[0:00] Take your Bibles, if you would, and turn with me to the book of Esther, chapter 1 and verse 11. I am excited to be able to share with you a great Bible story that teaches us great truths.
[0:12] The book of Esther, you know the name of God is not mentioned, but his hand is seen everywhere. The story that we will talk about today is not the real story.
[0:23] So the real story is how God's going to replace Vashti with Esther because God will want his people in place to get a job done.
[0:34] And so the real story is not about husbands demanding that their wives obey them. That is a sub-story, a secondary story. It's just telling you how dumb men can be and how weak men can be when they can't rule their own home and get their wife to love them.
[0:52] They need somebody to make a rule for them. Amen. So all you ladies can relax. I sat down and Austin Cook was sitting beside me and his wife had already told him they had to leave because she wasn't going to put up with him being the boss at his house.
[1:06] Amen. Turn in your Bible with me to Esther, chapter 1, verse 11 and 12. You know the story. The story is that they're going to try to kill all the Jewish people in this kingdom.
[1:21] And so God's maneuvering behind the scenes and it's not stated and it's not clear because if you were alive in that day and time you could have easily thought of this as coincidence.
[1:33] But God says it wasn't coincidence. It was me. And I'm moving things. And he's alive and at work in your home. And so the king is going to need somebody to speak some reason to him.
[1:47] And so Vashti will be moved off the scene and Esther will be moved on the scene. But I still think God doesn't tell stories without a purpose. So even when he tells this story here, I think there are lessons that can be learned.
[2:01] And so I want to ask you to look at that with me if you would. The Bible says in Esther, chapter 1 and verse 11, To bring Vashti the queen before the king with the royal crown to show the people and the princes her beauty.
[2:17] For she was fair to look on. But the queen Vashti refused to come. And that made the king very wroth and his anger burned in him.
[2:28] Father, I love you. I love your book. I love every story and every detail you give us. I don't always understand.
[2:39] I don't always know exactly what you're saying or doing. But I seek you and I want you to help me. And then I ask you for your people, God. We love you as a people. As a church, we love you.
[2:51] And we love your Bible, the book, the scriptures that you've given us. And God, we want to serve you as a people. We have decided that we want to serve you. And we need your instruction.
[3:02] So Holy Spirit, I ask you to come. And I ask you to work this morning. I ask you to speak to every heart. I ask you to open hearts that aren't saved, that they would get saved today. And I ask you to open hearts of men that they would learn to love their wife like Christ loved the church.
[3:17] And not like this wicked king treated his wife. And I pray, dear God, that your name would be glorified. And I pray, God, that we would know as we leave the story, you are a great God.
[3:29] Worthy of our worship. Worthy of our praise. Because you are the God of creation. The God of salvation. The God of everything. And we give you praise in Jesus' name.
[3:40] Amen. Amen. So don't forget, the real story here is how Esther gets to have a place of such importance. But in the story, the king wants to make a spectacle of his wife and show off her beauty.
[3:56] There's no discussion about what he's doing. He doesn't call her in and say, Now, baby, I want to talk to you about this tomorrow while I'm getting drunk. I just thought maybe you could put on some nice clothes and get your crown on and sashay through the room and let everybody eyeball you and just think of how pretty you are.
[4:15] So I'll be calling you at about 10, 15. And just please come on in there when they ask you to do that. But there's nothing said about that. In the story, Vashti's going to act like modest.
[4:27] But it's not really biblical modesty. She's not even born again. She's not on her way to heaven. She's not doing that. I think she's just like every other woman that says, Hey, you don't need to be calling attention to my body. You don't need to be trying to get by just to eyeball me.
[4:39] And so she didn't want to do that. Just real quick, let me just throw in a couple of plugs here. In the story, Vashti comes across as a very modest lady. You know, I don't know what their dress would have been.
[4:50] I don't know if she had her head and face covered and her whole body covered like some people in certain religions might wear together today. I don't know what kind of clothing she wore.
[5:01] But whatever it was, she was like, I do not want to be paraded in front of your drunken friends. Now, can I just say as a pastor and as a Christian, modesty ought to be on the heart of every Christian, man and woman.
[5:18] We ought not be in the business of calling attention to our bodies. That modesty, biblical modesty is calling attention to your spirit and your heart.
