Thought from today’s Bible reading from Esther 1-5.
The morals (or lack thereof) of those in positions of power can have a great influence on society as a whole. When sinful conduct is seen as normal by those in the public eye, it will eventually be seen as normal by a host of others.
The advisors of King Ahasuerus understood this. When Queen Vashti disobeyed her husband (the King), this was the advice they gave:
“Queen Vashti has wronged not only the king but also all the princes and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus. For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women causing them to look with contempt on their husbands by saying, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought into his presence, but she did not come.’ This day the ladies of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen’s conduct will speak in the same way to all the king’s princes, and there will be plenty of contempt and anger.
“If it pleases the king, let a royal edict be issued by him and let it be written in the laws of Persia and Media so that it cannot be repealed, that Vashti may no longer come into the presence of King Ahasuerus, and let the king give her royal position to another who is more worthy than she. When the king’s edict which he will make is heard throughout all the kingdom, great as it is, then all women will give honor to their husbands, great and small‘ (Esther 1:16-20).
We should not try to make more of an application here than is necessary. How this matter was dealt with may not have been in harmony with the law of God – but the rulers of the Medes and Persians are not meant to be an example of godliness. Rather than focusing on how this was dealt with, we should notice that it was dealt with. Why? They understood that if such behavior was tolerated, it would spread to the rest of the kingdom.
When our leaders engage in sinful behavior, we should do what we can to counteract their influence. We may not be able to remove one from public office like King Ahasuerus was able to do with Queen Vashti (unless it is through the voting booth), but we can expose sin and teach the truth.
We should not be afraid of speaking out against the sins of those in power. They have a lot of influence in society. If God’s people are silent about the publicly-known sin of our rulers, then their influence will spread even more rapidly.
Tomorrow’s reading: Esther 6-10
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
Daily Notes & Observations contains all 365 articles from this series and is available in paperback from Gospel Armory.
