Also the queen Vashti made a feast for the women of the royal house which belonged to king Ahasuerus.
One quiet line sits inside a chapter of overwhelming display. The king entertains his empire, and the queen holds her own banquet in his palace. It reads like a footnote, yet the whole story turns on it.
Commentators start with the plain detail. Her gathering was separate, held in the king's house, and it followed the custom of the day.
Queen Vashti is now introduced. Her name means "beautiful woman." She made a separate feast for the women in the royal house that belonged to her husband, the king. Royal women of the East often gave such feasts. The account does not say how long her feast lasted.
Her feast runs at the same time as the king's. It does not interrupt his display. It completes it.
Queen Vashti also made a feast for the women at the same time. So the celebration of the kingdom's splendour was complete.
Nothing in the scene points to God. Even Nebuchadnezzar, an earlier world ruler, had a religion of a kind.
It is a vivid picture of earthly splendour, without a thought of God, true or false. Nebuchadnezzar brought in a religion of a low kind, and tried to force it on everyone. Xerxes appears to be the king who now holds the general title used here. He showed himself, as Daniel had said long before, "far richer than all before him." He thought of no one higher than himself. He gave himself up to showy indulgence, all the more so after his invasion of Greece failed completely.
The queen is named here for the first time. Her husband's character matters, because she is about to resist him.
Ahasuerus was proud of his unlimited power, and with that pride went a violent temper whenever an obstacle or any resistance appeared in his path. Again and again in this account the king bursts into anger and his fury blazes. Violence is never a sign of strength. On the contrary, it shows the weakness of a man who cannot govern himself.
The feasting is the last calm scene of the chapter. What comes next, in the royal city of Shushan, arrives without warning.
But a check came, and gloom fell over everything when it was least expected, right at the close. The princes and nobles had been honoured with a feast, and then came the seven days for all the people, small and great, who were in Shushan.
A hand no one can see is already at work in these feasts.
Here, from the very beginning we find the hidden providence of God at work. Man is full of grand plans. A feast lasting seven days, the crowning event of these long ceremonies, leads to Vashti's revolt against the king's decision. The king decrees that she is rejected, and the decree cannot be reversed. Yet it is not carried out until 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.
This book never mentions God by name. Commentators treat that silence as part of its message.
Many have noticed that the name of God is not found in the Book of Esther. This is characteristic. God does not show Himself. The government of the world had fallen to that throne, with all its power and all its mistakes. Behind it, God holds the reins by His providence. He watches over the carrying out of His purposes, and over everything needed to fulfil them. And He cares for His people, whatever their condition and however strong their enemies.
Many commentators read the exchange of queens as a picture of a larger exchange still to come.
The great Gentile wife of the great king is discarded, and the remarkable thing is that a Jewish woman takes her place. I have no doubt that this is what will follow when the Gentile has proved himself disobedient, and has failed to display the beauty that should be seen in the testimony of God before the world.
Another writer applies the same picture to Christian profession that carries the name without the life.
Vashti was a Gentile and she is set aside; Esther replaces her. Vashti pictures the lifeless part of professing Christendom — pleased with itself, unwilling to submit to the Lord, and set aside in the end.
- Display — Her banquet in the king's house completes the empire's show of splendour.
- Emptiness — It is earthly glory with no thought of God in it, true or false.
- Fragility — The king at the centre is proud and violent. His violence shows weakness, not strength.
- Turn — This is the last calm line; the check falls at the close, when it is least expected.
- Providence — God is never named, yet He is already preparing the queen who will replace this one, and that exchange pictures a greater one still to come.
On the seventh day, when the king's heart was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven chamberlains that served in the presence of king Ahasuerus,
On day seven of the king's banquet, his heart merry with wine, he sends seven named officers to bring Queen Vashti out before the crowd. That one order turns the whole book.
These were not ordinary servants. Each of the seven ran a department of the palace, as one writer explains:
The seven chamberlains were eunuchs who held important positions. Mehuman was the chief officer. Biztha, going by the meaning of his name, was the treasurer. Harbona was the chief of the bodyguard. Bigath had charge of the women's quarters. Abagtha was the chief baker. Zethar was the chief butler. Carcas was the chief commander of the castle. The king sent these high officials to escort the queen to his feast.
A dictionary of Bible words defines the office:
Eunuch who had care of the king's wives and concubines.
So why send for her at all? One writer traces the order back to plain pride.
On the last day of the feast, Ahasuerus had no doubt consumed too much wine, and commanded seven eunuchs to go and bring Vashti back with them with the object of displaying her beauty before all the people (vv. 10-11). Why did he need to do this? Simply because it was to his credit that he had such a beautiful wife, just as all the glory of the kingdom was to his credit. Such is the pride of the natural man.