[5:37] I ought to travel more. It's not about wearing something short and revealing or tight and clinging. It's about saying, I'm not here to parade my physical beauty.
[5:49] I would like you to check out my love for Jesus. I would like you to check out my heart, my spirit, my love for God. Go with me to Ephesians 1.16.
[6:00] Tension can relax. But just to be honest with you, it ought never be out of our minds that we ought to dress modestly. By the way, that goes for men, too. This whole idea of you trying to show off your body is just as wrong as women doing it.
[6:14] It's only two lines in my outline, but man, y'all are tense.
[6:30] I was in a really strong independent church this week. Maybe I just got some courage up. Esther 1.16. The weak men in this story who have not earned the respect of their wives are astonished at Vashti's reluctance to obey her husband.
[6:50] I love this story. I mean, you got a sissified, drunk, weak-kneed baby of a king with a whole bunch of creeps just like him sitting in a room.
[7:04] And they couldn't leave their home if they tried to. Their wife doesn't love and respect them. And so the story is just humorous to me. Look at Esther 1.16.
[7:15] The spokesman for the congressmen and the senators of the country said, the queen has not only done wrong to the king, she has brought great damage to all of our kingdom.
[7:29] I mean, if Vashti cannot obey you, sir, verse 17, then my wife's going to despise me, too. When the word gets out, as soon as the National Enquirer prints this story, I'm in trouble.
[7:45] I want to say, buddy, you must have already been in trouble or you wouldn't be whining like that. But I'm not going to say that. Just like I'm not going to say that about modesty that we said. Verse 18. Thus shall there arise too much contempt and wrath.
[8:01] These men are not earning the respect of their wives, so they desire to have it legislated for them. There's a book called Love and Respect.
[8:15] It's a good book about marriage, a book I would suggest that you read. It's kind of based off of Ephesians 5, 22 down through 33, which is the story of Jesus and the church. But in the story, in the book, the man is to love his wife.
[8:29] Three different times God tells the man, you need to love your wife. You need to love your wife. You need to love your wife. Because no matter how much men think they know about love, they must not know about it.
[8:41] Because they don't do it good enough. And so God has to say, if I had to talk to you about marriage, that's what I'd tell you. You need to love your wife. Oh, if I had to talk to you about marriage, second thing I'd say to you is, you need to love your wife.
[8:55] Hey, whoa, whoa. If I had to say something to you about marriage, the third thing I'd say is, you need to love your wife. Then he says to you ladies, and by the way, I used to preach that in Peru. And I used to say to the Spanish people, I'd say, y'all think you are Latin lovers?
[9:07] But obviously you're not. Because God had to say it three times. You don't know how to love. And so men, we ought to work at loving. And on the other side, he tells the wife to respect her husband.
[9:18] He says three times, ladies, there's something you don't do too good in your house. You don't submit yourself. You don't reverence your husband. You don't respect your husband. You don't respect.
[9:30] So three times he says, ladies, if I had something to say about marriage, I'd say, y'all ought to respect. Y'all ought to respect. Y'all ought to respect. And the story here is the story about Vashti and the king not getting along, and it making the evening news.
[9:45] CNN and Fox News and MSNBC and everybody else is out there reporting it. Can you believe this? The president can't get his wife to do what he says.
[9:57] But here's a biblical principle for you. That book explains it. You ought to read that if you've got any kind of struggles in your marriage. If a man would love his wife, if a man would love his wife, she would learn she would respect him for his love.
[10:11] And if she would respect him, he would love. And if he would love, she would respect. But here's what ends up happening. He doesn't show love, so she doesn't show respect. And so it goes from not loving to not respecting.
[10:22] And you're on a downhill plunge. And you're going to need to call Mr. King out of the book of Esther and say she won't respect me and she won't obey me, so somebody bring a gun and make her do it.
[10:35] It might be wise for us to learn how foolish it would be to pass a law that would try to force women to love and obey their husbands. Amen. If men and women will practice what Jesus taught in Ephesians 5, 21 through 33, we will solve this problem.
[10:54] And I said, not a marriage seminar. You ought to go to the one. We'll have our marriage retreat. We will go off and we'll talk about marriage the whole time. Most of you don't come, but you need to. And it would save me some time in the office and we'd have more fun together.
