Sermon: Vashti's Rebellion - Part 2 (Esther 1:9-22)

Vashti’s Rebellion – Part 2
Sunday, December 8^th, 2024
Christ Covenant Church – Centralia, WA

Esther 1:9-22
Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to king Ahasuerus. 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 served in the presence of Ahasuerus the king, To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to shew the people 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 his chamberlains: therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him. Then the king said to the wise men, which knew the times, (for so was the king’s manner toward all that knew law and judgment: And the next unto him was Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, which saw the king’s face, and which sat the first in the kingdom;) What shall we do unto the queen Vashti according to law, because she hath not performed the commandment of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains? And Memucan answered before the king and the princes, Vashti the queen hath not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all the people that are in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus. For this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise their husbands 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. Likewise shall the ladies of Persia and Media say this day unto all the king’s princes, which have heard of the deed of the queen. Thus shall there arise too much contempt and wrath. If it please the king, let there go 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 king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she. And when the king’s decree which he shall make shall be published throughout all his empire, (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: For 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 that it should be published according to the language of every people.

Prayer

O Father heaven is your throne, and the earth your footstool, and yet we desire that your house would be built in us, your people, and so we cling to the promise of Isaiah 66:2, where you say, “to this man will I look, Even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, And trembleth at my word.” Make us to rejoice at Your Word, with all fear and trembling, for we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Introduction

When the first King of Israel, King Saul, disobeyed God’s commandment, God sent the Prophet Samuel to confront him. We read in 1 Samuel 15:22-23, “And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, He hath also rejected thee from being king.”

Last week we considered the rebellion of Queen Vashti against her husband and king’s command. And this morning we are going to consider the consequences of that rebellion which has many parallels and connections with the story of King Saul and the rise of David.

• One such connection we shall look at next week is that Mordecai is from the tribe of Benjamin (like Saul), and Haman is a descendent of Agag, the Amalekite, who Saul refused to execute in accord with God’s commandment. Saul’s rebellion was sparing the king of the Amalekites and laying his hand on the spoils that belonged to God.
• What were the consequences of King Saul’s rebellion? It says in 1 Samuel 15:28, “The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.” Who is that neighbor better than Saul, it is the young shepherd boy David who shall be anointed as king.
  • In a similar way, we will see that the consequences of Vashti’s rebellion are that she loses her royal office and status as Queen, and as it says in verse 19 of our text, “That Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she.”
• This is the pattern when people rebel against God’s authority. Whether they are a King or Queen or a lowly citizen in the realm, the consequences of rebellion are usually the loss or curse of whatever authority and privileges we formerly had.
  • This is of course exactly what happened to all of us at the fall. Because of Adam’s sin, we were rejected by God, our soul was divorced from Him (we experienced spiritual death), and we were exiled from the Garden. We read in Genesis 3:24, “So [the LORD God] drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims [angelic gatekeepers], and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.”
  • So because of our rebellion against God in our first parents, the only way back into the Garden, back into God’s House and Royal Presence, is through death. It is only through the flaming sword of a worthy sacrifice that man can experience atonement and be reconciled/resurrected to the God he has offended.
  • This is what the entire sacrificial system at the Tabernacle and Temple signified, it was an ongoing ritual enactment, a living prophesy, of how Christ would come and offer himself as a once and for all atonement for sin.
  • In Adam, we are born rebels and exiles. But in Christ, we are reborn as sons and daughters and citizens of his heavenly kingdom. And this is what the book of Esther is ultimately about.
• We will see this more in future sermons, but Jesus is the more perfect and righteous Ahasuerus (the true “Chief Among Kings”). Jesus is the royal scepter you must touch to approach the throne of God. Jesus is the more submissive and obedient Queen Vashti who says to the Father, “not my will, but yours be done.” Jesus is the more shrewd and loyal counsellor Mordecai, who has the sevenfold spirit of wisdom. And Jesus is the more courageous and faithful Esther who says, “If I perish, I perish.” And perish for us he does.
  • So if we do not find Jesus in this book, we are reading it wrong. And where we find shortcomings, sins, and flaws in our characters, we see the need for Christ’s perfection. And when we see the shining moments of virtue and glory in our heroes, we see still only a dim shadow of the fullness of grace and virtue that Christ possesses, and which He shall give to us at the resurrection.
• So I want to remind us as we continue through this book that God intended for us to find Him here. Esther (whose name means “I am hidden/concealed”), unlike any other book of the Bible, never mentions God on the letters of the page. And yet God is not absent. God is not distant. Even when God seems to hide his face, his mercy and wisdom is still orchestrating all things for the good of those who love Him. As it says in the constant refrain of Psalm 136, “His mercy endures forever.”

