Welcome back!
Today in episode 519 we begin Esther’s cycle: looking at the prominent characters in the book of Esther.
Take a minute to consider someone, who may be a somewhat unorthodox character to focus upon. He is key to our story though. His choices set the stage for most of the events. We are talking about King Ahasuerus.
King Ahasuerus is the King of Persia during the captivity of Judah.
To put him in a timeline -
Nebuchadnezzar takes Jehoiakim as a prisoner to Babylon in 597 BC
Nebuchadnezzar takes Jehoiachin as a prisoner to Babylon in 597 BC
Nebuchadnezzar then goes to war against Zedekiah which ends in those who were not killed in the war being taken to Babylon (2 Chron. 36:20) in 586 BC, the temple is destroyed. This would include the carrying away that impacted Daniel and his friends in Daniel 1.
They remained captives in Babylon until the kingdom of Persia conquered Babylon in 539 BC with King Cyrus
In 537 BC, Cyrus sends Zerubbabel to Jerusalem to build the temple.
516 BC second Temple is completed (end of “captivity”) under Darius the Great
In 486 BC Ahasuerus (also known as Xerxes) comes into power - Esther takes place during his reign
In 458 BC Ezra returns with a second group
In 445 BC the third, led by Nehemiah, and final group of Jews return to Israel under King Artaxerxes
So, Esther is during a time when the people are not in active slavery, but aren’t all returned back home to Israel either. There is no indication that King Ahasuerus is too worried about the Jews. He just continues what was being done by previous kings.
What stands out to you from King Ahasuerus’s story?
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OK - back to our story.
A queen insults the king and loses her crown.
The book of Esther begins during a time of prosperity for Persia. During King Ahasuerus’ third year of his reign he decides to hold a six month celebration of his kingdom.
Lots of feasting. Lots of showing off.
At the end of the six months, he again has a banquet - that lasts for SEVEN days.
At the same time, his Queen, Vashti, gave a banquet for the women.
On the final day of the banquet, “when the heart of the king was merry with wine”, the King decides to call for Queen Vashti in her queenly garb to show her off to all the men who are there with the king (Esther 1:11).
Queen Vashti refuses to come.
We aren’t told why she refuses to come - lots of reasons we can speculate about, but none we can be sure of. Just that the situation arises.
So the king - drunk after spending 7 days celebrating the 6 month celebration of his riches and the splendor of his great majesty (Esther 1:4) gets embarrassed in front of all the people in the citadel in Susa (Esther 1:5).
It says, “then the king became very angry and his wrath burned within him” (Esther 1:12). He calls on his seven trusted counselors and asks what can be done, “according to the law” (Esther 1:15).
Interestingly, we find out later that there is a law that states anyone who comes to the king without being summoned, they are to be put to death unless the king holds out his scepter to indicate they may live (Esther 4:11). But apparently refusing to come when the king calls is not something the King has had to deal with yet, in three years of being king.
Anyway - these men do not bother to tell him what the law is for the situation. Instead, one of the men suggests that her sin is so grievous, it is not only against the king but against all the princes and all the people. She has created a problem for ALL married men! Her refusal might encourage other women to look with contempt on their husbands. There will be contempt and anger throughout the land! The only way to respond is to write a NEW law, so that it cannot be repealed, that Vashti can no longer have the position of Queen, and furthermore, she is not to ever have access to the king again. Once this is done, THEN all the women will give honor to their husbands, great and small. (Esther 1:17-20).
This pleases the King and the princes. An edict is sent out that “every man should be the master in his own house” (Esther 1:22).
A new queen is found
But then…”After these things, when the anger of King Ahasuerus had subsided, he remembered Vashti and what she had done and what had been decreed against her”.
This remembering seems to have altered the king’s mood, because his servants suggest they find him a new woman to take Queen Vashti’s place.
This was not a quick process. Each young woman had 12 months of prep before she was brought before the King (Esther 2:12). In the 7th year of his reign, in the 10th month (4 years since the events with Vashti), a young woman named Esther is brought to the King. This young woman is special (we will tell her story, Lord willing, in a few weeks). She finds favor and kindness with the King, more than all the virgins, so she is chosen to be made queen instead of Vashti.
