THE MAIN IDEA
BASICs will experience the providence and the salvation of God. 

MAMMON SEPARATES BASICs
Mammon means worldly wealth, with the emphasis on  worldly. It has a sense of idolatry, greediness, and covetousness. And we see a perfect example  of mammon in how Xerxes showed off his vast wealth (verses 3-8). And then he threw a banquet  for seven straight days, where again, he showed off his vast wealth. Queen Vashti also threw a party for the women in the palace, even though Persian custom would have husbands and wives  attend banquets together, and they forced all the other Persian couples to separate during the  feast, as well. We can see how Xerxes and Vashti were not really yoked together as husband and  wife. The details of the narrative suggest that their “vast wealth,” so prominently on display was  a key contributing factor to their separated-ness as husband and wife. In life, we find that you  can either pursue relationships or you can pursue mammon. “You can have it all” is a lie of the  devil. Mammon always separates people, men and women, husbands and wives, and hinders men  and women from finding and experiencing a loving, lifelong, covenant marriage in Christ. 

PRIDE SEPARATES BASICs
Because of drunkenness and also pride, Xerxes summoned  Vashti so that he could show her off to all the nobles and officers. Doing such a thing was  extremely offensive in Persian. By doing so, Xerxes was sending a loud and clear message to  Vashti: you are my property. Vashti audaciously refused, and in her response we get a very  strong sense that this was not an isolated incident, but was just the climax of a power play that  had been going on between them for some time. And so the king of the known world consults his  advisors to appeal to Persian law in order to deal with her disobedience. But there was no law.  And so they made one up. Their abuse of power is on glorious display! And while Vashti was a  victim of injustice, we cannot think of her as a hero in this story. She didn’t act out of heroism,  because heroism comes from a noble concern for what is right and just. She responded simply  out of pride herself. When it says that her position would be given to someone who is better than  she (verse 19), that is pointing to Esther, who never responded with pride, but always with  wisdom and humility. Pride always separates brothers and sisters in Christ. 

CHRIST RECONCILES BASICs
Healthy, godly marriages centered in Jesus Christ are the  backbone and the engine of the kingdom of God, the church of Jesus Christ, and God’s plan of  salvation for the world in Him. But women are leaving the evangelical church at an alarming  rate. And that is alarming because (1) women have been the backbone of the church ever since  the church was born; (2) while church engagement for men is on the rise, church engagement for  women is on the decline; and (3) women’s engagement in the church has been steady throughout  history until now. The Book of Esther is about the providence of God and the deliverance of His  people from evil, even when He seems far away. We don’t see any dramatic miracles being  performed in Esther, but we see God’s mighty hand and work throughout. And God’s mighty  hand is always at work through the faithfulness and humility of brothers and sisters in Christ,  like Esther, and like Mordecai. Xerxes and Vashti are the warning. But if Christian men and  women would understand and pursue the original value of marriage as God ordained it, BASICs  will experience the providence and salvation and power of God in our lives. 

DISCUSSION QUESTION
Why do you think men and women are getting married later and having children later?