THE STORYTELLER'S BIBLE
Act II - Conquest and Kings, Scene 4
Script by Bob Allen
For four voices

Scene 4

2                      1                      4                      3

VOICE FOUR:          Where David’s hymn of praise to God produced a mighty 

                                  crescendo by the end of his reign, Solomon’s dominion began with                                   a forte and ended in a decrescendo.

VOICE ONE:             He began with the divine gift of a wise and understanding heart.

VOICE TWO:            Impressed the Queen of Sheba with his literary prowess:

VOICE THREE:        Three thousand proverbs and a thousand and five songs.

VOICE FOUR:          Became renowned for his scientific investigations:

VOICE ONE:             Identified and classified all the flora and fauna in his entire 

                                  kingdom, from the mighty cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop plant  

                                 that grew from the cracks in the outer walls of his palace.

VOICE TWO:           Amassed stupendous wealth:

VOICE THREE:        Silver was as abundant as stones, and cedar as available for 

                                  building as the rough sycamores that grew on every hillside.

VOICE FOUR:          Built a magnificent temple on the top of Mt. Zion.

VOICE ONE:             The Lord dwells in thick darkness but Solomon made Him a house 

                                   and the glory of the Lord of Hosts filled the temple.

VOICE TWO:           It took seven years for Solomon’s craftsmen to build the temple  

                                  where God would dwell.

VOICE THREE:        It took thirteen years to complete the opulent palace in which the                                                    king was to live.

VOICE FOUR:          No one knows how long it took to finish the work on the house of 

                                  the forest of Lebanon, the palace for his wife the daughter of 

                                  Pharoah, the chariot stalls for fourteen hundred chariots and  

                                  horses, the twelve lions leading up to the high throne of ivory 

                                  inlaid with gold and the chambers for his other three hundred 

                                  wives and seven hundred concubines.

VOICE ONE:             They were the ones who turned away his heart from serving God.

VOICE TWO:           Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians.

VOICE THREE:        Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

VOICE FOUR:          Chemosh the national god of Moab.

VOICE ONE:             Molech, the fire god of Ammon who demanded child sacrifice.

VOICE TWO:           Just to make sure he kept everyone happy he prepared places for  

                                  every one of his strange wives to worship the god of her choice.

                                 From false altars on the top of every hill surrounding Jerusalem 

                                 strange fire drifted toward heaven, affronting the holiness of  

                                Almighty God.

VOICE THREE:        Forty years of spiritual progress under King David.

VOICE FOUR:          (CROSS LEFT WITH STOOL TO SIT BY # 3)  Forty years of 

                                  spiritual decline under King Solomon.

VOICE ONE:             (CROSS RIGHT WITH STOOL TO SIT BY # 2)  Four days of 

                                   foolish decisions under Solomon’s son Rehoboam and the mighty 

                                   Davidic Kingdom was divided forever.

                                    (READERS # 1 AND 2 FACE DOWN RIGHT AND # 3 AND 4 

                                    FACE DOWN LEFT TO SYMBOLIZE THE 

                                    DIVIDED KINGDOM.)

 

VOICE TWO:             Rehoboam chose to hold his coronation in the city of Shechem, a   

                                   stronghold of the northern tribes who often thought the Davidic 

                                   dynasty neglected their concerns.   They hadn’t trusted the tribe of 

                                   Judah since the days of the judges.

VOICE THREE:        During the festivities a man by the name of Jeroboam showed up 

                                  unexpectedly, just recently returned from exile in Egypt.  On 

                                  behalf of the people who had paid for all of Solomon’s building 

                                  projects, Jeroboam demanded a tax break.  Rehoboam resented the 

                                  interruption of his inaugural party, but promised to give an answer 

                                  in three days.

VOICE FOUR:          The men who had served in Solomon’s cabinet advised caution.  

                                  Rehoboam did not have the track record of his father and now 

                                  would be a good time to build some trust.  Give them the tax break 

                                  they’re requesting.

VOICE ONE:             Rehoboam’s kitchen cabinet, the men who had grown up with him 

                                  and were now in their early forties took a different perspective. 

                                  The older generation had its chance.  If the king backed down now 

                                  there would be no end to the demands brought by the people.  This 

                                  was a time for strength and a display of force.

VOICE TWO:           That was macho talk, and Rehoboam ate it up.  On the fourth day  

                                  of his reign he handed Jeroboam the issue he needed in order to 

                                  foment a full-fledged rebellion against the house of David.  The ten 

                                  tribes to the north seceded from the united kingdom and the nation 

                                  was irrevocably torn asunder.

VOICE THREE:        Did Solomon fail to prepare his son to sit on the throne? 

                                  Possibly.   But consider this.  How many times in the book of Proverbs do we 

                                  read the words “my son.”  “My son” was Rehoboam.  Certainly a 

                                  verse like “A gentle answer turneth away wrath, but grievous 

                                  words stir up anger” just screams out for practical application in 

                                  the situation Rehoboam faced that inauguration week.

VOICE FOUR:          Just possibly it was Rehoboam who would not “hear the instruction 

                                  of a father, and attend to know understanding.”

VOICE ONE:            Jeroboam was still on the throne of the northern kingdom 

                                  when Rehoboam’s son Abijah succeeded his father as king in Jerusalem.  

                                 One of his first acts as king was to engage Jeroboam in battle, 

                                 seeking to restore the lost glory of the Davidic kingdom.

VOICE TWO:           Before the battle took place, King Abijah gave a speech to the  

                                  enemy army.  That was not entirely unexpected in a day when two 

                                  opposing forces would simply camp on opposite sides of a valley 

                                  in preparation for battle.

