Profile of a Megalomaniac (Esther 1:10-11)

One of the many odd features of the book of Esther is that the main character is not its namesake. The author sets the entire narrative against the backdrop of the Persian king, Ahasuerus, drawing a remarkably unflattering portrait of the man behind the story.

An entitled, unstable, and arrogant drunkard, Ahasuerus—portrayed through the eyes of the book’s author—fails to embody the kingly character he so desperately wants to project. The author offers no clear explanation for the king’s immature and erratic behavior, leaving that to the reader’s supposition or investigation. What he does make clear, however, is that Ahasuerus is utterly unfit to rule his empire, a man far too petty for the task into which he was born.

Transcript

Speaker: 0:03

Hello and welcome to episode two of our search for God's Hidden Hands through the pages of Esther. In this episode, we're going to the first chapter of Esther. And this is really setting a backdrop for the rest of the book. We have to kind of get to know of Esther, which is not Esther. The main character in the book It is Xerxes or Ashur in some Bibles, and the first chapter's really centered around this character. And so we're going to jump in moment of this character's life. And that's going to be in Esther So let's jump right in. Verse ten says, on the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mumin. Bista. Arben.a. Beatha. Abigail. Zephyr and Carcass, the seven presence of King Ashur Eris to king with her royal crown in the princes her beauty. For she was lovely to look at. Now, as you can tell, I am nobody special when it comes to pronouncing some of these Old Testament names. They are complicated. But I just want to point out are in the text. It's important that they're They're not just some servants. They're actual figures that are All of this kind of speaks more towards the historicity of the event. And the number seven is Seven Unix was a Babylonian and wise men to advise the king. If you have a king in a really high position, where his authority can affect an enormous amount of policy in the kingdom, having good advisors would be very important. And so this holds in Tradition with the way these kingdoms work, the way we know they worked. And so again, it just all adds to supporting the historicity of this story. Now, because Esther is a narrative, we are often going to have to look beyond the verses that were reading that are the main focus of each episode to find context, because the writer of Esther is telling a story here. It's a true story, but it's keep his readers interested. He's not just relaying this tale to engage the reader. He is engaging in mockery of the He is highlighting negative the Persian king, who at this Remember, Israel is still being Yes, they've started to go back and they've rebuilt the temple But they're not an independent They are still under the Persian They are still kind of in a form And the whole story of Esther with this group of Jews that are They are the descendants of Nebuchadnezzar out of Jerusalem And now the Babylonian kingdom The Persians are in power, and so the Jews are still yearning for deliverance and freedom, and they're crying out to God saying, when are you going to deliver us? When are you going to set us When is our Messiah going to Now don't forget, this is taking place in history roughly five hundred to six hundred years before the advent of Jesus Christ. So you're getting close to the You're getting close to the end of any type of revelation given to Israel. Pretty soon, they're going to silence from the Lord that And you're also dealing with a You're dealing with a nation that has openly sinned against God. God has expressed his anger and He has brought punishment and He's ripped them off the land, under the care of secular kings. Now, there are some that have gone back, like I said, and there is a repeopling of the nation of Israel that is taking place, but it will never be the same again. It will never have the glory of It will never have the territory It will be a reduced kingdom their Messiah, looking for any as they go through this waiting Messiah, which of course we know will miss and the leadership But you're entering a period here in Israel's history of legalistic devoutness. The idea is we have been for failing to keep the law that to the other side. We're going to completely forget and we're going to enter into that if we modify our behavior, He will see our obedience and he fulfill all the promises that he And this doesn't start in a bad This starts in a really good They start out with a heart that If you read the speeches by Nehemiah and the dedication of the temple by Ezra, the heart of the people is just emboldened for God. They want to. They want to fulfill this It's been a thousand years now, Egypt, and it's been an up and And now they want to really cement themselves into this idea of obedience, and they want to serve God with all of their heart. And that's commendable. But because they seek to do it it ends up. By the time of the Pharisees on Israel's doing what they're But on the inside, Jesus says they're whitewashed sepulchers full of dead men's bones, full of sin. They are unrepentant. They resist and reject their Messiah and they ultimately kill him. But how does this all tie in One. Well, in Esther, the hidden hand of God is shown still there for his people. Even after all this time, even have walked away from him and have strayed other gods. He is still there. He is still working, and he still loves them, and he's still pursuing their Your salvation, and he's still going to send his Messiah. And so preserving the people of Israel is of absolute priority to God, because the Messiah cannot come without the line of Abraham. The Messiah needs the line of come to this world. And so the safety and the preservation of Israel is paramount. And so the writer sets the story by bringing this King Asher's or Xerxes. There's several different names Because of translation, he brings his folly to the forefront. And the context that surrounds these verses is that the king needs, desires, wants to take a military campaign against Greece. This is unfinished business for The kings that went before him They didn't conquer Greece. They pushed far into Greece, but And now he's going to be the one that goes in and he accomplishes this. That's his mind on the matter. And