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By Dean Kelly

Vashti the Queen made a moral decision that cost her position as queen. She directly disobeyed King Ahasuerus, her husband, who got drunk and wanted to parade her and show off her beauty before all the attendees at a banquet he had put on. She simply refused to be a part of this scheme which she felt was improper and wrong. The king was furious with her and removed her from her position as queen (Esther 1). Vashti had stood on her moral principles and did not care what the consequences would be.

There was a need for another queen to be named. Ultimately the king fell in love with a young Jewish woman named Esther. He made her his queen.

Following a series of events, Mordecai (an uncle who had raised Esther) approached her because the Jews were going to be killed and asked her to go before the king and somehow change this outcome. She knew that this could possibly, by law, cause her to be put to death.  

The response of Esther is found in Esther 4:16 “… And so I will go to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish!” She was going to act to save her people, the Jews, if at all possible, or die trying.

From Vashti and Esther, we learn the determination to do the right thing, no matter what the consequences might be. In the one book of the Bible that does not specifically mention the name of God, the power of the providence of God is clearly shown, as stated in Mordecai’s statement, “… Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14).

These two strong women of the book of Esther set an example for us. Are we ready to bow before the King at the feet of His cross, and to serve Him, to stand on our moral principles that come from Him, no matter what the consequences may be? 

We may be here exactly for “such a time as this”!

Dean Kelly is minister at Highland Home Church of Christ.