And when these days were expired, the king made a feast to all the people that were present in Shushan the fortress, both to great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king's palace.
The long display for the king's nobles is over. Now he throws open a second feast — seven days, for everyone in the royal city, great and small alike.
This feast was held outdoors, not in the state rooms of the palace.
The great feast that Ahasuerus held with his nobles and princes for seven days was apparently not held in any of the halls inside the palace. It was held in the open air, "in the court of the garden of the king's palace."
Shushan itself was the seat of Persian power, and the word translated "palace" carries a stronger sense than an ordinary residence.
The capital of his empire was Shushan. It had a beautiful setting, surrounded by high mountains, crossed by streams and full of rich plant life. From the time of King Darius it was the home of the Persian kings. The word "palace" is better translated fortress or castle. The king showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and entertained the nobles and princes for six months.
For all its scale, the scene is missing one thing. One writer also finds something hidden underneath it.
It is a vivid picture of earthly splendour, without a thought of God, true or false. Xerxes seems to be the king who held the general title used here. He showed himself, as Daniel said long before, "far richer than all before him." He thought of no one higher, and gave himself up to showy indulgence. He did so all the more after the utter failure of his invasion of Greece. Under such unmatched grandeur you can detect shame and fear. He also wanted to please the peoples of his vast dominions and to wipe out the memory of a foreign disgrace that might ruin him.
The invitation now widens from officials to everyone in the capital. One writer reads the decorations that follow as beautiful things used as mere show.
The king wanted a grand conclusion to this event. So he invited all the people to a feast lasting seven days, held in the court of the garden of the king's palace (v. 5). Verses 6-7 describe the luxurious surroundings. This shows how the religious world likes to adopt principles it recognises as beautiful, but which become only a show without reality. White and blue linen speak of the purity (white) and heavenly character (blue) of God's testimony among His people. Purple speaks of royal character and the silver rods speak of redemption. All of these have vital value for those redeemed by the blood of Christ.
One writer takes this open invitation as a small picture of a far greater one.
The great feast which he made reminds us of another feast which the Lord has spread... Ahasuerus invited all to come to his feast, with no other condition but to come. In the same way God wants all men to be saved. He offers the riches of His grace without money and without price. While the Persian king displayed the glories of his great kingdom, God displays the glory of His grace.
Another writer compares that feast with God's, and asks who the feast is really for.
The guests who receive and accept the invitation have an entertainment far beyond the one Ahasuerus provided (Esther 1:1-8). It is like the light of the unclouded noonday sun above a glow worm's gleam. But the main idea is not how the guests will fare, or even how they will be dressed. It is what is worthy of Him for whose glory the feast was held, and who is in all things to have the first place.
The seven days do not end in triumph.
The princes and nobles were entertained first. Then came the seven days for all the people in Shushan, small and great. But at the close, when it was least expected, a check came and gloom fell over everything.
One writer goes further. Even a throne like this is held on God's terms.
This king had limitless ambition. He wanted only to make himself equal to God and to satisfy his passions. Yet God uses him to show us divine authority and sovereign power at work, with a view to showing grace to His people... God had turned away from His people. Even so, to the eyes of faith one principle of authority remained: the right to lift up and to bring low, the right to show grace.
- Setting — Seven days, outdoors, in the garden court of the fortress-palace at Shushan. Persian kings had lived there since Darius.
- Motive — Splendour with no thought of God. Under it lay shame and fear after the failed invasion of Greece.
- Imitation — White, blue, purple and silver are beautiful things. Here they are show without the reality they picture.
- Contrast — Ahasuerus invited all, with no condition but to come. God offers the riches of His grace without money and without price. His feast honours His Son.
- Outcome — The week ends in a check no one expected. Behind the throne stands the real right to lift up, bring low and show grace.
White, green, and blue [hangings] were fastened with cords of byssus and purple to silver rings and pillars of white marble; couches of gold and silver [lay] upon a pavement of red and white marble, and alabaster, and black marble.
The Persian king has thrown his palace garden open for a seven-day feast, and verse 6 stops to describe the furnishings. Why does Scripture list the fittings of a pagan banquet, and what is all that beauty worth?
The verse reads like an inventory of wealth. One writer notes what is missing from it, and sets this king beside Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king before him.
It is a vivid picture of earthly splendour, without a thought of God, true or false. Nebuchadnezzar brought in religion of a base sort, and sought to force it on everyone. Xerxes seems to be the one holding the general title used here. As Daniel said long before, he showed himself "far richer than all before him." He thought of no one higher, and gave himself up to showy indulgence — all the more after his invasion of Greece failed.
This is not just expensive taste. One writer traces the display back to Babylon, and back further still to the serpent's lie.
This man of the earth shows no spirit or fruit of repentance — no learning about himself, or about what suits him as a creature. The lie of the serpent, which shaped man at the beginning, is working as hard as ever. The old desire to be as God speaks out in the Persian now, as it had before in the Chaldean. The one had built his royal city. He looked at it in pride and said, "Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?" The other now makes a feast. For a hundred and eighty days he shows the princes and nobles the whole power of his realm.