so he is essentially holding He is bringing people in from He is hard selling them on this Look at how powerful I am. Look at my wealth. Look at the magnificence of my I need your support because we're going to take this military campaign. We're going to stretch the This is the crown jewel, the philosophical city in the world. We're going to take those of our empire, and it's going to going to have trade, and we're going to military dominance, and things that a great egotistical And so the text says that he nobles, these or groups of around the Empire for one Now, there's conjecture. Was it one hundred and eighty Is that hyperbole? It seems like a long time, but I remember that things did not hundred BC that they do now. It took time for these different parts of the empire. It was a slow process. I'm sure when these different groups of of nobles would come in from around the Empire and from his allies, there was there was dinners, there was drinking, there was tours, there was all kinds of displays of wealth that went on. And that takes time. That just simply isn't something So I am inclined, as are many of the commentators that I rely on this is an accurate number of putting on this display, which same people all the time. It would have been different Empire that he wanted to And gain their support for his And he displays incredible I mean, if you go through and verses of the chapter, you can decorations, the way the palace types of fabrics that are used, different drinking vessels of So, you know, displaying the craftsmen of Persia. All of these things are in play. And so people are coming in and by this incredible display of this display of power. And that sends a two fold Number one, I can stand behind means of accomplishing what he But also, if I don't stand behind this man, I end up on his bad side and he has the means of destroying me. So it's a two fold message that go out to all these different governors of all these different provinces across the empire, and that's exactly what he's trying to accomplish. So we start to see that he is a He is an egotist. He is filled with everything Assurance is completely and There's no other way to describe He is filled with himself, filled with his own, you know, his name and to engrave on And of course, we know that this human being who is mortal, who and who is living a life that is And that's kind of the way the author of this book wants you to see him. They they want you to see him as powerful, incredibly stupid man. That's the persona they're And in the verses that we that eleven, they're preceded by this the end of these one hundred and for all of the people in his on this mammoth display for all around, around the Empire. Maybe it was kind of like a It's been suggested by numerous of telling his people, hey, I It was a success. Now we're going to party for And in this text, you'll see back to this one fact Asher's He was a party king. And any excuse to throw a He was there. So Asher's is there with his are closest to him. These are the people that he These are not just from the These are from Persia. They are his closest allies, his everyday confidence, his advisors. That's who's around him. And he is giving edicts to enjoy little as you want, which is an Generally, there is two types of In the ancient world, you don't drink or you drink until the king decides. You stop drinking, no matter But in this case, all drinking is given as much or as little as anybody wants. The guests can drink however much or however little they would like. And that is kind of a a show of his magnanimous heart towards the people in attendance at this feast. He is being the generous king. He's inviting them to just And seven days go by and the And this, this can be translated from he's just feeling good about things to this man is drunk. Uh, but I think it's probably when it says this, he is, he is he should be. He has entered into a state of And the problem with this is that it is going to affect his decision making. And so on this last day of the feast, his idea for the great send off is to order his Queen to appear. Now, if you read the verse just holding a feast for the women of So she is not just doing She is engaged with her own guests and she is busy doing her own feast. But he summons her to leave her guests and to appear with her royal crown. Now there's conjecture on this and I will not push it one way or another. There are two schools of He's either ordering her to appear in her, in her royal vestments, to show off her own splendour, and to make a show of herself before all his nobles or. And this is what the ancient Jews who wrote Targums on this book believed. He is ordering her to appear in In other words, to make a lewd display of herself before his court. Either way, he's demeaning his queen because he is reducing her to property. He is reducing her to Something partner in ruling the Empire. Now, of course, we know that standing at this time as men. And so it's not totally But for a king to put his queen very inebriated guests is a bad which way she is supposed to It's just not kingly. It's foolhardy. It's ridiculous. And Queen Vashti is having none And this sets off the entire This one very simple misjudgment kicks off this entire story. and it sets the backdrop for his It shows that he's really unfit The author is creating a profile of a man who has come into the throne. He has inherited the throne. He has not earned anything. He is in command of an empire that is at the peak of its superiority. The peak of its wealth, the peak But he can't even control He is unable to stay sober a time of rejoicing and He has to embarrass and And then when she refuses, it's worse because now it looks like he can't even control his own household. How can he run a kingdom when blatantly as king? Not in a private capacity between the two of them as husband and wife, but where the king formally orders his queen to appear and she says no. Now his authority has been completely undermined and he knows it. And that's exactly the man that whenever you read the name. Asher's in this book. The author wants you to think of this man at this moment right here. Humiliated before his entire ineffective governor in front of has standing and stature. Someone who is really nothing more than a party animal who happened to be born the son of a king and is now trying to rule a nation. He has absolutely no idea how to