This is a short listing of several aspects of this movie (directed by
Ridley Scott featuring Christian Bale as Moses, rated PG-13) that did not line up with the true
story taken from Exodus 1-14, 34, etc. The following comments are just a
cursory take on the movie after one viewing on opening weekend on Dec 21, 2014.
1. Pharaoh Rameses, brother of Moses, is shown as a
fairly likable, family guy who is loyal to his nation and people above all. For
example, he exiles Moses for being an imposter to the royal family (showing
mercy rather than having him killed). Years later, he is glad to see Moses
alive and is willing to negotiate the Israelites’ freedom in due time. This is
not at all how the Bible portrays the relationship between Moses and the Pharaoh.
2. Moses, on the other hand, is shown as a fierce,
indignant general who is a stubborn yet eventually overpowered messenger of the
Lord. He trains his Hebrew people to be battle ready but ultimately fails to
engage the Egyptians in war.
3. At the burning bush Moses is saved from a near
death experience from a mud slide (this was a creative way to tell the story). But
there is no mention of the “take off your sandals for the place where you are
standing is holy ground” (Ex. 3:5). There is no discussion about Moses feeling
inadequate and questioning God, so the whole burning bush encounter was a
disappointment. Not to mention…
4. God is depicted as a malicious, bitter,
head-shaven 10 year old boy who has a grudge against Egyptian cruelty. He
haphazardly reveals himself to Moses in bodily form that no one else can see. In
this movie the God boy uses pyramid shapes to reveal himself (triangular symbol
of the Pagan religion).
5. The plagues were all in succession without Moses
and Aaron going to Pharaoh to demand that God’s people be set free. The
pharaoh’s wizards do not replicate the plagues or miracles but do try to
scientifically explain their causes.
6. God decides that Moses is ineffective at his
mission to free his people so he steps in to do it himself with several
destructive plagues to force the Egyptian people to force their ruler to demand
the exodus.
7. Pharaoh releases the people as expected not
because Moses was persistent to communicate that God demands it after each plague
(see Exodus 7-12) but because of his broken-heart over his lost son (and that
of his people over their own losses) and the disgust for a people who worship a
God of who kills innocent people.
8. At the Red Sea, Moses (in this movie) doubts his
own and God’s ability to save his people. The waters were not shallow enough to
cross at low tide as he planned. In defeat, he throws his sword into the water,
which either somehow releases the sword’s mystical power and triggers a falling
star over the water or else it instigates God’s action to move the waters. It's
not clear which one is the case. Then throughout an overnight period
of time the sea grows shallow. Again, this either implies that mystical
and cosmic powers are the force behind the sea water’s parting (with these same
powers releasing the waters back by a violent storm), or else it is Moses’
God’s power.
9. SPOILER ALERT: Pharaoh Rameses and
Moses face off in the middle of the Red Sea as the water overtakes them both. This is not even remotely hinted at in the Bible, but such is Hollywood to create an epic contest. Both of them survive the enormous crashing waves even though everyone else hit
by the water was destroyed. Both find their way back to their respective shore.
Upon his safe landing, Pharaoh proclaims that he is Ramases the Great (that is,
an immortal god). Another biblical fact omitted, for example, was that there is
no cloud of fire from God that protects the Israelites from the Egyptian army (see
Ex. 14:19-20).
10. At the end of the movie, Moses engraves the stone tablets with the
10 Commandments because he agrees with God’s commands, not because the people
were turning evil and God required
the new laws to keep his people holy. There is no mention that the first pair
of stone tablets (the ones created by God himself) were destroyed by Moses due
to the people’s rebelliousness (see Ex. 32-34).
Message of the movie - Pharaoh is God that shares authority over the
universe with the forces of nature, mystical Egyptian symbols and the
mysterious God discovered by Moses. All Gods are equal and the God of Moses
happens to get what he wanted with the Hebrew Exodus (like a pouting child getting
his way). Meanwhile, Rameses unfortunately loses his army in this struggle (not
only in the Red Sea but also in the treacherous mountain trails.)
The movie blatantly
twists and deletes so many facts written in the Biblical story in the book of
Exodus and I do not want to get into the long list here. It does not support the view of one, almighty God being sovereign. But although it is a theological
dangerous movie there was enough tension and drama to make it an entertaining Hollywood
movie.
But what do you
think?
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