Bible – Page 7 – Michelle Lesley

If you’ve been keeping up with the History Channel’s The Bible miniseries, you’ve probably noticed that everybody seems to have an opinion about it. I’ve been watching the series, live chatting it on my Facebook page, and reading reviews and comments about it from viewers, bloggers, and Christian leaders. At the risk of over-saturating the blogosphere, here are a few of my thoughts on what people are saying about The Bible*. (You can find Part 2 of this series here, and Part 3 here.)

1. “The Bible” will get people to read their Bibles.

I hope so. I really do, but I’m concerned.

Have you ever watched the movie Braveheart? The Patriot? Gone with the Wind? (Ha. You thought I had a little Mel Gibson thing going there, didn’t you?) Upon finishing any of those movies, did you pick up a thick tome on William Wallace, the Revolutionary War, or the Civil War and give it a thorough reading from beginning to end? Or did you just take for granted that those movies accurately portrayed the way things transpired? I’ve seen all of those movies several times, and I’ll admit none of them have inspired me to read up on the historical events on which they’re based.

I’m guessing that while there may be some who will be inspired by The Bible to pick up the Bible and read it, those numbers will be far more minuscule than we might hope.

2. “The Bible” will lead people to a saving knowledge of Christ.

Nothing would make me happier. Really! However, consider the Christ this movie is presenting. If The Bible doesn’t present the true Christ of God’s word, then people will not be saved. They will be putting their faith (if it is even made clear to them from the movie that they must repent and put their faith in Christ and His payment for their sin) in a false Christ—an idol that is powerless to save anyone. Worse, for a person who puts his faith in a false Christ, it may inoculate him against hearing and accepting the truth of the gospel in the future.

3. “The Bible” can be used by Christians as a “conversation starter” for presenting the gospel to their unsaved friends.

This is the best impact The Bible could possibly have. I truly hope it gets many lost people thinking about God and that God will put a Christian in their lives to tell them about Jesus. I would love to see Christians use this movie as an open door for sharing the gospel with the lost. May many who need Jesus come to Him for salvation as a result of seeing The Bible.

…To be continued…

*Just a note for future readers: This article was written during the week between episodes 3 and 4 of the miniseries. Episode 3 wrapped up the Old Testament and introduced the New Testament, covering Jesus’ birth through the calling of Peter. As I write, I have not seen episode 4 or 5.

Bible, Discernment, Entertainment, Gospel, Movies

Join Me for “The Bible” Live Chat

March 16, 2013 Michelle Lesley

Have you been watching the History Channel’s “The Bible”? Join us each week at 7 p.m. Central time on my Facebook page as we live chat each episode. Keep your Bible handy and chime in with your questions and comments!

Bible, Types and Shadows

In the Shadow of the Son

March 6, 2013April 21, 2015 Michelle Lesley

Once, there was a father who sent his beloved son on a journey far away from home. The son was to seek out the father’s other children who had been separated from the father for quite some time. Quite willingly, the son went.

But when the son arrived at his destination, he found that his brothers had strayed away from where they were supposed to be, seeking greener pastures. So the son went after them and found them. He met them right where they were.

His brothers saw their father’s favored son coming for them. They hated him and everything he said and stood for because they knew he was to be in authority over them. It had been foretold. They conspired to kill him and bury him in a pit. Then, the prophecy of his authority over them would not come true.

The brothers stripped him of his robe and drenched it in the blood of an animal they had sacrificed for this purpose. They stripped him of his dignity, his favored status, and, if possible, his father’s love and approval. It was an attempted coup to knock the prince off his throne.

When they were finished, they threw him into a pit that had never held another man’s body. They sat down to eat, returning to life as usual.

But it wasn’t enough. Revenge is a meal that never satiates.

The brothers determined to turn the favored son over to a rough pack of wealthy heathens. They wouldn’t dirty their hands to kill him. Their brother’s life would rest in the hands of foreigners who had no part in their family line. And so the son’s fate was sealed.

By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Isaiah 53:8-9

His closest brother sold him out for pieces of silver, for the price of a slave. Life, as he knew it, was over.

Later, another brother would peer into the pit to see what had become of him. “He is gone!” the brother discovered to his great distress and sadness. Little did he know that the favored son had risen up out of the pit. He would rise in power to deliver the very brothers who had hated him and plotted his death, as well as myriads of others who didn’t even know him.

Who was this favored son? He is the One who has taken away our reproach and added us as sons and daughters into God’s family. He is Joseph, the forefather. He is Jesus, the Son.

Based on Genesis 37.

Bible, Entertainment

Join me for “The Bible” Live Chat!

March 4, 2013 Michelle Lesley

Did you watch “The Bible” on the History Channel last night? Planning to watch the rest of the episodes? Join me on Facebook as we live chat the remaining episodes. What did they get right? What did they get wrong? The next episode will air this Sunday at 7:00 p.m. Central Time. Let’s watch and talk about it together!