The word behind "marble pillars" here simply means white. One writer shows how far that one word stretches.
The Hebrew shesh means white, and so is sometimes used for linen — if it is not cotton instead. It is also used for white marble, Song of Solomon 5:15; Esther 1:6.
One writer takes the colours and metals of this verse one at a time, and asks what is left when religion copies them.
Verses 6-7 describe the luxury of this feast. It shows how the religious world likes to take up for itself principles it sees to be beautiful, but which become only a show without reality. For white and blue linen speak of the purity (white) and heavenly character (blue) of God's testimony among His people. Purple speaks of royal character, and the silver rods speak of redemption. All of these are of vital value to those whom the blood of Christ has redeemed. In the hands of people who are only religious in form, however, it is imitation, taken up because it looks attractive.
Another writer turns the picture around. The couches in this verse, and the king's open invitation, point to a better feast.
The couches of gold and silver at the king's feast were for rest. Gold and silver are symbolic of righteousness and redemption, and these are the couches, the resting places, for the believer. Ahasuerus invited everyone to his feast, and set no condition except to come. In the same way God wants all men to be saved. He offers the riches of His grace without money and without price. While the Persian king displayed the glories of his great kingdom, God displays the glory of His grace.
One writer sets this verse beside a wedding feast, and asks what the king in that story looks at.
Do you ponder the hangings, the couches of gold and silver, and the marble pavement of Esther 1:6? Are these, or even greater glories, the furniture that attracts the king's attention? No. The wedding was "furnished" with guests. And every guest there spoke to the King's eye and heart of the unequalled sufferings of His Son.
- Display. The verse lists earthly splendour with no thought of God in it — a king showing off his riches and majesty.
- Display of self. Behind the hangings is the old desire to be as God. Babylon said it first, and Persia repeats it.
- Borrowed display. White, blue, purple and silver speak of purity, heaven, royalty and redemption. Here they are imitation, chosen because they look good.
- True display. Gold and silver stand for righteousness and redemption, and the couches are the believer's rest. Ahasuerus displayed his kingdom; God displays the glory of His grace.
- Whom the display is for. At God's feast the furniture is not what the King looks at. The guests are, because each one speaks to Him of the sufferings of His Son.
And they gave drink in vessels of gold (the vessels being diverse one from another), and royal wine in abundance, according to the king's bounty.
Here the seven-day feast in the palace garden reaches its peak: gold cups, no two alike, and royal wine flowing at the king's own cost. Commentators read the scene on two levels — a man showing off his wealth, and a greater feast this one can only imitate.
Two things stand out: the show of wealth, and the freedom of each guest.
They served the royal wine in vessels of gold, and no two of them were alike. The king displayed his enormous wealth and his abundant possessions. "The royal wine was lavished according to the bounty of the king." And there was perfect freedom; each could drink to his heart's content.
The king here is taken to be Xerxes. One commentator sees more than wealth in this display:
It is a vivid picture of earthly splendour, without a thought of God, true or false. Nebuchadnezzar brought in a low kind of religion and tried to force it on everyone. Xerxes... showed himself, as Daniel said long before, "far richer than all before him." He thought of no one higher than himself, and gave himself up to showy indulgence. He did so all the more after his invasion of Greece failed completely. Underneath such unmatched grandeur you can detect shame and fear. He wanted to please the peoples of his vast empire, and to wipe out the memory of a foreign disgrace which could be ruinous.
The king paid for everything, and no one had to drink. One commentator sees a likeness in that — and a warning:
Ahasuerus had the wealth for it. So he could show a most generous spirit in this great provision, and at the same time let each man fully follow his own wish about drinking. This is a striking imitation of the grace of God. God provides every necessity with no legal bondage, and He encourages each believer to act on his own faith. But even in Christendom, ungodly men turn the grace of God into lewdness (Jude 4) — just as the king was thinking only of his own pleasure.
Another writer sets this feast beside a far greater one:
The king's marriage feast for his son in Matthew 22 is a lovely thing to think about. The king is God; the son is Christ Jesus, who "came into the world to save sinners." At such a feast everything would surely be the best. It would be beneath such royalty to provide anything inferior, or anything that could even be matched. The guests who receive and accept the invitation enjoy far more than Ahasuerus provided (Esther 1:1-8). His feast is a glow-worm's gleam; theirs is the noonday sun.
Gaebelein finds two pictures in the scene — one in the wine, one in the open invitation:
The wine is the symbol of joy; it cheers God and man (Judges 9:13). The king had his joy with his subjects at this feast on earth. In the same way, God rejoices in those who come to the table of His love, and those who accept His invitation rejoice in Him... Ahasuerus invited everyone to his feast, on no condition but to come. In the same way, God wants all men to be saved, and He offers the riches of His grace without money and without price. While the Persian king displayed the glories of his great kingdom, God displays the glory of His grace.
