Angel

The first creation day begins.
We angels watch curiously as God speaks sky and earth
into being.

Voice

Let there be light.

Prompter & Echoes

And there is light!

Angel

The second creation day begins.
No men exist yet to hear God’s voice speak.

Voice

Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters,
called the heavens.

Angel

The third creation day begins.
We angels watch God’s marvelous work in awe.

Voice

Let the earth sprout plants yielding seed,
and trees bearing fruit after their kind.

Prompter & Echoes

And it is good!

Angel

The fourth creation day begins.
Things entirely new and unexpected appear!

Voice

Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for seasons, days and years.

Prompter & Echoes

Sun, moon and solar days!

Angel

Time on earth has begun, as men measure time.

Prompter & Echoes

Seasons, days and years!

Angel

The fifth creation day begins.
We angels wait in suspense to see what God does next.

Voice

Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures;
let birds fly above the earth.

Prompter & Echoes

Animals that move!

Angel

The sixth creation day begins.
What God does now really surprises us!

Voice

Let us make humans in our image,
and let them rule over the fish of the sea,
the birds of the sky, the cattle and all the earth.

Adam

Well, here I am, folks! I am Adam.
God tells me to name the animals.

   Angel (Optional)

 

(Ask a child to walk like an elephant: bend over and let one arm swing like an elephant’s trunk, while adults name it.

Do the same for a rabbit, kangaroo, chicken, dog (bark), etc.

Ask adults to name the animals as Adam did,
as children portray them.
Do not call animals by their English names;
the names must be new.
For example, the elephant might be called “Floppy Ears.”)

Propter & Echoes

Adam feels all alone.

 

Adam

All the animals have a mate, but not me.
God puts me asleep, takes a rib,
fashions a woman and has me name her.
I call her Eve.

 

Prompter & Echoes

She is beautiful!

 

Angel

And so, God finishes his earthly creation.

 

Prompter & Echoes

And it is good.

 

Adam

Oh! Everything is wonderful!
Eve and I are living perfectly happy in paradise.
I wonder what might happen next.

 

Angel

Come, travel back in time with me to the Garden of Eden.
We angels watch with great interest as God creates Adam and Eve.
They are now enjoying perfect bliss.

Prompter & Echoes

In paradise!

Angel

The fruit of garden’s precious tree of life is free,
but God is warning them about another tree. Listen.

Voice

From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;
but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
you shall not eat,
for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.

Satan

Well, now! How interesting!

Angel

Oh, now what is this?
Lucifer has taken on a deceptive disguise.
His serpentine form is now that of a powerful dragon,
as Revelation 12 will later reveal to men.

Prompter & Echoes

He has a big mouth!

Angel

The old fiend is also “perfect in beauty” while he is in Eden,
as Ezekiel 28 will later reveal.

Eve

Oh, look! This splendid creature is gorgeous!
Such glistening jewels!

Prompter & Echoes

Watch out!

Satan

Gorgeous young lady, has God said,
“You shall not eat from any tree of the garden”?

Eve

From any tree we may eat,
except that one in the center of the garden.
God said we must not eat from it or touch it, or we will die.

Satan

You surely will not die! God knows that its fruit will open your eyes. You will be wise like God, knowing good and evil.

Eve

The fruit is pleasing to the eye.
Hmm. Will it really make me wise?

Satan

Yes! Yes! Wise! Very wise!

Eve

Well, I will just try one.

Angel

We angels cannot believe it! Eve disobeys our most holy God!

Prompter & Echoes

She defies the Almighty!

Eve

Mmm! Adam! Taste it! It will make you smart!

Angel

Look! Adam is glancing around furtively;
he knows to eat that fruit is wrong.
Oh! He is eating it! Now he is shocked.

Adam

Oh! What has happened? I am naked!

Prompter & Echoes

Shame!

Satan

Success! I led the parents of all humans to disobey God;
this will bring death to all, to every man, woman and child,
for all time. (Laugh fiendishly)

Adam

Eve, quickly!
Sew fig leaves together to make aprons to cover our shame.
Oh, no! God has come and is calling.

Voice

Adam! Adam! Where are you?

Adam

We were naked, so we hid.

Voice

Who told you that you were naked?
Did you eat from the tree that I forbade?

Adam

The woman that you gave me, she gave me the fruit to eat.

Voice

Eve, what is this you have done?

Eve

The serpent deceived me, and I ate.

Voice

Serpent, you are cursed;
you will crawl on your belly and eat dust.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your seed and her seed.
He shall crush your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.

Angel

So a woman’s child will destroy Satan,
but not without injury to himself!
Up to now the old serpent had feet and legs,
but God just removed them, as part of the curse.

Voice

Adam, from dust I made you, and to dust you shall return.

Adam

Eve, God has made clothes of animal skins for us,
and now he is driving us from Eden’s paradise.

