Queen Vashti and King Ahasuerus: The power struggle between men and women

Esther 1:9-12

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.

“Queen Vashti also made a feast for the women in the royal palace which belonged to King Ahasuerus.” Esther 1:9

Queen Vashti hosted a feast for the wives of all the government leaders, from the international to the local level. She enjoyed being in the spotlight, feeling powerful and admired. She probably had a pretentious and impressive style, as well as an imposing presence as the king’s wife. Like her husband, she also showed narcissistic and grandiose traits, with no empathy for her husband, the king, as verse 12 reveals.

Instead of being full of our own self-importance, the Holy Spirit puts in our spirit what John the Baptist voiced aloud, we must decrease and Jesus Christ must increase. “He must increase, but I must decrease. He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth.” John 3:30-31

“On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, seven eunuchs who served in the presence of King Ahasuerus, 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.” Esther 1:10-11

King Ahasuerus displayed his wealth and majesty to the most influential and important people under his reign. He treated his wife, Queen Vashti, as a possession and a symbol of his glory, not as a human being. He wanted to flaunt her beauty as his Queen to satisfy his own narcissism and grandiosity. The global government of the beast also objectifies people until the end of this world’s system, and regard them as commodities, as it is written, “…and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men.” Revelation 18:13

Jesus said, “Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep?” Matthew 12:12 

The global government of the beast forms its global culture by objectifying human beings. They totally disregard the human spirit and human conscience through the entity giving people what to feel, think, say, and do. It enables the image of the beast to live and speak through people everywhere and those who welcome it are the beauty and splendor of the government of the beast. The masses of people conform to the anti-Christian global culture as they are groomed to the mark of the beast by what they say and do. The people of the global culture, who belong to the global government, value themselves more than they value God the Creator. They resent being called sinners who need Jesus Christ to forgive their sins. They treat the Holy Spirit as someone to control, abuse, use, and destroy.

“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.” Esther 1:12

When Queen Vashti refused to obey her husband’s order to show herself off for his ego, he was furious. He felt a huge public humiliation and a matching rage inside him. The queen’s rebellion was seen by every important wife of the most powerful and influential leaders under the king’s authority. The leaders themselves also witnessed her rebellion. She might have deliberately manipulated the situation for that very reason.

A marriage that is doomed to fail is one where a spouse puts their own importance above the other. A marriage should be free of power struggles, whether they are about who is grander, who is more respected outside the home, or who wields the most financial power. “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another…”Romans 12:1

The Bible teaches us that we should avoid marrying or forming a bond of any type with anyone who does not share our faith in Jesus Christ and His teachings. “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?” 2 Corinthians 6:14

To follow the Lord Jesus Christ, we need to humble ourselves and respect each other. Wives should honor their husbands and husbands should honor their wives. Christ is head over the Church who subdues the carnal beast of human nature, and we are His Church as His disciples.

“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself.” Ephesians 5:22-28.

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11