Act III - Wisdom Literature, Scene 3
Script by Bob Allen
For four voices
Scene 3
(AS
READER # 2 BEGINS TO SPEAK THE OTHER
THREE TURN AS IF TO
GO BACK TO THE STOOLS.)
VOICE TWO: Meanwhile, back in Babylon, there
lived a captive by the name of Esther.
VOICE THREE: (READERS #1 AND 4 FREEZE AS # 3 TURNS
AND SPEAKS TO # 2). Wait, just a minute.
VOICE TWO: Yes?
VOICE THREE: Is it true that the name of God never
appears in the book of Esther?
VOICE TWO: Yes, that’s true.
VOICE THREE: Then why don’t we just skip this book?
VOICE TWO: One word—providence!
VOICE THREE: Providence?
VOICE TWO: Right. In no other book in the entire Bible is the
providence of God seen more clearly than in the book of Esther.
VOICE ONE: (TURNS TOWARD AUDIENCE) Some people like to call it fate, or even
luck, but nothing apart from the providence of God could have arranged the
circumstances that came together to preserve the nation of Israel from complete
destruction at the hands of the wicked Haman.
VOICE FOUR: (TURNS TOWARD AUDIENCE) Of course, Satan was behind the entire plot,
because he knew that if the nation was destroyed the Messiah could not
come. This was simply one more of the
devil’s continual schemes to eradicate the eternal plan of God for the
salvation of men. It was a wild scheme,
a vicious plot, a bloody strategy—but Lucifer never had a chance. Not even the political intrigue of an eastern
monarchy can destroy the plans of a sovereign God.
VOICE TWO: It was not a coincidence that a
young Jewish girl captivated the attention of King Ahasuerus when he determined
to replace the insubordinate Queen Vashti with a new consort.
VOICE THREE: It was not a coincidence that Esther’s
uncle Mordecai saved the king’s life by discovering the plot of the royal
chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh.
VOICE FOUR: It was not just luck that the entire
incident was recorded in the book of the king’s chronicles with due credit
accorded to Mordecai.
VOICE ONE: It was not by chance that Haman
grew angry when the same Uncle Mordecai refused to bow to him in the gate of
the palace.
VOICE TWO: It was not just the fickle finger of
fate that caused Haman to build a gallows fifty cubits high on which he was
determined to impale Mordecai. He may
have thought he was controlling himself, but the hand of Satan was strong upon
him to destroy all of the Jews.
VOICE THREE: It was not just happenstance that the
king couldn’t sleep the night before Haman was to approach him with his plot
against Mordecai.
VOICE FOUR: Haman may have thought it was
ill-fortune that the king asked for his book of remembrance to be brought that
night in order to lull him to sleep through boredom, but fortune had nothing to
do with his hearing the account of Bigthan and Teresh and deciding to do
something for Mordecai.
VOICE ONE: No toss of the dice could have
brought Haman into the royal chambers just at the moment the king was looking
for a way to honor Mordecai.
VOICE TWO: What shall be done to the man whom
the king delighteth to honor?
VOICE THREE: Who could the king delight to honor more
than myself? Dress him in the king’s
robe, place him on the king’s horse, crown him with the king’s diadem and order
the most royal prince in the land to lead him through the city shouting, “Thus
shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.”
VOICE FOUR: Fantastic. Take the robe. Take the horse. Take the crown. And you, Prince Haman—do as you have said to
the one the king delights to honor—Mordecai.
VOICE ONE: Coincidence? Not on your life.
VOICE THREE: And not on Mordecai’s life either.
VOICE TWO: Esther made good use of her access
to the king.
VOICE FOUR: Haman made good use of the
gallows—himself.
VOICE ONE: Mordecai made good use of his
honor. Saving his nation, serving the
king, seeking the wealth of his people and speaking peace to all his seed.
VOICE TWO: No coincidence!
VOICE THREE/FOUR: God, and God alone!
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