NOAH : A Movie Review - Controversy or Mocke

I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. 18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites.By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.  ( Romans 16:17-18)  

            

    In the present day , we cannot undermine the power of mass media and communication and I in my previous blog explained how it touched and changed the life of people in all corners of the world . This urged me to write a review on a movie NOAH . For those who have not seen the movie here is a link for synopsis . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_(film). I probably would not mind explaining the movie if the movie would not be approved and endorsed by major Christian organizations including , not limited to    American Bible Society , National Catholic Register , Q Ideas, Hollywood Prayer Network, and  Focus on the Family ".

             I would like to discuss the following points which are just not theologically wrong but blasphemous but I leave it to you , to the readers at the end to decide . First I will write about characters and then about theological false teachings . 

                         

                            CHARACTERS 

                                                NOAH 

BIBLE:   Genesis Chapter ( 6 - 10) Noah a pre flood Patriarch , was only righteous man in the eyes of LORD , he was told about the destruction of entire Mankind due to the sins of men and LORD promised to save him and his family ( In total seven People ) he was given the order to build an Ark , God Himself gave him directions on how to build the Ark , then God told him to come inside Ark . He was saved and then God made a covenant with Him that He will not destroy the mankind in same way . He is considered father of all post flood creation and to the end remained righteous in the eyes of LORD. 

MOVIE:  I cannot emphasize more on how much Noah character was misinterpreted .He witnessed the brutal  He was shown to consult about his visions to his grandfather Methuselah . He was given some toxic tea which was very similar to Temple of Delphi Oracles and he understood the vision , then he asked the help of fallen angels called Watchers to build Ark . He didn't let his sons find the wives and  had a rough relation with family members . He tried to kill his grand daughters as per command from the creator ( Some non biblical entity represented by Serpent Skin ) . He used the same words as the words of covenant as his own words and blessed his one son with one wife and two grand daughters and tell them to be fruitful . He is part of some cult doing worship using the skin of original serpent and magically skin glows when he prays to the Creator LORD . He used that same skin as a Covenent between him and his children . He is generally an angry man who slaughtered dozens of people in order to keep them away from Ark . 

                                                    LAMECH :

  Bible :Genesis 5:28-31, Lamech was son of Methuselah and father of Noah , who was 182 years old when Noah was born and died at the age of 777 just few years before flood .

 Movie : Movie showed Lamech being killed by Tubal-Cain while Noah was merely a boy and captured the skin of original serpent which Lamech used to give blessings and worship.

                                             Tubal - Cain : 

Bible: Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of[a] bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain’s sister was Naamah.(Genesis 4:22)

Thats a brief description of Tubal -Cain and his role as a forger of metals . 

Movie : After Noah , this is the most important character in the movie . He is nemesis of Noah and keeper of the Serpent Skin which represents divine sign of worship . He raised an army to kill Noah and take over the Ark , he is not killed in the flood but managed to break into the Ark , remained in hiding , get Noah's son Ham to his side , with the help of Ham made a plan to kill Noah and other animals and kept alive by eating hibernated animals ,  protected in the Ark and is finally killed by Ham when Ham decided not to kill Noah and in act of rage and shame stabbed Tubal-Cain . 

  

                                                 Noah Sons: 

Bible: Genesis 6 gives a nice account of Noah Sons and their wives and they were with their wives in the Ark , there is a mention of Ham and His son Cannan and the curse of Ham after being not giving due respect to His Father when he was drunk . Genesis 9:20-27. 

Movie: According to movie , it seems as its not based upon biblical account altogether but some Greek legend , Noah has three sons , here is account of all three . 

Sam: The oldest one , married to a girl ( Ama Watson ) , who is barren and then blessed by Methesulah and gave birth to twins . Sam attacked his Father Noah with a spear to save his daughters and also wanted to leave the Ark to save his family . 

Ham: He is shown most rebellious and his hatred for his father grew when he didn't manage to find a wife for him and Noah did not help saving his the girl he rescued from ambush . He hated his father and helped Tubal-Cain to survive in the Ark and conspired with Tubal-Cain to kill Noah . His hate for Noah grew more , and then He left the family after the flood and shown not to have a wife , inspire of the fact Bible not only mentions his wife but his son and whole generation . 

Japhet: The movie didn't say much about him but unlikely Bible , showed him a young one , unmarried and remained single without wife even after flood . 

                                 THEOLOGICAL FALSE TEACHINGS 

    NOAH, CREATOR LORD , Fallen Angels, In-complete Sovereignty.

