003. Job Argues with God, and God Answers!

Job Argues with God, and God Answers!
From the Book of Job, about 5 minutes (or 7 minutes if you add the optional supplement)

Participants (No need to memorize lines; the aim is to relive sacred events,
not to perform)
Â Â Job Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â (Joe in the optional supplement)
Â Â Voice (of God)
Â Â SatanÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
Â Â Eliphaz Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â (Eli in the optional supplement)
Â Â Bildad Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â (Bill in the optional supplement)
Â Â Zophar Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â (Zorro in the optional supplement)
Â Â Prompter Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Shout a brief line, and Echoes repeat it.
Â Â Echoes Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Children and all adults who want to take part; Echoes need no script.

Job	My name is Job; I live in ancient Israel. Up in heaven, Satan dares quarrel with the Most Holy One who questions Satan. Listen!
Voice	Have you noticed my servant Job? He is upright and God-fearing.
Satan	Ha! Does Job fear you for nothing? You made a hedge about him and prospered him. Touch all he has, and he will curse you to your face!
Voice.	Â Â All he has is in your power; only do not touch his person.
Prompter & Echoes	Spare Job himself!
Job	I am Job, and it is a beautiful day. Oh, oh! What is wrong? Why is that servant coming, running in such a frenzy? Oh, no! Sabeans stole my oxen and donkeys and slew my servants, and the servant alone escaped!
Prompter & Echoes	Dreadful loss!
Satan	I have just begun, Mr. Job. (Laugh fiendishly)
Job	Here comes another messenger, running. Oh, no! A grass fire has killed my shepherds and sheep! Now another messenger has come gasping! Chaldeans have stolen the camels and slain the servants! What is this? Yet still another? (Groan) A tornado has slain my children while they dined together!
Prompter & Echoes	His children have all died!
Job	I tear my robe, shave my head, fall and worship God. Naked I came from my mother’s womb; naked I shall return. The Lord gave; the Lord takes away. Blessed be his name!
Prompter & Echoes	Now back to heaven.
Voice	Satan, did you notice that my servant Job still holds fast his integrity, even though you incited me to ruin him without cause?
Satan	All a man has he will give for his life, but touch his flesh and he will curse you!
Voice	He is in your power, only spare his life.
Prompter & Echoes	Do not kill him!
Job	Now I am stricken with painful sores from my feet to my scalp. I scrape myself with broken pottery and sit among ashes. My wife goads me, â€œYou still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!â€ I ask her, â€œShould we accept good things from God and not accept adversity?â€
Prompter & Echoes	Such misery!
Satan	I’ll care for you, Job. (Laugh) I’ll send three friends to comfort you.
Eliphaz	I am Eliphaz. I arrive with Bildad and Zophar to console our friend Job. Seeing his plight, we tear our robes and throw dust over our heads.
Job	Oh, my friends! Let the day perish on which I was born! Why all this suffering, Eliphaz? Why?
Eliphaz	Confess your sins, Job, and God will stop punishing you.
Prompter & Echoes	How judgmental!
Job	I yearn to plead my case before God, in heaven’s highest court!
Bildad	Job, I am your friend, Bildad. Listen to me. Who are you to argue with God? How arrogant!
Job	Spare me, Bildad! Let me die! I know that my redeemer lives; someday I will see God.
Zophar	I am your pal, Zophar, Job. Are you so smart? Do not refuse to hear our wisdom!
Job	Oh, please, Zophar! Have mercy!
Prompter & Echoes	Day after day this goes on.
Prompter & Echoes	Blah, blah, blah!
Job	Please stop buffeting me with your words!
Voice	Who is this that obscures my guidance, multiplying empty words? Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar, my wrath burns against you. You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.
Job	The Lord rebukes me also, for thinking I knew so much. I fall on my face. O God, I am nothing! I take it all back. I repent in dust and ashes.
Voice	Job, go offer burnt offerings for your friends, and pray for them.
Job	God heals me and restores everything, even better than before.
Prompter & Echoes	Praise the Almighty!
SUPPLEMENT: A modern Job (Optional)
Joe (formerly Job)	My name is now Joe, instead of Job. Eliphaz is now Eli, Bildad is now Bill, and Zophar is now Zorro. (If women do these parts, then use feminine names Joan, Ellie, Bianca, and Zoe.)
Eli (formerly Eliphaz)	Joe, listen to me, your friend Eli. You never really repented from your sin, so God does not hear your prayers.
Bill (formerly Bildad)	Hear my advice, Joe; I am your pal Bill. Your faith is weak, and your doctrine is deficient. My online theology deals with all this.
Zorro (formerly Zophar)	Listen, Joe, I am your friend Zorro. You don’t pray enough! Give it more time, at least two hours a day, with fasting; then God will heal your cancer. Here is a list of the proper postures and wording for prayer.
Joe	Zorro, you just erased the most precious prayers in Scripture! They are too short for you! Friends, your nagging pains me more than my illness.
Bill	Then repent of your sin, and your pain will cease, Joe.
Joe	Jesus and his apostles taught that believers would suffer, but our suffering, especially if it's for Christ, does not compare with the joy we'll have throughout eternity. Scripture says God’s children are to count it joy when we suffer for him.
Prompter & Echoes	A privilege to suffer!