QUEEN VASHTI DEFINES THE BIRTH OF WOMEN RIGHTS MOVEMENT
Queen Vashti was not divorced but demoted.
Esther was crowned Queen, but not the only woman for King Xerxes.
Every time I think about women's rights, Queen Vashti is my hero!
Truth is many women who praise Esther in Church today don't want to be used by menfolk as objects of entertainment.
The Esther women of today want to preach with men on pulpits. They behave like Vashti but praise Esther.
They call themselves the Esther women, yet they want the freedom of Queen Vashti.
To fully understand the drama of Esther, one need to know the setting of the stage.
The setting of this short story is not in God's land/Jewish nation, under God's rule.
The setting of Esther is undoubtedly situated in the diaspora in the Persian court.
German critics describe the genre as Diaspora-novelle.
The story of Esther should not be confused with the character or personality traits of Esther.
If we follow that road Esther's character moves from one disgrace to another disgrace & the King Xerxes rewards her instead.
I had to make peace that following Esther's character is setting a bad precedence especially for Christians who believe in no sex, no testing before marriage.
Those who preach against polygamous relationships, and no sex before marriage momentarily get amnesia when dealing with Esther and the sexually immoral King.
Every virgin girl who was presented before the King lost their virginity & no other man can marry a woman touched sexually by the king.
Yes, Esther was chosen among them as Queen while the rest remained in Herem where they remained as the King's concubines.
As the German critics describe the genre as Diaspora-novelle, we don't expect the law of God, holiness & faithfulness in the character of Esther.
This is a plot & action story that must be understood within it's setting & genre.
Queen Vashti is not a loser, Queen Esther is not the winner.
It is God who was busy, silently pulling the strings behind the scenes to win the victory for his people.
And Queen Vashti is a symbol of defiance against the use & abuse of women by powerful men both in church & politics.
We need the Vashtis of our times who will say enough is enough, we will not be defined by the men we are married to, or the bosses who sign our salary cheques or the Men of God who run the churches.
Well written. The passage of scripture if critically looked at is so conflicting especially considering what Esther had to go through by having premarital sex with the King? What do we learn from this?