Esther 1:16

 Esther 1:16 says, And Memucan answered before the king and the princes, Vashti the queen hath not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all the people that are in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus.  Memucan, one of the seven princes present before Ahasuerus answered him.  Some say that he gave this advice because he didn’t like Vashti, but others say he did it out of concern for public decorum even though he admired her according to Matthew Henry.  The reason doesn’t matter as much as the advice, which we are not told that he had any real qualification to give.  We may get sincere advice from people today even for what they feel is for the good of the church or the nation as a whole and it may still be wrong.  We need to ensure that the advice we follow as Christians comes from God.   

Verse seventeen adds, 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, Then king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not.  Memucan seemed to at least know what the situation was.  People may be well aware of why we are having a problem, but that doesn’t mean that they will always give us the best advise if they are basing it on how our actions may affect others. 

Verse eighteen continues, 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. Part of Memucan’s advice was not based just on the relationship between Vashti and Ahasuerus but on how other women might be influenced by what she did.  If she didn’t obey Ahasuerus, then why would other women obey their husbands.  It wasn't so much a matter of whether she was right to do what she did but whether she would influence others.  There are still people today who believe that women should obey men, especially their husbands, and in spiritual matters, the husband should be the ultimate authority under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, but that doesn't mean that women, even wives, should obey their husbands in everything he says for them to do.  This is certainly true if their doing what they are told to do would put them in a situation that would not be honorable.   

Verse nineteen states, 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.  Memucan advised Ahasuerus to divorce Vashti by a public decree that could not be changed.  Since she had refused to come when he called for her, she was to no longer be in a position where she could disobey him, and it would set an example for the other women in the kingdom about the consequences of disobeying their husbands.  Matthew Henry says we must assume that Vashti was given an opportunity to repent and come as Ahasuerus had called for her to do, but I personally don’t see anything to base that assumption on.   It seems to me that Ahasuerus was more concerned with his own ego than he was with what was best for Vashti,   

Verse twenty adds, 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.  As just discussed, Memucan seemed to be more concerned with how Vashti’s action might influence other women and the husband's authority over them than he was with what God might say about the situation.  This is still often the concern of people today if men believe that a husband is not asserting his authority over his wife and that she is not obeying him in anything he demands.   

Verse twenty-one continues, And the saying pleased the king and the princes; and the king did according to the word of Memucan:  Since the saying pleased the king, which could have also influenced Memucan in giving the advice, he did as Memucan had advised.  In effect, he actually gave up his authority to make a decision about the situation to someone else.  When it comes to matters between a Christian husband and wife, they need to get together under the leadership of the Holy Spirit and make the decision based on what is best in the marriage and not on what the rest of the world may think or say.   

Verse twenty-two concludes, 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.  Ahasuerus sent the decree of his divorcing Vashti to all the provinces and ensured that it was written in their language.  He wanted everyone to know of his control of the situation and of Vashti herself.  I believe that many men today base their actions in the family more on how other people may view them than on what is best for their wives.  

Esther 1:5

Esther 1: 5 says, 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;  After this time of celebration with the nobles and princes, Ahasuerus had another feast for all the people that lasted seven days.  The feast for everyone wasn’t nearly as long as the feast for the nobles and rulers, and people today often want the rich and powerful to feast more than the average person and even more so than the really poor people.  As Christians, we should never be this way.  If anything, we should be the opposite, doing more for the poor and downcast than for the rich and powerful.   

Verse six adds. 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.   The places they met were ornate with fine hangings dividing these places according to Matthew Henry.  The beds or benches were made of silver and gold and even the pavement was made of various colors of marble.  We often look for church buildings, our meeting places as Christians to be ornate and very comfortable, but I believe we should put more emphasis on meeting the needs of people than on church buildings, but that is just my opinion.   

Verse seven continues, 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.  They had different vessels of gold to drink the wine from, which the wine was said to be in abundance too.  Often when people get together today, they want the wine or other alcoholic drinks to be available in abundance.  I will not say that it is a sin to drink alcoholic drinks, but it is if we drink them to excess while ignoring the needs of others.  Matthew Henry says some of the Temple vessels were used in this celebration.  I do know that we should never use the things dedicated to God for our own pleasure. 

Verse eight concludes, 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.  We are told that the drinking was done in accordance with the law, which Matthew Henry says was some manmade law of the time and not God’s law.  We can never afford to follow man’s law if it goes against God’s law but should always be obedient to His law first.    

Esther 1:1

 Esther 1:1 says, 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.  Esther was written during the same time frame as Ezra and Nehemiah, but was written about those people of Israel who did not have enough zeal for Jerusalem and the Temple to return to rebuild them.  It tells of God’s providence in saving them from destruction even though they were not being faithful to Him.  They were not spared because of their worthiness but because of God’s promise to Abraham.  We are still saved by that same promise that was fulfilled when Jesus Christ died for our sins, but for it to benefit us, we must accept Him individually as our Savior and Lord.  God spares us until we have a chance to do so.  Matthew Henry says that the book was most likely written by Mordecai though we aren’t really told who wrote it.  As this verse states, it was written during the reign of Ahasuerus over Persia, though as Matthew Henry states, we are not sure exactly who he was.  I am sure that some people who do not believe in God would say that since we cannot find mention of Ahasuerus anywhere else that this proves the Bible is wrong, but we either put our faith in the word of God regardless of any earthly proof or we don’t.  Google says it is a transliteration of the name Xerxes or Artaxerxes.   The Persians ruled over a great deal of the country at that time.   

Verse two adds, That in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace,  This verse simply repeats that Ahasuerus ruled over Persia when this was written.   

Verse three continues, 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:  In the third year of his reign, he made a feast for all his princes and servants in Persia and Media.  I believe this was to glorify himself before all the princes and nobles who served under him.  Matthew Henry says that they weren’t all present at the same time, but came a few at a time throughout this period so he would always have someone present to praise him.  I believe that as Christians we should always be wary of anyone who needs everyone around him or her to praise them.  We may still have rulers in the world today who have if not feasts then parades to glorify themselves and everyone under their rule is expected to participate.  As followers of Christ, we cannot glorify any earthly ruler.   

Verse four concludes, When he shewed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honour of his excellent majesty many days, even an hundred and fourscore days.  This feast celebrating the glory of Ahasuerus lasted for a hundred and eighty days.  They celebrated for almost half a year honoring him.  We cannot spend even one day glorifying anyone but God if we are a Christian.