Text:<\/strong> Esther 1<\/p>\n Ahasuerus’ empire stretched from India to Ethiopia. During Cyrus’ reign, there were 120 satraps (Daniel 6:1), now there are 127 provinces. The only area he had trouble conquering was the Greek territories. Near the beginning of his reign, there was a rebellion in Egypt that Ahasuerus just recently squashed. The historian Herodotus records, “After the conquest of Egypt, purposing now to take in hand the expedition against Athens, Xerxes held an assembly of the noblest among the Persians, convened with special intent, that he might learn their opinions and himself declare his will before them all.” [Herodotus 7.8]. Apparently, Ahasuerus wanted a celebration. Everything Ahasuerus did was big, including the parties he threw. During his third year of reigning, Ahasuerus gives a great banquet that lasts for 180 days. It was held in Susa, one of the Persian capitals, and attended by all the elite of Persia. Persia had four capitals, and the king would move with the seasons. Ahasuerus wanted to emphasize his power and wealth with his banquet.<\/p>\n Afterward, a second week-long banquet was conducted. This shorter feast included the commoners. The description of the court where it was held shows that the Persians were very wealthy. Drinks of all kinds were served in abundance. By royal edict, there was to be no limit on the number of drinks served, but no one was coerced into drinking more than he wanted.<\/p>\n At the same time, Vashti held a feast for the women. It is possible that this is a hint that all is not well between the royal couple. Or it could be the custom in Persia for men and women to dine separately.<\/p>\n On the last day of the feast, a drunken Ahasuerus orders Vashti to present herself before his followers so he could show off her beauty. He sends seven eunuchs to fetch her. She was supposed to wear the royal crown when she came, but she refused to come. Given Ahasuerus’ other excesses, it is likely that she saw herself being treated as just another thing for the king to show off. She was an asset and not a wife. It might also have violated custom for the women and men to have separate feasts. There are numerous other theories as to why Vashti told her husband “no.” There is just too little in the text to make a firm determination. What is important to the story is that she turned down the king of the Persian Empire.<\/p>\n Ahasuerus asked those close to him for advice on how to deal with her rebellion. Isn’t it ironic that the mighty king of a vast empire did not know how to deal with his own wife? He asked what law could be applied to the situation, but none was suggested. However, Memucan said that if he didn’t do something, other women would follow suit. Menucan advised the king to banish her, strip her of her position as queen, and find a better wife. Vashti had refused to come into the king’s presence, so the king should make a permanent law that she would not be allowed to be in his presence. He suggested that the punishment be published throughout the Persian Empire so that women would think twice before rebelling.<\/p>\n In addition, a proclamation was issued throughout the kingdom that every man should be the master of his home. Ironically, this proclamation was issued because Ahasuerus was not able to be master in his own home, and he announced it to the world.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPrior Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tA Study of Esther\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNext Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Removal of Vashti Text: Esther 1 Understanding What You Read What was the purpose of the 180-day banquet? What was served in plenty during the king’s week-long banquet? Who did the king order to appear and for what purpose? What concern did the princes have regarding Queen Vashti’s refusal? What was decided to be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":20799,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-20808","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":21238,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/a-study-of-esther\/the-marriage-of-esther\/","url_meta":{"origin":20808,"position":0},"title":"The Marriage of Esther","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 1, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The Marriage of Esther Text:\u00a0Esther 2 Understanding What You Read After the king calmed down, what was on his mind? Why didn\u2019t the king just call Vashti back? (Daniel 6:8) What did the king\u2019s attendants propose? How did Mordecai end up in Susa? What relationship was Esther to Mordecai? Who\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22506,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/survey-of-the-bible\/survey-of-the-bible-esther\/","url_meta":{"origin":20808,"position":1},"title":"Survey of the Bible – Esther","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Survey of the Bible - Esther Text: Esther 4 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Esther\u2019s story takes place between the first return from captivity, led by Zerubbabel, and the second return lead by Ezra. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It would fall between the 6 and 7 chapters of Ezra. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The author is unknown. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Not the same style as\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21965,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/a-study-of-esther\/esthers-banquet\/","url_meta":{"origin":20808,"position":2},"title":"Esther’s Banquet","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Esther's Banquet Text: Esther 7 Understanding What You Read What did the king want to know? What did the queen request? How did Ahasuerus react to the request? Why did Haman stay behind when Ahasuerus went to the garden? What did the king see as he came back into the\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20803,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/a-study-of-esther\/background-of-esther\/","url_meta":{"origin":20808,"position":3},"title":"Background of Esther","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 11, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Background to the Book of Esther Assignment: Read through the entire Book of Esther as a story. Understanding What You Read List out the people mentioned in Esther and what you know about them. What do you think is the purpose of this book? What is God trying to teach\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20799,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/a-study-of-esther\/","url_meta":{"origin":20808,"position":4},"title":"A Study of Esther","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 11, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"A Study of Esther by Jeffrey W. Hamilton, 2020 Esther approaches the king Esther 5:1-2 Content Background The Removal of Vashti (Esther 1) The Marriage of Esther (Esther 2) Haman\u2019s Plot (Esther 3) Convincing Esther to Intervene (Esther 4) Esther Plays on Haman\u2019s Pride (Esther 5) Mordecai Is Honored (Esther\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/scan0027-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/scan0027-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/scan0027-2.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":21333,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/a-study-of-esther\/hamans-plot\/","url_meta":{"origin":20808,"position":5},"title":"Haman\u2019s Plot","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 7, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Haman\u2019s Plot Text: Esther 3 Understanding What You Read What order of the king did Mordecai refuse to obey? What reason did Mordecai give? How was Mordecai\u2019s refusal similar to Vashti\u2019s refusal? Why did Haman decide to destroy all the Jews? What did Haman do all year during Ahasuerus\u2019 twelfth\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20808\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Understanding What You Read<\/h2>\n
\n