By Olubunmi Adebayo
*The most costly case of tactlessness in the whole Bible can arguably be said to be the case of Vashti, the great queen to King Ahaserus who lost her crown in a case of insubordination at the palace.*
*As the queen of the kingdom, Vashti was a critical stakeholder in the palace of King Ahaserus at Shushan, the capital city of the Persian and Media kingdom.*
*She was the most visible woman in the entire kingdom.*
*She was always by the side of the king. Her words carry authority and power whenever she made them.*
*But Queen Vashti failed to engage the power of TACT, and this event led to her removal as queen :*
*Esther 1: [10] On the seventh day, when the heart of the king was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, and Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas, the seven chamberlains that served in the presence of Ahasuerus the king,*
*[11]To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal, to shew the people and the princes her beauty: for she was fair to look on.*
*[12]But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s commandment by his chamberlains: therefore was the king very wroth, and his anger burned in him.*
*What is this TACT we are discussing here about Queen Vashti anyway?*
*According to the British English Dictionary, tact is :*
*”The sensitive mental touch a fellow should carry”.*
*The special skill or faculty in relating with people or handling situations.*
*The keen perception or discernment a fellow has developed over time.*
*The power of appreciating and doing what is required in different situations and circumstances around a man.*
*The ability to say the right thing at the right time in the right way.*
*We have the following qualities embedded inside tact : sensitivity, consideration, diplomacy, manners and etiquettes.*
*In the face-off that led to her removal, how could Vashti have disobeyed the king publicly without taking into consideration possible consequences thereafter?*
*Whatever may be the health or emotional situation with Queen Vashti, her approach in responding to the call of the husband was not appropriate.*
*Look at the event scenario again :*
*Esther 1:2-5,10-12 :*
*[2]That in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace,*
*[3]In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him:*
*[4]When he shewed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honour of his excellent majesty many days, even an hundred and fourscore days.*
*[5] And when these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace.*
*How can a whole king of that magnitude, in the presence of his officials, and officers of the nation, send for his wife and she would end up declining to Come out. This is quite reprehensible!*
*A woman who was married to the most powerful king of the world at the time not understanding the nuances of palace protocol? The kingdom of her husband spanned from Ethiopia in modern day Africa to India in far Asia.*
*The kingdom had 127 provinces, the equivalence of countries today. You can just imagine the spread of the kingdom, and the power controlling same:*
*Esther 1: [1] Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces:)*
*One critical fault of Vashti was that she shouldn’t have sent message back to the king declining to come out without giving presentable and genuine reasons for why she wouldn’t be able to come over for public admiration as the king directed.*
*She underestimated the power of the palace advisers that were always around the King :*
*Esther 1: [13] Then the king said to the wise men, which knew the times, (for so was the king’s manner toward all that knew law and judgment:*
*[15]What shall we do unto the queen Vashti according to law, because she hath not performed the commandment of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains?*
*[16]And Memucan answered before the king and the princes, Vashti the queen hath not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all the people that are in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus.*
*[17]For this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes, when it shall be reported : The king Ahasuerus commanded Vashti the queen to be brought in before him, but she came not.*
*Going by what Memucan said above here, we can say that Vashti was a proud queen, who tried to look down on the King.*
*If you read the entire verses of Esther Chapter one, nobody spoke positively about Queen Vashti. And that was not good enough for such a critical stakeholder in the kingdom.*
*Are there better ways Queen Vashti could have handled her decline to dance before the king?*
*We shall consider this tomorrow, God willing.*
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©️ Olubunmi S Adebayo.