VOICE THREE:        Abijah’s speech provides one of the earliest examples of subjective 

                                  spin in describing a political situation.   He describes Rehoboam as 

                                  “young and tenderhearted” when he was actually a callous

                                 forty-two-year-old man.    He claims that his people had not forsaken 

                                 God, when it is clear that Abijah’s own mother, the Queen Mother

                                 Maacah, was at that very time offering sacrifices to idols back in 

                                 Jerusalem. 

VOICE FOUR:          It is true that Jeroboam had introduced calf worship in the northern 

                                 kingdom and was using men as priests who were not of the tribe of 

                                 Levi.  But the formalistic religion of the southern tribes was just as 

                                 hateful to God as the paganism of the north.

VOICE ONE:           (READERS #3 AND 4 STAND AND MOVE QUIETLY TO 

                                 STAND BEHIND # 1 AND 2 DURING THIS SPEECH).  During 

                                 Abijah’s speech, Jeroboam tried a little deception of his own.  

                                 Keeping the soldiers who were in sight of the southern king in 

                                 place, he sent another contingent of men around the hill and 

                                 ambushed the army of Judah from the rear.  Suddenly, all of King 

                                Abijah’s high-sounding words meant nothing.

3        4

2    1

VOICE TWO:       Realizing the predicament they were in, the men of Judah cried 

                              unto the Lord, who heard them in spite of the divided heart of their 

                              king.   The surprise attack failed and God gave the men of Judah a 

                              great victory over the army of Israel.

VOICE THREE:      Abijah ruled three years in Jerusalem.  His victory set the stage for 

                                a long period of peace during the early reign of his son Asa.  

                                During those ten years Asa very wisely began to make spiritual 

                                preparation for whatever might face him during his tenure as king.

VOICE ONE:           His father and grandfather had access to the Word of God—but 

                                 Asa applied the Word of God to his heart and not just to his head.

VOICE TWO:           After getting his own heart right with God, Asa provided spiritual  

                                  leadership for the nation.  He sent his standing army through the 

                                 entire land of Judah with the instructions to destroy foreign altars 

                                 and small sacred stones and cut down Asherah poles.  He knew he 

                                 couldn’t force the people to worship Jehovah but he could certainly   

                                 make it more difficult for them to serve strange gods.

VOICE FOUR:          The king’s third activity during his years of peace was to prepare 

                                  for war.  He knew that attack from the enemies of God was 

                                  inevitable, and he wanted the people to be ready.  He trained 

                                 580,000 men and thought he was prepared for anything.

VOICE THREE:        When the army of Ethiopia attacked, he found himself facing a 

                                  great multitude of soldiers, thousands upon thousands.  Vastly 

                                  outnumbered—

VOICE FOUR:          (ALL KNEEL)  He prayed.

VOICE ONE:             We rest on thee, and in thy name we go against this multitude.

VOICE TWO:            The Lord smote the army of the Ethiopians.

VOICE THREE:        They were destroyed before the Lord.

VOICE FOUR:          The fear of the Lord came upon all the nations.

VOICE ONE:             And that was the way Asa wanted it to be.

VOICE TWO:           When the people of Judah saw the miraculous power of God in  

                                  action, a national revival took place. 

VOICE FOUR:          Temple worship was restored.

VOICE THREE:        Faithful Jews, even from the northern kingdom, came to Jerusalem 

                                  to worship and strengthened the might of King Asa.

VOICE TWO:           The people of Judah experienced a genuine change of heart and not  

                                  just a change of political allegiance.

VOICE ONE:             Asa even removed his own grandmother from her semi-official 

                                  position as Queen Mother because she was leading in worship at 

                                 an Asherah Pole.

VOICE TWO:           This time the peace lasted for twenty-five years.

VOICE FOUR:          (STAND)  The second great political crisis of Asa’s reign came in 

                                  the form of an attack from the north led by King Baasha and a 

                                  recently rearmed Israel. 

VOICE THREE:        But, of course, King Asa knew what it was to trust God for the victory

                                 --- so he went to—

VOICE ONE:             Ben-hadad of Damascus?

VOICE FOUR:          Dear Ben-hadad.  I am sending you all the silver and 

                                  gold I can find from our temple and from my own palace as a 

                                  tribute gift.  Please break any treaties you have made with Baasha 

                                  and attack him from the rear so he will leave me alone.

VOICE TWO:           Asa—what about prayer?

VOICE THREE:        What about trust in God?

VOICE ONE:             What about that great victory over the Ethiopians?

VOICE FOUR:          (SIT)  Oh, leave me alone.  It worked, didn’t it?  Ben-hadad 

                                  attacked Baasha and he went back home and left me alone.

VOICE THREE:        (STAND)  The eyes of the Lord scan the earth for opportunities 

                                  to demonstrate His strength on behalf of those whose hearts are 

                                  perfect before Him.  Why did you rely on Ben-hadad?

VOICE FOUR:          Seize him.  Arrest the Prophet Hanani.  Throw him in prison.  No 

                                  more sermons.

VOICE ONE:             (READERS #1 AND 2 STAND AND FORCE # 3 TO KNEES) 

                                   Hanani lost his freedom.

VOICE TWO:           Asa lost his peace.

VOICE FOUR:          (STAND AND WANDER DOWN LEFT).  Wars, wars and more 

                                 wars.  When will it ever cease?

VOICE THREE:        (STAND)  When his feet became diseased he sought not to the

                                  Lord

VOICE FOUR:          but to physicians.

VOICE ONE:             And he died.