Vashti - the Brave or the Bad

Vashti

Everyone has a strong response to this chapter.

There are two main camps: Vashti the brave and Vashti the bad.

Vashti the brave: Some smart people think Ahasuerus (also called Xerxes) was a drunken voyeur who wanted to show off his gorgeous queen to his party guests. She refused. I call this the “Vashti, you go girl” response.

Vashti the bad: On the other hand, some scholars argue Ahasuerus was calling his queen to perform a normal state function: show up at the party. Ahasuerus was planning to go to war with Greece, and he needed Vashti to show up to underscore to all the visiting dignitaries that he was powerful and magnificent enough to be the guy who could defeat the Greeks. It was embarrassing when she refused him. Ahasuerus and his wise men make an example of her to keep other women from undercutting their husbands as well.

Whether we interpret actions as brave or bad, this story is about God and His providential care for His chosen people in exile. Vashti is a side note in the book of Esther, but God is the main character of every story.

The easy response to this passage is to fall into the same trap as Ahasuerus and think the story is about him, or Vashti, or even Esther. Our temptation is to draw an easy moral her: if Vashti di right, it’s “stand up for your dignity” and if she was wrong, it’s “submit to authority.”

God doesn’t necessarily call us to understand everything that’s happening in Vashti’s story, or even in our own story! But He does call us to be faithful in the everyday things. He calls us to wisdom. When we look at Vashti, we aren’t going to find it. We have to look at the main character in every story: God.

Wisdom is a lamp shining in a dark place (2 Peter 1:19). It is looking to God for our guidance rather than the ways or expectations of man. Wisdom isn’t knowing all the answers – its’ knowing what’s important and walking in light of that.

We don’t get all the details about the stories we read, and we don’t even get all the details about the stories we’re in. We do, however, get the bullet points from the author and star Himself: Do Justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly (Micah 6:8)

Don’t be afraid of what you don’t know. God knows. Walk in His wisdom. God is faithful to remind us that He alone is Lord.

Be Blessed!

Cheryl

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