So as we come to our text this morning, there are just two question I want us to consider as we work through this text, and those two questions are:

• 1. What is the king’s response to Vashti’s disobedience?
• 2. What does this response teach us about our relationship to God?

Verse 12

¹²But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s commandment by his chamberlains: therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him.

• So recall that Vashti’s sin was a refusal to come wearing the royal crown when the King commanded. And to judge whether this was right or wrong we searched the Scriptures and concluded that according to God’s law at Creation (Natural Law), and according to the law of Moses, and according to the law of the New Testament under Christ, Vashti is guilty of rebellion on two counts:
  • 1. She is guilty of disobeying her husband, who is her head of household.
  • 2. She is guilty of disobeying her king, who is her head of state.
• So how does King Ahasuerus, who is trying to bring peace and unity to all these 127 different provinces, respond to his wife and queen’s rebellion?
• First, we are told that He responds with a great and burning anger. And the question for us is then, is that anger a proper and righteous response?
  • The answer is: it all depends on what Ahasuerus does with that anger. Anger in its most proper definition is the desire for vengeance, or the appetite for justice.
    • It says in James 1:20, “for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”
    • But it also says in Ephesians 4:26 (quoting Psalm 4:4), “Be angry, and do not sin.”
    • So anger as an emotion, a bodily passion, is something we ought to feel when confronted with certain great evils and injustice. When the faults are small we can overlook them, we can cover them in love, and that is how we practice being “slow to anger.” However, there are times when anger is appropriate as Christ Himself shows us in the gospels.
    • Even the Lord Jesus, who never sinned in any way, is said to be angry multiple times in the gospels.
      • In John 2, it says Jesus was consumed with zeal as he drove out the money changers from the temple and overthrew the tables.
      • In Mark 3:5, when Jesus was being accused of sabbath breaking it says, “And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.”
    • So the example of Jesus proves that the passion/emotion of anger is not inherently sinful, and is in fact the proper response when God’s law and God’s honor is violated. We ought to desire justice and vengeance when we see evil and suffering in the world. But as Paul says in Romans 12:19, “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.”
    • So what helps us to be slow to anger and to not take vengeance into our own hands, is that God Himself is going to punish and uphold justice in the world.
    • And how does God do that? He will do this perfectly on the last day at the Final Judgment, but in the meantime, he does this through governing authorities, the civil magistrate. That is what Romans 13 goes on to describe.
      • Paul says, “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake” (Rom. 13:1-5).
• So Ahasuerus is the wrath of God against evil. He is God’s minister of justice. His job as king is to punish the wicked and protect the righteous. And when he does this, God’s wrath is being manifest.
  • It says in Psalm 21:9, “Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: The Lord shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them.”
  • Likewise in Psalm 7:11, “God judgeth the righteous, And God is angry with the wicked every day.”
• So what does Ahasuerus do with all this wrath and anger?
  • We read in the next verses that he consults his wise men.

Verses 13-15

¹³Then the king said to the wise men, which knew the times, (for so was the king’s manner toward all that knew law and judgment: ¹⁴And the next unto him was Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, which saw the king’s face, and which sat the first in the kingdom;) ¹⁵What shall we do unto the queen Vashti according to law, because she hath not performed the commandment of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains?

