A Review of the Bible (Part 1)
“Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment” (John 7:24).
The week before this 10-hour series premiered (3-3-13), Roma Downey (Touched by an Angel) and her husband Mark Burnett (Survivor, Celebrity Apprentice, Shark Tank) made guest appearances on various television shows to promote The Bible, which together they produced. They assured audiences that they had consulted several sources in order to be accurate, two of them were Rick Warren (The Purpose-Driven Life and The Purpose-Driven Church) and Joel Osteen, also a successful writer. Neither one of them would probably know enough to compete against a group of fifth-graders in a Bible Bowl. Still, many of us held out hope—until the first night; then we knew the presentation was only going to be accurate in spots while at other times it lost out to fanciful thinking and outright distortion.
The way it began was interesting—with the Flood. While the ark is being tossed about on the waves, Noah recounts the history of the world. He describes each day of creation, while depictions of what occurred on those days are shown. When Adam arose from the ground, his face was caked with clay; the special effects were quite good. And, mirabile dictu (marvelous to say), when Adam and Eve ate from the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, it was not an apple. This fact alone was enough to make Bible students want to stand up and cheer! The size of the ark was considerable, and the flood was world-wide. Praise is due for getting all of these important details correct.
But, the inside of the ark was a mess, water pouring in from everywhere. Back in 1958, the Four Preps had a number 2 hit record with “26 Miles.” It went: “26 Miles across the sea, Santa Catalina, is a-waitin’ for me. Santa Catalina, the island of romance, romance, romance, romance. Another verse switches measurements, beginning with, “40 kilometers in a leaky old boat.” That is what the ark resembled. Noah at one point picks up a mallet and drives a peg back into the side of the ark. No evidence of pitch is seen anywhere.
The audience could probably overlook Noah talking in an Irish (or Scottish) accent, although it seems peculiar since there was only one language at this time in the world. But the big question was, “To whom was Noah reciting all the details of creation?” It was not an adult, but someone about the age of 13-15. Only eight souls were on the ark; so who was this girl? She certainly was not Noah’s wife or any of his sons’ wives. A Bible student has got to be wondering where this girl came from. Apparently, she was made up out of thin air. It would have worked just as well if Noah had been recounting these things to his daughters-in-law or the entire family. The rainbow after the Flood was nice.
Abraham and Lot
Few events and Bible personalities are mentioned. The Tower of Babel is entirely omitted, and we find Abraham being told by God to go to a new land. “We already have a land,” Lot’s wife says. The viewer has a bad feeling about her from the get-go. After the herdsmen struggle, it is her idea for them to separate. Abraham protests that the family must stay together. Uh, well, actually it was Abraham’s idea that they separate (Gen. 13:8-12).
When the four kings square off against the five cities of the plain (Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar), and Lot’s family is captured, Abram rescues him. Before even thanking him for saving them, they tell Abraham that they are going to move to Sodom while he again insists that they should stay together. Then comes the visit from the three angels, and those watching the program begin to understand what it is like to see portrayal of Bible personalities in a multi-cultural age. The angel of the Lord looks Jewish, but the other two are Black and Asian. When they get to Sodom, they look like they have been beaten, and they appeal to Lot for help. No, it’s not quite the same as Lot seeing them at the gate and inviting them home.
When a few men of Sodom knock at the door, the angels then go out to face them, and the angels give them a vicious look, which makes them hurtfully blind. But others come, and the Asian angel reaches over his head to remove two swords strapped to his back. He and the Black angel slice their way through the men with ease, looking satisfied with the carnage. Nothing is said about Lot offering his two daughters, which is just as well, since they look to be about 11-13 years of age. Furthermore, as one critic put it, if the viewer did not already know what the sin of Sodom was, he would not have learned it from this miniseries.
Abraham and Sarah
The best scene between Abraham and Sarah involved her giving her handmaid Hagar to him. The viewer gets to see what a bad idea this was, without the characters ever having to say a word. The looks on their faces were sufficient. Many of the characters seem dirty all the time, and Sarah does not seem so beautiful that the king of Gerar would just have to have her, but these are minor points.
