This is what happened during the time of Xerxes, the Xerxes who ruled over 127 provinces from India to Cush. - Esther 1:1 (NIV)
It has taken me a long while to write this. There is so much I've learned and I wasn't really sure where God wanted me to go with this. I kept getting the impression that this needed to be about Vashti, and so that is where I began looking. Thing is, finding out anything about Vashti is difficult, and some things actually contradict each other. I looked up what the Midrash had to say about her and found that there are several different ways of thinking. I say this, because I am going to take a bit of license here, but I want to be fully open about it. I will leave links that I used to aid me in writing this piece, should one wish to go down that Rabbi hole (see what I did there). Also, I'm really bad at MLA (sorry Mrs. Alcorn, you tried to your best to teach me) so...links.
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The basics:
King Xerxes throws a feast for the men of the palace. His wife, Queen Vashti, also throws a feast for the women. On the seventh day of the feast Xerxes, who was intoxicated, requested that Vashti come to his feast wearing her crown so that everyone could see how pretty she was. Vashti refused. This made Xerxes really angry and he wanted to punish Vashti, so he asked his advisors what they thought he should do about it. They recommended that Vashti never again be allowed in the King's presence and that her title be given to someone else; and that a royal decree be issued that all women should obey their husbands.
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Vashti is an enigma. When I started this, I wanted to know who Vashti was, and I came up with nothing. I was hoping to find some sort of historical something that would give me a hint. I actually found a lot about Vashti, but nothing that told much about her. We know so little of her from scripture. Some believe her to be a villain, some a victim. I've done so much reading about how evil and/or great she was that my head is still spinning. I am in the villain camp, just based on who she was related to. She was Babylonian royalty, and they weren't exactly Jew-friendly. It's hard to know for certain what Vashti was actually like, how she treated others, or what her political agenda was. What I do know is that God was clearly using a lot of events to fulfill a prophecy.
According to Midrash literature, Vashti was the daughter of Belshazzar, which would make her Nebuchadnezzar's great-granddaughter. In Daniel 5, Belshazzar gives a feast and during the festivities, a floating hand writes a message to the King that Daniel then has to decipher. The writing tells Belshazzar that his kingdom is going to be taken by the Medes and Persians. Belshazzar is killed that night. Midrash literature states that Darius I takes pity on Vashti (some literature indicates that she, not knowing her father had died and being frightened, jumped into Darius's lap thinking he was Belshazzar) and gave her to his son Xerxes.
We don't know how Vashti actually felt about Xerxes, scripture and history certainly don't give details. If Vashti did jump into Darius's lap thinking he was her father, it could be assumed that she was relatively young when Belshazzar was killed. Even so, I can imagine that Vashti had an idea of what was expected of a queen. Royal kids are typically taught how they are to behave and what they are to do from birth. It is also not know how old Vashti was when she was married to Xerxes or how long she had been the queen when the book of Esther begins. Xerxes was about 35 when he became king so I'm assuming Vashti to at least be a young adult. She was old enough to throw a banquet and perform the duties of a queen. Her marriage to Xerxes was due to pity and politics, and likely the only reason she was alive. It doesn't seem like that would be a recipe for wedded bliss. Xerxes was also known to be a lover a wine and women. Vashti was his wife and was the queen, but she was not his only wife or lover. She was the queen, but she was also the head wife in a harem. Of course, this is all normal for the time and place in which Vashti lived, but that doesn't mean normal is good.
Fast forward to Xerxes's feast. Vashti is throwing a banquet at the same time for the women. Her husband has been drinking for seven days and has asked her to come to his banquet so he can show her off. Esther 1:9 says Xerxes asked: "to bring before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at." Some believe that Xerxes asked for Vashti to show up wearing only her crown. Whether he asked her to arrive naked or not, she was asked to arrive at a party full of drunk men that wanted to look at her. She refused the request. This was actually a smart political move and in the king's best interest. Had he not been drunk he would have realized that. Had Vashti come to the feast while the king was clearly intoxicated and not using proper judgement, he could have said, done, or allowed something to happen that should not have. A scandal could bring down the kingdom. Of course, drunken Xerxes just got mad that his woman didn't obey him.
