You Are Not Worthless-Esther 1

Vashti was having girl time.

      And her husband wanted her to come downstairs and show off her beauty.

      Vashti said no.

      And catapulted a chain of events she probably had no idea would occur.

      Let's dive into this and break Esther 1 down into bite-sized pieces.

In the beginning of Esther's story, we are introduced to the royal family of Persia: King Ahasuerus and his wife, Queen Vashti. 


      Now, the king has a huge feast, and invited princes from many places to visit. The decor is tasteful, with blue and white and green hangings, purple and gold, the food delicious...We are given detailed descriptions of this, one of the few places we are given an idea of what the inside of a palace might look like. 


    Vashti, being a queen, had probably invited her girls over so she could have her own party. Whatever the reason, she is not hanging with the princes and chamberlains like her husband is. This might be cultural, or maybe just how their dynamics worked. At any rate, Ahasuerus sends seven chamberlains to retrieve Vashti and bring her to him. We only get a couple verses on this conflict, but the fact is this: He wants her to show her beauty to the princes. She refuses. He is very angry.  

      At this point, the king is at a loss at what to do. One of the seven princes, Memucan, points out that if the women of the land think Vashti can disobey her husband, then so can they, so he proposes that Ahasuerus write a law that Vashti cannot be before him anymore. Ahasuerus does so. This is important because the book of Esther points out that once a law is written, even the king can't undo it. So Vashti is literally stuck.
      Thus, chapter one ends with letters of the decree being sent to all the provinces. 
     


      Where is the lesson? There are two things to think about. 
      First: what you do does have an affect on others. The prince Memucan was right to point this out to the king. If you are in a role of authority, such as a president or lawyer, then if you do something wrong, it makes big news, OR if causes others to think that what you did was okay. As Christians, we have a role to play as a "teacher" by actions: if we do something and then say we are believers in Christ, a literal learner might decide all Christians act in such a way.
      The second lesson is this: YOU. ARE. NOT. WORTHLESS. 
      Vashti was seen as worthless because she refused to show off her beauty. Her beauty mattered more than her opinion (which is culturally accurate in this time period). However, how often are we modern women treated the same? If we do not dress or act like a stereotypical "beautiful" woman, we are treated as inferior. Less-than. I am here to tell you that you matter, regardless of how the world sees you. Although Vashti knew the law and disobeyed her husband, making way for Esther to come on the scene, there is no doubt in my mind that God still loved Vashti. She made a mistake because she was human, but she also refused to be treated as lesser-than. In my opinion, this made her strong.
      So, no matter your mistakes or how the world sees you, know you are loved. You matter. You are not worthless. And, if you think about it, Vashti's boldness made a way for Esther and her courage to speak up for the Jews. Talk about God's timing...but that's another chapter...

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. 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. 

Esther 1:11-12

-KatG

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