Honor the Other Person Because You Are Worthy

Honor the other person because you are worthy; a devotional series from the Book of Esther

““If it meets the king’s approval, he should personally issue a royal decree. Let it be recorded in the laws of Persia and Media, so that it cannot be revoked: Vashti is not to enter King Ahasuerus’s presence, and her royal position is to be given to another woman who is more worthy than she. The decree the king issues will be heard throughout his vast kingdom, so all women will honor their husbands, from the least to the greatest.”” (Esther 1:19–20, HCSB)

The worth of a wife is in the way she treats her husband. In the story of Esther, we have a queen, who for this particular culture is not reflecting proper royal standards. The queen was expected to be a model for other wives and single women. How the queen treated the king showed the women how to treat their husbands. She was an example. For some reason (and we are not told all of the details), Queen Vashti did not live up to this example.

The king gives a banquet. After the banquet (and after he was still abuzz from the party the night before), the king wanted to show his wife to the people. The queen refused and the king became angry.

“On the seventh day, when the king was feeling good from the wine, Ahasuerus commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who personally served him, to bring Queen Vashti before him with her royal crown. He wanted to show off her beauty to the people and the officials, because she was very beautiful. But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command that was delivered by his eunuchs. The king became furious and his anger burned within him.” (Esther 1:10–12, HCSB)

At first glance, it may seem that this was not the proper behavior for a king, and that he was not acting properly as a husband to his wife. One could then see that she disobeyed the king, and refused to go see him for the right reasons. But that is not the case. The verse is talking about the dishonorable behavior of a wife of a king. It is not about the king’s behavior. By the way she is acting, Vashti is revealing her character. She has made the king look like a fool. Someone close to the king (who should be trusting the king) refuses to listen to him. The advisors tell the king that there is someone better for him because Vashti will not honor the king. That says something about the quality of the present queen.

The point of this passage is not that the king is a fool because he gets drunk. The king wants to show his wife’s beauty (and thus her honor) in public. The fact is that Vashti was not honorable in the first place as a queen and she shows that dishonor by refusing to come to the king when he requests her.

We have to remember that Someone is working in the background for a greater purpose. God is going to use this event to help His people. Queen Vashti will be deposed so that God can use someone else. God is going bring someone in who does honor the king and who is more worthy.

How does this passage speak to wives about the way they should honor their husbands?

What does this passage say to me about how to honor someone else important in my life?