Scripture ignores these military matters because the writer’s purpose was to explain how Esther became queen. It was at the conclusion of the seven-day banquet that Ahasuerus, “in high spirits from wine” (Est. 1: niv), ordered his queen to display her beauty to the assembled guests, but she refused to obey. Her response, of course, was a triple offense on her part. Here was a woman challenging the authority of a man, a wife disobeying the orders of her husband, and a subject defying the command of the king. As a result, “the king became furious and burned with anger” (v. 12 niv).
As you study the book of Esther, you will discover that this mighty monarch could control everything but himself. His advisers easily influenced him; he made impetuous decisions that he later regretted; and when he didn’t get his own way, he became angry. Susceptible to flattery, he was master of a mighty empire but not master of himself. “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city” (Prov. 16:32). Ahasuerus built a great citadel at Shushan, but he couldn’t build his own character. “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls” (25: nkjv). The king could control neither his temper nor his thirst.
This is a good place to stop and consider alcohol and anger—two powerful forces that have brought more destruction to our society than even the statistics reveal.
While we appreciate the king’s wisdom in not forcing his guests to drink (Est. 1:8), we can hardly compliment him on the bad example he set by his own drinking habits. The Bible doesn’t command total abstinence, but it does emphasize it. The nation of Israel didn’t drink strong drink during their wilderness pilgrimage (Deut. 29:5–6), and the priests were instructed not to drink wine or strong drink while serving in the tabernacle (Lev. 10:8–11). The Nazirites were forbidden not only to drink wine but even to eat the skin or seeds of the grape (Lev. 6:1–3). Though our Lord Jesus drank wine while here on earth, He is today a “total abstainer.” People who claim Jesus as their example in social drinking, and even point out that He turned water into wine, should take Luke 22: into consideration: “For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come” (kjv). I wonder whether these people “follow His example” in any other areas of life, such as praying, serving, and sacrificing. (Probably not.)
Most of the advertisements that promote the sale of alcoholic beverages depict fashionable people in gracious settings, giving the subtle impression that “social drinking” and success are synonymous. But pastors, social workers, physicians, and dedicated members of Alcoholics Anonymous would paint a different picture. They’ve seen firsthand the wrecked marriages, ruined bodies and minds, abused families, and shattered careers that often accompany what people call “social drinking.”
Longtime baseball coach and manager Connie Mack said that alcohol had no more place in the human body than sand had in the gas tank of an automobile. Alcohol is a narcotic, not a food; it destroys, not nourishes. The Bible warns against drunkenness (Prov. 20:1; 21:17; 23:20–21, 29–35; Isa. 5:11; Luke 21:34; Rom. 13:13–14; 1 Cor. 5:11; Eph. 5:18; 1 Peter 4:3–5), and even the Koran says, “There is a devil in every berry of the grape.”
The best way to avoid drunkenness is not to drink at all. A Japanese proverb warns, “First the man takes a drink, then the drink takes a drink, and then the drink takes the man.” And King Lemuel’s mother taught him, “It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink” (Prov. 31: kjv).
As for the anger that King Ahasuerus expressed toward his lovely queen, it was ignorant, childish, and completely uncalled for. Had the king been sober, he would never have asked his wife to display her beauties before his drunken leaders. His pride got the best of him, for if he couldn’t command his own wife, how could he ever command the Persian armies? Since Vashti had embarrassed the king before his own leaders, the king had to do something to save both his ego and his reputation.
Vashti was right, and Ahasuerus was wrong, and his anger was only further proof that he was wrong. Anger has a way of blinding our eyes and deadening our hearts to that which is good and noble. The Italian poet Pietro Aletino (1492–1557) wrote to a friend, “Angry men are blind and foolish, for reason at such a time takes flight and, in her absence, wrath plunders all the riches of the intellect, while the judgment remains the prisoner of its own pride.” If anybody was a prisoner of pride, it was the exalted king of the Persian Empire!
To be sure, there’s a holy anger against sin that ought to burn in the heart of every godly person (Rom. 12:9). Even our Lord manifested anger at sin (Mark 3:5), but we must be careful that our anger at sin doesn’t become sinful anger (Eph. 4:26). Sometimes what we call “righteous indignation” is only unrighteous temper masquerading in religious garments. Jesus equated anger with murder (Matt. 5:21–26), and Paul warns us that anger can hinder our praying (1 Tim. 2:8).
Pride feeds anger, and as it grows, anger reinforces pride. “A quick-tempered man acts foolishly,” warned the writer of Proverbs 14:17, a text perfectly illustrated by King Ahasuerus. Instead of being angry at Vashti, the king should have been angry at himself for acting so foolishly.
Before leaving this part of our story, I want to point out that the gospel of Jesus Christ has helped to liberate and elevate women in society wherever it has been preached and obeyed throughout the world. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). We still have a long way to go in our recognition of the importance of women in the church, but thanks partly to the influence of the gospel, society has made progress in setting women free from cruel bondage and giving them wonderful opportunities for life and service.