by Myra Shofner, 19 Woodland Square, Petal, MS 39465, 601-584-9448, e-mail: DavidMyra@aol.com Staging Information Production Notes "The Promise" is a scriptural rendition of Gods promise to send the Redeemer and is written to be presented as a choral reading. Since it was written for High School speech students, the cast members or readers are offered in such a way as to allow a great deal of flexibility, depending on the number of participants in the production. Only MALE SOLO 3, MALE CHORUS, FEMALE CHORUS, AND ALL must remain constant; the other parts may be adjusted in any way the director chooses. The staging of the production depends on the place of its presentation, other physical features, and the availability of such things as lighting, costuming, etc. It can be elaborately done with the use of tableaus, fully costumed, etc. Or, it can be as simply done as dressing the readers in black, depending totally on their voices to provide the drama of the story line. When my speech class presented "The Promise" in chapel at Christmas, the readers wore black, used voices which created characterization and varying moods, and relied on simple choreography to dramatize the changing scenes (such as marching when the Roman conquest is explained). You have the wonderful words from the Scriptures compiled in a narrative for presentation as a choral reading. May God bless you as you use your gifts of creativity to present this choral reading in a rendition that is uniquely yours. --Myra Shofner Script MALE SOLO 1: This is the story of a promise made and a promise kept. The story spans a period of over four thousand years and stretches from the Garden of Eden to the Garden Tomb. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. He created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them. MALE CHORUS 2: And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he placed the man whom he had formed. MALE SOLO 1: And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it; for in the day that you eat from it, you will surely die. The Promise Page 1
MALE SOLO 2: Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And this sneaky snake slithered smoothly into the path of Eve and said, Did God really tell you not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. And the sly slippery serpent said unto the woman, You shall not surely die: For God knows that the very day you eat its fruit, your eyes will be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit, and ate, and gave also some to her husband and he ate it. And the eyes of them both were opened and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. And God said to Adam, Because you listened to Eve, your wife, and ate of the tree, the ground is cursed. You will sweat and toil as you cultivate it and you shall return to the ground and become the dust from which you were taken. MEN: And God said to Eve, You will bear children in pain and sorrow and you will be submissive, to your husband. The Promise Page 2
And to the serpent God said, You will be cursed above every animal and will be resigned to crawl about on your belly in the dust. You are the enemy of the offspring of the woman. And one day her descendent will come forth. You will hate Him and kill Him, but He will crush your head and overcome Death. MALE SOLO 5: And God drove them out of the Garden, and they had no access to the Tree of Life. Thus judgment fell upon Adam and Eve. But listen. Even in the judgment the Lord God gave a promise of redemption, One day a Son will come forth. FEMALE SOLO 2: Satan will hate him. Satan will kill him. But he will crush the head of Satan. SOLO 2: He will overcome Death. What a promise! MALE SOLO 5: And Adam lived to be one hundred and thirty years old and a son was born to him, in his own likeness after his image; and Adam called his name Seth. And to Seth was born Enos, and to Enos, Cainan, and to Cainan Ma..ha..la..lay..el. And to Ma..ha..la..lay..el, Jared, and to Jared, Enoch, and to Enoch, Methuselah, and to Methuselah, Lamech, and to Lainech, Noah. Noah? The Promise Page 3
Noah? Noah! FE And it came to pass, after the generations of Adam to Noah, that God saw the wickedness of man. MALE SOLO 5: It was great! MALE, CHORUS: And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said,. I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; I will destroy every man. I will destroy every beast. I will destroy every creeping thing. I will destroy the fowls of the air. I will destroy... But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. FE But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And God said to Noah, Make in ark of gopher wood. And Noah did according to that which God commanded him. FE And Noah went into the ark with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives. And two by two the animals went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah they should. FEMALE SOLO 5: And the flood was forty days upon the earth. And the waters increased. And the waters lifted the ark above the earth. And every living creature outside of the Ark of God died. The Promise Page 4
Died? FE Died! MALE SOLO 5: And God remembered Noah, and those within the ark and God made a wind to pass over the earth and the waters began to seep into the earth. And God spoke unto Noah, saying, Leave the ark and walk on dry land. And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. FE For that One who was to be born, FEMALE SOLO 5: That One who would die, FE That One who would crush the head of the Serpent, FE Had not yet been born. FEMALE SOLO 5: God had made a promise. FE God would keep that promise! And to Noah's son Shem was born Arphaxad. And to Arphaxad was born Salah. And to Salah, Eber, and to Eber, Peleg, and to Peleg, Reu, and to Reu, Serug. and to Serug, Nahor, and to Nahor, Terah, and to Terah, Abraham. MALE SOLO 1: Abraham? The Promise Page 5
FEMALE SOLO 7: Abraham? Abraham! Now the Lord said to Abraham, Leave your country and go to a land that I will show you. There I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. And Abraham did what God told him to do. And when Abraham was ninety nine years old, the Lord said to him, I am the Almighty God. Walk with me and be perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and you and will multiply you exceedingly. And Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed. Abraham laughed in the presence of God? Yes, Abraham laughed. Abraham laughed in the presence of God? Yes, Abraham laughed. Abraham laughed in the presence of God.? Yes, in the presence of God. And Abraham said to himself, The Promise Page 6