King Ahasuerus gives another great banquet for his princes and servants (much smaller guest list) and makes a holiday for the provinces and sends out gifts to the people.
OK - let’s just take a second to see the difference between the events now and the ones back in year 3 of his reign.
Before the incident with Vashti, the King wants to show off “his great majesty”. The incident with Vashti comes about when he was drunk with all his wine and bragging, and implied flattery from the dignitaries who were feasting along with him. His intoxication level leads to a rash response and a very bad temper.
Now, 4 years later and regretting (I believe that is implied in Esther 2:1) what was done before, he is faced with another woman and another celebration. This time, the celebration is more about Esther and her becoming Queen. The way the banquet is done it is more of a gift to the whole country rather than a “look at me and how wonderful I am” type of celebration the first event was.
It says “he loved Esther more”, OK - it has only been one night, he liked her more than all the other women. He was drawn towards her more than all the others. But this caused him to show her “favor and kindness”. This King is not making it all about him - he is making it about her. A softer gentler King Ahasuerus. I find it fascinating that God shows us this king’s progress (after all, the kingdom of Persia is not the focus of God’s story in the scriptures).
A plot to kill the king is foiled
While all of this was going on, Esther’s uncle Mordecai, became aware of a plot to kill the King. Mordecai told Esther about it and Esther passed the message long to the King. There is an investigation and the men were found guilty and were hanged on the gallows. The events were written into the Book of the Chronicles.
A vain man is given too much power
Fast forward a few years, the king promotes a man named Haman to be over all of his princes. At the end of the King’s twelfth year (5 years since Esther was made queen), this man brings a concern to the King. Haman says there are people all through the kingdom who live by different laws and they do not observe king’s laws. “It is not in the king’s interest to let them remain.” (Esther 3:8). The solution Haman offered? “Let them be destroyed” and even more so, Haman will donate 10,000 talents of silver to the king’s treasury to pay those who will do this work (Esther 3:9). Now that’s commitment!
The king’s answer to his trusted advisor? Here is my signet ring, the money is yours, do with the people as you please (Esther 3:11).
So, on the 13th day of the 1st month (of the 13th year) letters are sent out telling the provinces “to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all the Jews in one day” - the 13th day of the 12th month (of the 13th year). Note - it is almost a YEAR before the decree will take effect). It says that while the king and Haman sat down to drink, the city of Susa was in confusion (Esther 3:15).
Going back to our timeline - the Jews have been granted quite a bit of leniency! They are allowed to go back to Israel. They are not seen as captive slaves anymore. Thus far in the book, the Jews seem to intermingle so well among the Persians that their nationality isn’t even noticed. Esther was able to keep it to herself that she was a Jew. No one asked. No one prodded. It was known by the king’s servants that Mordecai was a Jew. It was the only reason they could give for why he acted differently towards Haman (Esther 3:4). It wasn’t offered as though that was a bad thing. Haman was the one who took it personally (we will discuss him more later). Then the king suddenly sends out this letter telling everyone these people who have lived among the Persians ever since Persia took over Babylon are to be completely destroyed! In the early days of his reign, King Ahasuerus was hearing about accusations against the Jews in Jerusalem (Ezra 4:6), but nothing was done about it. So for him to take this position now would be very strange to the people of Persia, but especially in Susa where Jews were known to be and were accepted by the people.
One day the king is in his inner court on his throne when he sees Queen Esther standing waiting to see if he will agree for her to approach him. He is pleased to see her and extends his scepter so all know she is welcome. He shows his concern for her and offers her up to “half the kingdom” if she wants to request it (Esther 5:3). Esther doesn’t ask for anything so dramatic, she simply invites him and Haman to a banquet she has prepared for them.
The King’s response? “Bring Haman quickly that we may do as Esther desires.” (Esther 5:5).
The king attends this banquet and asks again what she might want to ask of him. She asks if he will come again for another banquet tomorrow, and then she will make her request known. He apparently agrees.