When God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, He responds by saying, “Haven’t I shown my faith to you enough?” But he obeys, nevertheless. Instead of traveling away three days with his servants, he climbs a hill in his back yard instead. When Sarah realizes what is going on, she chases after them. Abraham struggles with Isaac, who is not cooperating. After the angel of the Lord calls to him, and he does not need to kill Isaac, he turns around and sees a baby sheep (instead of a ram). Sarah arrives and thinks Isaac has been sacrificed, but then he walks into view.
Moses
Jacob and Joseph are part of one sentence in the narrative, and then the focus of attention moves to Moses. As in Cecil B. DeMille’s classic, The Ten Commandments, Moses does not know his heritage (even though he was nurtured by his own mother). He does kill a taskmaster, but a slave hides the body for him. He leaves Egypt, but no mention is made of him having a wife or children during the 40 years that follow.
He steps out of his tent to see the burning bush (neatly done) in his back yard. There is not much conversation between the two of them. God does not require him to remove his sandals because he is standing on holy ground, nor does Moses make five excuses not to go deliver the Israelites. He asks God, “Are you real?” The Lord answers, “I AM.” Moses readily accepts his assignment.
When Moses and Aaron first demand the release of the Israelites, there is no rod turning into a serpent; in fact, they are beaten and removed from Pharaoh’s presence. Nothing is said about making bricks without straw. Moses and Aaron view Pharaoh swimming in the Nile from afar. When the rod turns the Nile red, Pharaoh emerges all bloody—even on his head.
Pharaoh looks and sounds like a refugee from Wrestlemania. He can only shout. When the people are released from Egypt, it only looks like about 500 people on the shore instead of 2-3 million, and they only cross the sea a few at a time, which would have probably taken six years. There was no pillar of cloud or fire, moving from the front of the camp to the rear to fend off the Egyptians. The closing of the sea was the most well done part of the account. God did not speak the Ten Commandments to the people, and Moses’ receiving of them could not match the DeMille version. Nothing is said about a golden calf, either, and the quick departure of the people from God.
Jericho
The fall of Jericho closed out the first two hours and began the next two. Over all, it was fairly well done, with Rahab saying that she did not know how the people could fight against the God of Israel. Okay, there were a few inaccuracies. The spies climbed up the outside wall to get in; they had to fight a skirmish or two in the streets. They entered Rahab’s house and threatened to kill a child if she did not help, and the scarlet cord was on the door to the city instead of the outside wall, but at least it accurately conveyed the power of God. The Commander of the Lord made an appearance to Joshua; the Israelites marched around the city as directed and then shouted, after which the walls collapsed. No mention was made of the parting of the Jordan River so that Israel could reach Jericho.
Samson
The worst representation of a Bible event thus far in the series pertains to Samson. Forget the fact that Samson and his mother are both Black (what branch of the Israelites were they?). Samson’s father, Manoah, seems not to exist. He neither appears nor is referenced, thus missing an opportunity to use one of the great lines in the Bible, when he prayed to God for Him to “teach us what we shall do for the child who will be born” (Judges 13:8). Instead, when the angel of the Lord announces to Samson’s mother that she will have a son who will be a Nazarite, she seems to be pregnant instantaneously, which would constitute a virgin birth. Whether this idea was intended or not, Samson has no father. Besides, would a virgin-born child have behaved as immorally as Samson did?
Whereas Samson’s wife was given to another, the producers omitted that fact, along with Samson setting the foxes on fire. They just burn her and her father to death. When the Philistines enlist Delilah’s cooperation to bring Samson down, she protests that he is a changed man since he met her. However, money talks and she gives in. He tells her the secret of his strength the first time she asks. After he is blinded, he stands between two pillars, but they are not that close together. He keeps running and banging into first one and then the other until he knocks them down. Samson also looks as though he could be on Wrestlemania. His mother mourns his death amidst the rubble.
Samuel, Saul, and David
Beginning with Samuel, the series improves (it would almost have to). The people demand a king of Samuel and tell him that his sons are not righteous as he is, all of which is correct. Samuel anoints Saul, and one wonders how many times the actor playing Samuel had to practice anointing someone’s forehead without the oil coming down into the recipient’s eyes. Saul and the people bring Agag back alive, but Samuel just stabbed him with a sword rather than hacking him to pieces (not that anyone wanted to see Agag dismembered; it simply could have been commented on).