The feast the king staged to crown his own glory became the hinge of all that followed:
Here, from the very beginning we find the hidden providence of God at work. Man is full of grand projects. A feast lasting seven days crowns these long ceremonies, and it leads to Vashti's revolt against the king's decision. Her dismissal is decreed and cannot be reversed, but it takes effect only when Ahasuerus returns. Then the Jewish wife, prepared by Providence, can come on the scene and take the place of the Gentile wife at the right moment.
- Bounty measured. Gold cups, each one different, and royal wine without limit. The king's own fortune was the only measure of the feast.
- Bounty displayed. The aim was self-display — splendour with no thought of God. One writer sees a cover for the shame of a failed war.
- Bounty imitated. Free supply and free choice are a striking imitation of grace. But the king thought only of himself, and men still twist God's grace into an excuse for sin.
- Bounty surpassed. Beside the feast God spreads in His Son, this one is a glow-worm beside the noonday sun. The wine pictures joy, and the invitation asks nothing but that you come.
- Bounty overruled. This seven-day feast ended in Vashti's refusal to obey the king — the first move of God's hidden providence.
And the drinking was, according to commandment, without constraint; for so the king had appointed to all the magnates of his house, that they should do according to every man's pleasure.
Chapter 1 opens with a Persian king holding a seven-day feast and inviting everyone to come. Verse 8 gives its one rule: nobody was forced to drink.
The king's order removed every constraint. Each guest decided for himself how much to drink.
The king displayed his enormous wealth and his abundant possessions. The wine of the kingdom flowed in abundance, according to the bounty of the king. There was perfect freedom; each could drink to his heart's content. The king had instructed the officers "to do as each man desired."
The king had the means, so he could be generous and still let each guest please himself. One writer sees in that a copy of how God deals with people, and a warning about abusing such freedom.
Ahasuerus had the wealth for it. So he could show a most generous spirit in this great provision, and at the same time fully indulge the people's own wish about whether or not they wanted to drink. This is a striking imitation of the grace of God. God provides every need with no legal bondage, and He encourages each believer to act on his own faith. But even in Christendom, ungodly men turn the grace of God into lewdness (Jude 4) — just as the king was thinking only of his own pleasure.
This freedom is not religious tolerance. It stands out against Nebuchadnezzar, an earlier ruler who forced worship on everyone, and it belongs to a scene with no God in it.
It is a vivid picture of earthly splendour, without a thought of God, true or false. Nebuchadnezzar brought in religion of a base sort, and sought to compel it on all. Xerxes seems to be the king who now held that general title. As Daniel said long before, he showed himself "far richer than all before him." He thought of no one higher, and he gave himself up to showy indulgence, all the more after his invasion of Greece failed completely. Under such unmatched grandeur you can see shame and fear. You can also see his wish to please the peoples of his vast dominions, and to wipe out the memory of a foreign disgrace that could ruin him.
Letting every guest follow his own pleasure fits the man. Commentators identify Ahasuerus with the king known in history as Xerxes.
I take it, however, that it was really Xerxes. One reason is the character of the man: a man of enormous resources, unbounded wealth, immense luxury and vanity. He was also a man of the most arbitrary and unpredictable character... He was simply a man who lived to please himself. He gratified his tastes and passions with the ample means that God's providence had put in his hands.
One writer compares the king's open invitation with God's invitation to all men.
The king had his joy with his subjects at this earthly feast. In the same way, God rejoices in those who come to the table of His love, and those who accept His invitation rejoice in Him... Ahasuerus invited all to come to his feast, with no other condition than to come. In the same way, God wants all men to be saved. He offers the riches of His grace without money and without price. While the Persian king displayed the glories of his great kingdom, God displays the glory of His grace.
The unrestricted drinking runs straight into verse 10, where the king's heart is merry with wine and he sends for Vashti. What followed turned the whole celebration on its head.
But a check came and a gloom was cast over everything when it was least expected, at the close, after the princes and nobles had been entertained, and the seven days had followed for all the people, small and great, present in Shushan.
That interruption is where the book's real story begins. The king's plans were grand; the outcome was not his.
Man is full of grand projects. A feast lasting seven days crowns these long ceremonies — and it leads to Vashti's revolt against the king's decision. Her dismissal is decreed and cannot be reversed, yet no one carries it out until Ahasuerus returns. Only then can the Jewish wife, prepared by Providence, come on the scene and take the place of the Gentile wife at the right moment.
- Bounty. The wine flowed freely from the king's own supply. His one rule forbade forcing anyone, so each guest drank to his heart's content.
- Imitation. That open-handedness copies the grace of God. He provides everything with no legal bondage, and He leaves each believer to act on his own faith.
- Emptiness. The copy is hollow. It is earthly splendour with no thought of God, staged by a man who lived to please himself and to bury the memory of a military disgrace.
- Invitation. The real feast is God's. He invites all, with no condition but to come. He offers the riches of His grace without money and without price.
- Interruption. The seven days ended in Vashti's revolt. Her dismissal opened the way for a Jewish queen, prepared by Providence.