THE STORYTELLER'S BIBLE
Act II -    , Scene One
Script by Bob Allen
For four voices

PART TWO:   CONQUEST AND KINGS

Scene 1

VOICE TWO:             (ENTER FROM LEFT)  An old man walked up Mount Pisgah’s lofty height and gazed with longing at the land that would never be his.  The Promised Land. The land flowing with milk and honey. The place of rest for the people of God.

VOICE THREE:          (ENTER FROM RIGHT)  The way of the wilderness had been                                      hard.  All those near to him had long since passed away.  Only                                      Moses remained of the former generation.   His gaze swept the                                      horizon from the snow-capped peak of Mt. Hermon to the wind-swept 

                                     waste of desert stretching endlessly beyond the Dead Sea.  

                                     His heart beat faster as he strained to see into the hills which rolled toward 

                                    the Great Sea and thought of the promise of a homeland which had been

                                    their hope during the terrible years of wandering.           

                                    

 VOICE FOUR:            (ENTER FROM LEFT)  He knew the land would never be his.                                      The fondest dream of his lifetime was to die unfulfilled.  But when                                       all the farewells had been said, Moses lifted up his eyes and looked                                       beyond the promised land to a city which hath foundations, whose                                       builder and maker is God.

VOICE ONE:              (ENTER FROM RIGHT)  Moses was dead.

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VOICE TWO:             He had led the people of Israel out of Egypt when he was eighty                                     years old.

VOICE THREE:          He died at one hundred and twenty, when he was still strong. 

VOICE FOUR:            But God had a man ready to replace him.  Not even Moses was                                     indispensable.

VOICE ONE:              (CROSS DOWN RIGHT)  Joshua, the son of Nun, had ministered                                      in the shadow of Moses for more than forty years.

VOICE TWO:             He had spent many days alone with God in the tabernacle of the                                     congregation.

VOICE THREE:          Now that his administration was beginning, he needed another visit                                     with God.

VOICE FOUR:            It took place during the night, on the plain outside of Jericho where                                     the children of Israel were camped.  Joshua couldn’t sleep, and as                                     he walked and envisioned battle plans he was met by the One who                                     never slumbers nor sleeps.

VOICE ONE:              At first Joshua wasn’t sure who the man was.  He tried to get him                                     to commit himself, to take sides.  Either he was for them or he was                                     for Jericho.

VOICE TWO:             But the captain of the Lord’s host was not bound by loyalty to a                                     human cause.  God swears allegiance to no flag but His own.  The                                     question was not whether the Lord was on Joshua’s side, but                                     whether Joshua was on the Lord’s side.

VOICE THREE:          Once Joshua recognized that God works for no man, he was ready                                     to do the work of God.   He was standing on holy ground and fell                                    on his face to worship.

VOICE FOUR:            The work of God which the Captain had for Joshua to do was the                                     initial battle in the conquest of the land of Canaan.  They were to                                     start with the fortified stronghold of Jericho.  And it was to be                                     taken without a single battering ram smashing into a gate.

VOICE TWO:             God would fight for them.

VOICE THREE:          He would go before them into battle and all of Canaan would know                                     that the Lord was with Joshua.

VOICE ONE:              The five kings of the Amorites, led by Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem                                     clashed with Joshua at Gibeon, and God killed more soldiers with                                      hailstones than the Israelites did with their swords.

VOICE FOUR:            The Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites who                                     occupied the northern territory west of the Sea of Chinnereth, and                                     the Hivites who lived near Mt. Hermon gathered a mighty army at                                     the waters of Merom.  They were led by King Jabin of Hazor.

VOICE THREE:          Six nations against one.  An innumerable company of soldiers with                                     the latest in military hardware—chariots and swift horses.

VOICE TWO:             The odds were against him, but God was for him.

VOICE FOUR:            Joshua conquered the land and divided it among the twelve tribes.