What do women's lib and the sovereignty of God have in common? They collide in the first chapter of the story of Esther. I was listening to that chapter this morning on my Youversion Bible app and chuckled at the irony of those two things not only being present in the same passage, but also being significant parts of the story.
The Old Testament book of Esther tells the story of how a beautiful young Jewish girl was promoted to be the new queen of Persian King Ahasuerus. Of course there is more to the story than chapter one, but that is where women's lib and the sovereignty of God collide with each other.
Queen Vashti was summoned by King Ahasuerus. This was not unusual. The king wanted to see his wife. As you might imagine, there is a bit more to the story. The summons happened on the seventh day of a drunken party. Furthermore, the king was not interested in simply spending time with his wife. He wanted to display her beauty to his guests. Just what did he have in mind? The text does not tell us, but I think it is safe to say that the text offers a child-friendly description of what might have been intended.
At that point the story takes an unusual and unexpected turn. The queen said "no." She refused to come. Her refusal was not only dangerous and scandalous, but had the potential to lead a revolution among the women of the kingdom that would have far-reaching consequences to Persian men throughout the kingdom. I'm not making this up. It is all right there in the first chapter of Esther.
Rather than telling you the rest of the story I want to challenge you to read it for yourself. If you have time, read the entire chapter. If not, read Esther 1:10-22. If that is still too much, at least read verses 15-18. I think you will chuckle, even as I did early this morning.
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