Context No. 3929 of 4322 · Esther (Greek)

Esther (Greek) 1:14-22: in context

14So Arkesaeus, Sarsathaeus, and Malisear, the princes of the Persians and Medes, who were near the king, who sat chief in rank by the king, drew near to him, 15and reported to him according to the laws what it was proper to do to queen Vashti, because she had not done the things commanded by the king through the chamberlains. 16And Memucan said to the king and to the princes, “Queen Vashti has not wronged the king only, but also all the king’s rulers and princes; 17for he has told them the words of the queen, and how she disobeyed the king. As she then refused to obey King Ahasuerus, 18so this day the other wives of the chiefs of the Persians and Medes, having heard what she said to the king, will dare in the same way to dishonor their husbands. 19If then it seems good to the king, let him make a royal decree, and let it be written according to the laws of the Medes and Persians, and let him not alter it: ‘Don’t allow the queen to come in to him any more. Let the king give her royalty to a woman better than she.’ 20Let the law of the king which he will have made be widely proclaimed in his kingdom. Then all the women will give honor to their husbands, from the poor even to the rich.” 21This advice pleased the king and the princes; and the king did as Memucan had said, 22and sent into all his kingdom through the several provinces, according to their language, so that men might be feared in their own houses.

This passage records a piece of palace intrigue at the court of a proud and pleasure-loving king. When Queen Vashti refuses to be displayed before the king's drunken banquet, his fearful, self-important counselors urge him to depose her by an irrevocable decree, worried that all the wives of the realm will otherwise defy their husbands. It is a scene of wounded pride and foolish overreaction dressed up as statecraft, and we read it soberly, not as a model to follow.

But the God who is never named in the book of Esther is at work behind this very folly. The removal of Vashti, engineered by vain men flattering a foolish king, unknowingly opens the throne that Esther will come to fill, and through Esther, God will one day deliver his people from destruction. There is a quiet lesson in this. God's providence is not limited to the wise and godly decisions of good people; he can and does work his saving purposes even through the pride, folly, and injustice of a pagan court. What looked like nothing more than a petty palace drama was, unknown to all of them, the opening move in God's plan of rescue.

Do I trust that God is at work behind the scenes even in the flawed, foolish, and unjust workings of the world, quietly bending them toward his good and saving purposes?

Sources

Esther 1:19: "Let him make a royal decree, and let it be written according to the laws of the Medes and Persians, and let him not alter it."
Esther 1:16: "Queen Vashti has not wronged the king only, but also all the king's rulers and princes."
Esther 4:14: "Who knows if you haven't come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"