Cast: Narrator, Gideon, Midianite #1, Midianite #2, Angel, Servant, Villager #1, Villager #2, Pa Gideon

Props: Wheat, pancakes, syrup, other food, cookies, coffee cup, swords & robes for Midianites, big idol, rope, staff for angel

Narrator: Always upon a time, there was God. Now, God had chosen for Himself a people, so that He could show the rest of the world, through them, how good and kind and faithful He was. He knew that when the people of the world were able to compare between God’s people and those who did not worship God, they would see how blessed God’s people were, and would want Him to be their God, as well.

But there was a problem. God’s people didn’t always follow Him. After He saved them from slavery in Egypt, and brought them into a great new land, they often turned away from him and worshipped idols that they had made with their own hands.

Some of these idols were called ‘Baal’. The people would sacrifice animals to the Baals, and they would bow down to them, and pray to them, as though a piece of wood or stone or even silver or gold could do anything but sit there.

And so, when the people turned away from God, He would stop blessing them and protecting them, so that they would miss Him and, in their troubles, turn back to Him.

At this time, there lived a man named Gideon.

Gideon: [Enters with a plate of pancakes] “Dum, di dum, dum, dum. Let’s see, time to make some breakfast. Where’s the syrup?”

Midianite #1: [Midianites come on stage in robes, wearing swords.] “Hey, here’s an Israelite with some food! Let’s take it!” [They shove Gideon aside, take his pancakes, syrup, and all his other food from the table.]

Gideon: “Wait a minute, you can’t just take my food!”

Midianite #2: “Oh? And who’s going to stop us?” [Pours syrup on pancakes, begins sharing them around.] “Hey, these are great pancakes!”

Gideon: “Um, well, I guess nobody.” [Shrugs sadly.] “Enjoy the pancakes.”

Midianite #1: “Oh, we will. See you next week!”

Gideon: “I can’t stand it! Those were my last pancakes! And they took my syrup, and everything! What am I going to eat? What are my children going to eat? Has God abandoned His people?”

Narrator: “More and more, the Midianites stole food from the Israelites. They were like locusts on the land – riding in on their camels, grabbing everything, and riding off.”

[Midianites rush in, grab a coffee from one of the leaders’ hands, and rush out, laughing.]

Narrator: “No one was safe, it seemed, from their greediness.” [Narrator takes a package of cookies out of his pocket, opens it, prepares to eat the cookies.]

[Midianites rush in and snatch the cookies out of his hand.]

Narrator: “And so, people grew their food in secret mountain meadows, and went to great lengths to hide it from the Midianites.”

Gideon: “OK, I’ve got this wheat, but where can I thresh it? I know, I’ll use my Dad’s old wine press. Those Midianites won’t see me, there.” [Gideon goes up into baptistry, begins threshing wheat.]

Angel [appears suddenly beside him]: “Greetings, mighty man of God!”

Gideon: “Mighty man of God? Are you kidding? Did you see how those Midianites pushed me around and took my food? I just stood there and took it, because I was afraid of them. I think you have the wrong guy.”

Angel: “No, you’re Gideon, and I was sent by God to tell you that God is going to save Israel from the Midianites, through you.”

Gideon: “That seems really hard to believe. Are you sure?”

Angel: “Look, bring a sacrifice to God, and offer it on that stone over there.”

Narrator: “And so, Gideon offered a sacrifice to God on the stone, and the angel touched it with his staff, and it burst into flame. Then Gideon knew that the angel really was a messenger from God. The first thing he thought, was that the idol of Baal in his village had to go. It wasn’t right that the people would keep worshipping Baal, if God was the only true God. But Gideon was afraid of the people of his town.”

Gideon [enters, with servant]: “OK, here’s the plan. We’ll sneak down into the town square, and we’ll make sure no one is around. Then we’ll pull down the idol of Baal.”

Servant: “Are you sure about this? What if the townspeople see us? They all think Baal is a god. I can’t help but think that they’ll be mad about this … “

Gideon: “So, let’s make sure nobody sees us, OK?” [They both elaborately sneak across the stage, put the rope around the Baal idol. Note about sneaking -- when this was presented to an audience of about 40 T&T kids and their leaders, the Gideon character tip-toed in a very exaggerated way, turning around every few steps to shush the servant, who was following. This is a great place to add some physical humor.]

Servant: “OK, I’ve got the rope around his head. You pull, and I’ll push!”

[They push the idol over, and run off.]

Narrator: “In the morning, the people of Gideon’s town found the idol of Baal thrown down, and sure enough, they were mad.”

Villager #1: “Who has done this? Who has dared to pull down the idol of the great Baal?”

Villager #2: “I’ll bet it was that Gideon fellow. He’s been talking about how Jehovah God is the only true God, and has been saying insulting things about Baal.”

Villager #1: “Really? Well, let’s go get him. Someone’s going to pay for this. We can’t overlook an insult like this to our god.”

Narrator: “So they came to Gideon’s house, and surrounded it."

Villager #1: [Knocks on the door.] "Hello? Anyone home?"

Gideon: "There's no one home!"

Villager #2: [Turning away] "Well, I guess that's it, then. There's no one home."

Villager #1: "Wait a minute ... I know that trick!" [Turns angrily on Villager #2.] "If there is no one home, then who said 'There's no one home'?"

Villager #2: "Hmmmmm. That is a bit of a puzzle, isn't it." [Stands puzzling, pointing at the door, trying to work it out.]

Villager #1: "Oh, you're hopeless." [Hammers furiously on the door.] "We know you're in there, Gideon. Come out and face the consequences of what you've done!"

Narrator: "The villagers demanded that Gideon be brought out, and that he be killed for insulting their idol. But Gideon’s Dad stood up for him.”

[Pa Gideon opens the door and comes out, while Gideon cowers in the doorway.]

Pa Gideon: “Wait a minute, wait a minute. You say that someone pulled down the idol of Baal? And you say that they should die for this? Well, if anyone (and I do not admit for a minute that it was my son) did this, and if Baal is a real god, then why don’t you let Baal punish him? Surely if he is a real god, he doesn’t need you to run around defending him?”

Villager #1: “Hmmm. I guess you’re right. If Baal is a real god, then your son (or whoever pulled down the idol) had better watch out. We’ll wait to see what Baal does, to revenge himself.”

Narrator: “But nothing did happen to Gideon. It turned out that Baal was just a fake – he had no power at all. But the one true God did have power, which He was about to show. Tune in next week for the exciting conclusion to the story of Gideon.”