Esther 1

“But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command delivered by the eunuchs” (v12). The book of Esther is full of ironies and surprises that display God’s way of turning human expectations upside-down. It begins with the humiliation and punishment of a woman – Queen Vashti, who rejected her husband’s drunken order to expose her beauty to strange men – yet ends with Esther’s triumph. King Ahasuerus/Xerxes flaunts his power and wealth, yet he is shown to be helpless against God’s plan.

“That every man be master in his own household …” (v22). Good leaders don’t “master” others by force or humiliation; instead, Jesus showed us that godly leaders sacrifice themselves for others.