Angel

God stations me with a flaming sword
to guard the way to the tree of life.

Prompter & Echoes

Paradise lost!

Angel

Hear Satan boast.

Satan

I now have ruined all mankind.
     I rule this world; I shape man’s mind.

You think that you can outsmart me?
     I You, too, have eaten from that tree.

You know what’s good; you know what’s bad.
     I That makes you proud; it makes me glad!

Now Eden’s curse is yours to dread.
     I Cheer up because you’ll soon be dead!

You fools; I trip you up with ease!
     I Temptation is my expertise.

A billion demons help me, too.
     I Such fun we have deceiving you!

By Adam's fall, I ruined your race;
     I Despair is yours, forlorn disgrace!

Your knowledge gives no hope; death reigns!
     I You now deserve hell's judgment pains!

Angel

Boast while you can, Satan.
That is not the end of the story.

Prompter & Echoes

Christ has freed us!

Angel

Many centuries later,
the Apostle Paul would call Jesus the final Adam;
it might be helpful to discuss as a group
the comparison and contrast between Adam and Jesus.
(For help see Romans 5:12 and 1st Corinthians 15:45-49.)

Adam

Hello, folks! I am Adam. Meet my wife Eve.

Eve

God made man in his likeness, and I am his wife
   God has made us one flesh for the rest of our life.

Precious love for each other grows stronger each day.
   We commune with our God in a most precious way

Adam

Look at these beautiful trees that God has made!

Prompter & Echoes

Some are very tall!

Eve

They grow here in the Garden of Eden where God planted them.
(If small children are present,
ask them to come stand by you and be trees,
holding their arms out like limbs.)

Adam

The trees are bearing good fruit now.
Their limbs sag under its weight.

Prompter & Echoes

Our limbs bend down!
(Lower arms, and have the children lower their arms a bit)

Eve

I am Eve the first lady; I’m glad I can be!
   And such beauty till now Adam never did see!

Adam now has a partner to his great delight!
   He is breathless with joy; it is love at first sight!

Adam

Our Creator has joined us as one, man and wife.
   All is good; all is joy, such a wonderful life!
We are innocent, pure and we’re totally free.
   Here in Eden pure beauty is all we can see!

Eve

A soft breeze blows, and trees clap their hands for joy!
(If children portray trees, ask them to clap their hands.)

Voice

The good fruit of these trees, you may eat and enjoy;
   All but one, because you it would surely destroy.
Do not taste of that one; though it pleases the eye.
   You will know good and bad, if its fruit you dare try.

Serpent

Indeed!
(Approach Eve, laugh fiendishly. Pronounce the s with a hiss.)
Listen to me, my sweet beauty!
Yes, I have good news for you!

Eve

Oh, hello! Well! One of the animals talks!
You’re beautiful and wise!

Serpent

Has God said you shall not eat from one of these trees?

Eve

He has said from all trees he permits us to eat;
   But that tree in the midst we can’t taste of its treat
God has said if we eat it we surely will die.
   We enjoy all the rest under heaven’s vast sky!

Serpent

You’ll not die! Its good fruit will soon open your eyes!
   God would hide from you both what would make you be wise.

You will be just like God, so there’s nothing to fear!
   So just taste and enjoy it, discover its cheer!
(Pretend to hand Eve the fruit.)

Eve

Now, why should we let such good fruit go to waste?
   Oh, it looks so delicious! Its joy I must taste.
It will make human beings become really smart!
   Although somehow I feel it is troubling my heart!
(Pretend to eat.)

Prompter & Echoes

Oh, no! She is eating it!

Eve

Here, husband, dear. (Pretend to hand the fruit to Adam.)
Try it. It’ll make you wise.
That beautiful, serpentine dragon said so.

Adam

  (Look fearfully from side to side. Then pretend to eat)
Mmm! (Look down.) Oh, no!

Prompter & Echoes

Oh, what has he done?

Adam

What’s gone wrong? We are naked; we are both all unclothed!
   We must dress ourselves now, as my sin I do loathe.
We had lacked this dire knowledge; the serpent’s to blame.
   Let these fig leaves conceal our sad guilt and our shame.

Prompter & Echoes

Guilt and shame!

Adam

I just heard a dread noise! It’s the sound God’s tread made;
   Let us hide, let’s be quick! For we’ve both disobeyed!
God now walks in the cool of the day in the garden.
   I’m afraid, for our shame he might never grant pardon.

Prompter & Echoes

Adam now knows good and evil!
(Pull Eve away from Voice.)

Voice

Adam! Adam! Where are you?

Adam

Oh, oh! Too late!

Voice

Adam!

Adam

I heard you, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.

Voice

Who told you that you were naked?
Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?

Adam

(Point at Eve) The woman you gave me, she gave it to me, and I ate.

Voice

Eve, what is this you have done?

Eve

(Point at Satan) The serpent deceived me.