Commentators differ on what her refusal meant. One writer notes the Persian custom behind the scene: the king treated everyone as a slave except his lawful wife. Was her refusal open defiance, or self-respect? She may have refused to be ordered about by a drunken husband. She may have been unwilling to show herself in the middle of a drinking party. Or perhaps she simply had a feast of her own. Another writer holds her at fault: the refusal was an insult the king could not let pass, and obeying would have done her no real harm.
What was driving a display on this scale?
It is a vivid picture of earthly splendour, with no thought of God, true or false... Xerxes seems to be the king who held the general title used here. As Daniel had said long before, he showed himself far richer than all the kings before him. He thought of no one higher than himself, and he gave himself up to showy self-indulgence — all the more after his invasion of Greece failed completely. Under such unmatched grandeur you can make out shame and fear.
This is where the celebration peaks — and where it breaks. The king's limitless power meets a limit it cannot cross.
A weak woman resists Ahasuerus, and his limitless power is stopped. A grain of sand humbles all the pride of this huge, well-ordered empire. Vashti may be divorced, but her act stands, and the humiliated king has no power to make her appear in public... Right from the start we see the hidden providence of God at work. Man is full of grand plans: a feast lasting seven days, the high point of these long ceremonies, ends in Vashti's revolt against the king's decision.
The king gives the order. What comes of it is not his to control.
One writer sees in this a pattern that reaches far beyond Persia.
In what this points forward to, how true it is that the Gentile has been unfaithful and stubborn, going his own way and completely failing to show the world the beauty of one so favoured! The result will be what it was here: the call of Zion to be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD and a royal diadem in the hand of her God.
Another writer applies the warning to pride in a place of privilege:
Vashti stands for that pride. Her humbling pictures in advance the judgment on those who carry the Christian name without the reality. After that, the "natural branches" will be brought back into the place of blessing and testimony — the olive tree — just as Esther is accepted once Vashti is gone.
- Wine — the order came on day seven, when the king's heart was merry with wine. What a man commands in that state shows what he is.
- Pride — the king put his wife on show as the last item in a display of all he owned — "such is the pride of the natural man."
- Emptiness — the whole display was earthly splendour "without a thought of God," and shame and fear lay under it.
- Providence — at the feast's high point, one refusal humbles the empire, and God's hidden hand begins to move.
- Reversal — Vashti is set aside and Esther takes her place. Judgment falls on pride, and blessing returns to those brought back in.
to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the royal crown to shew the peoples and the princes her beauty; for she was of beautiful countenance.
On the last day of a long royal banquet, the king gives an order: bring the queen out and show her beauty to the whole empire. Why would a king want his wife put on display like that?
The verse gives her beauty as the reason. One writer looks at what the king had been drinking, and at what the display was really for.
On the last day of the feast, Ahasuerus had no doubt drunk too much wine. He ordered seven eunuchs to go and bring Vashti back with them, to display her beauty before all the people (vv. 10-11). Why did he need to do this? Because a beautiful wife was to his credit, just as all the glory of the kingdom was to his credit. Such is the pride of the natural man.
The same pride shaped how he ruled.
Ahasuerus is a strange mixture of pride and weakness... His pride drives him to put on the most extravagant show of splendour, to dazzle the great men and the people of his empire.
The men sent to fetch her held high office at court. Why she then refused, no one can say for certain:
The seven officers were eunuchs who held important posts. Mehuman was the chief officer; Biztha, judging by the meaning of his name, the treasurer; Harbona, the chief of the bodyguard... She refused to obey the king's command. Commentators have explained her refusal in different ways... Was it defiance of the king's order, or self-respect? She may have refused so as to show that a drunken husband could not order her about, and that she was not willing to appear in the middle of a drunken party. Perhaps she did not want to come because she had a feast of her own.
Another writer leaves the reason unexplained and looks at the king's reaction.
But one jarring note spoiled this celebration. Vashti refused to come (v.12). We are not told what her reason was. The king had not expected any such refusal, and he became furious. The one person he expected to cooperate fully had challenged his authority.
One writer faults both sides here, then reads the scene as a wider picture.
If the king's demand was unusual, the queen's refusal was an insult that could not be passed over. The seven officers were properly sent to escort her. But she rebelled, when obeying would have done her no real harm, and would have laid any blame there was on her husband instead. In the picture this points to, how true it is that the Gentile has been unfaithful and stubborn, seeking his own will and completely failing to show the world the beauty of one so favoured! The result will be, as it was here, the call of Zion to be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD and a royal diadem in the hand of her God.
Another writer takes the feast itself as a picture, with the king standing for God.
Chapter 1 describes the glory of the king (who stands for God), and his generosity and grace. He invites people to a feast that runs for an extremely long time (180 days!), and he uses it to display the full splendour of his greatness. Read as a picture, the king's feast can be taken as the gospel feast (cf. Luke 14). But Vashti has no sympathy with the king in this and no share in it with him. She even dishonours him deeply by disobeying and refusing to acknowledge this great feast – and after that she is set aside.
The chapter ends with the king's power meeting its limit.
