"Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for 9 August 2012"
Today's Blog Title: "The King Dethrones Queen Vashti"
Today's Blog Scripture Reading: Esther 1:1-22
Today's Blog Key Verse: Esther 1:12 "But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command brought by his eunuchs; therefore the king was furious, and his anger burned within him."
The kingdom of "Ahasuerus" extended from "India" to "Ethiopia." The Persian kingdom under Ahasuerus was divided into small areas called provinces and larger divisions called satrapies. The capital of ancient Elam, "Shushan" (or Susa) was one of four royal residents for the Persian emperors. Shushan was 150 miles north of the Persian Gulf. It was the location of one of Daniel's visions (Daniel 8:2), and was where Nehemiah served as cup bearer to King Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 1:1-2). The capital city had a palace fortress on the highest point of the city, the acropolis.
Ahasuerus in his third year of his reign made a feast of 6 months to display the riches of his kingdom. White and blue were the royal colors of the Persians. It was the custom of the Persians to recline on coaches at the table. He had ordered that his guest's could drink as much or as little as they pleased. This was different from the usual Persian custom by which every time the king at a banquet raised his cup to drink, the guest were required to do so as well. Queen Vashti was giving a separate banquet for the woman guests.
Castrated men, or "eunuchs," were assigned to act as harem attendants and as agents of communication between the king and his harem (Esther 6:14). In verse 13, "men who understood the times" were court astrologers and magicians gave advice and predicted the future on the basis of what they pretended to know about the supernatural. The prophets of Israel often looked upon such chariatains with derisive scorn.
On the last day of the feast, the drunken king summoned his queen, perhaps to make a lewd display of her before his guests, but she refused. Her refusal brought the king to great anger. Acting as spokesman for the others, "Memucan" responded shrewdly by enlarging the offense beyond a personal affront to the king.
His appeal was made to male-self interest. You will note the whimsical way laws were made in a land where so much was made of law and judgment (verses 8,13,15,19). The king dispatched his edict without so much as a further thought. There was something ludicrous about this decree, that a husband was to take charge in his own household, for this was the standing rule in an oriental home. This law was not even enforceable. There is an ironic contrast between King Ahasuerus at the beginning of the chapter, where he is the world's greatest monarch, rich and powerful, aloof yet generous, and that same king, by the end of this chapter, where he attempts to maintain his dignity despite the defiance of his wife.
This lawmaker of the Persians and Medes, whose law could not be altered, was prepared to pass an edict framed in a moment of pique, when he was not even sober. Such is the measure of a king who reigned over the world, and had the future of all in his power.
Click on the link at www.cindi-davis.blogspot.com for a Bible Verse from Romans 8:13.
JESUS REIGNS!!! May God's Love, Peace, Strength, and Grace be with all of you.
Your Sister in Christ,
Cindi
Today's Blog Title: "The King Dethrones Queen Vashti"
Today's Blog Scripture Reading: Esther 1:1-22
Today's Blog Key Verse: Esther 1:12 "But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command brought by his eunuchs; therefore the king was furious, and his anger burned within him."
The kingdom of "Ahasuerus" extended from "India" to "Ethiopia." The Persian kingdom under Ahasuerus was divided into small areas called provinces and larger divisions called satrapies. The capital of ancient Elam, "Shushan" (or Susa) was one of four royal residents for the Persian emperors. Shushan was 150 miles north of the Persian Gulf. It was the location of one of Daniel's visions (Daniel 8:2), and was where Nehemiah served as cup bearer to King Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 1:1-2). The capital city had a palace fortress on the highest point of the city, the acropolis.
Ahasuerus in his third year of his reign made a feast of 6 months to display the riches of his kingdom. White and blue were the royal colors of the Persians. It was the custom of the Persians to recline on coaches at the table. He had ordered that his guest's could drink as much or as little as they pleased. This was different from the usual Persian custom by which every time the king at a banquet raised his cup to drink, the guest were required to do so as well. Queen Vashti was giving a separate banquet for the woman guests.
Castrated men, or "eunuchs," were assigned to act as harem attendants and as agents of communication between the king and his harem (Esther 6:14). In verse 13, "men who understood the times" were court astrologers and magicians gave advice and predicted the future on the basis of what they pretended to know about the supernatural. The prophets of Israel often looked upon such chariatains with derisive scorn.
On the last day of the feast, the drunken king summoned his queen, perhaps to make a lewd display of her before his guests, but she refused. Her refusal brought the king to great anger. Acting as spokesman for the others, "Memucan" responded shrewdly by enlarging the offense beyond a personal affront to the king.
His appeal was made to male-self interest. You will note the whimsical way laws were made in a land where so much was made of law and judgment (verses 8,13,15,19). The king dispatched his edict without so much as a further thought. There was something ludicrous about this decree, that a husband was to take charge in his own household, for this was the standing rule in an oriental home. This law was not even enforceable. There is an ironic contrast between King Ahasuerus at the beginning of the chapter, where he is the world's greatest monarch, rich and powerful, aloof yet generous, and that same king, by the end of this chapter, where he attempts to maintain his dignity despite the defiance of his wife.
This lawmaker of the Persians and Medes, whose law could not be altered, was prepared to pass an edict framed in a moment of pique, when he was not even sober. Such is the measure of a king who reigned over the world, and had the future of all in his power.
Click on the link at www.cindi-davis.blogspot.com for a Bible Verse from Romans 8:13.
JESUS REIGNS!!! May God's Love, Peace, Strength, and Grace be with all of you.
Your Sister in Christ,
Cindi
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