A wise man (yea, surprisingly enough there are some of those around) told me once to make a point of watching the stuff that the people i minister to will be watching, so that was what i did today on my day off (yeah, i have some of those too these days!).
anyway, to make a long story short : i watched "the reaping". So what did i gain from this experience (apart from nausea that is...)?
the movie left me with conflicting thoughts and feelings. It swings between good and evil all the time with a scientist who specializes in disproving miracles by finding scientific explanations for it. the first twist is that she was ordained and involved in mission before she lost her faith do to the death of her husband and child. The ten plagues appears one after the other in an remote little community where and it is up to the scientist to save people from its destructive power. It is more or less at this point where one starts to question who is behind these plagues. Is it God or Satan or something else?
Without giving away to much of the plot... in the last five minutes one is almost convinced that the victory belongs to God. in the final scene however, one is made aware that the struggle is not over - the generation to come will bring its own questions.
So what do i think?
my husband commented on the fact that that is simply not God's way of doing things. The problem with that line of thought is that God did use 10 plagues in Exodus. Does it therefore mean that God has changed? And if God has changed his modus operandi in this regard, what does it say for the laws and commands that society (and the church) clings to so desperately these days?
If the answer is that God still use plagues to punish and persuade, what does it say of natural disasters and HIV/AIDS?
These are some of the questions that i am anticipating from some of the youngsters watching this movie. My own view:
God has won the victory, however in ever generation we are faced with choices that will affect our own lives and the lives of others. God has won the victory, but we still at times need to struggle through a minefield of ifs and buts. In the end it is by faith and through grace that we are saved. He that is in us is still greater than he that is in the world!
This movie will not make it to my top ten list and i do not recommend watching it as part of a romantic night out but hey, if it can spark a discussion about my faith...
PS. cant wait to see what the wise man says about this movie
1 comment:
What if God did not strike the Egyptians with 10 plagues? What if those who wrote this history called various natural phenomena the "plagues of God". And used hindsight, and poetic liscence, to turn God into this monster who would strike the firstborn dead. Jesus does not believe in this sort of God! He questions an incident of his day where a tower collapsed and killed people - and notes that this is not God. Jesus teaches us of a different view on God - thus challenging the prevailing view of the Old testament.
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