ADV: Book: The Prophet (Drama)

Recently published book available for sale.
Details follow:

-----<front cover text>

THE PROPHET

The Life and Times
of the Prophet Elijah
of Ancient Israel

-----<back cover text>

Presented in a quasi screenplay format,
'The Prophet' is a dramatization of
the biblical story of the prophet
Elijah, King Ahab, and Queen Jezebel
of ancient Israel, circa 850 B.C.:

God sends a prophet to confront
a corrupt king, thereby instigating
an intense tug-of-war between God
and Satan for the soul of the king.

-----<availability>

The above book is available for purchase at:

http://www.amazon.com

Search for:
TITLE: "The Prophet"
AUTHOR: "Arrant Knave"
ISBN-10: "1460970381"
ISBN-13: "9781460970386"

Or try this direct link:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Prophet-Elijah-Ancient-Israel/dp/1460970381

-----<introduction>

TITLE: The Prophet.
GENRE: Historical Drama.
SETTING: Ancient Israel, circa 850 B.C.
STORY SOURCE: The Holy Bible.
LOGLINE: God sends a prophet to confront a corrupt
king, thereby instigating an intense tug-of-war
between God and Satan for the soul of the king.

The ancient nation of Israel was founded upon the commandments of the LORD God. However, the people of Israel did not always keep the laws and ordinances of their God. When the people of Israel strayed from the ways of the LORD, he would send messengers to warn them of their transgressions. These messengers were called 'prophets'. One such prophet was named 'Elijah', who carries a simple message from the LORD to the wayward people of Israel: 'If you return to the LORD, he will bless and keep you; if you do not return to the LORD, he will turn you over to your enemies -- that you may be chastised.'

In the following scene, the prophet (Elijah)
confronts the wayward king (Ahab). Let's listen in:

-----<excerpt from book>

[Scene 04: Royally Entertained]

