Queen Vashti

The story of Esther, in the Book of Esther in the Bible, is one of a woman coming into a position of power and eventually saving her people. She came to the kingdom “for such a time as this”.  The past few weeks I have turned my attention to how she became queen. Let’s revisit the story.

First of all, this King Ahasuerus or Xerxes (whichever you prefer) was the king of a HUGE region! From India to Ethiopia is a vast amount of land (and water as the crow flies). Three years into his reign he invites all the nobles and princes from ALL the provinces to come and view his majesty. The Bible says “he shewed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honor of his excellency for 180 days”, so for six months he was showing off his riches. At the end of that time, he made a feast for all the people in his palace. The people drank from vessels of gold, each one was uniquely made (we aren’t talking red solo cups here), there was royal wine in abundance. They slept in gold and silver beds, with beautiful swaths of material draped on cords. They walked on marble floors in a variety of hues. While the King is entertaining the men, Queen Vashti had a feast for the women in the royal house.

That’s when things get a little interesting. The Bible mentions (Esther 1:8) that these men were given all the wine they wanted “according to their pleasure” and on the seventh day (Esther 1:10) “when the heart of the king was merry with wine” he wanted Queen Vashti to be brought in wearing her crown to show off her beauty. But she refused.

Let’s stop there for a minute. This is a woman who is married to the most powerful man for thousands of miles around. Was she being a stinker? Was she the picture of entitlement thinking she was beautiful and the queen so really, what would the king do? Was she just too tired after all that entertaining? While these ideas are plausible, there is one more idea that I think should be considered. Maybe she too, was put in the kingdom for “such a time as this.”

She had to have been fully aware of the ramifications possible for refusing to do what the king asked. She was the queen after all. Is it possible that she had a strong sense of self and viewed herself as more than just a display? Is it possible that she knew she would be going into a room full of drunken men and there was no telling what the king would ask of her then? Did she value the women who were the wives of some of the men and didn’t like the idea of being paraded in front of them? Could she have been prompted in advance to say, “no,” because God was working His plan? We don’t really know the reason she refused to go, but for whatever reason, because she did not go to the king, it paved the way for Esther to come in and soon save her people. After all, what if Vashti had complied? There would be no story of Esther.   

Whether Vashti was truly spoiled and thought herself “above the law”, or an amazing woman who knew her worth and wouldn’t violate that for a room full of drunk men, we will probably never truly know. Whatever she was, she played the part the Lord needed her to play and because of it we see miracles in behalf of the Jews through lovely Queen Esther.

Feel free to leave a comment! I read some of the traditions about Queen Vashti and they are all fascinating, but vary widely. Who do you think she was?