CHARACTER NEEDED – BIBLE SKETCHES
Character Needed,
by Robert Allen, published by Regular Baptist Press, includes 33 skits
illustrating the truths of each of the verses in Proverbs 15. These Character
Needed – Bible Sketches are designed to accompany those contemporary plays,
illustrating the same character traits by use of a Bible story.
CHARACTER NEEDED
BURNING THE BOOK
Proverbs 15:14
Jeremiah 36:1-32
Character Trait: Wisdom
Cast of Characters
Narrator
Elnathan
King
Jehoiakim
Jehudi
NARRATOR: King Jehoiakim sat in his palace
and warmed himself before the fire. It was
December in Jerusalem, and outside the cold air
which blew down from the mountains of Lebanon urged those who were out on
the streets to move faster and seek shelter as soon as possible. But it was warm and comfortable in the
palace. He was sure the Babylonian’s
wouldn’t attack during the winter time.
And since he had a warm fire and plenty to eat, he wasn’t about to worry
about fighting and battles. In fact, his
only worry was a certain prophet by the name of Jeremiah. This fellow Jeremiah was telling the people
that they were in trouble with God. He
told them they needed to repent and come back to God, and that the king needed
to get right with God too. King
Jehoiakim didn’t like that. He had put
Jeremiah in prison to try to shut him up, but that hadn’t worked because
Jeremiah just wrote down his words and had his servant Baruch read them to the
people. King Jehoiakim leaned way in his
chair and took another handful of grapes from the golden bowl at his elbow. What was he going to do about Jeremiah?
ELNATHAN: O King! Live forever!
JEHOIAKIM: What is it, Elnathan? Can’t you see that I’m busy with my
eating? What could possibly be so
important that you need to bother me while I’m eating? Well, what is it? Out with it!
ELNATHAN: It’s Jeremiah, sir.
JEHOIAKIM: The prophet again? What’s he done now? Written some more of his old book, I suppose.
ELNATHAN: Yes, sir.
JEHOIAKIM: And sent his servant Baruch up to
the temple to read it to the people again, I suppose.
ELNATHAN: Yes, sir.
JEHOIAKIM: And I suppose he has stirred up the
people against me again, and told them we should just let the king of Babylon run our country
and that we aren’t obeying God like we should and that we are sinners and all
of that stuff, right?
ELNATHAN: Yes, sir.
JEHOIAKIM: So what are we going to do about
it, Elnathan? Tell me that.
ELNATHAN: I don’t know, sir.
JEHOIAKIM: I’ll tell you what we’re going to
do. You are going to go to Baruch and
get that scroll, and you’re going to bring it right here to the palace, and
you’re going to read that scroll for me and all the princes.
ELNATHAN: Yes, sir.
NARRATOR: Elnathan backed out of the room,
bowing as he went, and then turned around and ran. He was afraid of the king. But he was also afraid of the prophet Jeremiah. Everyone knew that Jeremiah received his
messages directly from God Himself. And
it was dangerous to meddle with someone who spoke for God. But the king had given a commandment, and it
had to be obeyed. So he sought out
Baruch and asked him for the scroll.
Then he took several of the scribes and princes with him and went back
in to the king.
JEHOIAKIM: Well, Elnathan. I see that you have been successful in your
mission.
ELNATHAN: Yes, sir.
JEHOIAKIM: All right. Let’s see what the old goat has to say this
time. Jehudi, you are a good
reader. You take the scroll and read it
to us.
JEHUDI: “I have sent also unto you
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 to
you and to your fathers, but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto
me.”
JEHOIAKIM: Stop! I’ve heard enough. You don’t need to read any more. Jeremiah is a traitor. Give me the scroll.
JEHUDI: But sir, there is much
more. He tells about Babylon
and Judah
and…
JEHOIAKIM: Give me the scroll!
NARRATOR: King Jehoiakim reached out and
grabbed the scroll from Jehudi. From the
floor beside his throne he picked up a knife and there in front of the startled
princes and scribes he began to cut up the scroll which Baruch had written.
ELNATHAN: Sir, what are you doing?
JEHOIAKIM: Destroying this stupid book, of
course. Why should we listen to
something like this? Jeremiah’s a
traitor against the king.
JEHUDI: But, sir. He said this is the Word of God. How can you destroy the Word of God?
JEHOIAKIM: Just watch, and you’ll see.
NARRATOR: Before any of the men could stop
him, the king took the scroll which he had already cut up and threw it into the
fire. The flames leaped up as the
touched the parchment and the men watched in amazement as the entire book went
up in smoke.
JEHOIAKIM: There! That’s what I think of Jeremiah and his old
book. It’s gone now, so we won’t have to
listen to him tell us that we are sinners.
Guards! I want you to go and
capture Jeremiah, and Baruch too. Bring
them here to me. Quickly now. Run!
NARRATOR: The guards did run. And they looked for Jeremiah and Baruch all
over the city. But they couldn’t find
them anywhere. What they didn’t know was
the God was hiding them. While they were
hiding, Jeremiah was against telling Baruch what to write down in the
book. They wrote the entire scroll
again, and they added more to it. In
fact, they wrote down the very story we’ve been telling so that everyone of all
time could know that King Jehoiakim tried to destroy the Word of God. He should have known better than that,
shouldn’t he.
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