men. Surprise, surprise. Right? That would have been rather embarrassing for her. The king was not showing honor in an understanding way towards his queen, and his foolish order would fall back upon him. It would lead to his own embarrassment when the queen disobeyed his order. Those who have positions of authority should be careful to preserve their honor through wisdom. When you act foolish, you cut down your own Cut down your own self. You undermine yourself through foolish decisions. I'm not saying that the folly of a leader justifies those under him dishonoring him or disobeying him, but simply a practical point. If you are a leader, that you should seek to preserve your honor by making sensible decisions. Solomon could have told him that it's not good for kings to get carried away by wine. Husbands and fathers as well should seek to maintain their honor and weight by being wise and sober and dignified and understanding, showing care and respect for those under their care. For the Queen's part, Vashti's refusal to come was no little thing. I think in the VeggieTales version of this, it's the king asks her to make a sandwich and she doesn't make a sandwich. And so she's kicked out. It's a bit more serious than that. It's a bit serious because first of all, she disobeys. Now her refusal to come is perhaps understandable. You might see why she'd rather not come. Perhaps there's even some virtue in her not wanting to be a spectacle. But this was disobedience to her husband, it was disobedience to the king, and it was disobedience in perhaps the most public way possible, before everyone, the princes, the people. It would undermine her king before everyone, as he was even trying to gain support of his new kingdom. So Vashti's action was wrong, it was serious, but also it seems to have been a bit impulsive, much as the King's order was, not thinking through perhaps all the consequences. Her refusal not only risked the king's acre, but it seemed to have insured it. What else would have happened? Either the king would have lost face before his nobles and people, hindering his ability to lead them, or she would have to be dealt with one way or another. As far as we know, she didn't even seek to give a soft answer or partial concession. All we know is that she refused. Now, not only did her actions put the king in a bad place, but because of her position as queen, her actions set a bad example for the women of the kingdom, as the king's counselors pointed out. You know, others are going to see this as a very visible thing, public thing. All the other women in this kingdom are going to start imitating her. Even the king himself was not shown honor by his queen. This is going to spread. Something would have to be done. Those who have high positions have great responsibility. That is true today as well. You must think as you become more and more visible to others, so have greater higher positions to think of the repercussions of the example that you set. You can begin with thinking of how your younger siblings are going to imitate you. But then as you grow older, think about all the other people that might be looking up to you. It was not good that the women of the empire would learn to disdain their husbands by her example. Wives ought to show honor and reverence to their husbands, as we would learn from the Bible itself. So, in the end, we have something of a train wreck. It leads to the queen losing her royal position. The king acted by the counsel of his wise men. Vashti was never again to come into his presence. It's a little bit of a poetic justice. You're not going to come into my presence. You can never come into my presence. That she is banished from the court and her royal position as queen was taken away from her, that it might be given to someone better than she. And the decree went out to the whole empire in all its languages, that every man be master in his own household and speak according to the language of his people. That's an interesting comment. Not sure exactly what to make of the last part, especially given what was happening in Judea at the time and mixed marriages and languages. I don't know if there's any relevance to that, but you see the decree and how it fits with what was going on. Whatever we think about the particular punishment for the queen, it does set the stage for Esther. It set the stage for Esther in two ways. First, See how easy it was to fall from the position of being queen. Would Esther fall as well? Would Esther experience what Vashti did? See how this king could get angry. This king could get upset. You might think that you're important because you're queen, but Esther throughout her time as queen would have remembered that the queen before her had fallen and had been put away. And as she risks the displeasure of the king, she would have that in mind. And it sets the tension of the story. It means that she would have to be courageous when she approaches the king. This was a powerful king who was concerned about his reputation. Notice that Vashti disobeyed the king's order to appear before him, while Esther will come before him without being invited. There's a little bit of both compare and contrast between the two. Now Esther will risk his displeasure somewhat differently. She'll show wisdom and deference. She'll be careful and perhaps learn from Vashti's experience, but it would take great courage, especially with all of this having happened just beforehand. Both Esther and the reader of the book would have Vashti's quick fall in their memory. Secondly, Vashti's royal position was made vacant in this way so that it was ready to be filled by another. And so through these events, God was preparing a way for Esther to rise. And through Esther, a way to save his people. Although the Jews were under the dominion of the Persians, scattered among the nations, yet they had someone looking out for them. Their Redeemer is mighty, was mighty, he still is mighty. While the king and queen had shown a lack of foresight, both of them, the God of Abraham was setting the stage for the deliverance of his people from a threat that no one else could see yet. This God is our God. He is still the living and true God. He is our God through faith in Jesus Christ. So what can we learn from chapter one? Don't imitate the folly of this world. You see the world and its pride and its boastfulness and its fragility and do not imitate its folly. Do not trust in the power and the fame of man. Those who occupy high positions should be careful and wise. Wives should honor and respect their husbands. Husbands should be wise and understanding as they treat their wives. But most importantly, trust in God. For God works through history, in all its events, in all its people, high and low, carrying out his purposes, looking out for his people. He fulfills his promises and has brought forth a Savior, Jesus Christ, of the offspring of Abraham. He is God come in the flesh and is revealed now to all the nations, the salvation of our God. So let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken in the King of Kings, Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Dear God, we give thanks to you for this book and for your deeds of old, your wondrous deeds, your deeds of power and might and wisdom We ask that you would strengthen us in this faith, that we might be courageous as we follow your ways in this life, that you would make your name known and great and glorious among the nations. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.