When Saul anoints David, there is no mention of his family or his brothers. David’s relationship with Jonathan and Michal were accurately portrayed, which was refreshing. When David faced Goliath, he took five stones from the ground where the army was rather than from the brook, and an interesting touch was David saying portions of the 23rd psalm as he went out to face the giant. The producers also included the part about David giving Saul 200 foreskins of the Philistines in order to have Michal as his wife.
Saul’s execution of the priests of Nob was not particularly well done. The student of the Word waits in vain for the priests there to defend themselves, claiming that David was the king’s son-in-law, but the three of them only offer a feeble response to Saul. One would never have imagined that there were 70 who were put to death. When David and his men have a chance to kill Saul in the cave, Saul proves to be ungrateful for having his life spared. This is a different interpretation than what is recorded in the Scriptures. And who is David’s right-hand (not to mention handsome) man in the cave? One wonders if it is Joab, but it proves to be another.
Saul cries out to God that he has been God’s faithful servant, which is presumptuous since he has continually tried to kill David, an innocent man, and since he was so bold as to kill the priests of God. It does indicate that God is not speaking to him, but how much longer would it have taken for him to say that God had not communicated with him by means of dreams, by Urim, or by the prophets (Samuel was now dead)? There is no woman with a familiar spirit at Endor to whom Saul goes in this version of the Scriptures.
When it comes to that last battle that Saul has with the Philistines, Jonathan dies first, and Saul is grieving at his loss. Rather than being wounded, however, or having an armor-bearer, Saul falls on his sword because of the loss of his son. An Amalekite furtively enters the battleground and removes Saul’s crown, which he takes to David, thinking he will receive a reward. He is taken away as David laments, “How the mighty are fallen!” Much of this movie seems to be done the way some translators approach the Scriptures—via the “dynamic equivalent” route. Sometimes, the key facts are present, but the way some of the events occurred had a wide latitude of interpretation.
David’s Reign
The second two-hour episode of The Bible concludes with a few events from David’s reign. One of those is the conquering of Jerusalem, which will serve as David’s capital city (don’t even try to find anything about Abner and Ishbosheth). David offered to whomever climbed up into Jerusalem by means of the water shaft the position of chief and captain, but David himself leads the way in this presentation.
Then there is the transportation of the ark into Jerusalem, and David is leaping and dancing as it occurs. Now we discover who David’s trusty lieutenant is—Uriah the Hittite. Yes, they have been close warriors for some time now. And (sit down for this one), David dances with Uriah’s wife in public, amidst all the rejoicing about the ark. Apparently, this is a precursor to what happened later, thus making David’s sin even worse, since Uriah seems to be his most faithful soldier. The idea that a king and a woman would have actually danced in public together is ludicrous. Nothing like that ever happened.
Bathsheba’s famous bath does not occur at night but in broad daylight; nothing is mentioned of David’s other wives. David comes on rather aggressively to her, but she protests that she is loyal to her husband. David responds by saying, “No one will know.” Surely, David knew better than that. Although it may not be the worst blunder in the ten hours of the series, it is certainly one of the greatest disservices to the viewer when Nathan confronts David.
In the Bible, Nathan comes and tells the king of a poor man who only had one ewe lamb, which was taken by a wealthy man to serve to a guest (although he had plenty of his own). As David becomes enraged at this behavior, Nathan says to him: “Thou art the man!” David immediately humbles himself and repents after this brilliant method of showing David’s sin to him. In the miniseries, Nathan says to David, “You can’t sweep this under the carpet.” Really? Is this supposed to be some modern dynamic equivalent to 2 Samuel 12? Phooey! It sounds more like a petty dispute than a serious matter.
The conclusion of part two contains a very ominous statement. There is a mention of Solomon (the only acknowledgement ever given), and the words used are chilling. “Solomon will not be able to keep God’s laws, either.” What?! Is it implied that God’s laws are so oppressive that they are impossible to keep? Was David just compelled to commit adultery? Could he not have prevented it? Would Solomon have no choice but to build idolatrous temples for his foreign wives? Surely, these words are not trying to excuse adultery, murder, and idolatry. Of course, people are going to be guilty of lesser things and be in need of His grace. And those who commit these atrocities can still be forgiven through God’s grace, but these words make it sound as though we have no control over anything we do, which has the effect of removing us from personal responsibility or guilt. That the producers chose such words with which to close a segment of The Bible is quite perplexing.