Voice

Now the good and the evil they have come to discern.
   Lying serpent, with envy and hatred you burn.
We had made men unsullied, but you made them fall.
   Starting now, on your belly you’ll slither and crawl!

Serpent

(Scream and fall to your knees)
My legs are gone! I have no feet!

Prompter & Echoes

Crawl, Satan, crawl!

Voice

Between you and the woman there’ll be enmity.
   Her male child will condemn you for eternity.
Since you duped her; forever her seed you will dread.
   You will injure his heel; but he’ll crush your fanged head.

Adam

The serpent slithered away.
Now the Lord speaks to my wife Eve.

Voice

My dear daughter, from me you have wandered astray;
   Now your husband you’ll serve and be forced to obey.
You have tarnished my image; it has lost its full worth,
   And you’ll suffer great pain every time you give birth.

Eve

(Cover your face with your hands.) Oh, No!

Voice

Now you Adam, you brought on yourself sad defeat,
   You will sweat and you’ll toil for whatever you eat.
Piercing thorns and cruel weeds from the soil will now grow.
   Since from dust you have come, back to dust you will go.

Adam

Then the Lord drives us out of his grand paradise.
   Since our fig leaves required no blood sacrifice,
Our God made better garments from animal skins
   As son Cain would soon learn, only blood covers sins.

Voice

The first man did not heed the decree of his Lord.
   So an angel I’ve stationed with sharp, flaming sword
To forbid to all men Eden’s grand tree of life.
   Since they dared heed the devil, both the man and his wife

Prompter & Echoes

Paradise lost!

Abel

Mother Eve, please tell Cain and me how it was in the very beginning.

Eve

My sons. Cain and Abel, every day beautiful!

Prompter & Echoes

Heaven on earth!

Eve

From sunrise to sunset, from the morning dove’s first call
and the evening song of the nightingale,
life was full, always happiness.
Our joy was fierce; our freedom was a continual dawn!
We did not choose all this, as we did not choose our home,
but our life was simply perfect.

Cain

So what happened, mom?

Eve

Oh, Cain, I cannot bear to put it into words;
I will let your father Adam tell you about that.
Adam and I did not choose each other, but we were a perfect fit.
But then…

Abel

Mom, I see by your tears how you suffer to talk about it.

Eve

Yes, Abel, but because I love you, I will bear up
and tell you about what once was.
Please listen, and do not repeat my mistake.

Cain

Get to the point, Mom.

Eve

I am trying, Cain. I hope you will gain a healthy fear.
It is no fault to fear. You will be the wiser for it!

Prompter & Echoes

Wise fear brings us to God!

Abel

Our father Adam told us you were perfectly beautiful in your innocence.

Eve

Once, My life with your father was beautiful, Abel.
What we had does not exist now. You will not ever find it on this earth.
We did not choose it or seek it; we lived it. It was ours!
The world was ours!

Cain

It sure is not like that now.

Eve

That is right, Cain.
You live now as all men do a shadow darkens every heart.
We all live in that shadow. It is cool, but does not comfort.
It is static, but not eternal.
It is darkness, confining darkness in our souls.

Prompter & Echoes

Darkness!

Abel

Yet in my heart, I wonder about the light beyond the shadow.
There must be a light. How can there be a shadow without a light?

Eve

Yes, Abel.
Your father and I are the only ones on earth who ever saw that light.

Abel

Please, mother, do not weep.

Eve

Your father and I knew that light we lived in it. It was warm and alive!

Cain

I cannot imagine any such light.

Eve

I will try again, Cain. The light was a magnificent SOMEONE.

Abel

Do you mean God?

Eve

Oh, yes, Abel! We knew him, my sons!
By him and for him all things exist the sunrise and sunset, the dove, the nightingale, the freedom, the joy!
We played with him, talked with him and sang with him.
Our Life glistened!

Prompter & Echoes

God’s very presence!

Cain

Well, it sure is not like that now, mom. Why bother recalling it?

Eve

Please listen, Cain. Try to understand.
Your father and I were paint on the Artist’s brush.
We were the words on the Author’s pen, the very breath of His lips!
Oh! We were His and he was ours!

Abel

That was wonderful, mom.
Hey! Brother Cain, what is wrong? Where are you going?

Neighbor

Old Noah, for many, many years
   You’ve tried to fill our minds with fears.
Your God, you say, will punish us.
   You’re wrong! So why make such a fuss 

Prompter & Echoes

Hear Noah’s warning!

Noah

I walk with God! My faith is bold!
   Though all my neighbors’ faith grows cold.
I warn them; bloodshed they enjoy
   God shall oblige. Soon them he’ll destroy. 

Neighbor

Where is your God! You’re such a fool!
   To have my way is my one rule.
Observe my herds and lush fruit trees!
   The gods bestow whatever I please 

Noah

Please do not say “gods”. There is only One.

