Location and TimesEsther 1:19 If it please the king, let there go a royal commandment from him, and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and the Medes, that it be not altered, That Vashti come no more before king Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal estate unto another that is better than she.
The king had called for his wife Vashti to come and dance before his friends. She did not want to exhibit herself that way. The king’s friends began to pressure him to push her and later to punish her. They want him to make a public example of her so that all of their wives will better obey them. He gives in and thus the book of Esther has a story to tell.
As I read this I think of how many times I have been influenced to do things that I later regretted. I was influenced by the brothers. It affected my preaching. It affected how I treated others. It affected decisions that I made.
Wouldn’t it be better to think carefully though things and maybe to move slower no matter what the friends might think. We are influenced to change too quickly and then regret it.