[Noon. Inside the king's palace. The king and queen and all the prominent men of the city, including prophets of Baal and apostate priests of the LORD God, are feasting while being entertained by a Magician who utilizes demonic forces in his magic acts. The Magician conjures up an apparition of a serpent, upon whose head is a crown of gold; the serpent circles around, snatches its tail in its mouth, devouring itself until nothing remains.]
KING: [to Magician] What does it mean?
MAGICIAN: My lord?
KING: I did see a serpent.
MAGICIAN: An illusion, my lord.
KING: It wore a crown and devoured itself.
MAGICIAN: It is mere entertainment, my lord.
KING: And the interpretation?
MAGICIAN: Whatever my lord chooses to give it.
[The king dismisses the Magician with a gesture; the Magician bows to the king and exits. A Messenger enters discreetly and waits for an opportune time to address the king.]
KING: [to Queen] Did you see the serpent?
QUEEN: No, my lord. I saw a flaming torch, whose fire consumed the whole land.
MESSENGER: My lord the king.
KING: [to Messenger] Speak.
MESSENGER: My lord: There is a man who desires an audience with the king; he calls himself Elijah the Tishbite of Gilead; he says he is the anointed prophet of the LORD God of Israel.
QUEEN: [indignantly] The LORD?! Send him away!
KING: Wait. What does he say?
MESSENGER: My lord: He says he has been sent by the LORD God of heaven to deliver a message to the house of Israel.
QUEEN: My lord, you know the prophets of the LORD always prophesy evil against the land: Send him away.
KING: [to Messenger] What manner of man is he?
MESSENGER: An ordinary man, my lord; he could pass for a shepherd.
QUEEN: A shepherd?! Send him away! The foul stench of those unwashed swine makes me stagger and cause me to faint!
KING: I grow weary of the jaded tricks of these magicians. Send in this prophet of the LORD God...
[Exit Messenger.]
KING: ...Perhaps he will provide us with some amusement.
QUEEN: My lord, you know the prophets of the LORD always pronounce doom and destruction upon the land: this prophet will bring a sad countenance upon my lord the king.
KING: Let us hear him. Perhaps he will reveal the future to us.
QUEEN: Do not my seers and my soothsayers reveal the future to my lord?
KING: Their visions are always too obscure to be understood.
[Enter the Messenger followed by the Prophet, who is accompanied by two guards, one on each side of him; the Messenger bows to the king and steps aside.]
KING: Are you the anointed prophet of the LORD God?
PROPHET: I am, my lord the king.
KING: And have you a word for the king of Israel?
PROPHET: I have, my lord.
KING: The prophets of the LORD God always prophesy evil against me: therefore let your word be good.
PROPHET: My lord the king: As the LORD God lives, whatever the LORD says to me, that must I speak.
QUEEN: [to the King] My lord, do not permit him to speak: The prophets of the LORD always prophesy calamity, yet prosperity remains in the land: they are all liars.
PROPHET: The flesh of man is weak: therefore the LORD is patient and longsuffering towards him.
KING: Speak, man of God; we will hear your words.
PROPHET: Hear, O Israel, the words of the LORD God of heaven: The LORD has nourished and brought up children -- and they have rebelled against him. By his outstretched arm did he break the bonds of Pharaoh and brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt -- from the house of bondage, through the desolate wilderness and into the land which he promised to your fathers -- a land flowing with milk and honey -- to give you large and beautiful cities, which you did not build; houses full of all good things, which you did not gather; hewn-out wells, which you did not dig; vineyards and olive trees, which you did not plant. And now that you have eaten and are full and have grown fat, you have forgotten the LORD your God by not keeping his laws, his judgements, and his statutes which his servant Moses commanded your fathers in the wilderness. And now that the LORD your God has multiplied your herds and your flocks, your silver and your gold -- and all that you have -- your spirit has become proud; and you boast in your heart, saying, 'My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth, for I am wise and prudent.' But you have deceived yourselves, for it is the LORD who gives you power to get wealth. Therefore, remember the LORD your God by keeping his commandments, for it is he who magnifies you in the eyes of the nations, that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers -- to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
KING: We have heard the stories of the ancients: What is that to us?
PROPHET: Your fathers swore an oath to the LORD God -- to keep his commandments, that he may be a shield to you.
KING: Are we responsible for the vows of our fathers?
PROPHET: The LORD God has chosen Israel to be a light to the world. The nation which keeps his commandments shall he cause to rule the earth. You are to be that light, O king. Do you not wish to rule the world?
KING: Life is short; and I'm an old man.
PROPHET: What of your son who will come after you? Surely you wish to leave him a goodly inheritance.
KING: He will make his own way.
PROPHET: If you will return to the LORD your God, he will return to you -- and bless and keep you, that all may be well with you; if you will not return to the LORD your God, but continue to follow after other gods, and serve them and worship them, then know that you shall surely be driven from the land -- and perish, as the nations before you were driven out because they would not be obedient to the voice of the LORD God.
QUEEN: Enough! There is peace and prosperity in all the land of Israel! Who has given you authority to speak these lies?!
PROPHET: I speak in the name of the LORD God of heaven -- the God of Israel: the only true God.
QUEEN: Baal is the god of Israel! Speak only in the name of Baal!
PROPHET: Idols of wood and stone cannot speak. But the LORD God of heaven speaks through the mouths of his holy prophets: I cannot choose but speak the words of the LORD God.
QUEEN: Speak only in the name of Baal, or else be silent! I have four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal; and with one voice they all prophesy peace and prosperity in Israel.
PROPHET: Your prophets prophesy out of the imagination of their own hearts and according to the wisdom of men, which is foolishness in the sight of the LORD God.
QUEEN: Show us this LORD your God.
PROPHET: The works of the LORD are apparent to the minds of the wise; but the LORD God of heaven cannot be seen with the eyes of men -- for he is invisible.
QUEEN: An invisible god! -- born from the unsubstantial imagination of an inconsequential madman! Send him away!
KING: Surely there is room enough in Israel for all the gods.
PROPHET: How can a nation act if it is divided among various gods? Which way will it go? Have you not heard, O king, what happened when the Philistines captured the Ark of the LORD and brought it into the temple of Dagon their god -- how the LORD threw down the idol of Dagon and smashed it to pieces? How then can you say there is room for more than one god? For indeed there is only one God -- the LORD God of heaven.
[The queen rises to her feet.]
QUEEN: All the prophets of Baal --
[The Prophet makes a hand gesture towards the queen.]
PROPHET: Be still!
[The queen is suddenly struck dumb and becomes disoriented -- as if she is about to faint; her servants rush to her aid and seat her back onto her throne.]
KING: What have you done to the queen?
PROPHET: Perhaps the queen has caught wind of a swine, my lord.
KING: What spell have you cast on her?

-----<availability>

The above book is available for purchase at:

http://www.amazon.com

Search for:
TITLE: "The Prophet"
AUTHOR: "Arrant Knave"
ISBN-10: "1460970381"
ISBN-13: "9781460970386"

Or try this direct link:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Prophet-Elijah-Ancient-Israel/dp/1460970381

-----<copyright notice>

The above excerpt from 'The Prophet' is copyright 2010
by Arrant Knave. All rights reserved. No part of this
document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted in any form or by any means without the
prior written permission of the publisher, except by a
reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be
printed in a newspaper, magazine, or journal.

-----<end of book promotion>