[11:07] Amen. So it's like prevention. An ounce of prevention is worth an hour of my time. And so please come to the marriage retreat. But anyway, in Ephesians 5, verse 25, Jesus told the man, love your wife as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it.
[11:27] So if the king had been loving his wife and being kind to his wife and doing the things like Jesus does for the church, we wouldn't have had this whole chapter. And if the wife had been doing what Jesus told the church to do, which was to reverence her husband, to submit to her husband, to show respect to her husband, we wouldn't have been having this chapter.
[11:48] Let me throw three things at you quickly for you men. I can just see some dingbat, independent Baptist preacher preaching Esther 1 and acting like this is what God was really trying to say.
[12:01] Esther chapter 1 is not God saying men ought to make a law that your wife has to obey them. It is. This idiot made that law. And I'm just telling you the story about the idiot. So, I can just see some of you this afternoon at home going, he he he, right here and say, you got to obey me.
[12:16] They made a law. It's in the Bible. But if you read the whole story, you realize it wasn't about that. It was about the dingbat. Say amen. So don't be the dingbat. Can I get an amen right there, sir?
[12:28] Don't be the dingbat. Embarrassing your wife in public is never right. He was going to embarrass his wife in public. I don't know anything about Vashti.
[12:39] I don't know anything about the culture of that day. But if I had a bunch of my buddies and we were all sitting around and I said, Betty, put on that thing, you know, I like you in. Get some red and black on. Get one of them scarf things you do around your neck.
[12:49] Get on some of them boots and just come prancing through. I just want you to come on through. Walk on through the house and show off a little bit of beauty. And I just want the guys to realize. I told them you're good looking. Come on in here and show it off.
[13:00] Do the runway walk in the living room. We'd have to have more in the law. We'd have to have a coroner. Amen. Not for her, but for me.
[13:12] Embarrassing your wife in public is never right. Say amen. Gentlemen, trying to act like the big boss just to show how little you are is not right either. Say amen. You know what?
[13:22] God has to go around pulling out the boss cards, not the boss. I mean, do you realize if the general has to walk in the room and say, hey son, I'm a general and you will salute me. Well, he must not be much of a general.
[13:36] So you trying to act like a big boss is obviously not right. I should quit preaching, man. Y'all are getting madder every minute. Talking about your wife with your buddies is a show of your weakness.
[13:50] It's not your place to walk out. What's he doing talking about his wife like that? What's he doing saying, pass me another beer. Woo, that's just hot. Of course, y'all do that on Facebook all the time.
[14:07] Moving on to point number two. I'm going to get nice for it's over, I promise. Tonight. Talking about your wife with your buddies, that's a show of weakness. I don't know what in the world.
[14:18] I think if you could just imagine it, I think if we made a movie of it, everybody in this room would despise this old king. He's in the room. So this idea of Christian machoism is not biblical.
[14:31] That's something made up of a bunch of idiots. You're to love your wife like Christ loved the church and died for it. Say amen. You're to love your wife like Christ loved the church and gave himself for it.
[14:43] You're to love your wife like you love your own body. I imagine if somebody called in old king and said, you come strutting through here for the ladies and show off your muscles. He'd be like, look here lady, don't be trying to be demeaning.
[14:55] Don't be treating me like a sex object. So some men ought to get that straight. Sitting in there past me another beer. Boy, my wife's pretty. The other guy said, well my wife's pretty too. He said, well she ain't pretty as my wife.
[15:06] Watch this, I have my wife come through here and I'll just have her prance right on through if y'all check her out. Kind of dumb. But the real story here is none about that. You read the chapter and it sounds like that's what it's about but it's really just trying to get us to chapter 2 and in chapter 2 we're going to find out God's bringing this woman in who is going to save the nation of Israel.
[15:24] Second thing I want you to look at if you would go with me to Esther chapter 1 in verse 7. So it's going to get hot today. I turned the air canister down so we could make it but here it comes. Drinking leads to destruction.
[15:41] There's all you can drink at this party and they're drinking in gold cups. Esther chapter 1 in verse 7 they gave them drinking vessels of gold. The vessels being diverse one from another and royal wine in abundance according to the state of the king.
[15:58] So the king is extremely rich and what's really unusual about his house is everybody's not even going to drink out of the same kind of goblet. So one of you can have a goblet with a lion's head on it and another can have one with a peacock on it but everybody's got a really fancy goblet.
