Readings for today: Esther 1-5
I wish I knew more about Queen Vashti. Her background. Upbringing. Life experience. Faith background. I would love to know what gave her the courage to stand up to her king. It couldn’t have been easy. Women in her time were considered more property than people. Their lives utterly dependent on the good will of their husbands. They could be beaten at their husbands request. Kicked to the curb if they displeased their husbands in any way. Killed if their offense was great enough. And yet Vashti finds the strength to refuse when her king asks her to come before him. She publicly shames her king by refusing to be objectified in front of his court. She will not be his sexual plaything. She will not allow herself to be paraded in front of the men of the empire for their perverse entertainment. It’s an unprecedented display of female power. One Queen Esther will follow in her own way as well.
Vashti’s behavior presents a threat. What will happen if women follow her example? What will happen if women start refusing to obey their husbands? What will happen if women look down on their husbands with contempt when they attempt to subject them to sexual harassment and abuse? This cannot stand! Vashti must be punished! Vashti’s behavior condemned! Imagine a world where women were considered the equals of men? Imagine a world where women held power over their own bodies? Imagine a world where men were not the masters of their homes? What kind of world would that be? What kind of chaos would ensue? The threat is dire enough for the king to issue an edict throughout his empire. From India to Ethiopia. 127 provinces in all. In every script and language. Men will rule over their wives. Their children. Their homes. It’s almost laughable if it were not so tragically true.
Throughout human history, men have sought to subject women. Women have had to fight and struggle and claw their way to freedom. To full personhood. To equality. And while incredible progress has been made, the fight continues to this day. Think about the number of women who are sexually harassed and abused at some point during the course of their lives. A startling one in five women have reported being raped. One in four women have been physically assaulted by an intimate partner. One in four women report being sexually assaulted. And 81% of women report being sexually harassed. The rise of the #MeToo movement exposed the dark underbelly of our society. It gave many women the courage to speak out about their traumatic experiences. Like Queen Vashti, they refused to subjugate themselves to the men who abused them any longer.
The gospel flips the historic male-female dynamic on its head. Rather than rule over their households like mini-tyrants, men are called to serve their wives. Laying down their lives for them as Christ laid down His life for the church. Men are called to love their wives as Christ loves us. Men are called to sacrifice for their wives, creating an environment in their homes where the women in their lives can grow and thrive and flourish. Godly husbands will put the needs of their wives above their own. They will seek to empower their wives to fulfill whatever calling God places on their lives. They will treat their wives with dignity and honor and respect. There is no place in the godly home for abuse, neglect, or harassment. Indeed, the goal for every husband is to do all he can to present his wife before the Lord, “in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:27)