{"id":3178,"date":"2016-03-21T07:08:45","date_gmt":"2016-03-21T07:08:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/?p=3178"},"modified":"2016-03-21T07:20:00","modified_gmt":"2016-03-21T07:20:00","slug":"purim-a-story-of-two-queens-and-lessons-in-pride-and-humility-for-our-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/purim-a-story-of-two-queens-and-lessons-in-pride-and-humility-for-our-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Purim: a story of two queens and lessons in pride and humility for our times"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Tom Brennan,<\/strong><\/p>\n

Purim is coming. Many know this as a holiday where the rescue of the Jews in Babylon from extermination by Haman\u2019s plotting was accomplished by the bravery of Hadassah (Queen Esther<\/a>) and Mordechai. It\u2019s a time for celebrations, dressing in costume and remembering how The Almighty preserves His people. It was the first attempt at holocaust. The second attempt failed as well. Eternal covenants are after all, eternal.<\/p>\n

\"Purim

Purim in Jerusalem<\/p><\/div>\n

Purim is also the story of two queens and a king\u2019s pride. Queen Vashti was the king\u2019s first wife. Rulers usually had a first wife, the queen and second wives and unlimited consorts. Even David had more than one wife and some consorts. Solomon<\/a> took this to the limit. Ahasuerus had called his governors and deputies to a banquet spread over several days and nights. In Middle Eastern cultures of ancient and even today, men and women dined separately and did not mix in social society. The men only banquets were macho affairs and drinking was heavy. Ahasuerus was bragging about the beauty of his queen and decided to have her appear at the banquet. This was an insult and affront to her and she refused. Unfortunately the king was committed to having her obey his command and could not back down before his drinking buddies no matter how much he really loved Vashti. To complicate things even more, the nobles saw this refusal as a sign of weakness and that their wives and concubines could interpret it as a signal to not obey their commands in this male dominant culture. The king\u2019s pride outweighed any shade of decency and his fear of being seen as weak ruled his decision. Vashti was divorced and disappears from history. The king needed a new first wife and queen.<\/p>\n

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