Glory of Christ Fellowship

As we work our way through Esther it is hard to ignore the topic of pride. Haman and Xerxes were the two most powerful people in the world at this point, and they both had plenty of pride to boot. Haman’s pride is easier to point out because it so visibly and so neatly satisfies one of our favorite Proverbs:  Proverbs 16:18 - Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.  Haman wanted genocide for the Jews when Mordecai refused to bow down to him. Haman made a gallows pole that was 75 feet high for Mordecai. This is ridiculously high and would have been seen for miles around.  The danger for us in reading the Bible is that many of the examples of pride are so fantastic that we might not think we relate. Maybe we should be thankful for the outlandish examples. If we had the resources of Haman we might go to equally ridiculous lengths that he did. In this, we see the potential of pride within our own hearts.  There is another consideration as well....

In our first sermon in our series on Esther we covered chapter 1 and the tremendous party King Xerxes threw. The party lasted six months for his army and officials and governors. After this period of 180 days was over Xerxes threw a party for seven more days that the entire city of Susa was invited to. Xerxes was showing off his wealth and showing off his glory to everyone far and wide. This “showing off” climaxed when, in his drunken state, decided to summon his beautiful wife who was also Queen Vashti so that he could impress his guests with her beauty.  You are probably familiar with the story as it unfolds. Vashti isn’t impressed. She isn’t flattered that her husband is still attracted to her, even after all these years. She refuses him and it brings him great embarrassment when the King isn’t able to parade his catch in front of the drunken crowd that is hungry for some entertainment. So it seems to beg the question, should she have submitted to the king or was she justified...