Xerxes consults his officials on the matter. He is mad at Vashti and wants her punished, but needs to do so lawfully. His officials agree that something must be done. Should Vashti's refusal go unpunished, then the women of the kingdom will think that they don't have to listen to or obey their husbands. They recommend that Vashti be banished from ever being in Xerxes's presence and that someone else be given the title of Queen.
We don't really know what happened to Vashti after that. Some Midrash literature indicates that she was beheaded. Esther 2 suggests that Xerxes regretted whatever he did after he'd sobered up. One Midrash tradition even says that he was so drunk when all of this happened that he didn't remember having Vashti killed (Midrash Abba Gurion, version B).
None of this casts a kind light on Xerxes. Esther 1 has already shown him to be an angry drunk who makes rash decisions. The rest of the book doesn't do him any favors, either. The Medes and Persians are being led by a drunken buffoon, and God uses it. It should be noted that God is also fulfilling a prophecy made in Isaiah 14:22 that he would wipe out Babylon.
There are a few things I take away from this chapter:
First, no good ever comes from being intoxicated for a week.
Second, it seems to me that God was going to take down Babylon one way or another. If Vashti hadn't refused Xerxes and arrived to a party of drunken men something awful was likely to happen. What would a people think of a king who allowed his queen to be defiled or hurt at a party he was throwing? What kind of king would even request his queen show up to such a function? The political ramifications would have been long-lasting and could have been the beginning of the end for Babylon. But, Vashti did refuse. This refusal was the beginning of the end for Babylon. I don't think it was by accident that the daughter of Belshazzar ended up married to the son of Darius.
Finally, don't mess with God's people. God will protect his people.
Vashti is still an enigma to me. When I first began studying Esther 1 and thinking about what I would say, I felt like I was being led to Vashti. When I couldn't find what I was looking for, I became discouraged. The thing is, I was supposed to start with Vashti. Knowing that Vashti was a daughter of Babylon brings so much more to Isaiah 14:22. God said he was going to wipe out Babylon's name and it's survivors. Vashti would have been a survivor. What seemed like a step in the wrong direction, actually led me to seeing what was really at work her. From the beginning of the book of Esther, God is at work. God promised to take out Babylon and that's exactly what he's going to do.
Esther is so much more than a story of a pretty girl who became a queen.
Research:
The Bible (NIV)
Jewish Women's Archive
Finding Dulcinea
It has taken me a long while to write this. There is so much I've learned and I wasn't really sure where God wanted me to go with this. I kept getting the impression that this needed to be about Vashti, and so that is where I began looking. Thing is, finding out anything about Vashti is difficult, and some things actually contradict each other. I looked up what the Midrash had to say about her and found that there are several different ways of thinking. I say this, because I am going to take a bit of license here, but I want to be fully open about it. I will leave links that I used to aid me in writing this piece, should one wish to go down that Rabbi hole (see what I did there). Also, I'm really bad at MLA (sorry Mrs. Alcorn, you tried to your best to teach me) so...links.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The basics:
King Xerxes throws a feast for the men of the palace. His wife, Queen Vashti, also throws a feast for the women. On the seventh day of the feast Xerxes, who was intoxicated, requested that Vashti come to his feast wearing her crown so that everyone could see how pretty she was. Vashti refused. This made Xerxes really angry and he wanted to punish Vashti, so he asked his advisors what they thought he should do about it. They recommended that Vashti never again be allowed in the King's presence and that her title be given to someone else; and that a royal decree be issued that all women should obey their husbands.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vashti is an enigma. When I started this, I wanted to know who Vashti was, and I came up with nothing. I was hoping to find some sort of historical something that would give me a hint. I actually found a lot about Vashti, but nothing that told much about her. We know so little of her from scripture. Some believe her to be a villain, some a victim. I've done so much reading about how evil and/or great she was that my head is still spinning. I am in the villain camp, just based on who she was related to. She was Babylonian royalty, and they weren't exactly Jew-friendly. It's hard to know for certain what Vashti was actually like, how she treated others, or what her political agenda was. What I do know is that God was clearly using a lot of events to fulfill a prophecy.
According to Midrash literature, Vashti was the daughter of Belshazzar, which would make her Nebuchadnezzar's great-granddaughter. In Daniel 5, Belshazzar gives a feast and during the festivities, a floating hand writes a message to the King that Daniel then has to decipher. The writing tells Belshazzar that his kingdom is going to be taken by the Medes and Persians. Belshazzar is killed that night. Midrash literature states that Darius I takes pity on Vashti (some literature indicates that she, not knowing her father had died and being frightened, jumped into Darius's lap thinking he was Belshazzar) and gave her to his son Xerxes.
