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J o h n P i pe r E st h e r

john piper is pastor for preaching and vision at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis. He is author of more than forty books, including five works of poetry: The Prodigal’s Sister, Ruth, Job, Velvet Steel, and The Innkeeper.

“Esther, let us sing Now, like you said, together eye To eye. The God who made the sky And rules the earth with awesome might, Is wielding all the world this night To bring this story to an end Beyond our power to comprehend.”

P i pe r

glenn harrington is an internationally recognized painter whose art has been featured on the cover of over 600 books. His paintings have also been a focal point in many publications, including The New York Times, American Arts Quarterly, International Artists Magazine, and The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Now listen, children, young and old,

God multiplies ten-thousandfold The little power that we bring. He makes our winter weakness sing Of his full summer’s strength, and burns The rags of shame to ashes, turns The course of history, blocks The haughty schemes of strutting cocks, And brings the prophecies of men To naught. And rising up, he then, Against all high conspiracies, And proud imperial machines, Makes orphans into kings and queens.”

Esther

E st h e r

U.S. $21.99

Poetry

Paintings by Glenn Harrington

Capturing our imaginations and hearts, John Piper introduces us to Esther the poor orphan and Esther the Persian queen— creatively musing about what could have been in the midst of what really was. Using poetry to tell a moving story, Piper’s words awakens wonder in us as we experience the beginnings and endings of Esther’s life and see throughout the purposeful hand of God.

Esther Copyright © 2012 by Desiring God Foundation Published by Crossway 1300 Crescent Street Wheaton, Illinois 60187 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law. Cover and interior paintings: Glenn Harrington, Shannon Associates Cover design: Josh Dennis Interior design and typesetting: Kevin Lipp First printing 2012 Printed in China Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All emphases in Scripture quotations have been added by the author. Hardcover: 978-1-4335-3418-8 PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-3419-5 Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-3420-1 ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-3421-8 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Piper, John, 1946Esther / John Piper ; illustrated by Glenn Harrington. p. cm. ISBN 978-1-4335-3418-8 (hc) 1. Esther, Queen of Persia—Poetry. I. Title. PS3566.I59E88 2012 811'.54—dc23 2012007327 Crossway is a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. OGP 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 98 7 6

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J oh n P i pe r Paintings by Glenn Harrington

W H E AT O N , I L L I N O I S

what’s behind this poem? Every Advent season for twenty-seven years I wrote narrative poems as a kind of Christmas gift to the church I pastor. Esther is one of those gifts. I have loved poetry since I was a teenager. It has always seemed plain to me that the imagination is a gift of God and is meant to reflect his own creativity. He thought up the universe out of nothing, then created us in his own image. So we do that kind of thing. Not that very thing. But that kind of thing. Only God creates out of nothing. We are not God. But we are like him when we create. Perhaps this is why I feel so at home when writing poetry. I don’t mean I feel relaxed or in control. I usually don’t. I mean: This is who I am—who God made me to be. A creator, a maker. I suspect that deep down that’s the way we all feel when we are making what God made us to make. A poem is not necessarily a better thing to make than a birthday cake, or a rose garden, or a website. But it is one of the things I love to make. What I mean by poetry is this: “An effort to share a moving experience by using language that is chosen and structured differently from ordinary prose.” Sometimes it rhymes. Sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes it has a regular cadence. Sometimes it doesn’t. But almost always the poet has

w h at’s behind this poem?

experienced something—something horrible or wonderful or ordinary—and he feels that he must share it. Using words differently from ordinary prose is his way of trying to awaken something of this experience (and more) in the reader.

A When I read the Bible, I experience God. This is the astonishing power and dignity God has given to his Word. He meets us there. “The Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord” (1 Sam. 3:21). This is amazing. We meet God himself by the Word. And when we do, we are affected. It may be terror, or it may be ecstasy, or it may be an inexpressible peace. But for poets, at least, experiencing something inexpressible does not mean silence. It’s precisely the inexpressible something that poetry is meant to help us see or feel. If it were merely expressible— if there were nothing ineffable about it—there would be no need for a poem. But everywhere in the Bible we meet reality that exceeds our comprehension. We must find a way to at least point or suggest or hint. It’s too wonderful—or too something—to keep to ourselves. So it is with the book of Esther. This book never mentions God. But he is everywhere—the invisible hand that moves empires for the sake of his people. The invisibility of his name in the book is a pointer to the invisibility of his majestic rule in history. Human designs are inexorably undone. And the way God turns the tables is breathtaking. The king can’t sleep. So someone reads to him the royal records of “memorable deeds.” All of this just so that

w h at’s behin d this poem?