Prompter & Echoes

Only One true God!

Neighbor

The spirit to whom I’ve always bowed
   Gives strength to me and makes me proud.
He helped me slay all who began
   To thwart my rule over all my clan. 

Noah

God told me, “Build an ark with beam
   Of twenty-five yards and calk each seam.
Its length six times its width; and give
   The ark three decks in which to live.”

God plans to bring destruction huge,
   All flesh he’ll destroy with vast deluge.
My wife, my sons, their wives, he’ll save.
   All else will sink below the wave. 

He’ll bring to me a motely herd
   Each kind of animal and bird.
Much feed I’ve stored and need not fear
   When land sinks down and seas appear. 

Prompter & Echoes

A flood is coming!

Mrs. Noah

I’m Noah’s wife. He’s worked for years
   To make this ark with its three tiers.
I’ve brought supplies to feed a zoo,
   So much! It takes so long to do!

Noah

A neighbor steals a bag of grain
   I try to grab it back in vain.
He pulls a knife and I step back
   He sneers and grasps the stolen sack.

Prompter & Echoes

Hey! Stop that!

Mrs. Noah

I warn him, “Acts like yours will bring
   The wrath of God above, our King.
He laughs, “I fear no king above.
   Because my gods are gods of love.

Noah

At last, we’ve built this massive ark,
   And now the sky is growing dark.
Wild beasts approach. Folk shake with dread;
   They cry, alarmed, “What lies ahead?”

A wedding’s guests can feast no more;
   They hear and dread a growing roar!
Rock breaks down deep within earth’s heart,
   It grinds and groans, tears lands apart!

Neighbor

Earth shakes. It leaps! I cannot stand!
   Our gods can’t calm the ruptured land.
Huge geysers spout up miles high!
   Oh, stop, or soon we all will die!

Prompter & Echoes

They all will die!

Noah

Earth reels beneath God’s angry fist,
   No longer soaked by friendly mist.
Such rain! The water rises high.
   But eight are spared from angry sky.

Mrs. Noah

Another roar augments our fears;
   A thousand screams now pierce our ears.
Sharp knives men wield, with might they strain
   Upon the ramp, the door to gain. 

Noah

I hear my wife in tears implore,
   “Oh, let them in! Unbar the door!”
“I can’t!” I cry. “God shut it tight.”
   The water’s red! A dreadful sight!

Mrs. Noah

God’s fury rages forty days;
   Then all lies still beneath sun’s rays.
Months pass; God heals the tortured earth;
   Dry land appears and seeds give birth.

We see God’s pledge to keep earth dry;
   A rainbow graces clearing sky.
We start again to rebuild our race
   Oh thank you Lord, for saving grace!

Prompter & Echoes

Saving grace!

Noah

The Apostle Peter will later compare the ark
to the risen body of Jesus.
Now, let’s all discuss now how the ark
and Jesus’ risen body are alike.
(Need help? Jesus raises believers in his body,
as the Ark carried Noah’s family to safety, 1 Peter 3:18-21)

Abraham

I am Abram, Terah’s son. We live in the land of Ur.
In the future, people will call this land Iraq.
My neighbors all worship stars and the moon.

Prompter & Echoes

Idol are everywhere!

Voice

Abram! Abram!

Abraham

(Look up and around.) Who called me?

Voice

Leave your land and your kin; I have prepared you a place.
You will become a great nation, and bring a blessing to all.
Those who bless you I will bless, those who curse you I will curse.
In your seed every race will be blessed and be free.

Prompter & Echoes

God will bless all nations!

Sarah

My husband Abram obeys, and off we go!
Our family and servants travel hundreds of miles
through dangerous lands, with flocks of many sheep.

Prompter & Echoes

Baaa! Baaa!

Abraham

We finally arrive where God has been leading us,
the Promised Land!

Voice

Abram, because you have believed my promise and obeyed,
your name shall be Abraham, meaning “father of nations.”

Abraham

Later while resting by my tent door in the heat of the day, I look up.
Where did those three men come from?

Sarah

How odd!
They look like men, but something is strange about them!

Prompter & Echoes

Greetings, Abraham!

Abraham

I run and bow to the earth before the one who leaves me awestruck.
I beg, “My Lord, if I have found favor in your sight,
then please stop here a while.
Let me bring water and wash your feet.
Rest in the shade under the tree; I’ll bring bread,
and you can refresh yourselves.”

Voice

Go and do as you have said.

Prompter & Echoes

Such unexpected guests!

Abraham

Sarah, quick! Make bread cakes while they wait in the shade.
I will run to our herd, catch a tender calf,
and have my servants prepare it.

Prompter & Echoes

Hurry!

Sarah

The meat is ready, Abraham. Here are the curds and milk.
Take it to them.

Voice

Thank you, Abraham. Now, where is Sarah your wife?