                                           

         Noah is seen  having some unclear visions and instead to seek guidance from LORD , he went to his grandfather who offered him some hallucinating drink and he saw the purpose of his visions . There is no direct role of LORD in the making of ARK , and its shown that people wanted to get into the ARK but Noah by force stopped them . Then LORD commanded Noah to slaughter his grand daughters which finally Noah refused and there is no Covanent between Man and LORD , LORD is explained as SILENT GOD according to one of the character . Noah used some herbal smoke to hibernate animals , it was not a work of Soverign God but some magic trick . LORD didn't shut the door of Ark as written in scripture rather , Noah was left out and he struggled his way to the Ark after raining started , despite the fact its written Noah with his family entered the Ark seven days before flood and when rain started LORD shut the door, so by showing human effort as final act of survival , the movie tried to share Lord glory with humans . 

       Noah made Ark with the help of Fallen Angels , vaguely related to Nephlium , as mentioned in Bible According to Bible Fallen Angels were doomed to be fallen due to the Sin of Satan ,  as explained in scripture when he wanted to become equal to Most High and there was a war in heaven and Satan along with his angels were cast down from heavens .But in movie , its not Satan pride and sin against the LORD but fallen angels are angles who were cast out because they out of righteousness wanted to help human beings and specially Cain and as a punishment they were doomed as fallen angles, they after making Ark are welcomed back to heavens . Ark is not place of protection , rather Tube-Cain managed to kill many animals during the flood in the Ark,and not to mention there was only one wife of Noah's sons and their Nemesis Tube- Cain was also in Ark and survived the flood only to be killed by Ham later . 

          LORD is shown to be  some unknown deity who is silent and not sovereign , cast out fallen angels because they helped Man.needed  fallen angels to build the Ark and give unclear orders to slaughter new born baby girls of Sam . Lord did not shut the door and was not in the Ark and let them to doom . There is no covenant of abundance and being fruitful made by Creator Lord Himself rather it was Noah covenant with his sons . There is more reverence to the Serpent Skin of original serpent in Eden and human effort mixed with Fallen Angels help that the sovereignty of the Lord is not shown and it looks more like some Greek mythological tale and much blasphemous due to changing divine message and entire Image of LORD . 

                       WHY IT IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT

If it would be some random Hollywood movie telling the tale of some random Greek mythology ( which Hollywood is always honest to the original Source ) it would be more than fun or even some fable about some biblical character it would not be a dilemma , but this movie is endorsed by Christian Organizations and in one of the official statement its being hailed as a means to connect cultural with religion . It is such a shame that seven  countries ( Including Pakistan ) where Noah is banned are all Islamic countries which banned the Movie because of blasphemous content. This false teaching which shows a blasphemous aspects about LORD and changing the story to fit a modern mind , is about to be used as an evangelical tool and lot of new christians or non christians will be stumbled by it . May God help us to follow what is right and carry our own cross and follow only Him . 

"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.( 1 John  4:1) 

Amen . 

The Movie : Son Of God : A Review

    
     From the cave paintings to the modern film industry , humans have been using different ways of expression to emphasize and preserve  those moments which effect everything around them . 

I was attending one of the Christian Medical Student Association weekly meeting at hospital I was working and one of the student gave her testimony how she embraced Christ by watching a movie Jesus some 10 years back . It made me think how important the role of media is in all aspect of our life and people make their belief system based upon what they see . There have been many attempts in narrating the story of Christ , either for evangelical purposes or for mockery and when the latest movie Son of God did hit the theater I saw it with my christian friends and here is my review of the movie . 

               This movie is based upon the mini series and is tailored for the theatrical release . At first glance it looks very nice and inspiring and the story flow is uniquely based upon Gospel of John , rather than Synoptic Gospels as opposed to the previous versions , but is it all about it ? now without further back ground I will discuss the theological dilemmas in the movie .

                                      Mary Magdalene 

 And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils ( Luke 8:2)

Biblical View : Mary role can't be denied as she followed the christ during most desperate and dangerous times , bore the witness when he was risen from the death and loved the Christ and was among other women who followed Christ and bore witness . 
       
