Why did Queen Vashti refuse to appear before Xerxes?

Well, he is here shown to us in that epoch of the Persian empire when it consisted, not of 120 provinces only, which was the case when Darius the Mede, and Cyrus the Persian, reigned. We find in the Book of Daniel that there were seven provinces added afterwards through conquest. Xerxes reigned at a time, therefore, when the Persian empire was in the height of its glory and its resources, and he has all the pomp and circumstance of the empire around him — all the grandees and satraps of his vast empire. Under these circumstances it is that he calls for Vashti, who refuses to come. This provoked the capricious and arbitrary monarch. Vashti disobeyed the king. She refused according to the peculiar love of retirement which characterised Persian women. She refused to meet his wishes. He would display her beauty to all the world, and she declined. The consequence was that the king seeks counsel with his nobles, and one of them ventures upon very bold advice, namely the dismissal of Vashti. This, accordingly, is the first great step in the providence of God brought before us in the book, and all the remarkable issues follow.

Verses 1-4. King Ahasuerus, one of the leading characters of this book, is known in history as Xerxes I. The name Ahasuerus is an appellative, which means the chief king, or the king of all kings. Xerxes, the son of Darius Hystaspes, bore this title, king of kings. This title is also given to him in the cuneiform inscriptions. One of these reads as follows: "I, the mighty king, king of kings, king of populous countries, king of this great and mighty earth, far and near." His dominion extended from East to West, even from India unto Ethiopia. He had a universal kingdom. The capital of his empire was Shushan, which had a beautiful situation surrounded by high mountains, traversed by streams and abounding in a luxurious vegetation. Since the time of King Darius it became the residence of the Persian kings. The word "palace" is better translated by fortress or castle. And in the third year of his reign he made the great feast unto all his princes, and his servants, and all the nobles of Persia and Media were before him. He then showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and entertained the nobles and princes for six months.

Verses 5-8. This sumptuous feast was followed by a second banquet to which all the inhabitants of the capital were invited. It was held in the garden of the palace and lasted for seven days. The decorations were in white, green, blue, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to rings of silver and pillars of marble. Upon a pavement of red, white, blue, and black marble (a mosaic floor) stood the couches of gold and silver. The royal wine was served out of vessels of gold not two of which were alike. The king displayed his enormous wealth and his abundant possessions. "And the wine of the kingdom was in abundance, according to the bounty of the king." And there was perfect freedom; each could drink to his heart's content. The king had instructed the officers "that they should do according to every man's pleasure."

Verse 9. Queen Vashti (Vashti means "beautiful woman") is now introduced. She made a separate feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to her husband, the king. Such feasts were frequently given by royal women of the East. Nothing is said how long her feast lasted.

Verses 10-12. The king's heart being merry with wine, he commanded his seven chamberlains to bring Vashti in her royal apparel to the feast, so that the peoples and the princes could admire her great beauty. The seven chamberlains were eunuchs who held important offices. Mehuman was the chief officer; Biztha, according to the meaning of his name, the treasurer; Harbona, the chief of the bodyguard; Bigath, who had charge over the female apartments; Abagtha, the chief baker; Zethar, the chief butler, and Carcas, the chief commander of the castle. These dignitaries were sent to accompany the queen to the feast of Ahasuerus. She refused to obey the king's command. Her refusal has been differently interpreted. According to Persian custom the Persian king held all for slaves except the legitimate wife. Was it in defiance of the king's order or out of self respect? She may have refused to show that she could not be dictated to by a drunken husband and that she was unwilling to show herself in the midst of revelry. Perhaps she did not care to come because she had a feast of her own. Then the king became extremely angry.

Verses 13-22. At once the wise men were called, the astrologers, the magi and sorcerers (Dan 2:2). His privy council consisted of seven princes, the princes of Persia and Media, who were next to the king, sat with him and the wise men to take up this serious matter. The question is, "What shall we do unto the Queen Vashti according to law, because she had not done the bidding of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains?" The case is thus turned over by the king into the hands of the wise men and the seven princes. These decide that Vashti has wronged the king and furthermore by her refusal had set a dangerous example to all the subjects of the king. Much contempt and wrath would follow throughout the empire. They advise that Vashti is to lose her royal estate, that she be put away. The king sanctions it and issued at the same time a decree to be published throughout his great kingdom that all wives should honor their husbands. The Persian kings were great autocrats and ruled with an iron hand. Their laws were irrevocable. "It is certainly no fable which is told of Xerxes, viz., that when the inundation of the Hellespont had destroyed all bridges, he gave order that it should be beaten with rods for disobedience (Herodotus 7:35). But it was more easy for him to beat the sea than to obtain that which his edict demanded."

