– 8 Min Read
Introduction
Men need a suitable helper. From the beginning in the Garden of Eden, we have heard the words, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him” (Gen. 2:18). In the book of Esther, we begin with the dilemma of a king with his queen. In this pagan kingdom of Persia, we should not expect to find many redeeming qualities, however, we do see that deep down, even the pagan has some innate draw to what was lost in the Garden, not only for himself to enjoy but also for his entire kingdom. It is here in these first few chapters that we see two contrasts of beauty, Vashti and Esther. Both are certainly physically beautiful, but as we will see, what makes Esther the more excellent, more beautiful queen is her godliness and biblical femininity. Esther proves to be “a helper suitable for him“. There are two kinds of women in this world, Vashtis and Esthers.
A Helpful Outline
I. A Call for Celebrations (1:1-9)
A. 180 Day Feast of The King (v.1-4)
B. 7 Day Feast of The King (v.5-8)
C. Feast of The Queen (v.9)
II. A Call for The Queen (1:10-12)
A. The King Is Merry (v.10-11)
B. The Queen Is Disobedient (v.12a)
C. The King Is Furious (v.12b)
III. A Call for Counsel (1:13-21)
A. “Vashti Has Sinned Against the King” (v.16a)
B. “Vashti Has Sinned Against the People” (v.16b)
C. “Vashti Has Tempted All the Women” (v.17-18)
D. “Vashti Has Lost Her Place” (v.19-20)
IV. A Call for Headship (1:22)
V. A Call for a New Queen (2:1-4)
A. Let Young Virgins Be Sought (v.1-2)
B. Let The King Appoint Overseers (v.3)
C. Let There Be A New Queen (v.4)
VI. A Call for a New Father (2:5-7)
A. An Exiled Jew (v.5-6)
B. An Unlikely Father (v.7a)
C. A Beautiful Daughter (v.7b)
VII. A Call for Preparation (2:8-14)
A. She Was Taken (v.8)
B. She Advanced (v.9a)
C. She Hurried (v.9b)
D. She Did Not Tell (v.10)
E. She Waited Her Turn (v.12-14)
VIII. A Call for Celebration (2:15-18)
A. Esther Is Chosen (v.15-16)
B. Esther Is Made Queen (v.17)
C. Esther Is Celebrated (v.18)
Feasts and Feminism
We see that King Ahasuerus (or Xerxes) threw a 180-day feast for all the princes, servants, military officers, and nobles (1:1-4), then he threw a 7-day feast for “all the people” “from the greatest to the least” (1:5-8). But these were not the only feasts going on. Vashti throws a women-only feast in Ahasuerus’s palace (1:9). When Ahasuerus’s feast of the people is finished, he summons Vashti to come and make an appearance, to which she rejects (1:10-12). The text does not mention that her feast had yet finished, so perhaps she wished to remain hosting her feast. Maybe she threw this woman-only feast as some passive-aggressive response to the king’s feasts. Whatever may be the case, Vashti had no interest in submitting to Ahasuerus’s order, much less making an appearance for the people. Vashti proves to be not only a disobedient queen, but an unlovely queen. Her version of femininity is not only unbiblical but unattractive, even for a pagan king. She loses her favor with the King, and not only does she become unlovely to the King, but she also becomes a threat to his kingdom. The wise counsel of King Ahasuerus’s men is recorded in 1:13-20. The council makes two wise points. The first is that Vashti has not only sinned against the king, but has also sinned against all the people (1:16). The second thing they take away from Vashti’s actions is that this will cause all the women “to despise their husbands“. They cite how Vashti didn’t even obey Ahasuerus and explain how this will cause “plenty of spite and indignation” in all the homes in all the provinces (1:17-18).
When the Apostle Paul tells wives that just “as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything” (Eph 5:24), he means what he says. Often, preachers and bible teachers will quickly run to the exceptions of the rule instead of simply exhorting the women with the words of the apostle. Of course, if the husband is telling his wife to disobey the commands of God or do evil to her neighbor, then she must disobey her husband. But Paul doesn’t give exceptions because blindly following her husband’s commands into sinning against God and neighbor isn’t going to be her temptation. Her temptation is going to be to usurp her husband, not disobeying him. Disobeying will come naturally to the wife because of the fall (Gen. 3:16). Paul didn’t need to instruct wives on how and when it is okay to defy their husbands because that will come easily. What is not easy is submitting to their husbands in everything that’s commanded. If a woman does not respect her father and struggles to obey him, Christian men should be warned not to take her as a wife. If Christian women want to attract a godly husband who will love her sacrificially and lay down his life for her just as Christ did for His church (Eph. 5:25-26), then they need to not present themselves as a “boss-lady” who doesn’t need a man to provide for her, protect her, or lead her. Because that’s what godly, masculine men want to do. Those godly Christian men will look somewhere else, and she will only attract weak, spineless, effeminate boy-men.
Observation to Application: There is both good and bad femininity, and Vashti promoted the bad kind. Christian men need to be careful about whom they marry. Marrying a woman simply based upon the shallow and fleeting standards of this world is a wrong move. Looks will age, but a godly heart will only grow in beauty. Shared hobbies will fade, but a shared faith will only further unite. Christian men need to be looking for a woman who is ready, or ‘qualified’, to be a wife.
