“By the seventh day, King Xerxes was feeling happy because of so much wine. And he asked his seven personal servants, Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas, to bring Queen Vashti to him. The king wanted her to wear her crown and let his people and his officials see how beautiful she was. The king’s servants told Queen Vashti what he had said, but she refused to go to him, and this made him terribly angry”. Esther 1:10-12
Wikipedia tells us Ahasuerus, or Xerxes the Great, was the fourth King of the Achaemenid Empire, ruling from 486 to 465 BC. He was the son of Darius the Great and Atossa, daughter of Cyrus the Great. He ruled the empire at its territorial apex. He ruled until his assassination in 465 BC at the hands of the commander of the royal bodyguard.
Wikipedia also suggests the Book of Esther is a work of historical fiction...
Keil-Delitzsch do a satisfactory job acquitting the authenticity of the Esther story. Primarily, the entire book is intended to reveal the genesis for the festival of Purim, commemorating the deliverance of the Jewish nation from destruction. It is inconceivable that this festival, celebrated for millennia around the world, would not have historical roots. Every scholar agrees. So, why not the Biblical account? The primary resistance derives from the practice of making “subjective probability” the standard of historical proof (as though world events always follow the probable path) as well as an imperfect understanding of the manners and customs of the ancient Persian court. The reasons are not compelling in themselves so I don’t need to elaborate except to say the events in the Book of Esther can be comfortably reconciled with the extra-biblical knowledge we have with respect to Xerxes.
So...on to Xerxes.
History tells us, and the Bible confirms, that Xerxes was a luxurious, hedonistic and extremely cruel tyrant. He was brooding in nature and inclined to immerse himself in sexual pleasures as a prophylactic against depression. We are told, in extra-biblical literature, that after his military defeat in Greece he “escaped to the solace of his harem”. We don’t have to speculate on the meaning.
The Bible tells us he exhibited remarkable lack of self-control in both practice and preference. He was willing to humiliate his own wife to burnish his stature with his friends...hardly necessary for the “King of King”. But could not decide, on his own, how to respond when she defied him.
Incontinent and indecisive...not admirable qualities for a world leader. There is a lesson here.
You and I live in an age where the “powers that be” generally exhibit less than admirable qualities. I have long held the notion that the only American president, in my lifetime, worthy of my admiration was Dwight Eisenhower. I recently read an account of his acquiescence in the overthrow of the Prime Minister of Iran, during the mid 1950’s, for purely political expedience. I am so disappointed. Who do we trust?
As I read Esther I find that she and her uncle worked to achieve their preferred ends by working “with” rather Than “against” the king. This is not to suggest alliance with the king was acceptance of his character. His character was merely an extenuating circumstance they had to address. In seeking Yahweh’s protection for the Jewish people Esther and Mordecai had to work with Xerxes as he was...not as they wished he was. God, on the other hand, was unhindered by a venal king and there is no evidence Xerxes changed simply because God insisted in taking control.
God always gets His way. We often don’t recognize it...
The battle is not ours...it is the Lord’s. We are simply tools God can use to accomplish His will...not our own. When we find ourselves fighting the character rather than the circumstance we run the risk of ultimately displacing the character and disrupting an equilibrium that God has established. After all, that character is there because sovereign God placed him/her there. This is precisely why Paul reminds us “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves”. Romans13:1, 2
We shouldn’t let the character drive our actions but seek the mind of God as we negotiate our way through troubling circumstances. If the character needs to go...God doesn’t need our help.
Live boldly out there today...
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