The King’s Feast
Sunday, November 24th, 2024
Christ Covenant Church – Centralia, WA
Esther 1:1-8
Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces:) That in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace, In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him: When he shewed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honour of his excellent majesty many days, even an hundred and fourscore days. And when these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace; Where were white, green, and blue, hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black, marble. And they gave them drink in vessels of gold, (the vessels being diverse one from another,) and royal wine in abundance, according to the state of the king. And the drinking was according to the law; none did compel: for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do according to every man’s pleasure.
Prayer
O Father, we thank you for the mystery of Christ’s kingship, that is concealed in the Old Testament and revealed in the New. Teach us to hunger and thirst for righteousness, for the justice of your throne, so that the glory of our land might be brought into your heavenly kingdom. For we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Introduction
Well for the last two weeks we have been studying the historical context in which the book of Esther takes place. And this morning we begin our exposition of these opening 8 verses.
By way of review, recall that this story takes place in Shushan/Susa which was the royal capital of the Persian Empire. And we said that the When of this story is a ten year span from 519-509 BC, which is within the broader Era of Restoration in the history of Israel. So while the books of Ezra-Nehemiah, Haggai and Zechariah describe the Jews rebuilding in Jerusalem, Esther describes the simultaneous happenings of the Jews living in Shushan, 1,000 miles away. So we said that in order to rightly interpret and understand Esther, we need to understand those other books as well, and so we’ll continue to bring in material from those other books whenever it has relevance or bearing on our passage.
Now our text this morning focuses on King Ahasuerus (also known as Xerxes, or Darius the Great). And there are three questions I want to ask of these 8 verses which will be crucial for understanding who Ahasuerus is and why he does what he does throughout this book. Those three questions are:
- What is the king’s biggest problem?
- What is the king’s solution to that problem?
- What do these opening verses reveal about the king’s character?
So our focus this morning will be on assessing the character of Ahasuerus as Scripture presents him.
- By the way, if you look at the back of your bulletin, you can see a famous carving of this Ahasuerus in what is known as the “Behistun Inscription.” This is a cuneiform carving authored by Ahasuerus, written in three languages: Old Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian.
- If you look closely at the image, you can see Ahasuerus with his foot on the neck of rival king Gaumata, and behind him nine other kings and/or pretenders to the throne, that he conquered all in a single year.
- Later I’ll read you some of the contents of this inscription, but it is amazing that in God’s providence we have an actual carved image and words authored by Ahasuerus so we know (kinda) what he looked like, and more importantly, what he thought about himself as king of the world at this time.
So there is your illustration for this week, let’s now consider our first question.
Q1 – What is the king’s biggest problem?
The answer to this question is found in verse 1. Let’s read it again and see if you can spot the king’s problem.
Verse 1
1Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces:)
- Put yourself in Ahasuerus’ shoes. If you are Ahasuerus, your biggest problem is that you are king of 127 different provinces that span 3,000 miles from India to Ethiopia, amongst whom are diverse peoples speaking different languages who have their own local customs and ways of living.
- And what’s more, you live in an age without cars, without airplanes, without drones or satellites, there are no cellphones, no internet, no television, no radio, you don’t even have newspapers yet. The fastest way of communicating your laws and wishes is by a handwritten decree that gets sent on horseback. And it will take weeks and in some cases months, for such a decree to travel from your capital in Shushan to the borders of your empire.
- So that is the world you live in and somehow, you have to maintain law and order and unite in your empire. How are you going to do that?
- So the king’s biggest problem is how to unite and make peace amongst so many different peoples, nations, languages, and customs, who are geographically spread out with (in some instances) thousands of miles between them. How do you make peace and unity in such a sprawling diverse empire?
- In modern day terms we might ask, how do you make peace between Democrats and Republicans, between upper class and lower class and everyone in between. How do you make laws that are just and righteous so that both the city mouse and the country mouse can get along? The problem of empire is diversity, and the big question for whoever rules that empire is: What is going to be my principle of unity? Diversity is only good insofar as each member makes some contribution to the one body-politic. The king as head of the state must find a way to assimilate all its members so that they serve the common good.
- This is the great problem Ahasuerus must deal with. And we find the first stage of his solution in verses 2-4.
Q2 – What is the king’s solution to this problem of unifying his empire?
Verses 2-4
2That in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace, 3In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him: 4When he shewed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honour of his excellent majesty many days, even an hundred and fourscore days.
- The first stage of the king’s solution is to throw a great feast for all the governing officials beneath him: his princes, his servants, the nobility, all the movers and shakers of those 127 provinces. The invitations go out, and all the important and respected leaders of those provinces are invited to attend.
- And this is not just a weekend party, it is a six-month, 180-day all-inclusive festival, so you have plenty of time to travel there, see the sights, and enjoy the luxuries of Shushan.
- You can imagine the king is inviting all the important celebrities, athletes, entrepreneurs, senators, judges, CEOs, and so forth to this great party. This is the greatest feast the world has ever seen, and everyone who has influence in the kingdom is invited. This is the kind of party that everyone would want an invitation to, because everyone important is going to be there, not to mention the free food and drink.
