THE STORYTELLER'S BIBLE ACT I, Scene 3

THE STORYTELLER'S BIBLE

Script by Bob Allen

Act One: The Pentateuch - Scene 3

For Four Voices

1        2 

3        4

(VOICES # 1 AND 2 SIT ON STOOLS.  # 3 AND 4 SIT ON THE FLOOR)

VOICE THREE:        The children had heard the story so many times they could have told it in their sleep.  From the time they were very small they had climbed up on Cain’s lap and pushed away his long hair so   they could trace the mark with their finger.  They were proud of their father because he was always the hero of his own story.

VOICE TWO:         Father Cain had been the only one of Adam’s children who had the courage to defy the totally unreasonable God that all the other relatives worshipped.  The arbitrary God who accepted one   sacrifice over another for absolutely no reason at all.  The vindictive God who punished man far beyond what he thought was  reasonable.  Father Cain was their hero.  Every one of them wanted                                    to be just like him.

VOICE ONE:             The struggle for dominion continued.  From all appearances the offspring of the serpent had won round one when Cain killed his  brother Abel.  Evil had struck the heel of good and evil had triumphed. 

VOICE FOUR:          Every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil continually.

VOICE TWO:           Where man saw beauty and progress, God saw wickedness.

VOICE THREE:        Where man saw violent heros and poured adulation on them, God was grieved and His heart was filled with pain.

VOICE ONE:             Universal wickedness demanded a universal punishment.  God was grieved because mankind had followed the path of evil which began in the garden of Eden.  The grieving of His holiness formed the basis for His judgment upon sin.

VOICE FOUR:          (STAND AND CROSS DOWN LEFT)  But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

VOICE TWO:            Noah, Shem, Ham and Japheth.  Grace.

VOICE THREE:        Noah’s wife and three nameless daughter’s in law.  Grace.

VOICE FOUR:          All of the animals two by two.  Grace.

VOICE ONE:             And all the rest of the world died.

VOICE TWO:           Noah’s brothers and sisters, the other sons and daughters of his father Lamech—dead.

VOICE THREE:        The parents, brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces of his wife— dead.

VOICE FOUR:          All the in-laws, the parents of his son’s wives—dead.

VOICE ONE:             “Every thing that is in the earth shall die.”

VOICE TWO:             At creation the waters had been separated and now they are united.

VOICE THREE:        At creation the dry land appeared, and now it disappears.

VOICE FOUR:          At creation man was told to multiply and fill the earth, now all men   are destroyed from the face of the earth.

VOICE ONE:             (STAND AND CROSS DOWN RIGHT)  But Noah found grace    in the eyes of the Lord.

VOICE FOUR:          Noah was not the only one who received a warning from God.  He had shared God’s warning with the entire world.  They had seen him hard at work on the ark for one hundred years.

VOICE TWO:             The same impending judgment which compelled Noah to accept the word of God by faith was ignored by the rest of the world.  The same judgment that would destroy the rest of the world brought faith to the heart of Noah.

VOICE THREE:        (SIT ON STOOL VACATED BY # 1)  Just think about the size of  the ark, a pill box drifting on the surface of an angry sea.

VOICE FOUR:          It wasn’t the ark that preserved the lives of Noah and his family members.  The ark was made by man and had all the shortcomings which plague everything man does. 

VOICE TWO:            There was no guarantee from their supplier of pitch that pitch would keep the boat waterproof for that length of time.  There was no guarantee that a three-story barge wouldn’t capsize when tossed around by tidal waves and torrential winds.

VOICE ONE:             But they weren’t depending on written guarantees or Noah’s knowledge of displacement principles.  When we compare the size of the ark to the size of the storm there is only one conclusion which can be drawn.  God was the One who preserved the righteous in the day of judgment.  And the same waters that destroyed the world lifted and preserved the ark.

VOICE THREE:        They were protected by the very God who was in charge of the storm.

VOICE TWO:            The very God who was judging the world had taken them as His own personal responsibility.

VOICE FOUR:          Every promise given by God was kept by God.  God made Noah and his family survivors in a world devastated by judgment upon sin.

VOICE ONE:             The storm was over.  Judgment was past.  Now it was time to worship.

VOICE TWO:             (STAND)  “Go forth.”  God’s voice was heard for the first time since entering  the ark.  We have not truly worshipped until we  have heard the voice of Almighty God.

VOICE THREE:        (STAND)  “And Noah went forth.”  We have not truly worshipped until we have obeyed the voice of Almighty God.

VOICE FOUR:          (KNEEL)  “Noah built an altar.”  We have not truly worshipped until we have honored Almighty God.

VOICE ONE:             (KNEEL)  “And the Lord smelled a sweet savor.”  Man worshipped, and God was pleased.