X is For Xerxes: King Xerxes - Clear Thinking

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:  5^th 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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V is for Vashti: A Challenge to Modesty

V  is for Vashti: A Challenge to Modesty

                                                         —Dr. Woodrow Kroll 

Super Bowl XXXVIII was one of the most exciting post-season NFL games ever.  But the antics at the MTV- produced half time show overshadowed a great game.  Many believe that exposing Janet Jackson’s breast on international television brought the plummeting morality of the industry to a new low.

Name: “Thread”

Date:  5^th Century BC

Identification:  Persian queen refused to exhibit herself during drunken feast

Story Line:  Vashti proved to be a pagan with some backbone

Read it in the Bible:  Esther 1:1-22

Throughout history women have had to make difficult choices between modesty and popularity.  No one displayed more courage in making that choice than did Queen Vashti.  She was the beautiful queen of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes 1) who reigned over one hundred twenty-seven provinces from India to Ethiopia. 

When the king sponsored a weeklong feast at his citadel place at Shushan, he commanded his queen be brought before him wearing the royal crown.  But the king and his friends were drunk and Vashti refused.  The reason for her refusal is not   given in the text, but the Persian historian Herodotus notes that she feared her dignity amidst the drunken men.  The Jewish Talmud also suggests that modesty was the issue.  Apparently Vashti refused the king’s invitation because she would not stoop to exposing herself in front of these drunken men.

Ever since Adam and Eve sinned and discovered the nakedness, God has been putting clothes on people, and satan has been tempting people to take them off.  But the Bible says, Women are to adorn themselves in modest apparel (1 Timothy 2:9), and there seems to be a direct correlation between spiritual maturity and modesty.

It takes moral courage to dress in an appropriate way, but that courage never escapes the notice of God.  Plan your wardrobe today as you would plan your life, knowing that you have a loving Father to please. 

                                                      

Source:

Confident Living Magazine