We don't know how Vashti actually felt about Xerxes, scripture and history certainly don't give details. If Vashti did jump into Darius's lap thinking he was her father, it could be assumed that she was relatively young when Belshazzar was killed. Even so, I can imagine that Vashti had an idea of what was expected of a queen. Royal kids are typically taught how they are to behave and what they are to do from birth. It is also not know how old Vashti was when she was married to Xerxes or how long she had been the queen when the book of Esther begins. Xerxes was about 35 when he became king so I'm assuming Vashti to at least be a young adult. She was old enough to throw a banquet and perform the duties of a queen. Her marriage to Xerxes was due to pity and politics, and likely the only reason she was alive. It doesn't seem like that would be a recipe for wedded bliss. Xerxes was also known to be a lover a wine and women. Vashti was his wife and was the queen, but she was not his only wife or lover. She was the queen, but she was also the head wife in a harem. Of course, this is all normal for the time and place in which Vashti lived, but that doesn't mean normal is good.
Fast forward to Xerxes's feast. Vashti is throwing a banquet at the same time for the women. Her husband has been drinking for seven days and has asked her to come to his banquet so he can show her off. Esther 1:9 says Xerxes asked: "to bring before him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at." Some believe that Xerxes asked for Vashti to show up wearing only her crown. Whether he asked her to arrive naked or not, she was asked to arrive at a party full of drunk men that wanted to look at her. She refused the request. This was actually a smart political move and in the king's best interest. Had he not been drunk he would have realized that. Had Vashti come to the feast while the king was clearly intoxicated and not using proper judgement, he could have said, done, or allowed something to happen that should not have. A scandal could bring down the kingdom. Of course, drunken Xerxes just got mad that his woman didn't obey him.
Xerxes consults his officials on the matter. He is mad at Vashti and wants her punished, but needs to do so lawfully. His officials agree that something must be done. Should Vashti's refusal go unpunished, then the women of the kingdom will think that they don't have to listen to or obey their husbands. They recommend that Vashti be banished from ever being in Xerxes's presence and that someone else be given the title of Queen.
We don't really know what happened to Vashti after that. Some Midrash literature indicates that she was beheaded. Esther 2 suggests that Xerxes regretted whatever he did after he'd sobered up. One Midrash tradition even says that he was so drunk when all of this happened that he didn't remember having Vashti killed (Midrash Abba Gurion, version B).
None of this casts a kind light on Xerxes. Esther 1 has already shown him to be an angry drunk who makes rash decisions. The rest of the book doesn't do him any favors, either. The Medes and Persians are being led by a drunken buffoon, and God uses it. It should be noted that God is also fulfilling a prophecy made in Isaiah 14:22 that he would wipe out Babylon.
There are a few things I take away from this chapter:
First, no good ever comes from being intoxicated for a week.
Second, it seems to me that God was going to take down Babylon one way or another. If Vashti hadn't refused Xerxes and arrived to a party of drunken men something awful was likely to happen. What would a people think of a king who allowed his queen to be defiled or hurt at a party he was throwing? What kind of king would even request his queen show up to such a function? The political ramifications would have been long-lasting and could have been the beginning of the end for Babylon. But, Vashti did refuse. This refusal was the beginning of the end for Babylon. I don't think it was by accident that the daughter of Belshazzar ended up married to the son of Darius.
Finally, don't mess with God's people. God will protect his people.
Vashti is still an enigma to me. When I first began studying Esther 1 and thinking about what I would say, I felt like I was being led to Vashti. When I couldn't find what I was looking for, I became discouraged. The thing is, I was supposed to start with Vashti. Knowing that Vashti was a daughter of Babylon brings so much more to Isaiah 14:22. God said he was going to wipe out Babylon's name and it's survivors. Vashti would have been a survivor. What seemed like a step in the wrong direction, actually led me to seeing what was really at work her. From the beginning of the book of Esther, God is at work. God promised to take out Babylon and that's exactly what he's going to do.
Esther is so much more than a story of a pretty girl who became a queen.
Research:
The Bible (NIV)
Jewish Women's Archive
Finding Dulcinea
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