• Now if Ahasuerus was drunk when this happened, like many commentators claim He was, then Ahasuerus is a surprisingly restrained and wise drunk. Notice there is no outburst of words, or a rash decree, there is no “off with her head, bring it here on a platter.” No, this is a king whose anger and wrath is governed by reason. This is a king with a more sober mind than most of us would be in the same situation.
  • How restrained are you when someone disobeys your direct command? Do you take a breath, pray about it, call the wisest people you know, and hear their advice? Or are you tempted to just take vengeance right then and there.
    • It says in Proverbs 25:28, “He that hath no rule over his own spirit Is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.”
    • And in Proverbs 11:14, “Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.”
  • Ahasuerus is acting wisely in that he is ruling his anger and seeking counsel before making any decree.
• Notice also who the king calls for counsel. He calls the wise men who knew the times. Remember our very first sermon on Esther. We said that this book is given to teach us prudence. To teach us to become like the “Sons of Issachar who knew the times, to know what Israel ought to do” (1 Chr. 12:32).
  • The King has seven such sons of Issachar in his cabinet, and it says in the parentheses, “for so was the king’s manner toward all that knew law and judgment.” Meaning, it was customary for Ahasuerus in any case of difficulty to consult the opinion and advice of those who were experts in the law. Recall that Daniel was one such counsellor earlier in the Persian dynasty (Dan. 6:28).
    • So again, this is another piece of evidence that contradicts the common notion that Ahasuerus was some drunken angry tyrant. The text explicitly describes him as a man who consults and appreciates “all that knew law and judgment.”
• So the King calls this counsel and asks them, “What shall we do unto the queen Vashti according to law, because she hath not performed the commandment of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains.”
  • Notice the King desires to do what is right according to the law, not according to his whims or personal preference. And this is the great difference between the righteous use of God’s governing authority, and the abuse of that power.
    • A king who fears God executes justice according to the law. But a wicked king is a law to himself, he is governed by his carnal passions.
• So what is the advice from the king’s counsel?
  • It comes in two sections:
  • In verses 16-18, Memucan summarizes the Queen’s crime and the potential consequences of letting it go unpunished.
  • And then in verses 19-22, he recommends a decree intended to counterbalance Vashti’s rebellion.

Verses 16-18

¹⁶And Memucan answered before the king and the princes, Vashti the queen hath not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all the people that are in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus. ¹⁷For this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise their husbands 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. ¹⁸Likewise shall the ladies of Persia and Media say this day unto all the king’s princes, which have heard of the deed of the queen. Thus shall there arise too much contempt and wrath.

• Now this might be hard for us to understand because we live in a culture that fancies individualism, and free choice, and personal autonomy. And so some commentators have said this is a comic exaggeration of what Vashti’s refusal might do to Persia. But a moment’s reflection on human nature should tell us this is exactly what would happen because it still happens today.
  • People imitate whoever they look up to. This is why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:33, “Do not be deceived: Evil company corrupts good morals.”
  • We all become like the people we hang out with, and we all imitate whoever we esteem, admire, and look up.
  • If you look up to some popstar, or musician, or athlete, or YouTuber, you start to adopt their ways of speaking, or acting, or doing whatever they do. This is just how God made us. We are always following and imitating someone. We are all someone’s disciple, it might be Christ, or it might be the devil.
• And so I do not think this an exaggeration for Memucan to say that Vashti’s disobedience of her husband and king, is going to encourage similar disobedience throughout the Empire.
  • Remember the context. Who is at this feast? Everyone of power, importance, and influence. The princes and rulers, the powers of Persia and Media are before the king, and where are the wives? They are with Vashti.
    • It says in verse 9, “Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to king Ahasuerus.”
    • So you can imagine Vashti at her feast, with all the important women eating and drinking, and these seven chamberlains come to the Queen, and deliver this command that she is to come, wearing the royal crown, to display her beauty for all Persia to see. Your husband is calling you, what are you going to do?
    • In that moment, Vashti has enormous power. The eyes of the empire are upon her. And her actions can either honor the king and unite the Empire in submitting to his rule, or she can dishonor him and challenge his authority.
      • You can see that this is not merely a domestic conflict between husband and wife. Whether Vashti intends this or not (and I think she does), this is political powerplay. If the King’s own wife won’t obey him, why should these princes and provinces thousands of miles away. Perhaps the princes are starting to whisper, does Vashti know something about Ahasuerus that we don’t know?
    • So Vashti uses that decisive moment of influence, not to honor the king, but to stir up a war between the sexes. And whether she intended to or not (and I think she did), she has placed the king in an almost impossible position. This is Ahasuerus King Solomon moment. Two mothers, one child, who gets the baby? Bring me a sword.
      • If the King just lets this go, and does not punish her, what will happen? It will encourage more insubordination throughout the realm. He will be seen as a weak and impotent ruler and can expect more challenges to his power throughout the realm. So do nothing and say goodbye to your hopes for unity and peace.
      • However, if the King is too heavy handed, and just executes her then and there, he will be like that guy who gets in a wrestling match with a woman. Can he win? No. It is a lose-lose scenario. If she pins him, he’s a weakling. If he pins her, woopty woo you’re stronger than a girl. In either outcome, the King looks pretty weak.
      • So the King is walking a tightrope and now all the eyes are on him. What is he going to do?
• In verses 19-22, Memucan offers a solution to this predicament.

