Xerxes
Clear Thinking
by Dr. Woodrow Kroll
By the time Apostle Paul counseled Timothy to “use
a little while for your stomach's sake”
(1 Timothy 5:23).
King Xerxes Had a long since destroyed himself
with too much "medicine."
Name: “Prince” or “Chief”
Date: 5th
Century BC
Identification: King of Persia: husband of Esther; also called
Ahasuerus
Story Line:
Ahasuerus ruled vast empire; drunkenness destroyed him
Read it in the Bible: Esther 1:1-2: 17
Xerxes succeeded his father, Darius his Hystaspis, in
485 BC. In the Bible we no him
Ahasuerus, the husband of Queen Esther. From
the Book of Esther we gain some insight into just how powerful and rich this
king was. His empire was vast,
stretching from India to Ethiopia. It took
one hundred eighty days to show his officials the extent of his net work. He built the capital cities of Susa and
Persepolis. Little wonder he was known
as Xerxes the great.
According to the Greek historian Herodotus, in
the third year of his reign Xerxes held a convocation of his leaders to plan an
invasion of Greece. The book of Esther
begins with a banquet scene that probably reflects that convocation. There Xerxes, in a drunken stupor, called for
his first wife, Vashti, to display her beauty before his drunken friends. Vashti refused and Xerxes had her banished,
replacing her with Esther.
The Bible says that there is something better
than wine for determining future plans. “Therefore
do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is
dissipation; but be filled with the spirit,” Eph. 5:17-18.
Excess wine leads to unclear thinking (Proverbs
20:1). Being filled with God’s spirit
leads to joyful thinking (Acts. 13:52). Xerxe’s
rule ended in 465 BC when he was assassinated in his bedchamber by a
courtier.
Be filled with the Holy Spirit instead of
wine, you will have a much brighter future.
Source:
Confident Living Magazine
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