A Bold Queen (Est. 1:10-12)

By the seventh day, King Xerxes was feeling happy because of so much wine. And he asked his seven personal servants … to bring Queen Vashti to him. The king wanted her to wear her crown and let his people and his officials see how beautiful she was. The king's servants told Queen Vashti what he had said, but she refused to go to him, and this made him terribly angry.
(Esther 1:10-12, CEV)

One of the best reasons against substance abuse is that it can definitely cause us to make bad decisions. King Xerxes has been imbibing for seven days, and he is “feeling happy.” Or perhaps feeling stupid?

He asks his personal servants to bring the queen to him to show her off. But make no mistake. It was more than his wanting to show her off. Some commentaries state that she was called to come wearing her crown—and nothing else.

And so she refused. A very bold stance. The Adam Clarke Commentary notes:

And much should she be commended for it. What woman, possessing even a common share of prudence and modesty, could consent to expose herself to the view of such a group of drunken Bacchanalians? Her courage was equal to her modesty: she would resist the royal mandate, rather than violate the rules of chaste decorum … She well knew that this act of disobedience would cost her her crown, if not her life also: but she was regardless of both, as she conceived her virtue and honour were at stake.

This is why I admire Vashti. She knew the risk she took, yet she thought enough of herself to refuse humiliation.

And so, she refused the king himself.