Esther 1

"to bring Queen Vashti before the king, wearing her royal crown, in order to show her beauty to the people and the officials, for she was beautiful to behold.  But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command brought by his eunuchs; therefore the king was furious, and his anger burned within him." vv.11-12

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A week long feast is taking place put on by the King of Persia- Xerxes.  He is not an Israelite, does not know God or His law, he seems to think he's the center of the universe.  His reason for the feast: to show off his splendor.  Right off the bat of this book you can read the king's pride and arrogance, he wants everybody to see how great he is.  Pride always has a backfire at some point, especially in marriage as we see it leads to the divorce of him and queen Vashti.  Most likely the men of Xerxes' party were drunk by now since it is the last day of the seven day feast and the "wine was flowing." Now Vashti is throwing a party of her own during this time for the women and the king wants to show off her beauty- which in one way seems honoring for the king to think one of his most prized possession is his wife, yet a wife is not just a trophy to be won to look at, she is more than her beauty and that's where the problem lies with this marriage.   Arrogance, alcohol and anger are not a good combination.  The sin of pride of the king led to the sin of pride of the queen.  Others peoples sins so easily leads others to sin as well.  Now you can say Vashti was right in how she responded, but if the situation didn't have the pride and alcohol mixed in and was asked by her husband to come that she'd not even think to do it?  We don't know why she refused the king, we can only assume but can't know for sure.  The kings advisors (not from God) command that a law be made to make husbands the dictators in their marriages.  This is not what God commands but the nations.  How often do we read God saying for husbands to love and respect their wives!  God is not the center of this marriage, so let's not use it as an example of how God says marriages should be.  Yet how have you been like a Xerxes or Vashti in your marriage?  Has the sin of one cause the sin of the other?  How can you not let sin respond to sin?