A weak woman resists Ahasuerus and holds his limitless power in check. A grain of sand humbles all the pride of this huge, tightly organized empire. Vashti may be divorced, but what she did stands, and the humiliated king has no power to force her to appear in public... Man is full of grand schemes. A feast lasting seven days, the high point of these long celebrations, ends in Vashti's revolt against the king's decision.
- Pride commands. The order to parade the queen comes from a king who treats his wife as one more trophy of his glory. That is the pride of the natural man.
- Pride is refused. Seven high officers carry the summons, and the queen says no. Commentators differ on whether she acted from defiance, self-respect, or a reason never given.
- Pride is checked. One woman's no halts a vast empire. The humiliated king cannot make her appear.
- Beauty withheld. The failure was not in the beauty but in refusing to show it — a picture of those who were favoured and would not show that beauty to the world.
- Beauty restored. Vashti is set aside, and the picture looks on to Zion, called to be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD.
But the queen Vashti refused to come at the word of the king which was [sent] by the chamberlains; and the king was very wroth, and his fury burned in him.
Verse 12 is the hinge of the whole book. A queen says no, a king explodes, and a chain of events begins that ends with the Jews saved from destruction. Behind a marriage quarrel at a drunken banquet, something far larger is moving.
Scripture reports what Vashti did, but never explains why.
However, one jarring note marred this celebration. Vashti refused to come (v.12). What reason she had we are not told. The king had not expected any such refusal, and he became furious. The person he expected to cooperate most had challenged his authority.
The command reached her through seven court officials. Writers differ on why she said no.
The seven chamberlains were eunuchs who held important offices, and the king sent them to bring the queen to his feast. She refused to obey his command. Writers have explained her refusal in different ways. By Persian custom the Persian king treated everyone as a slave except his lawful wife. Was it in defiance of the king's order or out of self respect? She may have refused to show that a drunken husband could not order her about, and that she would not put herself on display in the middle of a drinking party. Perhaps she did not care to come because she had a feast of her own. Then the king became extremely angry.
The verse ends with the king's fury burning in him. That fire is not a mark of strength.
Ahasuerus was proud of his own unlimited power, and he turned violent whenever anything or anyone stood in his way. Again and again in this account the king bursts into rage and his fury blazes. (Esther 1:12; Esther 2:1; Esther 7:7, 10) Violence is never a sign of strength. On the contrary, it shows the weakness of a man who cannot govern himself. His weakness shows again in this: for all his claims to be a god-like ruler, Ahasuerus is the toy of his favourites, and he lets them take his place.
The man who rules an empire cannot rule himself.
The start of this whole story is small and shabby.
It was a small beginning, poor and mean in its character and material. Vashti's temper drove her into conduct that put her life at risk. That temper was the "little fire" which kindled this "how great a matter." It is a shabby, contemptible thing. What could be lower? The temper, we may say, of an overbearing woman! And yet God uses it to work out results, planned then in His own counsel, and to be seen in full in the coming day of Jewish glory.
That principle stretches from this banquet to the last chapter — and to the reader's own life.
If we go through the book of Esther we will find that nothing happened by chance. All started with the feast of the king and Vashti's refusal to come when he called her. All ended with his second decree that saved the Jews. Everything in between was directed by God. He holds all things in His hand. Paul reminds his Roman readers that "for those who love God all things" — not only some — "work together for good" (Rom. 8:28). Even if we sometimes may not see this, or even believe it to be the case, it is true. There is no event in our life that God will not use to carry out His plan.
The queen was asked only to let her beauty be seen. One writer sees a larger picture in her refusal.
If the king's demand was unusual, the queen's refusal was an insult that could not be ignored. The king had properly sent the seven chamberlains to bring her, but she rebelled, when obeying would have done her no real harm. In the greater reality this pictures, how true it is that the Gentile has been unfaithful and defiant, following his own will and completely failing to show the world the beauty of one so favoured! The result will be, as it was here, the call of Zion to be a crown of beauty in the hand of Jehovah and a royal diadem in the hand of her God.
There is also a direct warning here for anyone who reads it.
In Vashti we see a picture of the refusal of the invitation. The king had invited her to come and grace the feast with her presence; she would not come. It reminds us of the parable of our Lord, in which He speaks of the great supper, a symbol of the gospel, and the invited guests who made excuses for not coming. She had her own feast, which she probably would not leave. How many there are who refuse the gospel invitation because they love their own things best. And Vashti is banished.
- Spark. Vashti's refusal is the "little fire" that kindles the whole book — small, mean material in God's hands.
- Silence. Scripture never gives her reason. Writers differ: defiance, self-respect, or a feast of her own.
- Weakness. The king's blazing anger proves not power but a man who cannot govern himself.
- Chain. From this refusal to the decree that saved the Jews, nothing happened by chance. God directed every step in between.
- Warning. She would not come, and the king banished her. The same choice faces everyone who prefers their own feast to God's.