Sarah

Oh! Why does he ask about me? I’ll hide behind the door and listen.

Voice

Abraham, I will return a year from now,
and Sarah your wife will have borne a son.

Sarah

A son? Impossible! Abraham and I are both too old.
(Laugh)

Voice

Abraham, Sarah laughed at my words.
Is anything too difficult for the Lord?

Sarah

I did not laugh.

Voice

Oh yes, Sarah, you certainly did laugh.
Abraham, I will return to you a year from now,
and you will have a son.

Prompter & Echoes

A son in her old age!

Abraham

God later repeats his promise to me.
Through this son, God will make a great and mighty nation.
He tells me to command my children, and my family after me,
to keep the way of the Lord, doing what is right and just.

Voice

In your descendant I will bless all peoples.

Prompter & Echoes

God will bless us all!

Voice

Abraham! Abraham!
Take your only son Isaac whom you love to Mount Moriah.
Offer him there as a burnt offering on a mountain that I’ll show you.

Prompter & Echoes

Abraham’s only son!

Sarah

Abraham, I’ve never seen you so distressed!

Abraham

Oh, Sarah!
God told me to offer our son Isaac on Moriah as a burnt offering!

Sarah

What? You surely heard wrong, Abraham!
Isaac is our only son, born by a miracle in our old age.
He is the only one through whom God’s promises can be fulfilled.

Abraham

Yes! And God promised to bless all nations through my descendant.
Alas! I must obey God!

Sarah

Abraham rises early and splits wood for the burnt offering.
He saddles his donkey, and leaves with two young servants
and Isaac our son.

Isaac

Father, we have been traveling three days now.
We are at the foot of Mount Moriah.

Abraham

You two servants stay here with the donkey.
My son Isaac and I will go up and worship,
and then return to you.

Isaac

I will carry the wood for the burnt offering, father.

Abraham

Good. I will take the fire and the knife.

Isaac

We must be close now, but I don’t understand.
We have the fire and the wood,
but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?

Abraham

God will provide, my son.

Isaac

We are at the top, father.
I will help build the altar and arrange the wood.

Abraham

Son, God told me to do this.
I must tie you up and lay you on the altar.

Isaac

What? Sacrifice me?
(Look up) Dear God, you told my father to slay me?
Can it be? If it is so, then I must obey.

Prompter & Echoes

We must obey God!

Isaac

I let my father bind me and lay me on the altar.

Abraham

My heart is breaking! I cannot do it!
But I must! I must! I raise the knife to slay my son.

Prompter & Echoes

How terrible!

Voice

Abraham, Abraham! Do not harm him.
I know that you fear God,
as you did not withhold your only son from me.

Prompter & Echoes

Baa!

Isaac

What is that noise I hear coming from those bushes?

Prompter & Echoes

Baa! Baa!

Abraham

There! In that thicket! A ram is caught by its horns!

Isaac

My father rushes to catch the sheep.
He unties me and offers it in my place.

Abraham

I name this place, THE LORD PROVIDES.

Prompter & Echoes

God provides our crucial need!

Voice

Abraham!
Because you have done this and have not withheld your son,
your only son, I will greatly bless you.
I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the skies
and the sand on the seashore.

Abraham

I believe, and God reckons it to me as righteousness.

Prompter & Echoes

The righteous shall live by faith!

Voice

Because you have obeyed my voice,
in your descendant all peoples on earth will be blessed.

Prompter & Echoes

In Jesus we are blessed!

Lot

Uncle Abraham, you left the land that made you wealthy.
That was strange,
but I came with you anyway to this land of Canaan.

Abraham

God had us leave that land of idols, Lot. I’m glad you came with me.
It was dangerous traveling through alien lands for months.
Every step of the way I relied on God’s protection.

Prompter & Echoes

Trust in God!

Lot

We now have a problem, uncle Abraham.
My herdsmen are fighting with yours over the best grazing land.

Abraham

You choose the more fertile land, nephew Lot, and settle there.

Lot

I choose the best land, and settle my family in the city of Sodom.
Soon after, five pagan kings unite, and attack the city!
Help! They are too strong for us!

Prompter & Echoes

Lot’s city surrenders!

Abraham

Herdsmen, arm yourselves! Those greedy kings captured Sodom!
They stole much plunder, along with my nephew Lot and his family. We will rescue them. Fight as I have trained you.
We number only 318,
but we will divide our forces by night and ambush them.

Prompter & Echoes

Fight by faith!

Abraham

We pursue the five kings beyond Damascus and defeat them.
We rescue the captives, and get back the plunder.

Lot

Oh, who is this who comes to meet us on our way back?

Abraham

It is Melchizedek, king of righteousness.

Prompter & Echoes

Priest of the Most High God!

Melchizedek

Abraham, man of courageous faith, I bring to you and your exhausted men bread and wine.
Rest as we dine together in God’s presence.

