I have finally had an opportunity to sit down and watch the first episode of the new History Channel special The Bible. I sat down and watched it due to all the controversy that is floating around about it with in christendom. I have heard criticism over its inaccuracy, over the liberties taken, over the things left out, over the things added in… even heard some say they would never watch another episode because the gospel was missing and they believed this show was leading millions of people astray.
You know what I saw… I saw inaccuracy. I saw lots of stuff left out. I mean it started with Noah and jumped to Abraham and went straight to Moses. But you know what else I saw… I saw this thing at the very beginning of the episode that read that this was an adaptation
something that is adapted; specifically : a composition rewritten into a new form
Therefore, before you watch one second of this mini-series you have been told upfront this mini-series has taken the true stories of the Bible and modified them to make them fit under the conditions of the environment in which it exists. Any watcher has been forewarned that this composition has been rewritten into a new form.
And well as my husband said, “everyone knows the book is always better than the movie“
So this movie is played out in such a way that it leads someone from the movie to the book, the WORD.
As for the gospel not being displayed? That’s absurd. The gospel was woven all in this first episode. How could anyone who knows it and has it miss it?
From the beginning and all the way through this first episode, over and over again, I heard “trust God!”
Over and over again, I heard “God promised”.
Over and over again, I heard “God created”.
I even saw, clearly displayed, the pre-incarnate Christ standing with Abraham.
I saw God provide the lamb in the place of Isaac.
I even heard Moses say, “our freedom comes at a price“
The gospel was there my friends… it was indeed there. The gospel was there because it was the gospel that put it in the hearts of the people to even put together this project.
My spirit was stirred to worship as I watched. I was there on the Ark with Noah and I could truly imagine that as they rode out the destruction of mankind and the earth as they knew it, Noah told of the original creation. Being strengthened by the truth of the power of their God. Knowing that if He created it out of nothing once, then He would be fully able to restore it to a place of provision for them again.
I was there with Abraham as he learned to walk by faith. As he learned that it really was never about proving his faith to God, but about God proving Himself to Abraham so that Abraham’s faith would be strengthened and that by his faith he might be saved, being counted as righteous.
Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. Therefore it was also credited to him as righteousness. Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.
Romans 4:19-25
I was there cheering Moses on as he looked at his Hebrew brethren and reminded them that God had not forgotten them. When he looked at them and reminded them that Pharaoh did not create the heavens and earth and he did not create them. Pharaoh was not god, he was just a man. When the Red Sea split and they were on the way to the other side walking on dry land… the hope of the people as they passed through the walls of water… yes I loved it.
The fact that every “t” was not crossed and every “i” dotted was pretty irrelevant when I took hold of the possibilities that are wide open to our amazing God with this mini-series. I believe God allowed it. We need to be thanking God for it and praising Him being glorified and exalted on our television screen in a day that He usually only shows up as the butt end of a joke, instead of criticizing it with our “biblical knowledge”. How pharisaical is that?
I mean… really… think about it. Satan and the powers of darkness certainly didn’t sit around and say, “hey I gotta great idea, how about we put a show on tv that reminds people of the Book and the people of the Book, how about we put a tv show out there that makes people remember what they were taught when they were young, or makes them wonder about the things they were never taught, how about we put a tv show out there that shows how God keeps ALL HIS PROMISES”… yeh I am certain that Satan would so do that (sarcasm intended).
My resulting thoughts from episode one… watch it. Watch it and support it.