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.

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. His authority had been challenged by one from whom he would expect fullest cooperation.

VASHTI DEPOSED (vv. 13-22)

The king then consulted with seven prominent princes of Persia as to what action should be taken in regard to Vashti's defiance of his order (vv. 13-15). The Medes and Persians prided themselves on having just laws which could not be changed (Dan. 6:12), and the king's question therefore was, what should be done according to law. Nebuchadnezzar would not have required such consultation: he was an absolute dictator: "whomever he wished, he executed; whomever he wished he kept alive; whomever he wished he set up; and whomever he wished, he put down" (Dan. 5:19).

This truth, which is a familiar one to those who are acquainted with the types of the Old Testament, leads us to other observations. In the chapter before us now, we see Vashti, the Gentile wife, give evidence of her rebellion, disobedience and lack of submission toward the one whose favor had lifted her up to the throne. She is proud of her position and prerogatives and does not fear to show her independence in relation to the head she depends upon, and she refuses to display her beauty publicly. The consequence of the revolt is that she is repudiated as his wife, and a captive Jewish virgin is called to take a place she has never had, as the wife of this great king. According to the wise men who surround Ahasuerus, Vashti's revolt, if it were tolerated, would sanction individual independence throughout the kingdom. It is therefore necessary to restore order: The Gentile wife is entirely repudiated. And this is what will happen to the Church, taken from among the nations, seen in her character of Christian responsibility. She will be left to her fate and will be worth no more than the least prostitute for the Sovereign ruler. She will disappear and never be mentioned again.

This chapter 1 also has a lesson for us from the moral point of view. The limitless power of Ahasuerus is held in check by a weak woman who resists him. A grain of sand humiliates all the pride of this enormous empire which is so thoroughly organized. Vashti may be divorced, but her act remains and the humiliated king is powerless to force her to appear in public. If she had repented, what would the result have been? Here, from the very beginning we find the hidden providence of God at work. Man is full of grandiose projects: a feast which lasts for seven days, the crowning event of these long solemnities, leads to Vashti's revolt against the king's decision. Her decreed and irrevocable repudiation is not carried out until Ahasuerus returns, at which time the Jewish wife, prepared by Providence, can come on the scene and be substituted, at the appropriate moment, for the Gentile wife.

That it is a true history is manifest. The great feast with which it opens is just such as a Persian monarch would celebrate with the nobles and princes of the various provinces. If Xerxes was the Ahasuerus of the book, as is generally supposed, it quite agrees with his character, that when elated with wine he should send for the queen; and, on her refusal to be thus exposed, to cast her aside, and seek another queen. The way this was accomplished was exactly Persian. The posts also, on horses, mules, camels, and young dromedaries, according to the nature of the country traversed — from India to Ethiopia — was also the method adopted.

"On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven chamberlains that ministered in the presence of Ahasuerus the king, to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to show the peoples and the princes her beauty: for she was fair to look on. But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king's commandment by the chamberlains: therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him. Then the king said to the wise men, who knew the times (for so was the king's manner before all that knew law and judgment; and the next to him was Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, [and] Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, who saw the king's face, and sat first in the kingdom), What shall we do to the queen Vashti according to law, because she has not done the bidding of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains? And Memucan answered before the king and the princes, Vashti the queen has not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to' all the peoples that are in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus. For this deed of the queen shall come abroad to all women, to make their husbands contemptible in their eyes, when it shall be reported. The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not. And this day shall the princesses of Persia and Media who have heard of the deed of the queen say the like to all the king's princes. So shall there arise contempt and wrath enough. If it please the king, let there go forth 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 kin,, give her royal estate to another that is better than she. And when the king's decree which he shall make shall be published throughout all his kingdoms (for it is great), all the wives shall give to their husbands honour, both to great and small. And the saying pleased the king and the princes; and the king did according to the word of Memucan. And 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 should publish it according to the language of his people" (vers. 10- 22).

If the demand of the king was unusual, the refusal of the queen was an affront not to be passed over. The seven chamberlains were duly charged to attend her; but she was rebellious, where compliance would have done her no real harm, but cast whatever of blame might be due on her lord. In the antitype, how true it is that the Gentile has been faithless and refractory, seeking self-will and wholly failing to show the world the beauty of one so favoured! The consequence will be, as here it was, 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; when she shall no more be termed Forsaken, nor her land any more Desolate, but she shall be called Hephzibah and her land Beulah.

