PRINCE OF EGYPT

 

FOUR STARS – Inspiring

 

 

       When the miracles of the Exodus are projected onto the big screen, there is no mistaking the power of God or the spiritual implications of his acts.  Not only were Hebrews freed from slavery by the direct hand of God, but the people of Egypt suffered terribly by that same hand.  This joining of salvation and judgment has always been the tension of Biblical faith. 

       Though the plagues are artistically presented so as to lessen the impact of the sorrow caused to the Egyptians, the film “Prince of Egypt” stays true to the meaning of the Biblical story:  Oppressive people who enslave and abuse others will be judged by God for their deeds, while God will save his people from their oppression and set them free.  Additionally, God will use special people he has chosen and protected against great evil and empower them to do his work.

       Moses is a supreme example of such a called person.  Not only was he raised within the protection of the palace as a prince and knew the Egyptian culture, but he was also a chosen leader who was “taken from the water” as his name Moses implies, and thus baptized into his place of ministry.  This baptism becomes universal when the final act of deliverance for the people is to “pass through the water” as God divides the Red Sea.

       Although the film is reliable in most of its presentation of this Biblical event, it is unable in such a short presentation to explain many of the necessary facts which make the Exodus event primary to those whose faith is based on the Bible.  In addition to the story shown on the screen, some facts the viewer needs to know are these:

        Four hundred years earlier, the Israelites had been honored guests of the Pharaoh due to Joseph, son of Jacob (Israel), who, as Prime Minister, had brought his family to Egypt during a seven-year famine.

       Over time, the Israelites flourished within Egypt and became a threat to the Egyptian people, causing a later Pharaoh who “did not know Joseph” to enslave them.

       Even in slavery, the chosen people (Jews) continued to increase in strength and the Pharaoh of Moses’ day, Seti commanded that all Israelite baby boys below the age of two be killed.

        Moses was kept safe from the soldiers by being placed in a basket and the mother of Moses had been allowed to nurse to her son when the Pharaoh’s daughter  (not his wife as the film suggests) discovered his basket among the bulrushes.

       When Moses returned to Egypt from his exile for having killed an Egyptian guard who was beating an Israelite, the Ten Plagues were brought upon Egypt as a direct confrontation to the ten gods of the Egyptian Pantheon.  It was a clear display of the superiority of the God of Israel.

       The final “god” of Egypt was the Pharaoh’s own son who was considered deity by the people and was killed when Pharaoh would not let the people go.  This also cost all Egyptians their first-born sons, just as Pharaoh Seti had cost the Israelites their sons in his earlier decree.

       The Israelites were “passed over” for this final plague because they took the blood of a lamb and put it on the doorpost of their homes as they were instructed to do.  This Passover is celebrated annually as a remembrance of the sacrifice of life necessary for protection from death and of God’s deliverance. 

       Ending the film with Moses coming down from Mt. Sinai having received the Ten Commandments from God, is unfortunate for this is really the beginning of the establishment of the Nation of Israel.  Before this time, the Israelites were a family, descendants of Jacob (Israel), and had been a captive people.  Now God was establishing a nation through the foundation of the moral law of his commandments:  a nation based on laws under the guidance of God.

       Though this film stops at Mt. Sinai, the Exodus was only beginning as God not only establishes his people as a nation, but leads them to his promised land, the land now owned once more by Israel.

       The journey to this new land was difficult not only geographically but spiritually.  The book of Exodus describes how difficult it was for these people to trust God and follow him.   Even after seeing the plagues and God demonstrating his power over the greatest of ancient civilizations and their pantheon of gods, the Israelites were still tempted to make religious statues and lacked faith that they could possess the land.

       “The Prince of Egypt” is a film which confronts spirituality which serves man’s purposes with the truth of a complex God who both saves and judges, calls and leads.  This is a powerful message presented to both.

 

       801 words

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