Esther Lesson 5
The book of Esther: A study of God in action when nothing appears
to be happening!
by Patsy Norwood (c) 2023 All Rights Reserved
Last week we left Memucan firing up all the ‘wise men,
counselors and the king with his exaggerated suggestions about what should be
done to Queen Vashti for her refusal to come before the king as had been requested.
This week in verses 19-22, we’re going to find out what her
punishment/fate is to be, let’s get started with Memucan putting before the
king the 'wise men and counselors’ suggestion …
Verse 19: If it pleases the king, let a royal
edict be issued by him and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media so
that it cannot be repealed, that Vashti may not come into the presence of King
Ahasuerus, and let the king give her royal position to another who is more
worthy than she.
Here it is, Queen Vashti is about to have her sentence handed
down, one that can never be changed, and it is to be recorded in the laws of
Persia and Media becoming public knowledge forever more. (Sidenote: The Medes and the Persians were the two
principal races that made up the Medo-Persian Empire; however, it was never two
separate empires, only one.)
Let’s break her sentence down …
‘that Vashti may not come into the presence of King Ahasuerus’
… part 1 … no talking to the queen to try to understand the reasons behind her
refusal … not even an attempt!
‘and let the king give her royal position to another who is
more worthy than she’ … part 2 … get rid of her, she can be replaced!
(What a contrast to Ephesians 5: 22-33!)
Let’s look a little more closely at each of these parts.
Part 1: ‘that Vashti
may not come into the presence of King Ahasuerus’ … what exactly does that
mean? According to history, they have a
child together (Artaxerxes) which would make it hard for Vashti not to be in
the king’s presence at all.
I tend to think of it in terms of divorce in today’s society
when children are involved. The parents
are no longer husband and wife, but they still maintain some kind of
‘acquaintance’ type relationship for the sake of the children. It seems that the King removed Vashti from
his life as his wife and Queen, but still possibly/maybe interacted with her in
some small way regarding their son. But
then, looking back at what we’ve learned about the king and the way history
says he reacted towards those who displeased him, I don’t know, what are your
thoughts?
Part 2: ‘and let the king give her royal position to another
who is more worthy than she’ … this makes me think that Vashti was being
stripped of her royal position and all that that entailed. It seems that Memucan was bent on speaking
condescendingly of the queen by his use of the phrase, ‘another who is more
worthy than she.’
Memucan is fired up!
It’s almost as if he is taking Vashti’s disobedience personally. Maybe
he was pushing this agenda with his own wife in mind.
Bible Markings and Notes: In verse 19, I underlined ‘royal edict’ and
wrote out to the side in the margin, ‘this royal edict was ego driven.’
Verse 20: When the king’s edict which he will
make is heard throughout his kingdom, great as it is, then all women will give
honor to their husbands, great and small.”
Memucan’s edict would affect all marriages. What this law most likely did though was instill fear and
possibly anger, instead of respect in marriages. Was that Memucan’s intention? Even under the Old Law, I don’t think
‘biblical submission’ was meant to be forced on women under threat by their
husbands.
Verse 21: Now
this word pleased the king and the officials, and the king did as Memucan
proposed.
The drunk king gives his approval … enough said. This ego driven edict has now been made law!
Verse 22: So he sent letters to all
the king’s provinces, to each province according to its script and to every
people according to their language, that every man was to be the ruler in his
own house and the one who speaks in the language of his own people.
The new law goes out to every province everywhere and to every peoples in their
own language. It seems that the powers
that be want to make sure that there is no misunderstanding about what the law
says, women are to obey their husbands, regardless! I wonder if the delivery of this new law
included the details of what Vashti had done wrong. If so, was it embellished to drive home their
point? It would certainly be a way to
further humiliate her, which seems to be, in my opinion, one of their objectives.
We find Memucan’s name mentioned several times in today’s
lesson so I did a bit more research to see what I could find out about him.
It seems that these seven ‘wise counselors’ all came from and
represented the most elite and prestigious families in Persia. According to law, the king, any king, was supposed
to take a wife from one of these families. Vashti was not from one of these
families. According to research, Memucan,
who is referred to as Haman, resents this and sees the opportunity to get rid
of Queen Vashti with the notion of replacing her with a wife/queen from his
family. This of course would give him
more prominence, prestige, and power in the king’s empire. We will see later that this would indeed fit
the profile of Haman, who by the way hated all Jews. We'll delve into his reasoning for his hate later in the study as well.
Are Haman and Memucan the same person? According to Wikipedia and this site, as well as others, they are. The Bible does not
give us that information but as I said earlier it all makes sense and fits
together perfectly with what we learn about Haman later. I'll leave you to decide for yourself whether they're the same person or not, at this point I'm leaning toward the thought that they very well could be.
As I've said before, knowing the background of any situation helps us understand the situation better. For me, all the things we've dug deep and learned thus far are helping me grasp the enormity of the situation Esther is about to enter.
At any rate, here we are at the end of chapter 1 and what a chapter it has
been! We leave the proud and mighty king
drunk, the queen deposed and an opening at the top!
Before we delve into chapter 2 though, please go back and re-read the
introduction along with lessons 1 – 4 (links below) again for a reminder of the situation
that young, innocent Esther is about to be thrust into. Her future is about to change drastically,
and she has no idea what's coming. The temperament of the king, the manipulating ‘wise men,’ the
palace chatter, and so much more are to be her future, no wonder she was terrified
to go before the king with a request later in the book!
Finally, let’s be reminded that everything that happened in
chapter 1 was a part of God’s plan for the deliverance of the remnant of Israel
who were scattered throughout the Persian Empire.
Let us also not forget that God is always working behind the
scenes on behalf of His people, even when we can’t see it or don’t understand.
Isaiah 55: 8 -11 reminds us that …
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are
your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
10 “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from
heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth
and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater,
11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My
mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
Next week we’ll forage ahead into verses 1 - 4 of chapter 2 and see where
and what’s up with the king and his ‘wise men and counselors’ then.
(Note:
history tells us that about 4 years and a disastrous war with Greece
occur between chapters 1 and 2. Hmmm,
all his strategizing, planning, plotting, and partying for 6 months that we
read about in chapter 1 must not have been advantageous in giving him the win
over Greece that he sought.)
Don't forget to leave a comment and if you're enjoying this
class, please share the link with other ladies who you think might enjoy it as
well.
Links to introduction and lessons 1 - 4:
Introduction
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Until the next class ...
patsy @ From This Heart Of Mine
(c) 2023 by Patsy Norwood ~ All Rights Reserved.
