HOLLYWOOD'S BIBLICAL HISTORY

Hollywood’s Biblical History

By Ennis Smith

Today, I came across a digital billboard promoting the film, “Exodus: Gods and Kings”. The billboard toted, “Exodus is the most amazing biblical film ever made. A ‘must see’ for all.” I’ve seen previews for this Hollywood movie. It’s a false representation of what the biblical account of the book of Exodus actually portrays.

I saw the synopsis and watched video clips of the movie “Noah”. While I respect the talent of the actors and actresses from previous films, “Noah” also failed to accurately portray the bible’s account of the book of Genesis. It’s not that one or two minor details were missed or even omitted. These films are simply way off the mark! 

Here is the danger of films like these: unbelievers and some new Christians will flock to theaters to support these films and possibly leave with a false understanding of biblical truth. Jesus said, in Matthew 24:11 (NIV), “And many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.”

Movies cannot be mistaken for modern-day prophets obviously. But, as a form of our entertainment, we have to be careful about what we slap the biblical moniker on. Likewise, Christians whether new or seasoned, need to learn to discern the word of God before blindly following the advice and praises of the secular word, especially when it comes to biblical matters. 

I can’t say watching these movies are sinful. Simply understand what they are, and what they do or do not represent. Above all, we need to understand what scripture tells us about biblical history.