The book of Esther takes place between the rebuilding of God’s temple and the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls. The first chapter introduces King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) of the Persian Empire, and his wife Queen Vashti.
“…when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded… 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… At this the king became enraged, and his anger burned within him. 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…” (v10-12, 22 abr)
This bizarre occurrence is a good example of why getting drunk to the point of losing rational decision making is a very bad idea. The drunken king wants to show off his wife to his party guests, and demands that she appear before them naked, wearing only her crown (this is what’s implied) and the queen wisely refuses. Yet, the king becomes angry and passes a law that all women must submit to their husband’s authority.
According to scripture, husbands and wives are called to honor and respect each other, yes, but what King Ahasuerus wants is forced compliance. He’s basically taking away a wife’s free will, where God wants relationships to be based on love, trust, willing service, and honor, with Him at the center.
In Eph 5:22-33, Paul tells us that wives are to submit to their husbands (respect/obey them) like they would submit to Christ. He also clarifies that husbands are to unconditionally love their wives like Christ loves the church, as if the wives are extensions of their own bodies. In this two-part harmony, wives and husbands both willingly serve each other out of love. Paul does not say women need to obey their husband if he asks them to sin (like the king demanded).
Even if some of us are not married, all Christ followers are considered to be the Bride of Christ. We are to honor, respect and obey Jesus as if He is our ‘husband’. The fantastic news is, Jesus will never ask us to do something that would harm us or cause us to sin, nor will he ever dishonor us. Let’s honor Jesus our King, and also honor the people in our lives as Jesus would.
Father God, our Loving and Steadfast Lord, You have blessed us with amazing relationships. Not only have You given some of us strong human bonds, Jesus reconciled us to Himself so we may have eternal relationship with You. May we continue to love and honor those in our lives, respecting them as Jesus would. May we be shining examples of Christ in their lives, and only behave in ways which also honor You. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord we praise You, amen.
~ Conqueror in Training