- So what is the intended effect of this 180 day feast?
- The text tells us in verse 4, it is to show forth and display the glory, riches, and majesty of the king and his kingdom. More practically this would mean giving the leaders of those 127 provinces ample time to mingle and celebrate and feel like they are part of this great empire. The King’s glory is their glory. The king’s riches are their riches. The King’s majesty is their majesty.
- This is how Ahasuerus intends to unite competing and conflicting interests. He wants to gather them under one glorious banner and give them a banqueting table to feast around.
- Ahasuerus understands Proverbs 14:28, “In the multitude of people is the king’s honour: But in the want of people is the destruction of the prince.”
- What makes a king truly glorious is not mere gold, silver, and precious stones, but rather it is to have a multitude of virtuous people (men and women of hayil) who love his rule, who wish his reign lasts forever, who toast to his health and say, “long live the king, may his years endure.”
- This is what Psalm 72 foretells of God’s messiah, “In his days shall the righteous flourish; And abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, And from the river unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; And his enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: All nations shall serve him…His name shall endure for ever: His name shall be continued as long as the sun: And men shall be blessed in him: All nations shall call him blessed.”
- Remember that at this stage in Israel’s history, Ahasuerus is God’s appointed king of the world empire (oikumene). He is successor to the Cyrus of whom Isaiah 45 prophesied saying, “Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, Whose right hand I have holden, To subdue nations before him; And I will loose the loins of kings, To open before him the two leaved gates; And the gates shall not be shut; I will go before thee, And make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, And cut in sunder the bars of iron: And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, And hidden riches of secret places, That thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.”
- So in this Era of Restoration, when no Son of David sits in Zion, God ordained that these gentile kings would govern his people until the time that Jesus Christ comes. This is what Daniel explains to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2. Four kingdoms shall arise: Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. And in the days of Rome a stone from heaven, cut without human hands, would crush and consume all those kingdoms. And that is the kingdom of Christ and His saints (the age in which we now live).
- So what I want you to notice as we consider Ahasuerus’ and his reign, is that He is both a forerunner and type of the King Jesus who is to come, and he is at this stage in history the actual divinely appointed ruler of the world. God had given him supernatural help and victory over his enemies, and Ahasuerus knew and acknowledged that.
- If you read that Behistun Inscription, you will discover that Ahasuerus gives all glory to the Creator God on High. And while not a Jew himself, He is a gentile God-fearer who worships the Most-High God.
- I’ll read you a sample of how he summarizes his position as king: “This is what I have done. By the grace of Ahuramazda have I always acted. After I became king, I fought nineteen battles in a single year and by the grace of Ahuramazda I overthrew nine kings and I made them captive. [Then he lists the nine kings and why he conquered them.]
- Who is this Ahuramazda, he speaks of? Ahura is the Persian word for Lord, and Mazda is the Persian word for Wisdom. So he is literally the Lord of Wisdom.
- Recall that Daniel served in Cyrus’s court and was the 2nd highest in command (everyone knew who Daniel was. And so it is possible that Ahasuerus learned about this Creator God and Lord of Wisdom from Daniel himself. If you study the timeline and the ages of these men, Ahasuerus (born in 550 BC) would have been in his mid-late teens when Daniel was still active. And if you read the full inscription, it essentially describes the biblical religious cosmology just in Gentile/Persian terms.
- To read you a few more lines from that inscription:
- [iv.53] These nine kings did I capture in these wars.
- [iv.54] As to these provinces which revolted, lies made them revolt, so that they deceived the people. Then Ahuramazda delivered them into my hand; and I did unto them according to my will.
- This is what I have done in one single year; by the grace of Ahuramazda have I always acted. Ahuramazda brought me help, and the other gods [likely referring to the angelic beings which we see in Daniel], all that there are. On this account Ahuramazda brought me help, and all the other gods, all that there are, because I was not wicked, nor was I a liar, nor was I a despot, neither I nor any of my family. I have ruled according to righteousness. Neither to the weak nor to the powerful did I do wrong. Whosoever helped my house, him I favored; he who was hostile, him I destroyed.
- [And then finally he describes a rebellion he put down in the 2nd and 3rd year of his reign, right before this great feast we read about in Esther.]
- “Those Elamites were faithless and Ahuramazda was not worshipped by them. I worshipped Ahuramazda; by the grace of Ahuramazda I did unto them according to my will.
- [v.73] King Darius says: Whoso shall worship Ahuramazda, divine blessing will be upon him, both while living and when dead.”
- So that is a first-hand account, written by Darius/Ahasuerus as to how he conceived of his rule and position as king. Over and over again he gives glory to the Lord of Wisdom, worships this Lord of Wisdom, and acknowledges that he rules because of the grace of this Lord of Wisdom. He knows the Lord of Wisdom blesses in this life and the life to come.
- Now that does not mean the king was morally blameless, but it harmonizes with everything we learn about Ahasuerus in the book of Esther.
