September 14, 2024: Thursday (on Saturday) Old Testament Bible Study - Esther 1:1-22
Good Saturday morning. Yes, I said Saturday. You did not miss our study of the Book of Esther on Thursday. I was in and out all day at home because our solar was being worked on with our company and TEP making the necessary changes so that we can send excess electricity to TEP when our system over produces. It took 9 hours with no power in the house. We stayed around, in and out throughout the day, but by the time the power got turned back on it was nearly 5pm, and the house was cruising towards a 90-degree interior temp. So, my apologies for not getting this study out on Thursday. I also had to go get my repaired little car after my accident. It is nice to have it back with its 30 plus miles per gallon around town.
Today we begin our study of the Old Testament book of Esther. This was my mother's first name, and only Dad was allowed to address her using it. She was named after my great aunt. As we get started in this book, we have a big reading that sets the stage for things to come. The time for this text is during the period when the Judahites have come back to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple. So sometime between the return of Ezra and advent of Nehemiah. But Xerxes is a king who has a massive area to oversee, and we begin with a massive display of Xerxes' ego and need to show off for all of the people over whom he is king. He throws a six-month long drinking and eating festival, during which he shows off his wealth and tries to show off his queen as the most beautiful woman in all of the lands over which he is king. We don't know how many guests will be with him at this long party, but we do know from the text that at some point every guest drank from a different gold vessel. Xerxes' wife is Vashti. She is his primary wife from the harem, and perhaps she is fed up with the six-month long party. At any rate, when he calls her to show her off, Vashti refuses to join the party of men who are gathered from all over the realm. After all, they have all been drunk for months! This is such a men's party that each guest has the freedom to ask for anything that they want in terms of food and drink. When Vashti refuses to show herself off at the bidding of the king, it throws the leaders of the kingdom into a real tizzy. What happens if the women of Xerxes' kingdom all refuse to be at the call of their husband will? It is a real ego buster if it happens. So, king Xerxes sends out a notice to his whole kingdom demanding that women stay obedient to their husbands.
Xerxes' relationship with his queen is nothing like we expect from our concept of Western marriages. He is her master, and she is to respond to any request or desire that the king has for her. This way of looking at marriage seems strange to our Western sensibilities. For the Jews, the concept of marriage was very different. In marriage the husband and wife were "owned" by one another, and hence, each person in the marriage was responsible for the good of their partner. Isn't it funny that we can see some elements of both of these ways of being married in the way many people approach marriage.
Let's not forget that even in this Xerxes and Vashti relationship Vashti is without power. She is able to outright refuse to respond to the king's demands of her, though to do so could cause the king to be angry and end her life. She is also able to let her king think that he is the one who controls her, giving in just enough to keep the king thinking that he is control of her, but then using the denial of her intimacy to get what she wants from the relationship too. This subversion using the woman's sexual power to tempt and convince the king that he has the power over her is the way in which Esther will present herself in her contact with Xerxes. And of course, this king has an ego the size of a mountain, so he is vulnerable to the sexual power of a woman to whom he is attracted. There is in our world of relationships of intimacy some degrees of all that we see here, but the healthiest of marriages are based on mutual respect, and the willing sharing of intimacy with one another. But in unhealthy relationships egos and the sense of ownership of one’s partner, and manipulation are often used as sexual power of both partners becomes a bargaining chip to hold power in the relationship.
In the weeks ahead we will see how Esther maneuvers her way through the complexities of the king's expectations and demands on her.
May God bless your day, and hopefully water the desert once more this weekend.
With the Love of Christ, Pastor Kim
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