Holy Scriptures and Israel

Guest (Male): Shalom. Holy Scriptures and Israel is a ministry designed to share with the Jewish people the good news of the Lord Jesus, Yeshua the Messiah, and to instruct Christians on the Jewish roots of their faith. And now, teaching God's Word from a Hebrew Messianic perspective, here is Gideon Levytam.

Gideon Levytam: The study of Esther Chapter 1. You can't see right when you are under the control of a strong drink. You can't have a right judgment anymore when you are under the control of wine and you see what happened here to Ephraim, that God is accusing Ephraim. You were so beautiful. You were so right and walking with me and enjoying fellowship with me.

But Ephraim, listen, this glorious beauty, it will slowly, slowly fade like a flower that was once pretty and nice and ultimately fade away. That's what happened to Ephraim and that's what happened to our people when they are away from the Lord. And by the way, that's happens to us when we are not right with God. We are not enjoying that fellowship that the Lord is intending for us to enjoy when we walk with Him.

Now, of course, he was not a godly man. He was a pagan king. Yes, granted. But nevertheless, he was still supposed to be sober and right and to have some common sense in his relationship. And at time, unfortunately, we are no different than him. And so now in Esther Chapter 1, verse 13, 14, and 15, we find out that he is approaching the wise men of Persia to give him counsel about a private matter that could have been dealt with if he would have only done the right things.

So now I want you to notice, from verse 16 to verse 20, we have four advisors that the counselors gave King Ahasuerus. And you can see that no good counsel whatsoever was given to the king. And you can see also that there must be a reason behind it that brought about their advice to the king. Maybe there was a friction between the queen and the counselors and they used this opportunity to do away with Queen Vashti.

So notice, brothers and sisters, in the four advices that they give to King Ahasuerus. The first one is found in verse 16. They accused Vashti of something wrong. Let me read verse 16: "And Memucan," Memucan was the chief spokesman there out of the seven, "he answered before the king and the princes, 'Vashti the queen has not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes and to all the people which are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.'"

First thing that they are telling him, "You know, King Ahasuerus, what Vashti did was not only that she did it to you, but she did it to us. She did wrong us too because we are the princes and also all the people of the 127 provinces. She has done wrong to everybody else." In other words, can you imagine where the counselors give a wrong advice such as this to the king and saying to him, "Listen, your wife did something wrong not only to you, she did it to me, she did it to him, she did it to them and she did it to all the provinces of Persia."

That's the first thing. You can see behind the scene here, they should have told him, "Don't you know that we all were under such a condition that it's the right thing that she did by not coming? King Ahasuerus, go to Vashti and speak with her and deal with that privately and it will be all over." But no, apparently there must have been some kind of underlying motive that these counselors must have have a reason for that.

Secondly, in verse 17, they claim now that all the women will despise their husbands. You see, notice that for this deed, in other words what she did, "this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes when it shall be reported. The King Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought before him, but she came not."

See, here we also notice another interesting thing, that apparently it was not yet publicized everywhere because it says "when it shall be reported." It was a private matter. It was just the immediate circle of the king that knew that he called her and she didn't come. So apparently they gave him the counsel, "Oh, you see, King, wow, wow, you know, by Vashti's action, we all going to suffer. See what's going to happen according to verse 17, all the women of the provinces will despise their husband in their own eyes when this thing will be made known to the 127 provinces of Persia and Media."

We learn from this, apparently, that in those days the relationship between the husband and the wife was much different than what we are taught in the Word of God. In the Word of God, the husband is the head and the wife is the heart, and they are to work together. And you can't have a body without the head functioning properly. You can't have a body without the heart functioning properly. We are to complement each other. We are to help each other, we are to support each other.

And you see, this is what the Bible teaches us about headship, that the man is the head but the woman is the heart, and these two work together and they are to live and enjoy the things of God together. But here we can see the counselors says, "Oh, King Ahasuerus, the moment everybody will know that, what's going to happen? All the wives, all the women will despise their husband in their eyes when this thing will be made known to the 127 provinces of Persia and Media."