Movie :  Last Jesus movie did undermines her role by falsely  claiming her a Prostitute and this movie exalted her as a "Companion "
         Many of my friends appreciated the fact that the movie showed the mentioned role of women in Christ ministry and his earthly days but the over do of the role of Mary Magdalene is the example of westernized view of Jesus and his time . Marry is being shown with disciples and among important occasions like sermon of the mount , present on the boat when Jesus walked on water , during all major sermons . Why her role depicted in movie is non biblical and out of the times and culture of Jesus early days . 
         Women were not allowed culturally to roam around with men ( 12 strange men to be precise ) day and night and practically living with them . Bible gives no reference that women were living with the disciples and Jesus , following them or visiting them when they were in town is different thing but being with them all the time is not mentioned in bible . 
               Mary was shown as a leader , telling other disciples what to do and have faith , there is no mention  in the bible of her leadership role . In the movie , Jesus is depicted putting his arm around her when they were entering Jerusalem which is in contrast to local tradition and culture of Jews at that time . 
                It leads to other question why they paint  her in such different role . You will find your answer in the latest apostasy against christians is the conspiracy theories connecting Jesus and Mary as husband and wife and in time to come people can use this movie to prove the point and the idea is being borrowed from writers like Dan Brown and others of his kind and its the deliberate attempt to disfigure the image of Christ . 

                                         Judas Iscariot

While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. ( John 17:12)

Biblical Role :   Word of the God explains the role of Judas Iscariot , son of perdition , whose heart was filled with darkness and who with his own free will , betrayed the Lord and then ended his life and never seeked forgiveness rather ended his own life in sin and despair. 

Movie :  Now there is turn in events like role of Mary Megdalene which is more based upon works of Dan Brown , Judas is shown as a victim not the culprit . He is shown throughout the movie as someone who is betraying God unwillingly and is under great sorrow and he even refused Jesus to give him the SPECIAL task of his betrayal when Jesus gave bread to Judas , he said No Lord please don't do that and at that point Judas is a victim and Jesus is the reason in the making of Son of Perdition . The idea that Judas was in fact the most loyal disciple and he was bestowed upon the most important task of final event of salvation is not new . Many cults claim to have gospel written by Judas Estceriot and haled him as the true disciple and follower who followed the lord and took part in most decisive part of God's plan . Why this image of Judas is heretic ? Because it gives credit of salvation to a man whose being victim , rather to the Sovereign God . This movie can be used as a reference to glorify the role of Judas Iscariot . 


                 False Roman - Jews Political Relations 

When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, “I am innocent of the blood of this just Person.[d] You see to it.”( Mathew 27:24)

 But after two years, Porcius Festus became governor. So Felix was no longer governor. But he left Paul in prison to please the Jews. ( Acts 24:27)

Biblical View : At the time of Christ and till fall of second temple , Romans used to send their best diplomatic personals as Governors and rulers of Judea to find the peaceful solution of Jews rebel threat , and they were doing everything possible to please the Jew masses so they don't take side of rebel and maintain the status of loyal peaceful subjects of Roman Empire . Pilate  wanted to please Jews when he gave orders of crucification of Christ to avoid any riots and bad diplomatic image . Paul remained in prison without trial because it was pleasing for jews . 

Movie : In Son Of God we see a total exaggerated picture of Roman - Jews relations and Jews are being viewed as persecuted and Romans are the one who choreographed the whole crucification , it showed the Jew Leadership reluctantly gave Christ to the Romans for crucification because they were threatened to be dealt with might if they do not present rebel groups . Why this is important point ? Because this movie gave a politically and theologically incorrect version of Jewish Leadership of times of Christ and put all responsibility to the Roman empire and like Judas character , pain them as a victim who were forced to do this by Romans . 

                                     Miracles of Christ 

"Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor  ( Luke 7:22)

Biblical View : All the miracles of Christ were divine act of Sovereignty of God , which were not proceeded or followed by any ritual or human effort . 

Movie : Miracles of Christ were shown as some kind of  magic tricks which required some kind of interaction and act before the miracle , like putting the hand in the water so fish can find the way to the fishing nets of Peter , just to name the few . Why this is important ? Anything which takes away glory and sovereignty of God is humanism and humanism is desperate attempt to deny the power of Cross . 

Conclusion : 

 In the past , Jesus film has been used as an evangelical tool and many people embraced Christ after watching that film and organizations like Campus Crusade of Christ , are spreading the message of Gospel using mass media . Movies like Son Of God will raise many questions and act as a stumbling block for non believers when they see it and make a picture of Gospel without reading the Gospel and misunderstand the good news of Gospel . It will act as a blue print for many conspiracy theorists in their efforts to disfigure the message of Gospel . May God give us wisdom and spirit of discernment to fight this spiritual battle . 

Amen .  

