As I watched the previews to this movie it became clear to me that is was about Moses and the Exodus, and because of this I became more interested in seeing it. I guess my motivation was to find out how close this movie stuck to the biblical account. Indeed it does seem to stick reasonably closely, though a few things were added to make it a little more interesting, but the added things were derived from the Bible rather than created. The major addition is that Moses was Pharoah Ramses' brother, which is quite possible considering that Moses was picked up by the queen of Egypt.
The movie is based on the Book of Exodus, the second book of the bible. The story is that the Jews have been living in Egypt and have been growing in number, according to the promise God made to Abraham. Fearing that the Jews would revolt, Pharoah ordered all baby boys executed, but Moses was put in a basket and sent down the Nile where he was picked up by the queen. Moses was brought up as a prince but realised that he was a Jew. One day, he killed an overseer that was beating a Jewish slave and fled into the desert where he found a burning bush. In this bush, God spoke to him and commanded him to return to Egypt and free his people. This Moses did, though he was quite hesitant. Pharoah refuses and God strikes Egypt with plagues. Finally, after the death of the first born, Pharoah tells the Jews to go and they flee, but after that Pharoah changes his mind and orders them stopped. By this time the Jews had reached the Red Sea which God parts for them. They cross and flee while the Egyptians following behind are drowned.
It is a pretty complicated story but so are many of the stories in the Bible. The complication serves a purpose because this story is a reflection of what Jesus did on the cross. In a way it is an analogy that God created in history. We are slaves to our sins and no matter what we do we cannot escape. God sends a deliverer, who is Jesus, to free us from slavery. God freed the Jews in Egypt from slavery by sending Moses in to lead them out to the promised land. Jesus is sent to Earth to become a human so that he might die on the cross, thus paying the penalty for the sins we have committed. The Jews followed Moses out of slavery in Egypt just as we turn to Jesus to escape the endless cycle of sin and death that dominates our lives. Those who ignore God sin and the penalty of sin is death. A very interesting thing that we see in the movie is that some Egyptians escaped with the Jews, showing us that salvation is for everybody.
In this movie we see both sides of God. Many claim that God is a vengeful God in the Old Testament, and that he is. The burning bush scene though shows us both sides of God. When Moses doubts his ability, God roars, throwing him to the ground, but then we see the fatherly side of God as he lifts Moses up onto his feet. We see the wrath of God as the mist flows through Egypt taking the life of all the first born, but we also see the mercy of God as he passes by the doors of all those who have blood on the posts. God is also shown as the protector as he raises a wall of fire before the Egyptians, allowing the Jews to flee.
I guess we cannot fully understand why God did not let the Jews escape immediately, but rather sent all of the plagues; yet I guess it follows the idea that God is not only showing his mercy to the Jews but his wrath to the Egyptians. What the Jews were witnessing during the time of the plagues is that God was not only pouring his wrath out onto the people of Egypt, but he was protecting those whom he had chosen. When we look forward to the book of Revelation, we see a repeat of plagues, though they are not exactly the same. What the plagues show us is that God will pour out his wrath upon humanity, but these plagues represent the period that we have a chance to repent of our sins. We can either take the warnings of God and turn to follow him, or we can continue to ignore God's grace and face judgment and death at the end of time.
The movie is based on the Book of Exodus, the second book of the bible. The story is that the Jews have been living in Egypt and have been growing in number, according to the promise God made to Abraham. Fearing that the Jews would revolt, Pharoah ordered all baby boys executed, but Moses was put in a basket and sent down the Nile where he was picked up by the queen. Moses was brought up as a prince but realised that he was a Jew. One day, he killed an overseer that was beating a Jewish slave and fled into the desert where he found a burning bush. In this bush, God spoke to him and commanded him to return to Egypt and free his people. This Moses did, though he was quite hesitant. Pharoah refuses and God strikes Egypt with plagues. Finally, after the death of the first born, Pharoah tells the Jews to go and they flee, but after that Pharoah changes his mind and orders them stopped. By this time the Jews had reached the Red Sea which God parts for them. They cross and flee while the Egyptians following behind are drowned.
It is a pretty complicated story but so are many of the stories in the Bible. The complication serves a purpose because this story is a reflection of what Jesus did on the cross. In a way it is an analogy that God created in history. We are slaves to our sins and no matter what we do we cannot escape. God sends a deliverer, who is Jesus, to free us from slavery. God freed the Jews in Egypt from slavery by sending Moses in to lead them out to the promised land. Jesus is sent to Earth to become a human so that he might die on the cross, thus paying the penalty for the sins we have committed. The Jews followed Moses out of slavery in Egypt just as we turn to Jesus to escape the endless cycle of sin and death that dominates our lives. Those who ignore God sin and the penalty of sin is death. A very interesting thing that we see in the movie is that some Egyptians escaped with the Jews, showing us that salvation is for everybody.
In this movie we see both sides of God. Many claim that God is a vengeful God in the Old Testament, and that he is. The burning bush scene though shows us both sides of God. When Moses doubts his ability, God roars, throwing him to the ground, but then we see the fatherly side of God as he lifts Moses up onto his feet. We see the wrath of God as the mist flows through Egypt taking the life of all the first born, but we also see the mercy of God as he passes by the doors of all those who have blood on the posts. God is also shown as the protector as he raises a wall of fire before the Egyptians, allowing the Jews to flee.
I guess we cannot fully understand why God did not let the Jews escape immediately, but rather sent all of the plagues; yet I guess it follows the idea that God is not only showing his mercy to the Jews but his wrath to the Egyptians. What the Jews were witnessing during the time of the plagues is that God was not only pouring his wrath out onto the people of Egypt, but he was protecting those whom he had chosen. When we look forward to the book of Revelation, we see a repeat of plagues, though they are not exactly the same. What the plagues show us is that God will pour out his wrath upon humanity, but these plagues represent the period that we have a chance to repent of our sins. We can either take the warnings of God and turn to follow him, or we can continue to ignore God's grace and face judgment and death at the end of time.