Purim: a story of two queens and lessons in pride and humility for our times

by Tom Brennan,

Purim is coming. Many know this as a holiday where the rescue of the Jews in Babylon from extermination by Haman’s plotting was accomplished by the bravery of Hadassah (Queen Esther) and Mordechai. It’s a time for celebrations, dressing in costume and remembering how The Almighty preserves His people. It was the first attempt at holocaust. The second attempt failed as well. Eternal covenants are after all, eternal.

Purim is also the story of two queens and a king’s pride. Queen Vashti was the king’s first wife. Rulers usually had a first wife, the queen and second wives and unlimited consorts. Even David had more than one wife and some consorts. Solomon took this to the limit. Ahasuerus had called his governors and deputies to a banquet spread over several days and nights. In Middle Eastern cultures of ancient and even today, men and women dined separately and did not mix in social society. The men only banquets were macho affairs and drinking was heavy. Ahasuerus was bragging about the beauty of his queen and decided to have her appear at the banquet. This was an insult and affront to her and she refused. Unfortunately the king was committed to having her obey his command and could not back down before his drinking buddies no matter how much he really loved Vashti. To complicate things even more, the nobles saw this refusal as a sign of weakness and that their wives and concubines could interpret it as a signal to not obey their commands in this male dominant culture. The king’s pride outweighed any shade of decency and his fear of being seen as weak ruled his decision. Vashti was divorced and disappears from history. The king needed a new first wife and queen.

Hadassah, soon to be Esther or Ishtar, is sent as a candidate for the harem. She is an orphan and her uncle, Mordechai is a member of the king’s court. The Babylonians were canny in their conquests and when Babylon overran Israel and carried off the leaders and elite with them they did not decimate the land. Crops and farmers were left to send tribute to Babylon and a minimal occupation force was stationed in the captured territory. Without leaders to resist, the land became a useful asset. The Hebrew elite were indoctrinated into Babylonian society and government. Daniel, the men in the fiery furnace and Mordechai are evidence of the process.

One of the king’s councilors, Haman was jealous of the Hebrews place in society and decided to eliminate them. He set in place a plan where the Hebrews would be forced to deny their allegiance to God and swear fealty to Babylon instead. Mordechai’s position as an insider at court let him know of this and he convinced the now-queen Esther to speak up. Haman was caught up in his own plot and the Jews were saved from this first large scale plan to eliminate them as a people of One God.

Esther was a girl from nowhere, a humble orphan whom God selected to save His people. She acted out of place, defied a societal rule, and won the king’s heart and loyalty. God used a girl with no family or connections, placed her in a position to act and moved her to overcome her legitimate fears of violent repercussions. He used an unlikely person to do a great deed. He also moved a queen in a high place, Vashti, to hold to her dignity and face divorce, disgrace and an end to a life of privilege. Vashti’s sacrifice opened up the door for God to move Esther to where she could move the king to act.

God’s protection of Israel, then and now shows us how we must stand with The Land. All the military might, money and power mean nothing when arrayed against the King of Kings. If we do not stand with Israel, we stand alone and that is never a very good idea.

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