Shall a child be born to a hundred year old man? FEMALE SOLO 2: He spoke to himself'? Yes, Abraham spoke to himself But God heard, didn't he? Yes, God heard. And God said to Abraham, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son and you shall call his name Isaac. and I will establish my covenant with him and with the sons that will be born to him. God had promised to send the One the serpent would kill. Yes. FE The one who would crush the head of the serpent. Yes. The one who would overcome death. Yes. FE God was going to keep his promise, wasn't He? Yes! MALE SOLO 7: The Promise Page 7
And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and Sarah conceived and bare a son to Abraham, who was very old, at the exact time God had said he would be born. MALE SOLO 8: And Abraham called the name of his son, Isaac. FE He was the Promised One. FE No. Shhh. Listen. MALE SOLO 7: And Isaac had a son whose name was Jacob. And to Jacob there were born twelve sons. And God chose from among those twelve Judah as the one through whom the Promise would be kept. And out of the tribe of Judah, there arose a great and mighty king whose name was David. FEMALE SOLO 2: David? MALE SOLO 2: David? David. Was he the Promised One? No! The time had not yet come! But it had been over a thousand years since God promised Abraham! MALE SOLO 5: And a lot longer than that since he spoke in the Garden of Eden. True! But the time had not yet come! The Promise Page 8
And King David established a mighty nation and the people were proud of that nation. FE And King David's son, Solomon, became king and built a beautiful Temple to the glory of Jehovah. And King Solomon had many sons and they ruled in the land! But then the nation began to turn away from God. FE And the prophets rose up and spoke about the coming Messiah, the Promised One of God. The prophet Isaiah said, MALE SOLO 1: For unto us a child will be born, unto us a son will be given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. FE Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end. What a promise! MALE SOLO 7: And the prophet said, MALE SOLO 2: He shall grow up as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground. He will have no physical attraction. He will be despised and rejected among the people., he will be a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief He will bear our grief and carry our sorrows. He will be wounded for our transgressions. He will be bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace will be upon him; and with his stripes we will be healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord has laid all our sins upon Him. The Promise Page 9
He Will be oppressed. He will be afflicted, but he will suffer in silence. He will be brought as a lamb to the slaughter. He will be like a sheep dumb before his shearers. He is going to die? Yes! Oh... The Evil One will bruise him. Oh... He will overcome Death. Oh! That is the promise. That is the promise! FEMALE, CHORUS: That is the promise! What a promise! And other prophets spoke of His coming, The Promise Page 10
FE One prophet said he would be born out of the tribe of Judah; another said he would come through the line of King David. The prophet Micah said he would be born to a virgin in the little town of Bethlehem! Another prophet said he would be called a Nazarene! MALE SOLO 2: But during this time, the nation God had established with Abraham divided, then fell, and the people were scattered. FEMALE SOLO 2: And then the voice of the prophets was silenced. MALE SOLO 5: For over four hundred years there was no word given from God. SILENCE. And during this time the mighty armies of Rome marched through the world conquering every country, including the tiny land of Israel. The land God had given to Abraham. And the nation of Abraham was miserable under the Roman oppression. Only a remnant of the nation remembered God's promise. Certainly the emperor of Rome, old Caesar Augustus, knew nothing of that promise. It was then, in the fullness of time, that God kept His promise. MALE SOLO 7: Old Caesar Augustus needed more money. Of course, he knew the best way to get it. Taxes! Yes! FEMALE SOLO: The Promise Page 11
So, it came to pass in those days, that Caesar Augustus sent out a decree that all the world should be taxed. And all went to be taxed, everyone into the city of his ancestors. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth. FE The prophet said he would be called a Nazarene. He went into the city of David. FE Bethlehem! Because he was an ancestor of King David! FE Uh..huh! FEMALE SOLO 5: And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. FE No room in the inn? Can you believe that? MALE SOLO 7: And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch other their flocks by night. FE And, lo, the angel of the: Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were very afraid. And the angel of the Lord said unto them, MALE SOLO 8: Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. FE And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, The Promise Page 12
Glory to God in the highest. Peace to men of good will, FE The shepherds hurried to see the baby in the manger. MALE SOLO 7: And wise men came from the East to worship the new king. And they brought him gifts. Gold. Frankincense. And myrrh. MALE SOLO 2: God had kept his promise. And they called him Jesus. And Mary carried the child home to Nazareth and cared for him as any mother cares for her child. But she knew he was never truly hers. One day, when he was thirty years old he left Nazareth. He gathered twelve men to accompany him on his journeys and together they wandered the countryside, teaching by the Sea of Galilee, preaching in the temple at Jerusalem, and healing the sick in every town and village. Jesus made many friends. Of course, some of them became his followers simply because they were amazed at the miracles he was able to perform, turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana, raising the dead, restoring vision to the blind. Others followed him because they believed he was who he said he was, the Son of God, the promised Messiah who had come to take away the sin of the world and to bridge that gulf created in the Garden of Eden that separated man from God. But not everyone loved Jesus. Many hated him. Some wanted him to die. He angered them when he said that he was the Son of God. He angered them when He called them hypocrites and told them they must be born from above. Finally, they crucified Him. Mary stood at the foot of the cross and watched him die. The promised Redeemer died and was buried in a borrowed tomb. FE He died. He was buried. It seemed that Satan, that sneaky slithering subtle snake, had won. Jesus died. And God's promise died with Him? No. After three days, He was resurrected! He crushed the head of the serpent! He overcame death! The Promise Page 13
Yes, the seed of Adam and Eve conquered death! This child born of woman crushed the head of the serpent! God kept his promise. God kept his promise! FE What a promise! What a promise! What a promise! The end The Promise Page 14