During the night, the king has trouble sleeping. So he asked that the book of the chronicles be read to him. The section that was read was the one telling about when Mordecai reported about the two doorkeepers who had plotted to kill the king. The king wants to honor Mordecai when he finds out that no honor had as of yet been done for the man who had protected the king. The king seeks suggestions for how to show honor to such a good man, and he takes the advice that he is given. He orders that Mordecai is to be dressed in the king’s own royal robe, be allowed to ride upon the king’s horse while being led by one of the king’s most noble princes through the city square. All the while declaring “Thus it shall be done to the man whom the king desires to honor.” (Esther 6:1-11). Haman is the one the king chooses to do all of this for Mordecai. While Haman is whining about his bad day, time for the second dinner at the Queen’s residence arrives.
The king and Haman show up for Esther’s banquet. The king asks again what it is he can do for her, “even up to half of the kingdom it shall be done” (Esther 7:2).
Then Esther fills the king in on a plot to kill her and all of her people!
The king is astounded! “Who would presume to do this?”, he asks.
Esther tells him the man is Haman.
Notice how the king reacts in his anger, compared to when we were first introduced to him, “The king arose in his anger from drinking wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther for he saw that harm had been determined against him by the king.”
The king returns after calming down in the garden to find Haman being far too close and familiar with the Queen in his desperation. The King is offended by Haman’s behavior and sends him away. One of the eunuchs shares that the gallows Haman had built to hang Mordecai upon were standing at Haman’s house. The king instructs them to hang Haman from his own gallows.
But now there is still a problem. The decree is in effect. The King puts Esther and Mordecai over all of Haman’s house. Esther now lets her fear show and she cries while she begs the king to avert the schemes of Haman. The king responds that she and Mordecai have his signet ring to do whatever they see fit to combat the issue. They can write a decree, that cannot be revoked, to counter the standing edict that Haman sent out.
So, in the 3rd month of the 13th year, another decree is sent out that gives the Jews the freedom to defend themselves from any attack, to annihilate any army that comes after them, and to plunder the spoils.
When the 13th day of the 12th month comes, the battle commences, but it doesn’t go the way Haman had planned. The Jews win the day. But the King is not satisfied when he hears only 500 men were killed in the battle in Susa. Esther suggests another day of fighting be permitted, in Susa, and for Haman’s ten sons to be hanged. The king agrees, the edict goes out, and on the 14th day the Jews killed 300 more men in Susa. Esther and Mordecai declared a holiday so this would be remembered always. The King then elevates Mordecai to be second only to the king, and the records reflect how Mordecai was able to do great things for his people and the nation.
From a king who banished his wife because of his pride and anger from drinking too much and showing off to a man who was self-aware, in control, and humble enough to listen to the advice of those to whom his actions had caused great harm.
From a man who treated his wife as a prize to be flaunted to a man who prized his wife as a woman to be treated with respect and honor.
God shows us how a man can grow and mature. How past stupidity can be lessons for wiser choices later.
Just like Abraham who had to grow into his faith, and Moses who had to grow into his leadership - God grants King Ahasuerus the time to grow from the selfish leader we see in the beginning of Esther into a man who has great respect for other people. I believe it is safe to say he didn’t cross into the blasphemy that Nebuchadnezzar did (Daniel 4:29-37), because God doesn’t punish Ahasuerus severely for his lavish bragging.
King Ahasuerus is a life lesson about the impact drinking has on self-control, anger, and decision making.
King Ahasuerus is a life lesson in what can happen when you let your pride drive your choices.
King Ahasuerus is a life lesson in what can happen when a man appreciates a good woman.
King Ahasuerus is a life lesson in how to take responsibility for decisions you have made.
Ultimately, he is an excellent example of how a young man can grow up to be better as he learns from his mistakes. Doesn’t that give hope to all of us? We are on a journey to becoming better people. It doesn’t happen overnight. But when we can learn from our mistakes, as the king did, we too can come to be people who are known for good accomplishments and strength that makes our world a better place while we are in it.
Learn from King Ahasuerus.
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