Vanquished Vashti

So, the well oiled Persian advisors came up with a plan. Their fear was that: “As goes the Queen so goes the harem.” They couldn’t countenance a situation where the male folk had any restraints upon their natural instincts. And those instincts included a snapping of the finger and having an obedient, deferential lassie appear on command. In their minds Queen Vashti’s refusal was a scandal. They came up with a plan: “Therefore, 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pleases the king, let him issue a royal decree and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media, which cannot be repealed, that Vashti is never again to enter the presence of King Xerxes.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 king’s edict is proclaimed throughout all his vast realm, all the women will respect their husbands, from the least to the greatest.” The king and his nobles were pleased with this advice, so the king did as Memukan proposed. He sent dispatches to all parts of the kingdom, to each province in its own script and to each people in their own language, proclaiming that every man should be ruler over his own household, using his native tongue. ~Esther 1:19-22  

Good old Memukan, whose name means: “dignified”, brought forth the proposal. Whether his character matched up with his name is not given to us. What we do know is that he was savvy enough to side with the King in his anger. Convinced that the King was truly offended and full of wrath over this minor domestic dispute, he put the pedal down and belched out a universal edict for all households everywhere.
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It was a calculated risk. Kings were rather summary in those days. Their minds could change in an instant. But this was a clear case of wounded Kingly pride. After six months of peacock-strutting the King had scripted a grand finale – the presentation of his trophy wife. No one would doubt his virility and his affluence when they got a gander of Vashti. She would make every man and woman in the room feel inadequate and that was the point. But, she was a no show. She said, “Nah.”  The entire pageant of strength and wealth would be seen as a charade. Xerxes might well rule a country but his wife was the one who wore the royal pantaloons. Knowing all of this, Memukan proposed an edict that would sow marital discord in the four directions. Persian homes would now be filled with “mini-me” kings bossing their ladies around.

What’s interesting is that no one asked the Queen why she refused to come. There could have been a thousand good reasons. Perhaps she was having a really bad hair day? Maybe she didn’t feel well? She might have been skunk-faced drunk? Who knows? But her refusal to appear set in motion a series of events that would lead an adopted daughter of Israel to a place of influence that would shake the power of structure of the Persian empire. Vashti’s “No” was God’s “Yes”.