THE STORYTELLER'S BIBLE
Act IV - The Prophets, Scene 2
Script by Bob Allen
For four voices

Scene 2

2              3

4       1

VOICE TWO:            King Jehoiakim sat in the palace in Jerusalem warming himself by an open fire.  Outside, the cold air blowing down from Mount Hermon, urged those who were still on the streets to move faster and seek shelter.  The only good thing about winter was the fact that it meant the Babylonians probably wouldn’t attack again until spring.  With a warm fire and plenty to eat, King Jehoiakim wasn’t worried about the Babylonians.  But he was worried about the prophet Jeremiah.

VOICE THREE:        Jeremiah insisted on preaching to his people and telling them they were in trouble with God.  He told them they needed to repent, which was not so bad, but he insisted on saying that the king needed to repent as well.  No one should be talking about the king like that.  When he had put Jeremiah in prison to shut him up, the prophet had written down his words and had his servant Baruch read them to the people.

VOICE TWO:            King Jehoiakim reclined on his golden couch and plucked another handful of grapes from the silver bowl on the table.  What was he going to do about Jeremiah?

VOICE FOUR:          O king, live forever!

VOICE ONE:             What is it, Jehudi?  Can’t you see I’m busy eating?  What could possibly be more important than my afternoon repast?

VOICE FOUR:          It’s Jeremiah, sir.

VOICE ONE:             What has he done now?  Written more messages and had Baruch read them in the temple, I suppose?

VOICE FOUR:          He’s stirring up the people against you, O king!  He told them we should let the king of Babylon run our country.

VOICE ONE:             That’s treason!

VOICE FOUR:          I agree, sir.  But he says it is a message from God.  He says that we are not obeying God because of our sin and that it was God who sent the Babylonians to punish us.

VOICE ONE:             So what are we going to do about it, Jehudi?  Tell me that.

VOICE FOUR:          I don’t know, sir.

VOICE ONE:             Of course you don’t know.  That’s why I’m the king.  You are going to march right over to the temple and take that scroll from Baruch.  You are going to bring that scroll here to the palace and read it for me and all the princes.

VOICE FOUR:          Yes sir, sir.  Right away, sir.

VOICE TWO:            Jehudi  backed out of the throne room, bowing low as he made his exit.  Once outside the door he turned and ran.  He feared the king.  But he also feared the prophet Jeremiah.  It was dangerous to meddle with someone who spoke directly from God.  Yet the king had given a commandment and it had to be obeyed.

VOICE THREE:        To his amazement, Baruch was more than willing to give him the scroll.  In fact, he wanted the king to hear the word of the Lord which Jeremiah had written.  When he arrived back at the palace, several of the other young princes of the kingdom had gathered around King Jehoiakim’s fire.

VOICE ONE:             I see that you have been successful in your mission, Jehudi.

VOICE FOUR:          Here it is, your honor.  The only copy of the words of the prophet Jeremiah, which he claims have come from God.

VOICE ONE:             We’ll see about that!  Read the scroll to all of us.

VOICE FOUR:          “I have sent also unto all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given you and to your fathers, but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me.”

VOICE ONE:             Enough!  Read no more!  Jeremiah stands guilty of treasonous statements against the God-ordained monarchy of Judah.  Give me the scroll.

VOICE FOUR:          There is much more sir.  He also condemns Babylon and Moab and Ammon and Edom, and he says that we will be captives in Babylon for seventy years and then we will come back to the land and…

VOICE ONE:             I said—Give me the scroll!

VOICE TWO:            The king grabbed the scroll from the hands of Jehudi.  From the floor beside his chair he picked up a knife and began to slice into small pieces the scroll written by the prophet Jeremiah.

VOICE FOUR:          Sir, do you know what you are doing?

VOICE ONE:             Destroying this treasonous writing, of course.  What does it look like I’m doing?

VOICE FOUR:          But Jeremiah says it came from God?  How can you destroy the Word of God?

VOICE ONE:             Just like this!

VOICE THREE:        The king took the pieces of scroll he had just cut and dropped them nonchalantly onto the burning logs in his open fire.  The flames leaped up as they touched the parchment and quickly the entire scroll turned to ashes and smoke.

VOICE ONE:             That’s what I think of Jeremiah and his book.  It’s gone now, so we won’t have to listen to him tell us that we are sinners.  And what’s more.  I want both of those men under arrest.  Guards—capture Jeremiah and Baruch immediately.  We’ll put an end to this prophetic nonsense once and for all.

VOICE TWO:            The guards rushed out immediately to look for the prophet and his scribe but they were no where to be found.  God was hiding them.  And while they were hiding, the Holy Spirit of God moved Jeremiah to rewrite everything Baruch had put down in the scrolls before, plus many other prophecies as well.  And right in the middle of the book he told the story of the foolish king who thought he could destroy the Word of God.