- So hopefully that historical rabbit trail helps you understand that this problem of unity was indeed a big and live problem, it was fresh in his mind, and Ahasuerus had that inscription written also on parchment and sent to all the province to be read. And so the book of Esther opens in the third year of his reign with hopes of peace on the king’s mind.
- How do you create the kind of love, loyalty, and righteous dominion of Psalm 72, if you are Ahasuerus?
- Well Phase 1 is a 180 day feast, where he tries to win over all those who might be tempted to envy the king, or subvert his authority, or rebel against him. What Ahasuerus must do is get all those subordinate rulers and provinces to have an aligned and vested interest in the king’s success. If they feel like the king’s glory is their glory, the king’s riches are their riches, they will want to keep that good thing going.
- There is famous maxim in economics that, “when goods do not cross borders, soldiers will.” In other words, when there is not mutual trade and some shared benefit between nations, war is inevitable. And so you want as many positive and shared interests within the empire to strengthen the common good.
- That is the purpose of this long feast. It is vision casting for a golden age of Persian rule (a feast that never ends). It is a chance for networking, wining and dining, and bringing together the most influential people in the world.
- Now if that is Phase 1 of Ahasuerus’ plan for unification, Phase 2 goes a step further. We read in verses 5-8…
Verses 5-8
5And when these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace; 6Where were white, green, and blue, hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black, marble. 7And they gave them drink in vessels of gold, (the vessels being diverse one from another,) and royal wine in abundance, according to the state of the king. 8And the drinking was according to the law; none did compel: for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do according to every man’s pleasure.
- So after the king has thrown this long feast for the elites in the empire, He tops it off with a 7 day feast for everyone who is Shushan, great and small, rich and poor, masters and servants, doesn’t matter who you are, all are welcome.
- And what are they allowed to do? They are essentially allowed to live like the king for a week.
- They get to walk in the king’s palace. They get to stand in his court. They get to smell the flowers of his personal garden. They get to recline on his gold and silver couches, and drink from his golden cups, as much or as little as they want.
- Ahasuerus is not just benevolent to the princes and nobility, he shows favor to the poor. This is a king who invites the lowliest in Shushan to experience living like royalty for seven days.
- And so this brings to our third and final question…
Q3 – What does all this reveal about the king’s character?
- In almost every modern commentary that I have read, Ahasuerus is presented as a drunken, proud, and angry fool. This is in large part because they identify him wrongly as a later Persian King who was conquered by Alexander the Great, and that is why you have to be careful to not let extra-biblical sources cloud your reading of the biblical and inspired text.
- There is nothing in these opening verses to insinuate the king is proud or boastful or foolish. If anything, it shows us the exact opposite.
- Given the position the king is in, a great feast for all the nobility is about the wisest and most prudent action he could take. I cannot think of a better way of uniting a vast empire than this. Can you?
- And then a second feast for everyone else shows that this king desires to share his glory with everyone alike, great and small. Although the king is rich and glorious and majestic, he is also humble and generous.
- Ahasuerus is heeding the words of Christ in Luke 14:13-14, “But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.”
- If we take a snapshot of this seven-day feast, we see that it signifies in many ways the eternal feast that Christ speaks of in the gospel.
- The number 7 is of course the number of fullness, rest, and completion. And like Ahasuerus, Jesus invites to his eternal feast everyone great and small.
- He says in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
- What is the yoke and burden that Jesus offers? It is submission to his reign as King. It is the grace of faith through which you freely enter his kingdom.
- Recall that the context of this offer of rest comes right after Jesus is accused of being too festive, too much of a party animal. He says in Matthew 11:19, “For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He hath a devil. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.”
- It is ironic that Jesus, like Ahasuerus, is accused of being too extravagant, too lavish, a glutton and a drunkard. The commentators and historians read 180-day feast. “No way.” And then a seven-day feast for everyone in the city. “Not historically accurate.” But this says more about the commentators than the actual king.
- What was Jesus’ first miracle? Turning water into wine at a wedding.
- What does Jesus say the kingdom of heaven is like? He says in Matthew 22, it is like a certain king who makes a great wedding feast for his son and invites everyone to come to it.
- The scandal of the gospel is that it is over the top. It is too much. It is too universal. Everyone is invited. How can both great and small live like kings? How they can drink from his golden cups, and recline on the palace furniture? This is not fitting, this is not right, says the Pharisee.
- But that is the feast that King Jesus offers to the world.
- Like Ahasuerus, Jesus welcomes us all into his garden palace, His new Eden, a new heavens and new earth. And what is the only law at this feast? Esther 1:8 says, “And the drinking was according to the law; none did compel: for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house, that they should do according to every man’s pleasure.”
- This is the king’s festal law: Drink until you are satisfied. In the words of the Apostle Paul, do not be drunk with wine, but rather be filled with the Holy Spirit.
- Do as Psalm 116:13 says and, “take up the cup of salvation, And call upon the name of the Lord.”
- Much more could be said about the parallels between this feast and Jesus’ feast. But let me close with the words of Christ, and the invitation he leaves us at the very end of Scripture.
Conclusion
It says in Revelation 22:12-17
“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen.
