Bibledoorajar looks at Persian Royalty

     The kingdom of Persia was great at the time of the story of Esther. We learned in the book of Daniel that Persia ruled over 120 provinces at that time. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had previously invaded Jerusalem and taken many Jews captive to Babylon. When Persia defeated Babylon about seventy years later, Persia allowed the Jews to return home to rebuild Jerusalem and God's temple. However, only a remnant of Jews went home. By the time of Esther the remnant was in Israel and royalty in Persia ruled over 127 provinces. These stretched from India to Ethiopia. The kingdom and the kingship was in the hands of Ahasuerus. Ahasuerus was a title rather than a personal name and meant mighty or venerable king. The king's queen was Vashti who was a descendant of the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. Ahasuerus planned to improve his worldly posture even more by invading Greece. He planned and plotted for a long time about this. He consulted military and political resources who served the king across the vast empire.
      As the story of Esther opens, Persia's mighty king has decided to hold two feasts or banquets. The first would be for the nobles and princes and the second would be for the people of the land both great and small. The rooms of the palace in Shushan the capital would be filled for 180 days and the palace was filled with the dazzling wealth and splendor of the kingdom. The palace and all its' trappings were very elegant. The stewards were told to serve each man what he wanted from the royal abundance of food and wine.
     Vashti, the queen whose name means "the best", also gave a banquet for the women in the royal apartment. While the Queen was involved with her banquet, the king being in high spirits from wine, sends the seven officers who attended him to bring the Queen with her crown in to his banquet. He was anxious to show her off for the record states that she was a beautiful woman. But Vashti refused to come at the order of the king  given by the seven officers. The king was livid. Why did Vashti fail to keep the king's summons? The scriptures do not say. It could be that her ancestry dictated a lack of loyalty to the king and she wanted to embarrass the king. Whatever her motive, her actions backfired on her. 
Vashti reminds us of Israel. God, through seven major prophets, summoned "the best" to return to Him, but she refused. The councils of heaven instituted plans for the church. The temple and its glory passed away and Israel's peoples were scattered. There is a lesson for us here. May it never be said of the church that when God summons us we do not come to him so that He might show forth our beauty. Do you agree?

Bibledoorajar joins with the Queen in admiring the seating of Solomon's officials

     When the queen went in to be seated at Solomon's table she noticed all of his officials; they were seated together at the king's table. The Bible account says that King Solomon had desires to build certain cities and buildings and make other improvements for his constituents. It was necessary for him to have officials to supervise the completion of these works. The queen sat at table with two hundred and fifty officials who were dedicated to the efforts of the king. While she did not know what each one was responsible for,  she was impressed with their devotion to the king and his works.

     I sometimes think about the men that Christ selected to help Him start building the church kingdom. They often ate together; the most famous meal being the Last Supper. Here they are depicted in a painting by Jacobo Bassano which was done in 1542. They did not come to him with long resumes of how they had previously carried out official duties, but somehow, they sensed their new leader was going to be able to transform them into officials. They were intrigued with the kingdom which He proclaimed. The queen drew near to Solomon's kingdom, but Jesus told these men that His kingdom had drawn near (Mark 1:15). The challenge for these men was much greater than that of the queen. She could open her eyes and see the splendor and could see the officials who managed it all. But the men Jesus called were grappling with how they could help build a kingdom that Jesus said was "within" (Luke 17:20-21). and unseen. And, when Jesus told them that their most prestigious and official religious building would be destroyed they were really confounded. But still the responsibilities were given--"the Father has sent me, so I am sending you". However, Jesus had a master plan and a means to its' end. He would turn them into officials through the power of the Holy Spirit. And that is exactly what He did. Later, when the apostle Paul visited Jerusalem, he met with some of these officials of the church and they sat at table together. They soon would capture a worldwide vision with constituents everywhere. The same Spirit that empowered them would empower others to continue building the kingdom. Their message was "The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many". And so, these officials welcomed Paul and his band that would build in faraway places and welcome the gentiles into the kingdom. Uncharted territory was the goal. These officials gave their all to carry out the desires of the King and died (many by torturous means) in His service. They will have special seating at the Great Feast of Heaven which we will all share together. I, for one, will be greatly impressed with their seating. And there will be so many others whose seating will be impressive. How many times will I say thank you? Thank you for your class, thank you for your sermon, thank you for taking care of the orphans, thank you for all your supervision and leadership. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!