[16:12] Pass me my goblet I don't want mine mixed up with anybody and it's big time there's tons of alcohol flowing because he's a big shot king. In Esther chapter 1 in verse 8 he says you can drink any amount you want to drink you don't have to get drunk which was not normal many times in those countries when the king got drunk everybody had to get drunk with him but it says in Esther chapter 1 you could do according to every man's purpose.
[16:39] But in Esther chapter 1 in verse 10 the king had been drinking long enough but he was now lit. He was merry. He was happy. He was enjoying life because of the amount of wine he'd had to drink.
[16:54] That's when he decides to call his wife and have her parade her beauty before his drunken friends in verse 11 to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the crown royal to show the people and the princess her beauty for she was fair to look on.
[17:10] I got a feeling she wasn't going to be covered up real good. I got a feeling she was going to have to be a little on the revealing side to show them her beauty. How many times has drink made you do something that embarrassed you?
[17:27] Hurt you hurt others just like in this story. The Lord wouldn't put these stories about what alcohol does to people if he wasn't wanting you to be warned about what alcohol does to people.
[17:40] By the end of this story the king and the queen are going to be separated. The queen's life is going to be destroyed because he got drunk and couldn't handle his liquor in front of his buddies.
[17:51] You should decide that you will not allow yourself to be controlled by any foreign substance and only be filled with the Holy Spirit of God and the Word of God. Every Christian in this room ought to make up your mind that you will not be brought under the power of anything.
[18:07] Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 12. Make a note in the margin. The Bible said all things are lawful but that doesn't mean they're expedient but all things are not expedient.
[18:18] All things are lawful but I will not be brought under the power of any. so if you had a good head on your shoulders you would say I'm not going to let some pills take over my life I'm not going to let some alcohol take over my life I'm not going to let some drugs take over my life I'm not going to let that happen only one person rules my life and his name is Jesus.
[18:41] You shouldn't have to wake up the next morning wondering what you did and who got hurt. I don't know the Bible doesn't tell the story and I went over this in my Sunday school class God only tells us the parts he wants us to know but you know you gotta wonder what happened the next morning when he woke up.
[18:57] He must have liked Vashti. She was his wife. He must have liked Vashti. He was letting her have her own party in another part of the building while he's got 180 days of showing off going on she's got another 180 days and the next morning he wakes up and said now what in the world have I done?
[19:12] That's what happens when you play with alcohol. That's what happens when you think I can control it. I'm just going to go ahead and make you really mad at me but the new rage among the young restless and reformed is that we can drink and smoke and several that we know actually became alcoholics and have lost the ministry.
[19:36] So they thought they could play with it but they woke up like the king the next morning and wondered what in the world have I done? drinking is always shown in a negative light in the scripture.
[19:49] Third thing I want you to look at. Go with me to Esther chapter 1 and verse 12. Boy y'all are happy with me today right? We got visitors. Esther chapter 1 and verse 12. Drunken pride causes him to want to destroy his wife and queen.
[20:04] In Esther 1 verse 12 Vashti was told to come and parade her beauty before drunken men but she refused to come and the king got angry.
[20:15] The king talks to his wise men in verse 15 and says what are we going to do about this? What are we going to do? Y'all are drunk and I'm drunk and she won't come in here and I think somebody ought to tell me about that.
[20:27] And all a bunch of whiny cry babies are having a discussion in verse 15 about what they ought to do. And so the sissified weak men they want an excuse to be the man at their house.
[20:38] I'd like to be called the man at my house and now in this day of gender confusion. Some of y'all probably want a rule pass that says you get to be the boss. It's just ridiculous. In Esther chapter 1 in verse 16 he said boy the queen hadn't done wrong just to you sir.
[20:50] She's messed up the whole kingdom. In verse 17 they said well we should use her rebellion as an excuse to pass a law. The queen shall come abroad and this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women and all women will despise their husbands when they hear about this.
[21:09] And so we think we're going to cause a bunch of trouble Mr. King. We got to stop this while we can. There will be too much contempt and wrath in verse 18.
[21:20] So they plotted Vashti's demise and they're being treated like real men. So they said well king if it pleases you in verse 19 why don't we make a royal commandment a presidential presidential ruling here.