And so this is the second wrong advice that they have given to King Ahasuerus. In fact, can you just imagine, this is happening in the same time. He is drunk, the party is going on, it's the seventh day of the party, everybody's under the control of wine. He's calling his wife Vashti, she doesn't come to him, he's sending his eunuchs to call her. She doesn't come. Then he called the advisors and he says, "Listen, give me advice." You know, usually when you make a decision on divorce, maybe stop and think before you are saying you are doing something like that. But what he does, he doesn't think right.

And so he's getting ready now to divorce his wife because he get advice from those that are his counselors. Notice the third thing that they are saying about her. Notice they didn't have a lot of love towards her because they should have just turned it all around and done the right thing. Then notice what it says in verse 18. They wrongfully advise him that even the princesses, that mean their own wives of the Persian empire, they will bring about contempt and wrath to us if we will allow this to continue on.

Look at verse 18. It says, "Likewise shall the ladies of Persia and Media say this day unto all the king's princes," that mean them, "which have heard of the deed of the queen. Thus shall there arise too much contempt and wrath." In other words, now they bring it closer home. Not only all the women of Media-Persia, but even the ladies or the princesses who are our own wives. They're going to learn from what happened with you and Vashti, and our own wife will despise us and it will bring about contempt for us and wrath against us. Oh, King, you better listen to what we advise you.

And look at the final thing that they said to him in verse 19 and verse 20. They really seal it when they give him the final bad advice to a king that is still under the control of the wine. In verses 19 and 20, they viciously advise the king to divorce his wife. Viciously and in a sneaky way, they kind of brought about the advice that he will divorce his wife. Let me read verse 19 first of all.

It says, "If it please the king, let there go a royal commandment from him and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes that it be not altered, that Vashti come no more before King Ahasuerus, and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she." See, in verse 19, in a sense, they seal the advice, this vicious advice that they give against Vashti to the king.

You know, King Ahasuerus, you see it was a private matter. It was not yet known everywhere. But they want to publicize it and send it everywhere in the 127 provinces. And he says, "Let there go a royal command." And what is the royal command? Let it be written among the laws of the Persian and the Medes, that it not be altered, that Vashti come no more before King Ahasuerus. And let the king give her royal estate to another.

Again, beloved brothers and sisters, in the light of what the theme of the teaching of the Book of Esther, the sovereignty of God and the providence of God, you can see that God behind the scenes even uses the vicious counsel of these servants of King Ahasuerus to give him an advice in order to remove Vashti so another, notice as it says here, "another that is better than she will take her royal estate."

And so, what an advice to give to someone such as this. You know, and you notice they ask him to write it as a law. And the king could write a law and the law of the Persian and the Medes is a law that will never be able to be altered. In other words, what they are really saying to him, you divorce your wife Vashti without any of the chance of reconciliation and restoration.

Turn to Daniel, please, with me, chapter six. Notice, I'm reading verses 8, 9, and 15. We read in verse eight: "Now, O king, establish a decree and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according," listen, there is a law that the Medes of Persian has is the law that nothing can be changed and reversed anymore, "according to the law of the Medes and Persian which altereth not." Wherefore, King Darius signed the writing and the decree.

Notice in the next verse, verse 15: "Then these men assembled unto the king and said unto the king, 'Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persian is that no decree nor status which the king establisheth may be changed.'" Now, what happened in Daniel Chapter 6? You see, the wicked wise men of Darius, the King of Persia, wanted to cause Daniel to stumble. And so what did they do? They wanted the king to write a decree in order that whoever will not bow his knee to the king, he will be cast into the lions' den.

That's where we get the story, young people, of the lions' den, that Daniel find himself to be there because he and his three friends did not want to bow their knees to the king who was merely a pagan king. And so there was a law that the Medes and the Persian had you could never alter it.

And so what we find out that just like in Daniel's days, it's about the same timing, Persia is the one who ruled in those days, and King Cyrus became the king that allowed our Jewish people to return to the land. In the same era, in the same time, the wise men of King Ahasuerus, another King of Persia, giving him that counsel, this unwise counsel to divorce his wife.

And they said to him in verse 19, and I'm repeating this verse, bear with me: "If it please the king, let there go royal commandment from him and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and Medes, that it be not altered, that Vashti come no more before King Ahasuerus and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she."