Protecting the Households
What is fascinating is that King Ahasuerus is in no hurry to deal with his disobedient queen; that will come later in due time. His first action is to encourage all the men in all 127 provinces “that every man should be the ruler in his own house” (1:22). Ahasuerus shows concern for his fellow neighbors and citizens he is responsible for. His dysfunctional house may cause other houses in the kingdom to stumble and so he sends word to the men. King Ahasuerus is certainly aware that a kingdom without strong men cannot stand and that when women rule over men it brings calamity upon a nation. We are reminded of the words of Isaiah the Prophet.
O My people! Their taskmasters are infants,
– Isaiah 3:12 (LSB)
And women rule over them.
O My people! Those who guide you lead you astray
And swallow up the way of your paths.
By the time the message of exhortation for the men would arrive another message would be on its way. King Ahasuerus is looking for a new queen. This latter declaration would also serve to encourage the men and warn the women in all the provinces. The text that is our bridge between the two women is 2:1-4. Ahasuerus is angry with Queen Vashti and receives counsel to appoint overseers over all the 127 provinces to find for him young virgin women from whom he may choose one to replace Vashti as queen. It is from here that we will be introduced to Esther.
If a man’s own wife does not respect him, why should anyone else? Not only that, but if the man is in a leadership role, the very office he holds will be in reproach if his own family defies him. How can a man expect to lead others when he cannot even lead his own house (1 Tim. 3:5)? Setting the example is a critical thing. We far too often think that “no one needs to mind what I am doing.” Weak fathers can produce weak sons, sexually immoral fathers can produce sexually immoral sons (2 Sam. 12:7-12, 16:20-23; 1 Kings 11:4). Parents should not be surprised when their teenage son is addicted to pornography while knowing that the boy’s father also struggled with pornography. We should not be surprised when the daughters grow up to be unruly and slanderous when their mother doesn’t respect their father and she slanders others in front of the children. God is watching, and everyone else is watching, especially the children.
Observation to Application: When the wife does not submit to her husband, it is certainly her sin, but it is his shame. King Ahasuerus and his kingdom have been brought to shame by the actions of Vashti. Everyone who hears that the Persian King doesn’t even have the respect of his own wife will laugh and mock. This brings shame not only to Ahasuerus but to all the people and leaves them all vulnerable to threatening nations. The combination of a weak husband and an unsubmissive wife is a deadly thing. King Ahasuerus seeks to rectify the problem by doing two things: taking charge and finding a suitable queen. The hope is that Christian men take their time to find a godly wife, because Christian marriage is to be for life.
A Better Woman
Esther is found and brought to Susa, the capital, and placed in the harem which was supervised by Hegai, the king’s eunuch. Unlike Vashti, who would not do what King Ahasuerus wanted (1:10-12), Esther sought to do what Hegai wanted her to do (2:15). This fits Esther’s character, since we see that she was quick to obey Mordecai:
Esther did not tell anyone about her people or her kinsmen, for Mordecai had commanded her that she should not tell anyone about them… 20 Esther had not yet told anyone about her kinsmen or her people, just as Mordecai had commanded her; indeed Esther was doing what Mordecai declared that she do, just as she had done when she was being brought up by him.
– Esther 2:10,20 (LSB)
With Esther as the new queen, the council’s goal stated back in 1:19-20 is now likely to happen; “let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she. And the king’s sentence, which he will make, will be heard throughout all his kingdom, for it is vast, and all women will give respect to their husbands, great and small.” Esther is the model woman, the model wife. She not only makes for an excellent queen for Ahasuerus, but an excellent example for the women in the kingdom. We end by observing that Vashti would not join the King’s feast, now Ahasuerus names a new feast in Esther’s honor (2:18).
Our culture has sold women on the idea that being submissive, quiet, and modest is somehow a sign of oppression. The Bible is clear that these things are not to be looked down upon but are to be practiced by women (1 Cor. 14:34-35; 1 Tim. 2:9-15; Titus 2:3-5). Esther does take charge and gives orders (Esther 4:15-17) and she will certainly speak up to the king (Esther 5:3-8, 7:1-5), but she does all of this in a most helpful and respectful manner. Esther is the model of a suitable helper, both for her family, her people, and her husband. Just as a husband will grow more attractive to his wife by how he leads, so a wife will grow more attractive to her husband by how she responds to his leadership. The Bible speaks of our works as “fruits”. Biblical masculinity and femininity are fruits that Christians should seek to bear.
Observation to Application: Unlike King Ahasuerus, Christian men should be first looking for a godly woman before a beautiful woman. The king married a woman for her physical beauty only and appeared not to consider her femininity. True beauty is found in a woman’s femininity, which includes submissiveness. When a Christian woman embraces the biblical call to femininity, it will only enhance her beauty. This was certainly true of Esther. Women today who are single and looking for a husband should make themselves marriageable. If their singleness is indeed an affliction, then they need to present themselves as a godly woman ready to be a biblical wife.
Conclusion
Amid this messy situation in Susa, we see how important biblical manhood and womanhood are. We could say that Vashti represents all that is wrong in society with women and the feminist movement, while Esther represents the call to return to biblical femininity. Out of all the women in Ahasuerus’s conquered land, he delighted in a humble, submissive, exiled, Israelite woman. Many are familiar with the end of the story and how God would use Esther to save her people from Haman’s schemes. But it is worth noting how she arrived there. This seems to be a female rendition of the Joseph story, who found favor with God and fellow man, and so rose in prominence and was used to deliver many people. And yet, we can also learn other things in the story, like biblical manhood and womanhood, how they are needed, and what happens when they are absent.