[21:38] Why don't we write in a script here that says that it can't be changed that know that know that she will not come before you again and that you will make somebody else her queen.
[21:50] Now there we're finally to the real story. The real story here is how God moves in the hearts of people to get people where he needs them to be and Vashti's not going to be the person that's going to be needed in this story.
[22:01] We're going to need Esther in this story. But on that day Vashti certainly doesn't understand it and on that day Esther probably doesn't understand it and on that day they don't really know what's going on. But when you do right and when you honor God God's at work in your life and God will move you into places where you'll be able to be used and your life can count because God has orchestrated things you didn't even know he was orchestrating.
[22:22] Because on that day it sounds like a drunken king and on that day it sounds like a poor little woman getting mistreated and on that day a Jewish girl is going to be elevated here very shortly she's going to be elevated to queen and on that day we just got a crazy story.
[22:36] But the God who already knows tomorrow was already making plans way back yonder to take care of what was going to happen. And so if it please the king let's get rid of Vashti.
[22:47] Go with me if you would to Esther chapter 1 and verse 20. I wish you would make note of this. Weak men need a rule to make them who they are. don't you ever pull Ephesians 522 on your wife.
[23:07] If you pull Ephesians 522 on your wife you need to pull Ephesians 521 on you where it says you submit to each other. If you want to pull Ephesians 522 on your wife you need to pull Ephesians 525 on you.
[23:22] You're a weak little peacock that's got to sit there going the baby should take me out of the box. What in the world? I'd be like grow a muscle between your ears. The real purpose of this chapter is to show how Esther gets to be queen.
[23:38] All other lessons are secondary. But Ephesians 120 only weak drunken lost men need such a commandment to get their wives to respect them. Only weak drunken lost men need such a commandment.
[23:54] Pass the word around the kingdom that my wife has to respect me. First off I don't know what are you going to do call the cops and say yellow card. That's soccer for you people don't know about it.
[24:04] Yellow card you're in trouble. Red card I call the cops. One more time baby and I'm calling the cops. Hello my wife's not respecting me. Come lock her up. I mean what? I mean pass it on. It's kind of a dumb law.
[24:15] You really think about that. I mean they got a law you can't speed here. That's why none of y'all ever do. None of you break the speed limits. Hey man I mean they made a law about it. Huh? Esther chapter 1 and verse 20.
[24:28] All the wives should give their husbands honor both great and small. What kind of man would need that law passed? Weak men are pleased by manipulation and control.
[24:39] I have known abusive husbands. Weak spineless cowards around other men who abuse women in private.
[24:55] You are a weak sissy mister. Come meet a real man. I was walking into my first church. I was a really old pastor. I started when I was 23.
[25:05] I must have been 26 or 27 and this guy was coming in the church and his foot was broken. He was hobbling in and I said to him I said what happened? You break your foot kicking your wife?
[25:18] And he just laughed and kept walking and she was crying and looked at me and said. So I asked to meet with him. And I said the next time you hit her I'm going to bring some men from the church.
[25:33] We're going to tell you to treat me to live the slop out of you. He said you wouldn't do that. I said well don't try me. I wouldn't have done it but I thought it sounded real cool. Had another man in the church got real mad at me one time.
[25:48] He passed the word among all the members. Next time I see Austin Gardner I'm going to beat the slop out of him. So I was in Walmart and I saw him. I thought this is our chance. So I just walked over to him and said hey David. His name was David Wood.
[25:58] I said hey Dave how you doing? He said fine. I said I heard you want to talk to me. No, no, no, no, no problem. It's amazing. That's the kind of guy you got here. Come on. Only weak drunken lost men need such a commandment.
[26:11] Only weak men like this are pleased by manipulation and control. Verse 21 the saying please the king and the princes. In verse 22 that every man should bear rule in his own house and they ought to publish it in every language.
[26:26] It is true that God did teach wives that they were to submit to their husbands. They were loving them like Christ loved the church. Do you realize that the whole picture in the Bible is never what the world makes Christian men look like?
[26:40] Christian men, Bible Christian men are gentle men. Bible Christian men don't demand respect. They earn respect. Bible Christian men don't walk into a house and say sit down and shut up.
