Don’t take a stand – rationalize!

Scripture Read: Esther Chapter 1:10-18 On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, ¹¹ to bring Queen Vashti before the king with her royal crown in order to display her beauty to the people and the princes, for she was beautiful. ¹² But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command delivered by the eunuchs. Then the king became very angry and his wrath burned within him. ¹³ Then the king said to the wise men who understood the times—for it was the custom of the king so to speak before all who knew law and justice ¹⁴ and were close to him: Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media who had access to the king’s presence and sat in the first place in the kingdom ¹⁵ “According to law, what is to be done with Queen Vashti, because she did not obey the command of King Ahasuerus delivered by the eunuchs?” ¹⁶ In the presence of the king and the princes, Memucan said, “Queen Vashti has wronged not only the king but also all the princes and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. ¹⁷ “For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women causing them to look with contempt on their husbands by saying, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought in to his presence, but she did not come.’ ¹⁸ “This day the ladies of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen’s conduct will speak in the same way to all the king’s princes, and there will be plenty of contempt and anger.  

Application: There are so many things in this passage that can be distasteful to us – and rightly so - The King’s drunken behavior, the King wanting to show off his wife like a trophy and even how he treats her like a slave. Of course we must caution ourselves that this was not only a different time, but a different culture. We do not think like this for the most part today, although there are some very repressive countries in this world even today in their treatment of women and children. One of our challenges when we read passages that really go against what we consider right and wrong, or even civilized behavior, is to not get lost in all of the emotions this produces in us and miss the truths the Word of God and the Holy Spirit desire us to see. When we study the scriptures we can & should take the time to think and wrestle through all of those issues, but when our goal is to commune with the Lord we need to focus on the part of the Word that is speaking directly into our lives. This passage has one clear truth, though it is a comical one. The fear of the men to Vashti’s refusal to submit is real and shows their self-serving ways, however a deeper truth still lies underneath the funny circumstance. Rationalization! Since the Queen did stand up to her husband, now all our wives will! Funny – yes – but buried in the humor is a flaw we all struggle with. Allowing the behavior of someone else to justify what we want to do, so we rationalize our actions. This is a real danger, not funny at all. We must do, what we do, knowing God will hold us responsible for it, not someone else. Adam learned that the hard way!! Father help us to be honest with You.    

* Meditation Questions: Do you look at what others are doing to see if you can do it also? Why? Who will stand before the Lord for any and all actions you have taken? So why would we look to see if others are doing it? When you read the Scriptures, what are you looking for? What does that say? How easily do you lose your thoughts when you read Scripture and get side tracked by issues that are not relevant to your life? What does that say?