Abraham

We are deeply grateful. I rejoice to find someone
in this idolatrous land that still serves the one true God.

Melchizedek

Blessed be Abraham of God Most High who owns heaven and earth
and delivered your enemies into your hand.

Abraham

Lot, I believe that this meeting with Melchizedek is very significant.

Lot

But uncle, why do give him a tenth of the spoils that you recaptured?

Abraham

He is priest of the Most High God who rescued you, Lot,
and not an ordinary man.
What we give him we actually give to God.

Prompter & Echoes

Praise our Most High God!

 

Lot
Villain
Angel
Prompter     Shout a brief line, and Echoes repeat it.
Echoes        Children and all adults who want to take part. Echoes need no script.

Lot

I am Abraham’s nephew Lot. Two strangers have come to Sodom; they seem to be godly men, so I beg them to spend the night in my house. Could they be angels?

Prompter & Echoes

Angels!

Lot

That night a terrible thing happens. Men, crazed by perverted lust, come and make wicked demands.

Villain

Lot! Lot, my friend! Send your guests out for us to have some pleasantries.

Lot

Please, my brothers, do not act so wickedly.

Prompter & Echoes

Go away!

Lot

In a panic, I foolishly tell those wicked men, “I have two daughters who have not had relations with man; let me bring them out to you, and do to them whatever you like; but don’t harm these men, since they’ve come under the shelter of my roof.”

Angel

Lot, you are pathetic!

Villain

Hey! Lot, you are a foreigner. You have no right to tell us what to do. Come, guys, let’s force our way through the doorway.

Lot

No! Stay out! Please!

Prompter & Echoes

Stay out!

Lot

They are forcing their way in! I cannot hold them away! The angels reach out and pull me into the house. They shut the door and strike those evil men with blindness, but the men are crazed by lust and grow weary trying to find the door.

Angel

Lot, take your wife, your daughters and sons-in-law out of this city! Now! We are about to destroy it. Its evil has become very great before the Lord; He sent us to destroy it. Go now and speak to your future sons-in-law.

Lot

(Go to one side and shout) My sons-in-law, get up! We must flee. God will soon destroy this city!

Villain

Ha! The poor stooge! Lot is jesting!

Lot

Morning dawns, and the angels shake me.

Prompter & Echoes

Wake up!

Angel

Get up, Lot! Take your wife and daughters, or disaster will sweep you away.

Prompter & Echoes

Quickly!

Lot

I hesitate, but the angels seize us, and take my family outside the city.

Angel

(Pull Lot to one side; talk firmly) Escape for your life with your family! Do not look back! Do not stay in the valley. Flee to the mountains, or disaster will sweep you away.

Lot

Oh no, my lords! Not the mountains! Disaster would overtake me there; I would die. Look, there is a town over there we can flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there, since it is small!

Angel

Very well. We will not destroy that tiny town, but do not delay!

Prompter & Echoes

Hurry!

Lot

The sun rises as we enter the town of Zoar. Then I hear a terrible roar. I see the reflection of great fire all around, but I dare not look back.

Villain

Oh, no! Fire is falling on us! Help!

Prompter & Echoes

Fire! Fire!

Lot

Wife! Daughters! Do not look back, or you will die! The angel warned us!

Prompter & Echoes

Do not look back!

Lot

The Lord rains brimstone and fire down from heaven on Sodom and Gomorrah. He destroys those cities. Then, Alas! My wife looks back! Oh, no! She has become a statue!

Prompter & Echoes

A pillar of salt!

Esau

Jacob, I’ve been out hunting without any luck, and I’m starved!
Give me some of your delicious stew!

Jacob

I will, Esau, if you trade me your right as firstborn for it.

Esau

Anything! I’m famished!

Prompter & Echoes

How foolish!

Rebecca

Jacob, listen quietly. Your father Isaac is old and soon will die.
I want you, my son, to receive Isaac’s blessing as firstborn heir,
but his twin, Esau, was born first. Esau does not care about God.

Prompter & Echoes

Rebecca is scheming!

Rebecca

Isaac’s blessing would give Esau the birthright,
to inherit God’s promise to my father-in-law Abraham.
Oh, listen! Esau’s back,
and my feeble husband Isaac is begging him.

Isaac

Esau, my son, I am old and blind; my hour of death is near.
Take your bow and arrows, and go hunt game.
Prepare a tasty dish for me; you know what I love.
Bring it before I die, and I’ll bless you before the Lord.

Prompter & Echoes

Hurry!

Esau

I go as my father said, to hunt and make his favorite stew.

Rebecca

Jacob, Esau is out hunting, to make a stew for your father.
Isaac will eat it and give Esau the blessing of the firstborn.
But you, Jacob, must receive that blessing, not Esau!

Jacob

I took care of it, mother.
Esau traded his birthright for a bit of my stew.