[26:51] I run this house. I'm bigger than you. I'll punch you. That's not what they do ever. They love their wife like Christ loved the church. And that woman is looking for a man she can love and respect and she wants to submit to somebody who would lead her and guide her and provide for her and protect her.
[27:11] So the Christian way works beautifully. Ephesians chapter 5. No man should ever have such a relationship as these weak men have with their wives. By the way, I am married.
[27:23] For those that are visiting, I have been married 46 years in August. And I really need this rule in place at my house. Amen. That's a joke. I found that when I love my wife like I'm supposed to, she's wonderful.
[27:39] And when I'm not acting like I ought to, sometimes she's been known to say to me, are you going to preach on marriage anytime soon? And then when she says that, after I punch her, I've never punched her.
[27:51] After that, I said, what do you mean by that? She said, you just do so much better when you're preaching it. So she's probably thinking, today's going to be a good day. Be the man you should be, and she'll love you and submit to you like she should.
[28:09] So let me give you some application to take home with you. Do not allow your pride to make such a fool of you. This whole chapter is about the filthy pride of a rich, powerful king who's actually in the process of losing his kingdom.
[28:26] The story in history is it's about over for the boy. It's about over. And so he's out there flaunting what little pride he has to show off to all of his friends. Showing off, exaggerating, making up things that are not true, or bragging even if it is true is only a sign of your weak pride.
[28:45] Get over it. Treat your spouse like the scriptures say. Every man in this room, we ought to go home today and say, I'm to love you like Jesus loves the church.
[28:58] I'm to give my life for you. I am to honor you and to take care of you and provide for you. I am here. And you know what? If you do that, she's going to melt into your arms with love and sweet submission.
[29:12] By the way, lady, if you'd just show some love and respect to your husband, he'd stand up and man up much more. Women ought to respect and men ought to love. We all should practice biblical modesty.
[29:26] Obviously, that applies more to ladies, I'm sure, because of that. But sometimes men, you know, it's become in this gender-confused society, I think you all just cover up a little bit too, buddy.
[29:38] I didn't come here today to make friends, but I did come here to tell you what I think Esther chapter 1 says. Friends, I'll say this to you. Love your spouse and watch your marriage blossom.
[29:53] Love your spouse and watch your marriage blossom. I believe with all my heart that the sweetest thing on this earth after salvation that God gives us is a good marriage.
[30:05] And you can blame all your marriage woes on your spouse, which only shows your weakness. I can tell you what causes marriage problems at the Gardner house, and it is I.
[30:22] When I walk like I'm supposed to walk, it's amazing how it affects my wife. And if I were talking to you ladies, I'd say to you, it's you too. And if I was talking to you men, I'd say it's you too.
[30:33] If we will do what we know the scriptures teach us, we can have happy homes. Biblical love is not about taking or getting. It's about giving and serving. That's biblical love.
[30:45] Last thing I'll say, Esther chapter 1. Don't let foreign substances control your body. I know I have said quite a few negative things today, but you know what?
[30:57] You need to hear it. This idea that drugs and alcohol and it's kind of like a part of our society now, so we're all going to go get us a beer.
[31:08] Do you not realize what it's doing? Sorry. And just using even prescription drugs and abusing them or being hung up on any of that, it's only hurting you.
[31:22] You're going to wake up tomorrow and say, look what a mess I made out of stuff. And I know what you think is it won't cause me problems. I have it under control. No, you don't. It will give you the illusion of control.
[31:36] And you'll lose it. In the Bible, alcohol is always seen in a bad light from the first time it's mentioned to the last time it's mentioned in scripture.
[31:51] I know young, cool preachers have now said it never says we can't drink. Okay? So it doesn't say we can't do a lot of things. Does that make it right? Maybe they ought to just read enough stories to find out that it caused a man to curse his grandson.
[32:10] That it caused a man to sleep with his daughters. Maybe we ought to read the stories and the way God wrote them in the Bible. Like if we became Bible readers, we'd all be like, I'm scared of that stuff.
[32:24] So Esther will soon be queen and God will go to work. And when you read Esther chapter one and think I really enjoy Esther chapter one because men, men get to boss their wives around.
[32:36] Then you haven't learned how to read scripture yet. Hopefully today's been sent. 2ndb George Paul O R League ofidel 8 12 1 2 2 1 2 2 1 2 2 2 3 1 2 2 3 2 3 2 3