Jonah
Props:Table, Scroll or map, Travel bag Characters: Jonah, Elam
by
Thomas and Christine Schrader
(Jonah paces back and forth, shaking his head. Then he stops pacing) The Lord has told me to go to that great, heathen city of Nineveh. And what am I too tell them? God told me to tell the people, 'Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be over thrown.' (Pause) I like that part! If I believed that God would destroy Nineveh...then I would crawl on my hands and knees to deliver that message. How far is Nineveh? I had better get out the map.
(Jonah picks up the scroll and unrolls it, studying it intently) Yes, there it is. I see it. There is that wicked city. It is in Assyria. The city is about 500 miles from Palestine. Yes, I would do it. I would crawl on my hands and my knees to deliver that message of doom, if I really believed that the Lord would destroy those heathens! But I know! I know God is merciful. If I go and tell those wicked Assyrians that God is going to destroy their city, those people will probably repent!
(Jonah throws up his hands in disgust) Those people are just mean enough to do it...repent! And then I know what the God of Israel will do. Sure enough...the Lord will forgive the Assyrians. I know how good the Lord is and how quick He is to forgive anyone who asks for forgiveness. The Lord will have pity on the people if they repent and He will save them. Sure enough. I can see it now. God will forgive those people and He will not destroy that great city.
I hate the Assyrians. I say...I say I hate the Assyrians. They are a cruel people. I have seen the atrocities. I have seen our people tortured and hanging on the wall as an example. The Assyrians are our enemies. No! Never! Absolutely not! I don't want to be the instrument that God uses to save those people. I have been praying for God to destroy our enemies, not to forgive them. If God uses me to save the Assyrians, then I will be a traitor to my own people. However....
(Jonah puts his chin in his hand) However, if God can't find me, then He cannot save that wicked city or the inhabitants.
(Jonah snaps his fingers) That's it. I will hide from God. I will go where God can't find me. If He can't find me, then there will be no one to preach to these Ninevites. That's it! Why didn't I think of it in the first place? Where is my mind? Let me see that map.
(Picks up scroll and studies it) Let me see.
(Jonah looks up and points his hand toward the East) Nineveh is about 500 miles to the east. So I want to go west.
(Jonah points in the opposite direction) I want to travel as far west as I can go. If I go to Tarshish, surely I will be so far away that God cannot find me.