Prompter & Echoes

Amazing!

Jacob

So I have the right to my father’s blessing of the firstborn;
it carries God’s promise that goes on
from generation to generation.

Prompter & Echoes

God’s blessing for all nations!

Rebecca

But your father Isaac must confirm it with his blessing.
Jacob, I once felt a fierce battle in my womb,
and prayed for mercy.
The Lord told me that two nations were warring in my womb;
one would be stronger than the other,
and the older would serve the younger.

Jacob

So even before I had been born,
God had destined my descendants
to be a strong nation! But how do I get my father to bless me?

Rebecca

Jacob, bring me two choice young goats from the flocks!
I will prepare them for your father, just as he likes it.
You’ll take it to him, so he may eat and bless you before he dies.
He is blind now, and he will think you are Esau.

Jacob

But Esau is hairy, and my skin is smooth.
My father may feel me, and curse me instead of blessing me!

Rebecca

Let the curse be on me, my son.
Just obey me. Go get two young goats.

Prompter & Echoes

He runs and returns!

Rebecca

Jacob, the meat is roasting. Now, put on Esau’s clothes.
Here, let me tie the young goats’ skins on your hands and neck.

Prompter & Echoes

Mmm! The stew smells good!

Rebecca

Now, Jacob, take this delicious stew I made to your father.
Give him plenty of wine first. Quickly, before Esau gets back!

Prompter & Echoes

Hurry!

Jacob

My father, I have brought you what you desired.

Isaac

Who are you my son?

Jacob

I am Esau your firstborn. I did as you wished.
Eat of my game, and bless me.

Isaac

But how is it that you got back so quickly, my son?
Please come near; let me feel you, to know if you are really Esau.
Now, the voice is Jacob’s, but the hands are Esau’s;
they are hairy.
Are you really my son Esau?

Jacob

Of course, my father!

Isaac

Let me eat the game that you have brought me now,
and then I will bless you.

Rebecca

Our plot is working. Isaac drinks the wine and eats the stew.

Jacob

Now, my father, give me your blessing! (Kneel before Isaac)

Isaac

Ah! Come, my son. (Place hands on Jacob’s head.)
May God give you the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth.
May many peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you.
Be master of your brothers, and may they bow down to you.
Cursed be those who curse you,
and blessed be those who bless you.

Rebecca

Look! Esau is back from hunting.
He’s making his stew! What will happen?

Jacob

Oh, oh! Esau is taking it to our father Isaac.

Prompter & Echoes

What will happen?

Esau

Let my father rise and eat of his son’s game,
and then you may bless me.

Isaac

What did you say? Who are you?

Esau

I am your son, your firstborn, Esau.

Isaac

Then, who brought game to me a while ago?
I blessed him, and yes, he shall be blessed.

Rebecca

The blessing for Jacob came from God,
and his father Isaac cannot take it back.

Esau

(Loudly)
Bless me! Bless me, too.
Oh my father! Please!

Prompter & Echoes

Bless me!

Isaac

(Embrace Esau.) Oh, my son Esau!
Your brother came deceitfully; he took away your blessing.

Esau

He is rightly named Jacob ─ one who steals another’s place.
He took away my birthright and the blessing that goes with it.
(Kneel before Isaac.)
Father! Have you not reserved a blessing for me?

Isaac

Son, I made him your master. What is done is done.
All his relatives I have given to him as servants.

Esau

Do you have only one blessing, my father?
Bless me, too, O my father!

Isaac

(Lay hands on Esau.)
Far from the fertile earth shall be your dwelling.
By your sword you shall live, and your brother you shall serve;
until you become restless and break his yoke from your neck!

Rebecca

Soon after, Isaac dies.

Esau

Mother, when the days of mourning for my father are over
I will kill Jacob.

Prompter & Echoes

He will slay his own brother!

Rebecca

Jacob, your brother Esau plans to kill you! Go to Haran,
to my brother Laban; stay there until Esau’s fury subsides.
Hurry!

Rebecca

Years go by, and Jacob returns to his home.
He is fearful, but Esau has forgiven him.
It turns out as God had ordained,
and God gives Jacob a different name;
it means “Triumphant with God.”

Prompter & Echoes

In Hebrew the name is Israel.

Joseph

Listen, Judah. I had a dream; it foretold something about our future,
I would rule over all of you, my eleven older brothers!

Judah

You are a hopeless dreamer, Joseph!

Joseph

But that’s not all. Look!
Our father Jacob gave me this beautiful, multicolored tunic.

Prompter & Echoes

A precious gift!

Judah

My brothers, Joseph is in the house now, with his father.
Listen. Joseph dreamt that he would rule over us!
Not only that; Jacob favors his youngest son Joseph over us.
We must change that!

Prompter & Echoes

This does not sound good.

Joseph

My brothers are out tending the flocks today.
I’ll go join them.