Under The Sun : The Wisdom Of A Man : Ecclesiastes

                            Every single word in the Bible is inspired from Holy Spirit . When a good king Solomon asked for wisdom , he was given a wisdom, A wisdom of a MAN . Throughout the Book of Ecclesiastes its written Under the Sun - Under the Sun , its the wisdom of a man under the Sun . Wisdom of things about this world , so the wisest of the wise man using human wisdom say vanity of vanities and he uses the human wisdom and comes to the conclusion that nothing makes sense and he says eat , drink and be merry because everything is such a waste at the end . 

                                          Thats the epitome of human wisdom .

 God gave him wisdom and he wrote many books and his books are full of human wisdom and in his last days , living in great despair , worshiping many gods along with the One True God , making palaces , gathering riches of the world , ruling the great land for 40 years , marrying many wives , exalted among the kings but relying on human wisdom to find answers and it resulted in his great vanity of vanities in his later days . I am  not sure whether he died as a believer or not because thats not our concern , we die as a believer is the thing should  concern us most but one thing I know that the mere reason his books are in the Good Book : Bible are that God wants us to know the epitome of human wisdom . Many debaters have been debating over two millennia about the canonical status  of book of Ecclesiastes , some even go to extreme  lengths by dubbing it as The Atheist Scripture , but I recall the verse which says   Fool Says is his heart that there Is No God ,(Psalm 14:1) so the  words of the fools are also written in the  Bible and are inspired by the

Holy Spirit so does the human wisdom , inspired by Holy Spirit and it explains , our wisdom even exalted to the levels of King Solomon himself can not lead us to salvation .

My Lord choses the fools of the world and teaches them and says , Fear of Lord is beginning of the wisdom . Then the miracle of divine wisdom happened which made THE WISEST men of their times say :

 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled  and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.  ( Acts 4:13)

                That is the power of Divine wisdom , the Pharisees and the High Priests Annas and wise men of their time including Caiaphas marveled how few foolish , ignorant fisherman , never been to scripture school could prophesied and preached with such command that did strike the hearts of thousands . 

            Lets all become fools of this world and let the Spirit grant us divine wisdom and use us and then we will speak of things not under the sun but over the sun and find our true salvation  . Amen 

Convenient Gospel

Gospel of John 6:60-66

Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”

⁶¹ When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you? ⁶² What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? ⁶³ It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. ⁶⁴ But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. ⁶⁵ And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”

⁶⁶ From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.

Let us take a stroll to the past in the times of our Lord Jesus Christ and examine the context of these selected verses . Jesus was known among many as great healer , a Rabbi , a Prophet and a divine teacher and there was a split of opinion about Him in the synagogue . He preached at different gatherings but notably at the the synagogue and among religious leaders  very frequently and there were different topics but one thing was common , His message was not very pleasing and comforting to His audience , just not His divine claims of being I AM but His constant rebuke of the self imposed righteousness of people around Him to the point that his many disciples left Him because His words were very hard and showed them their original sinful nature and they left Him .They left Him despite being witness of miracles , raising of the dead, feeding to thousands with little boy's lunch and actually listening to the Lord Himself because His words were hard and not catering their needs . 

Now this incident has its echoes even in present day modern church and modern christians . What we want from the Church and our Pastors and our brethren : A convenient gospel . A gospel which tells us how kind the love of God is , we , despite a fish in water unaware of our sins like the gospel which nurtures our needs but not show us the sinful nature and darkness of our hearts.We like to listen to the word of God which makes us feel good.As a medical student I almost always prayed to God only during my exams and it was like a bribe to the Lord that you pass my exams and I will come to your worship house and / or fast as a thanksgiving and in my heart I was very contended as I did the right thing and this trade game continued on and on . We like the preachers who tell us how much possibilities we have in our life ,our  career , our relations and God loves us so much so He wants us to be successful , rich and famous and God loves us so much that He exalt us and makes us the in-charge of things in our life . We all are much like those disciples who left Him despite the witness of such great miracles and divine glimpse because its ME in our hearts and catering to MY NEEDS and in search of god who pleases our desires and fulfill our needs and most importantly tells us how good we are . 

Dear ones , always remember Jesus always knew what was in heart of men , at different occasions He before people saying things knew it and told them what they were thinking yet He never preached them what soothed their hearts , His preaching was hard and harsh and showed the true nature of Man . This leads to another logical question , does the nature of man has been changed over few millennia , a simple answer : NO . Man as he was still plunged in the darkest shadows  of evil and sin and Man needs the same harsh gospel which tells how sinful he is so it may  leads to his repentance and deliverance . convenient gospel has encroached many minds and lives and is about to knock our  doors I would like to conclude this post by a picture which explains the modern day church .