| [Speaking of Vashti] The
Scripture records why her deed was so evil (verse 18) “…Thus
shall there arise too much contempt and wrath.” |
Editor: This is what the
Persians said. The Bible does not specifically say that Vashti's deed
was evil. This is the interpretation of Debi and her friends. |
| Whether the King’s command was rude and
insensitive is not of any consequence; only Vashti’s feelings were at
stake. The Bible clearly teaches Vashti’s response was a serious error. |
Editor: The Bible does not say that outright. We might conclude that
from what happens, but the story is set forth in scripture as it
transpired with little interpretation from the Lord. Remember - God did
not allow His name to appear in the book. Though it is inspired and
obviously there to show us His sovereignty, there is no concrete indication that
any specific individual in the book is a true believer in Jehovah. |
| From India to Ethiopia her
response would be the trigger that would provoke women to view men with
contempt, and thus bring much wrath (anger) to the land. Consequences
would have been extensive. |
Editor: Again, this is an assumption based on what Memucan said.
Truly enough, her act could influence women all over the
kingdom, but there seems to me to be an overreaction in the response of the
Persian princes. |
| Verses 20 and 22 give the moral of the
story: “…all the wives shall give to their
husbands honour, both great and small. That every man should bear rule
in his own house, and that it should be published according to the
language of every people.” |
Editor: The text is tinkered with slightly by
them to make their point clearer. This is the decree that was
published by a bunch of unsaved, governing men. God does not say
that this is His "moral of the story". |
| This
was God’s will thousands of years ago, and it is still God’s will today regardless
of the cantankerousness of the man to whom you are married. |
Editor:
These verses in Esther are not intended to give us God's will. It is the law of
the Medes and Persians that is being set forth. We are being told what was in
the letter. We may learn elsewhere in scripture that it is God's will for a man
to be the head of his home, but this is not one of those places. This is similar to quoting Gamalial in Acts 5:38-39 and saying that anything that is not of God will not
prosper and anything that is of God will prosper, which of course
is not true (see 2000 years of cults and isms). |
| ...Now Esther,
a young, beautiful girl who loves and worships God, is forced into intimate wifehood
to this older, divorced, immature, powerful man... |
Editor:
We are never told once in the Bible that Esther loved and worshipped God. This
is an emotional assumption made by the authors. In fact, none of the Jews in the
whole story are ever said to worship God. They prayed for deliverance, they believed
it would come from one source or another, but GOD is not mentioned. It never says
they loved Him or worshipped Him! In fact, it says that the fear of the Jews
and Mordacai fell on the people (Est. 9:2-3), NOT the fear of GOD. Think about
that. (Undoubtedly there were many believing Jews in the kingdom whose
lives were saved due to this event. This shows that God can and
does work through unsaved people for the good of His people, Rom. 8:28) |
| She was: an orphan
(7), beautiful and fair (7), influenced her maids to polite, kind behavior (9), |
Editor: It does not say anything about influencing her
maids' behavior. They pulled this out of thin air. |
| very discreet in what she said or did not
say (10), |
Editor: Blanket statement. Verse only
referred to her hiding her nationality. |
| honoring of the chamberlains and other servants (11), |
Editor: It does not say that. |
| in control of her mind and emotions to be
able to do a difficult task (11), |
Editor: Not in this verse, but naturally
assumed from later events. |
| not greedy or selfish of things (15), poised and confident (15), had dignity and honor
(15b), |
Editor: Again - assumed. The verse actually
emphasizes her looks, which are a major object throughout this chapter.
These were worldly, heathen people. The outward appearance was of
great importance to them. The queen was considered a show piece,
it seems. The king had had a beautiful first wife. It was essential that the second one be so also. The lust of the
eyes and the lust of the flesh were playing key roles in this whole
event. [This is "normal" for royal marriages, by the way.] |
| totally
obedient and trusting to her adopted father (20). |
Editor: This would be an important note for the Pearls
whose teachings seem to emphasize absolute, unquestioning obedience of a
child towards their parents. |
| Verse 17 tells
us the king loved Esther above all others. Surely the king was influenced by Hegai’s
high opinion of Esther. He would have noticed how all his servants honored her.
It is likely that Vashti, the dethroned, divorced queen, had ignored Hegai and
the other servants or even treated them with contempt. The king had
already had one beautiful queen. He knew from experience that beauty was
only skin deep. He was looking for a woman with a pure, kindhearted,
respectful, obedient spirit. He saw Esther’s heart reflected in the
faces of those who had served her for the last year. A beautiful face is
admired, but it takes being loveable to be
loved. Don’t make Vashti’s mistake and think it is your just due for your husband
to love you just because you are the now reigning queen. |
Editorial: First note that she
had said in the previous chapter (see last box in table above) that
Ahasuerus was an "immature" man. Now she credits him with all
kinds of wisdom.
This is an
incredible amount of assumption and raw speculation about Esther and the
king's servants. Esther obviously knew how to behave herself and had a
very strong sense of duty, but the Bible does not tell us anywhere that
she had all the high qualities that are attributed to her by these
imaginative ladies. It also does not indicate that Ahasuerus had learned his lesson with Vashti and was now wise in
selecting a wife. When a man throws away one wife gotten through wrong means and
under such circumstances,
he usually gets the next one by the same stupid methods. If he was looking for
a "kindhearted, respectful, obedient spirit," why was the testing ground
for the choice his bedroom and why was her appearance so significant? It says
...Esther obtained favour in the sight of all them that
looked upon her. This does not really indicate that her inner qualities
were high on their list. As a matter of fact, it is entirely possible that the
Lord compelled Ahasuerus to choose Esther so that He would have someone the king
was personally interested in to use in delivering His people from Haman. Proverbs
21:1 The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water:
he turneth it whithersoever he will. Some kings, maybe most, will respond
better to a beautiful woman than they will to suffering subjects.
Hence the warning in Prverbs 31:3. |
| How
strange are the workings of God to save the nation of Israel! Did God allow Esther
to become an orphan so that she might be raised more carefully by her Uncle Mordecai? |
Editor: Was she raised more carefully by Mordecai? How is
it that he did not try to hide her so that she would not be taken into
the king's harem? Surely this would be a shame and horror to any
God-fearing Jew. Read history. The harem was not the place for decent
girls. God-fearing parents in any era did not want their girls taken there. Some went to
great lengths to avoid it. And, though God chose this method, He could have rescued His people
without her being there. Even these basically unbelieving Jews knew
this, chapter 4, verse14. |
| Did
God give Esther unusual poise, beauty, grace and dignity so that she would win
a beauty contest and become the wife of a divorced man? |
Editorial: This is a
confusion causing question. God was using apparently non-believing Jews
to keep His promised people alive, but should we assume that He would
specially "gift" Esther to win this ungodly beauty/sex contest? Also,
it's very important to note that the Bible never says that the king
divorced Vashti. She had her royal estate taken from her, and was more
than likely sent the house of the women where she would live the rest of her days
as a despised and rejected wife. (To see how this works see 2 Sam. 20:30). Mrs.
Pearl and her friends add to the scripture and ignore the fact that multiple wives
and concubines were culturally accepted. Bad conclusions could be drawn from
their misleading question. |
| Could it be that if we read the last chapter
of the book of Esther we will see that God’s intent is much bigger than a girl
named Esther? |
Editor: Obviously the whole
point of the book of Esther is to show that God's plan was bigger than a
girl named Esther, especially considering that she never even gave God
lip service in the whole book. Remember that many of these Jews were
reprobates when they left Israel to go into captivity. Some repented in
captivity, we read of them in other books. Here God seems to be showing
us how He kept His people alive in spite of themselves. I say "in spite
of themselves" because Mordecai's behavior and rise to power in this book are not exactly in keeping with the
spirit of the law of God. Remember that the people ended up
fearing him, not God (9:2-3). |