Judah

Look. Here comes that dreamer.
Now is our chance. Let’s get rid of Joseph!

Prompter & Echoes

Oh, no!

Judah

Look. That camel caravan is on its way to Egypt.
Why kill Joseph? Let’s sell him to those merchants.
We will put goat’s blood on his fancy tunic,
and tell our father Jacob that a wild beast tore him to pieces.

Prompter & Echoes

To Egypt Joseph goes!

Joseph

In the slave market Potiphar, Pharaoh’s captain of the guard,
buys me. My service pleases him,
and he puts me in charge of his estate.
While he is away, his beautiful wife
coyly tells me to come lie with her.

Prompter & Echoes

Watch out!

Joseph

I resist, and she is livid. She tells Potiphar that I tried to force her.
He becomes furious and imprisons me.

Steward

Listen to me, all you prisoners; I’m Pharaoh’s steward.
Pharaoh wants to know the meaning of a scary dream.
Joseph, you have interpreted dreams of Pharaoh’s officers. Come.

Joseph

The dream displayed seven sleek, fat cows and seven skinny ones.
The fat cows devoured the seven ugly, skinny ones:
God reveals its meaning to me; seven years of plenty
will precede seven years of famine. Pharaoh is pleased;
he puts me in charge of storing grain during the seven good years.

Judah

The terrible famine goes on and on; here in Canaan we are starving.
Our father Jacob sends us, his sons, to Egypt to buy grain.

Joseph

My brothers come to me to buy grain. They do not recognize me.
I hide my tears when they speak of their father.
I understand their Hebrew speech, but I ask through an interpreter
if they have a younger brother.

Judah

Our younger brother Benjamin stayed home with our father.

Joseph

You are spies! I will keep one of you here;
the rest can go home with the grain.
Return with your brother to prove you told the truth,
and I will free the hostage.

Judah

Back home, we find the money that we had paid for the grain
hidden in the sacks!

Prompter & Echoes

Strange!

Judah

I tell our father Jacob that we must take Benjamin to Egypt,
to free our brother Simeon whom they hold hostage.
Our father Jacob grieves bitterly, and I feel very bad.

Prompter & Echoes

As you should!

Joseph

The famine persists.
My brothers again come to Egypt to buy more grain;
they bring their youngest brother Benjamin as I requested.
I put them to a test. Steward, I have a job for you.

Steward

I am Joseph’s Egyptian steward.
As Joseph has instructed, I fill the Hebrew’s sacks with grain,
and hide their money in the sacks as I did before.
I also hide Joseph’s costly silver cup in young Benjamin’s sack.

Joseph

Steward, they will leave with their donkeys in the morning.
Follow them with soldiers and arrest them.
Ask them why they repaid good with evil.

Judah

The next morning outside the city Joseph’s steward stops us.

Steward

Open your sacks.
One of you stole a priceless silver cup from my master.

Judah

You are mistaken. We could never do such a thing!

Prompter & Echoes

It cannot be!

Judah

Your servants would never rob from your master!
With whomever of us you find the cup,
let him die and we will all be your slaves.

Steward

He who has the cup will become my slave.
(Pretend to open a sack) Aha!
Here it is, in the youngest one’s sack.
You, Benjamin, will be my slave.

Judah

We tear our clothes and return to Joseph.
We fall down before him.

Prompter & Echoes

Mercy, Master!

Joseph

Get up! What have you done?
After all the kindness I've shown you!

Judah

What can we say? God found your servants’ crime.
We are my lord’s slaves.

Joseph

We found the thief, Judah. He will be my slave.
The rest of you, go in peace.

Judah

Our father has a child of his old age,
and you forced us to bring him.
Our father said he’d surely die
if he lost his other youngest son,
who was torn to pieces by wild beasts.

Joseph

Torn to pieces by beasts? Are you sure, Judah?

Judah

I will stay as your slave instead of the lad.
I cannot go to my father without him.

Joseph

Everyone! Leave the room, all except these brothers!

Prompter & Echoes

Out! Out!

Joseph

I am alone with my brothers now,
and I can control myself no longer.
I weep loudly, and cry out in Hebrew
“I am your brother Joseph!”

Judah

What? You mock us!

Joseph

Come close. Come!
I am Joseph, whom you sold into slavery in Egypt.
Do not be angry with yourselves;
God sent me before you to preserve life.

Judah

My brother Joseph! You’ve shown mercy!

Joseph

Go and bring my father Jacob to Egypt.
I will provide good land for all of you.

Judah

Joseph embraces Benjamin and weeps.
Then he embraces all of us.
We are forgiven!

Prompter & Echoes

Joseph is like Jesus in many ways!

Steward

Now we are back in the present. Let us think over what we learned.
Please mention ways in which Joseph pictured
our Lord Jesus Christ.
For example, both were falsely accused. What else?