On the seventh day of King Xerxes' banquet feast, while drunk with wine, he commanded Queen Vashti to come out of her chamber to show her beauty to all his guests. However, Queen Vashti refused to come out. As a result, King Xerxes became furious and burned with anger. He asked his counselors what must be done to Queen Vashti since he disrespected him for not obeying. The counselors advised King Xerxes never to let Queen Vashti enter the king's presence again and replace her with someone better than her. The counselors feared that if nothing were done against Queen Vashti's disrespectful attitude against the king, the women in the kingdom of Medo-Persia would follow the example of Queen Vashti and disrespect the men in the kingdom. King Xerxes listened to his counselors' advice and deposed Queen Vashti from her position, and made a law throughout the kingdom of the Medo-Persian Empire that women must obey their husbands (Esther 1:10-22).
The Bible did not mention why Queen Vashti refused to obey King Xerxes' command. Perhaps the reason was that the king and the guests in the palace were all drunk, and Queen Vashti did not feel safe or respected. King Xerxes should have been protecting the dignity of her queen, but since he was drunk, his judgment was not good and led him to anger and rage. Drunkenness is not good because it brings all kinds of sinful and bad consequences. Galatians 5:21 says, "Envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God." On the other hand, Queen Vashti could have obeyed or given the king an excuse instead of a flat-out rejection. Because of how she handled the situation, she was deposed from her position as the queen of the Medo-Persian Empire.
The moral lesson that we can learn from this story is that drunkenness leads to bad and sinful consequences. There are many suffering today because of drunkenness and alcoholism. Ephesians 5:18 says, "Don't be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit." Being filled with the Holy Spirit means letting the Holy Spirit influence our thoughts and actions by listening to His conviction in our hearts.
Ask yourself these questions for application: (Think through carefully and meditate on the questions while answering them, and let the Spirit of God speak to you) How has drunkenness affected your life or someone else you know? What does Ephesians 5:18 say about drunkenness? What lesson can I learn from this story?
Write down all the worries you face today and lift them up to God.
Prayer:
Father in Heaven, thank you for reminding me today about the bad consequences of drunkenness. I pray that anyone with a problem with drunkenness would be freed from it. I pray that I will be filled with the Holy Spirit by listening to His conviction that I may live in godliness. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
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