It seems most natural not to put "the president" last among the seven princely counsellors of state, but to infer that judgment was sought, beginning with the youngest, whose opinion so commended itself on the question proposed that all accepted it at once; and letters were sent accordingly that a better than Vashti should take her place, and that family order should stand in the honour of the head in his own house throughout all the kingdom.

In chapter 1, the glory of the king (representing God) and his generosity and grace are described. He invites to a feast extending over an extremely extended time period (180 days!), which he uses to display “the splendid magnificence of his grandeur”. In the typical interpretation, the king’s feast may be taken as a picture of the gospel feast (cf. Luke 14). But Vashti has neither sympathy nor fellowship with the king in this and even greatly dishonours him through disobedience and her refusal to acknowledge this great feast – following which she is set aside. She aptly represents nominal Christendom, disobedient to God, refusing the gospel invitation.

In Vashti we see a type of the refusal of the invitation. She had been invited 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 bidden 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. She is put away. And this is the sinner's fate who refuses to obey the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The account begins with the description of solemnities which have been unequaled, even until our own time, which were celebrated for a period of six months by king Ahasuerus (Xerxes) at Shushan, the capital of the Persian empire. The prophet Daniel had predicted this ostentation, saying: "Behold… the fourth (king of Persia) shall enrich himself with great riches more than all; and when he has become strong through his riches, he shall stir up all the realm of Greece." (Dan. 11:2) "The third year of his reign" corresponds, according to history, to the year in which his formidable expedition against Greece (which had already victoriously resisted Darius, his father) was decreed. We have no doubt that all this show of luxury and power was intended to prepare this expedition by planning together with the princes, nobles and chief men of the one hundred twenty-seven provinces of this immense empire. A special term which characterizes some of them, seems to us to indicate this purpose. This passage speaks of the power (v. 3), next in line after the princes of the kingdom. This expression, "the power," properly speaking, means the army, that is to say, the leaders or generals of the army. Except for this detail, there is not the least allusion to the purpose of this ostentatious reception. As we have said, in the introduction, these immense preparations are of no interest, in the Word, except in the measure in which they concern the people of God, or prepare — as was the case here — the fall of the empire of the nations, since the Gentiles had not answered to the purpose of God, who had entrusted them with sovereign power following the unfaithfulness of His people! How this observation minimizes all the political plans of men in the eyes of a believer! God has only to say to the sea which threatens to cover the world: Thou shalt go no further! in order for its efforts to disappear like the wind which unloosed it. And this was because in the midst of this unprecedented pomp — for, in addition to his fabulous riches, Ahasuerus reigned over 127 provinces, whereas Darius the Mede, as powerful as he was, had only 120 under his scepter (Dan. 6:1) — God was mindful of a people who were dispersed, destroyed, the object of the disdain and hatred of their oppressors. We shall soon see this people appear on the scene.

But first let us say a few words about Ahasuerus, and see how the Word depicts him. His natural character comes out strikingly in this book, and the likeness of the Biblical portrait can be confirmed, as if that were necessary, by what history teaches us about him. Ahasuerus presents a singular mixture of pride and weakness. His pride is sustained by the custom established at all times by great men and governors, that the law of the Medes and Persians was irrevocable. This custom gave the king the illusion of being himself a sacred person, unchanging, all the while giving the great men of the empire a means of escaping from the power of the arbitrator on the throne. This is precisely what these men of high rank had called upon under the reign of Darius the Mede, in order to rid themselves of the prophet Daniel. No request or prayer made for a period of thirty days in the empire was to be addressed to anyone but Darius, which elevated him, as a monarch, to the rank of the divine. The pride of Ahasuerus drives him to display the most hyperbolic pomp in order to dazzle the great men and the people of his empire. Moreover, it is decreed that if someone should appear before him without being invited, that person should be put to death. No one can see the face of a god and live, unless (a fresh proof of his sovereign will) the king should stretch forth his golden scepter to him and received him in grace.

Ahasuerus' haughty awareness of his omnipotence is allied to his terribly violent character, whenever an obstacle or form of resistance appeared in his path. Time and again, in the course of this account, the king bursts into wrath and his fury blazes. (Esther 1:12; Esther 2:1; Esther 7:7, 10) Violence is never an indication of strength, but rather, on the contrary, it denotes the weakness of a man incapable of governing himself. This weakness reveals itself again in the fact that Ahasuerus, despite his pretensions of being a deified sovereign, is the plaything of his favorites and he allows them to usurp his place, at the price of turning on them in vengeance should they displease him. And let us add, that when he had to make a decision concerning queen Vashti which concerned only himself personally, he surrounds himself with counselors who persuade him that the queen's act touches the very organization of the state.