Haman, the arrogant Jew hater, by a fluke encounter, would be forced to honor Mordecai—the Jew (chapter 6). Such things are everywhere in this book. The invisible God is everywhere behind them. Just as he was at Golgotha. I won’t try to say in this introduction what moved me most in reading Esther. That’s what the poem is for. But I will say how I go about it. I retell the story by filling in possibilities of what might have been, mingled with what really was. My aim is to respect what really was by creating nothing that could not have been. Nothing has been changed in the biblical story. And what has been created is not Scripture. It is meant to awaken us to the wonder of what is really there. Here are some historical facts that we know: • The kingdom of Babylon fell before Cyrus the Persian in 539

bc.

The people of Israel had, by that time, been in

captivity in Babylon for decades. • In 538

bc,

Cyrus decreed that the Jews could return to

their homeland. • Ahasuerus reigned as king of Persia from 485 to 464 bc. • Esther became queen in Persia about the year 479 bc. • Susa, where the story of the book of Esther takes place, was the capital of the Persian Empire and lay about 350 miles southeast of Babylon. • Esther was Mordecai’s cousin, “the daughter of Abihail the uncle of Mordecai” (Est. 2:15). “She had neither father nor mother” (Est. 2:7). • Mordecai was “the son of Jair, son of Shimei, son of Kish, a Benjaminite” (Est. 2:5). I have treated Abihail and Jair as brothers and both as the sons of Shimei, who would then be Esther’s grandfather. Shimei was thus old enough

w h at’s behind this poem?

to have been among the Babylonian captives. I treat him as not returning to Palestine but dreaming of some destiny in Persia. • Nabonidus was the last king of Babylon and was defeated by Cyrus the Persian. • Borsippa was a city about twelve miles southwest of Babylon. • Nippur was a neighboring city along with its surrounding region. • Opis was the Babylonian city where Nabonidus made his last stand against the Persians. • Hadassah was Esther’s Jewish name (Est. 2:7), which means “myrtle.”

These are the historical realities I try to honor in my retelling of Esther’s story. Don’t get bogged down trying to figure out genealogies. Let the story carry you forward.

A Perhaps a short comment on reading poetry would be helpful. Beware of thinking the line breaks signal pauses or emphases. They don’t. They will do their best work for you if you ignore them. Only pause when there is a punctuation mark. This way the stilted sound we associate with bad poems (ta-DA ta-DA ta-DA ta-DA, pause, ta-DA ta-DA ta-DA) will be, happily, avoided. There is a cadence that matters. But its effect will be felt most if it is read and heard effortlessly and unself-consciously. I read recently that one well-known English teacher tells his students that we must rid ourselves of the notion that poems can be made sense of in a single reading.

w h at’s behin d this poem?

That’s probably true. It takes one or two times through to discover even how it should be read, let alone what it means. When the cadence is caught, and the wording is familiar, the stroll through the poem does not require much attention to the path, and you can lift up your eyes to the vistas. I must stop. I’ve perhaps already said too much. Poems are poems. They should stand pretty much on their own. I hope you enjoy Esther.

ESTHER

Far east of ruined Palestine

The year five hundred thirty-nine Was filled with hope. The western sun Set once for all on Babylon;

And Nabonidus fell before The Persian forces at the door Of Opis. Mighty Cyrus, king Of Persia, set his signet ring Upon the seal of victory, And published in his first decree That Jews could now return to live Again in Jacobâ€™s land, and give Themselves to serve the living God.

ESTHER

But there were some who took the rod Of Godâ€™s chastisement so to heart

That now their faith and hope would chart Another course: at least one clan Within the tribe of Benjamin, The clan of Shimei, would stay In pagan Babylon and pray

ESTHER

That now, and generations hence, God might, in gracious providence, Be pleased to use them for some great And saving workâ€”to penetrate, Perhaps, some curse beyond the bounds Of Israel, with joyful sounds Of sovereign love.Â

ESTHER

Some forty years

Of hope and prayer and frequent tears Went by in Babylon. One night A million brilliant stars sang bright Against the sable Persian sky, And called the agĂ¨d Shimei To climb the ancient cliffs beside The dark Euphrates, up the pride Of Borsippa. With Abihail His youngest son he took the trail That led to Nippur Ridge, and stood There with a woolen travellerâ€™s hood Hung halfway on his snowy head. And facing to the east he said,

ESTHER

I had a dream, my son, that some

Day what weâ€™ve longed to see will come, Not here, but even farther east,

And that for you and me, at least, The promise that the Lord has planned Is not found in the Promised Land. But I am old, and so the dream Is yours, my son. And if it seem Too slow, doubt not the faithfulness

ESTHER

Of God; one generation lives And dies to serve the next; he gives A glimpse to Moses ’cross the vale, And me tonight. But, Abihail, Tomorrow take your wife, though she Is great with child and frailty, And set your face toward Susa where The king sits on his throne; and there Beyond the Tigris serve the Lord Of hosts, and wait until the cord Of providence is woven full.

J o h n P i pe r E st h e r

P i pe r

Now listen, children, young and old,

Esther

E st h e r

Poetry

Paintings by Glenn Harrington