{"id":200,"date":"2023-06-18T22:33:28","date_gmt":"2023-06-18T22:33:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/?p=200"},"modified":"2023-06-18T22:33:30","modified_gmt":"2023-06-18T22:33:30","slug":"esther-1-the-banquet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/?p=200","title":{"rendered":"Esther 1: The Banquet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\"><strong>The King's Banquet<\/strong>\n<em>Esther 1:1-9<\/em>\nThese events happened in the days of King Xerxes, who reigned over 127 provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia. At that time Xerxes ruled his empire from his royal throne at the fortress of Susa. In the third year of his reign, he gave a banquet for all his nobles and officials. He invited all the military officers of Persia and Media as well as the princes and nobles of the provinces. The celebration lasted 180 days\u2014a tremendous display of the opulent wealth of his empire and the pomp and splendor of his majesty.\n\nWhen it was all over, the king gave a banquet for all the people, from the greatest to the least, who were in the fortress of Susa. It lasted for seven days and was held in the courtyard of the palace garden. The courtyard was beautifully decorated with white cotton curtains and blue hangings, which were fastened with white linen cords and purple ribbons to silver rings embedded in marble pillars. Gold and silver couches stood on a mosaic pavement of porphyry, marble, mother-of-pearl, and other costly stones.\n\nDrinks were served in gold goblets of many designs, and there was an abundance of royal wine, reflecting the king\u2019s generosity. By edict of the king, no limits were placed on the drinking, for the king had instructed all his palace officials to serve each man as much as he wanted.\n\nAt the same time, Queen Vashti gave a banquet for the women in the royal palace of King Xerxes.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What was the background and what were the circumstances for the feast?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What details stand out to you or cause you to want to know more?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-verse\"><strong>Queen Vashti Deposed<\/strong>\n<em>Esther 1:10-22<\/em>\nOn the seventh day of the feast, when King Xerxes was in high spirits because of the wine, he told the seven eunuchs who attended him\u2014Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas\u2014 to bring Queen Vashti to him with the royal crown on her head. He wanted the nobles and all the other men to gaze on her beauty, for she was a very beautiful woman. But when they conveyed the king\u2019s order to Queen Vashti, she refused to come. This made the king furious, and he burned with anger.\n\nHe immediately consulted with his wise advisers, who knew all the Persian laws and customs, for he always asked their advice. The names of these men were Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan\u2014seven nobles of Persia and Media. They met with the king regularly and held the highest positions in the empire.\n\n\u201cWhat must be done to Queen Vashti?\u201d the king demanded. \u201cWhat penalty does the law provide for a queen who refuses to obey the king\u2019s orders, properly sent through his eunuchs?\u201d\n\nMemucan answered the king and his nobles, \u201cQueen Vashti has wronged not only the king but also every noble and citizen throughout your empire. Women everywhere will begin to despise their husbands when they learn that Queen Vashti has refused to appear before the king. Before this day is out, the wives of all the king\u2019s nobles throughout Persia and Media will hear what the queen did and will start treating their husbands the same way. There will be no end to their contempt and anger.\n\n\u201cSo if it please the king, we suggest that you issue a written decree, a law of the Persians and Medes that cannot be revoked. It should order that Queen Vashti be forever banished from the presence of King Xerxes, and that the king should choose another queen more worthy than she. When this decree is published throughout the king\u2019s vast empire, husbands everywhere, whatever their rank, will receive proper respect from their wives!\u201d\n\nThe king and his nobles thought this made good sense, so he followed Memucan\u2019s counsel. He sent letters to all parts of the empire, to each province in its own script and language, proclaiming that every man should be the ruler of his own home and should say whatever he pleases.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What do you think was King Xerxes&#8217; motive for his summons to Queen Vashti?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Why do you think she refused? Was she right to do so?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What advice did the king&#8217;s advisors give? What do you think of their advice?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What does all this tell us about the time and circumstances where this account took place?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Comment on the &#8220;law of the Medes and Persians&#8221;.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The King&#8217;s Banquet Esther 1:1-9 These events happened in the days of King Xerxes, who reigned over 127 provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia. At that time Xerxes ruled his empire from his royal throne at the fortress of Susa. In the third year of his reign, he gave a banquet for all his nobles&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-esther-for-such-a-time-as-this"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Esther 1: The Banquet - Thursday Bible Study<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/txcolliers.net\/biblestudy\/?p=200\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Esther 1: The Banquet - Thursday Bible Study\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The King&#039;s Banquet Esther 1:1-9 These events happened in the days of King Xerxes, who reigned over 127 provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia. 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