Verses 19-22

¹⁹If it please the king, let there go 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 king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she. ²⁰And when the king’s decree which he shall make shall be published throughout all his empire, (for it is great,) all the wives shall give to their husbands honour, both to great and small. ²¹And the saying pleased the king and the princes; and the king did according to the word of Memucan: ²²For 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 that it should be published according to the language of every people.

• This is an amazingly shrewd decree. What is Vashti’s punishment? Her punishment is that she gets what she wants.
  • 1. She did not want to come before the king, and so she’s no longer allowed to come before the king.
  • 2. She refused to come as Queen, wearing the royal crown, and so her royal crown and estate shall be given to someone else better.
• This is quite the chess match between Ahasuerus and Vashti. And the outcome is that the King decrees what is both merciful and just. Nobody can say the King overreacted, and no one can say the if you disobey the king, noting will happen to you.
• Moreover, the decree that, “every man should bear rule in his own house,” is just a restatement of the natural law. It’s like decreeing that the sun is hot, or that the husband is the head of the wife. No law of nature can be annulled, but it can be promoted and restated to remind people of God’s created order. And that is what Ahasuerus does, he simply upholds the law of God and encourages obedience to it.

Conclusion

Now last week we said that Vashti is a type and symbol of rebellious Israel, who was divorced and deposed by God for her rebellion. And we also said that Vashti signifies every rebellious soul that refuses to come to King Jesus. The proclamation of the gospel is an invitation to a feast. Listen to how Jesus describes the kingdom of heaven in Luke 14:16-24:

• He says, “A certain man gave a great feast and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’ And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’”
• Notice that the punishment for those who make excuses, for those who refuse to come when the Master calls is that they, like Vashti, get what they want. They don’t get to taste the Master’s supper. They don’t get to experience the glory of the king’s presence, or ever see his face.
• It says in Proverbs 16:15, “In the light of the king’s countenance (Heb. Is literally “face) is life; And his favour is as a cloud of the latter rain.”
• David puts it this way in Psalm 36:9, “For with thee is the fountain of life: In thy light shall we see light.”
• What is the very absolute and highest good that you can attain to? It is to see God and live. It is to see the King’s face, to know the divine essence, and to be united forever to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
  • The Apostle Paul describes this beatific vision in 1 Corinthians 13:12, when he says, “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”
• Imagine knowing God, like God knows you. Imagine being on such intimate terms with your Creator, Lord and King, so that every sin is pardoned, every shameful act forgotten, every physical ailment healed, every sorrow turned to joy, every tear wiped away, and only perfect peace and an ever-increasing happiness remains.
  • That is what God has in store for those who love him, and who are willing to come to Him wearing the royal crown. That royal crown is the grace of Christ, it is the beauty of the Holy Spirit, it is the love of Your Heavenly Father. And so do not rebel against His Word, do not decline the Master’s invitation, for “rebellion is as the sin of sorcery, And stubbornness as iniquity and idolatry.”
• In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen.