Esther-The Queen's Choice

By Mary Vee
Esther 1

From Esther's Journal

Photo Courtesy

My name is Hadassah. I live with my uncle Mordecai in a place called Susa and have ever since my parents died. We are Jews and slaves.

King Xerxes has a palace here in Susa. Queen Vashti also has one. 

The big news, which I started to explain last time, was the kings party that lasted 180 days. At the end, he held a banquet which lasted another seven days. At the end of the seven days he wanted to show off his queen to his guest. But when the servants returned with her message that she refused to go to this banquet, the king was very angry.

The king called his wisemen and advisors to meet privately in his chambers. They sat at a table and waited for him to speak.

"According to the law, what must be done to Queen Vashti for refusing to obey my command?" he asked. 

Memucan, who was a trusted noble answered, "Queen Vashti has done wrong, not only against the king but also against all the nobles and the peoples of all the provinces belonging to King Xerxes. All the women will hear about her refusal to obey the king and will think they, too, can despise their husbands and say, 'King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she would not come.'

"This very day the Persian and Median women of the nobility who have heard about the queen's conduct will respond to their husbands in the same way. There will be no end of disrespect.

"If it pleases the king, let him issue a royal decree and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media, which cannot be changed, that Vashti is never again to enter the presence of King Xerxes. Also, let the king give her royal position to someone else who is better than she. Then when the news is told throughout the vast land, all the women will respect their husbands, from the poorest to the richest."

Well, the king and the wisemen in the room were very happy with this advice. "So ordered," said the king. He sent men to all parts of the kingdom to each province, to every people and in every language, reporting that every man should be ruler over his own household.

But this was not the end of the story


...come back next time to read what happened next.

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sources: New International Version  

1. What did Vashti do wrong?
2. What was the big reason that mostly everyone was upset?
3. What suggestion did Memucan offer?
4. Did the king agree?