In other words, you see how they sneak in a very, very vicious way. They let a drunken king make a decision of casting his wife Vashti away for no wrongdoing, except the fact that she didn't come before the king who was drunk and the thousands of people who are under control of wine to be there humiliated before all the people of the lands. And so what a terrible counsel. The law of the Medes and the Persian that cannot be altered. And here they gave him that vicious advice to divorce his wife.

And finally, notice in verse 20, they wanted him to publish throughout all his empire this law, and that all the wives of the empire will give heed and honor to their own husbands. You see, look at this, and I'm reading now verse 20: "And when the king's decree which he shall make shall be published throughout all his empire, for it is great, King, you are a great king, you have a great empire, all the wives shall give their husbands honor, both to great and small."

See what they have done. They have really, in a sense, manipulated this unwise king to divorce his wife and that ultimately they will take honor to themselves in a sense that the wives will be treated in such a way that they will have to give honor, be submissive to their own husbands.

Now, by the way, brothers and sisters, the Bible does teach us that husbands are to love their wives, but it also says, "Wife, be subject unto your own husbands." But there's a difference between the way the Lord presented it to us in Scripture and the way these vicious counselors to King Ahasuerus have given this unto the king. Here it was by force. Here it was not a proper relationship between a husband and a wife. Here they would have to give honor unto their husbands because there is a law. And you can see if you're not going to do that, that's what's going to happen to you like it happened to Vashti, the wife of King Ahasuerus.

And then they're expecting it from him to publicize that. You see, they wanted him now to send this decree that everybody will hear about this event that have happened. Now, if you and I would have been in this era and we can look from above and you can just imagine, you can just see a drunken party, a drunken king, a drunken people, an unwise counselors. What a chaos in such a condition as this.

And yet the hand of God is walking around, you might say, passing through arranging everything in His providence to bring about another queen, the Queen Esther, that will ultimately be the one that will deliver our Jewish people from the destruction that the enemy of Israel had against them. So brothers and sisters, verses 10, 11, and 12, a drunken king requesting from a sober queen to come to him, a foolish request.

Verses 13 to 20, an angry king, counselors give him a foolish counsel to divorce his wife. Let me just conclude that first chapter in verse 21 and verse 22. The king foolishly decree is sent into all the 127 provinces that Queen Vashti will be divorced from the king.

And so we read in verse 21 and verse 22: "And the saying pleased the king and the prince, and the king did according to the word of Memucan." Now the king was pleased with what they said to him. Now, if he was a real man that had a godly love or, I should say, a natural love towards his wife, would he listen to this counsel? Not at all. Would he not understand that he was at fault here? He sure would if he would have have common sense. But you see, he was under the control of alcohol, of wine. He was not sober.

And that's why the warning is given: be not drunk with wine wherein there is excess, but be controlled by the Spirit of God. Of course, be wise in your decision making. But no, you can be a king, you can rule over 127 provinces in the world, you can be ruling from India to Ethiopia, you can be a great king, but an unwise king, unwise king.

And so what does he do? He listen to this wrong advice. And so it says it pleased him and it pleased them as well, the prince. And the king did exactly as they consulted him and he, as it says here in verse 21, he put the word that Memucan gave him and he put it in fact, he kind of seal it with his ring.

Remember, beloved brothers and sisters, when the law was now brought about by King Ahasuerus, the law of the Mede and the Persian he couldn't reverse it. He couldn't change his mind. Maybe later on we'll find out in the next chapter he woke up from his drunk and he realized the foolish thing that they have done.

And you see how we learn from this that the kings of this universe, even though they are great leaders in their own eyes, they're doing foolish things when they are not under the guidance of the living God. The Bible tells us in the Book of Proverbs that the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord and He does with it whatsoever He will.

The Lord can change the events. Look what's going on today in the world in which we live in today. Look at the chaos. Look what's going on with many rulers who live here in this world. This one is developing an ammunition to kill mass destruction, unwisely. They want to show their power so they can press a button and they can shoot a rocket and thousand and thousands of people will die. That's the wisdom of kings.

They don't try to make peace, to make shalom, to bring people together and to be a blessing to the world. Look what's going on in various countries in the world where there are monarchs that do as they please and get unwise counsel and does not listen to the living God and does not submit themselves to the Word of God. That's the decision that they make. And the rest of the world have to suffer because of their decision making.

So what does he do? Boy, this great king making a decision. We're going to write down what Memucan have said. We're going to send it to everybody in 127 provinces and we're going to show them who is the king. What a sad, sad condition. And so in verse 22, it says here: "And he sent letters into all the king's provinces, into every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language, that every man," listen to that, "that every man should bear rule over his own house and that it should be published according to the language of every people."

In other words, it's really male chauvinist. It's really male chauvinist. Had he really loved his wife, he would have not expected from her to do what he expected her to do. Had he was wise and sober, he would have not have done what he have done ultimately putting her away and then making a law of the Medes and the Persian which can never be altered.

Even if he would later on will say, "Boy, I love my wife and I want to have her back," but it's too late, King, because the law of the Medes and the Persian could never be altered. Could never reverse it. And you know, I'm thinking about decision that we makes in our life, sometimes foolish decision that later on we say, "I played the fool. I should have listened to my parents. I should have listened to the Lord. I should have submitted to His Word." But I played the fool.

King Saul said to Samuel, "I played the fool." He, instead of submitting to the authority of the God of Israel, he made foolish decisions and ultimately he recognize that he played the fool and he lost the kingdom of Israel because he didn't lead our nation Israel in a godly way. And what about you and I? Don't you and I feel many times we made foolish decisions? And we can't reverse it. We wish we could have swallowed back the words that we said. We wish that the things that we have done that we could reverse it back and we'll stop from it and then blessing will come, but we can't.

The decree gone, the wrongdoing is gone. We harm people. We hurt others. We even hurt the people that we love the most by the way that we conducted ourselves. We all have done that. Here is a king of 127 provinces that made a foolish, foolish decision and he write it down. It's all pride. Writing it down, sending it to every province. In fact, it says at the end of verse 22, that he publishes according to every language of the people. He wrote it in Hebrew, he wrote it in all Aramaic or Greek and every language of the lands of the whole world that everybody will be clear.

I am this macho King Ahasuerus. I cast my wife out only because she didn't come to the party that I made. I was drunk, yes. They were all drunk, yes. But she didn't come. And I am the king, you see. God loves one who is humble and not proud and arrogant. God resists the proud but He gives grace to the humble. Ultimately, those that pride themselves, He will put them down. And here we learn the mistake that this man have made.

And you notice that that every man should bear the rule over his own house. See, that is where we get the wrong attitude as heads of home, as husbands. And again, while we are the heads according to the Scripture, first Corinthians 11 says the head of every man is the Messiah. The head of the Messiah is God. The head of the woman is man, yes. But headship does not mean that a person should treat his wife wrongfully.

The headship and the heartship are to work together. The head give direction, the head give nourishment, the head give instruction. The heart is the refreshment and the love and the affection. And that's what we learn from here the wrong way in which King Ahasuerus behaved and he set up this rule, he sent it to all the people of the world that then existed and ultimately he have wrongfully received counsel instead of from seven wise men, we can call them seven foolish men who did not give the right advice to the king of Persia.

Well, may the Lord help us, dear brothers and sisters, that we will learn from this and we will draw closer to the Lord and learn from Yeshua the Messiah and get some good advice that is found in the Word of God.

Guest (Male): You have been listening to Holy Scriptures and Israel with Gideon Levytam. Gideon teaches God's Word from a Hebrew Messianic perspective. For more information about this ministry, write to Holy Scriptures and Israel, Box 1411, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, L0S 1J0. Or visit our website at holyscripturesandisrael.com. You are also invited to Gideon's weekly Bible teaching on Fridays at 11:00 AM and 7:00 PM and Saturdays at 1:00 PM at Willowdale Christian Assembly Hall, 28 Martin Ross Avenue in Toronto. Holy Scriptures and Israel is made possible by your prayers and financial support. If you would like to support the program, visit holyscripturesandisrael.com. God bless you. Shalom, shalom.