Noah: Skip the movie and read the book!

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Noah

Skip the movie and read the book!

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The movie Noah, released earlier today, has generated a lot of publicity with its big-name stars, huge budget and controversy over to what extent it sticks to or strays from the biblical story.

I usually really dislike spoilers about movies. But in the case of this film, how do you spoil something that’s already appallingly rotten?

I’d heard and read a number of reviews over recent weeks and was aware of the controversies—that it was so starkly different from the Bible’s story that it’s being marketed with a special disclaimer that it is “inspired by the story of Noah” and its creators “believe that this film is true to the essence, values, and integrity of a story that is a cornerstone of faith for millions of people worldwide.”

I wish either story were close to true. Sadly, both statements are far off the mark.

“Inspired by the story of Noah”? Possibly so, if you think Noah was an ancient environmentalist extremist who abhors other human beings, lives as a recluse browbeating his family into accepting his extremist viewpoints, and whose disgust for the human race leads him to hatch a plan for the death of his entire family—the last human beings left alive on the planet—that includes the murder of his own newborn grandchildren. Somehow I never learned from the Genesis account that Noah was a borderline unhinged murderous psychopath (as this movie portrays him).

“True to the essence, values, and integrity of a story that is a cornerstone of faith for millions of people worldwide”? It takes an advertising budget of millions of dollars to spread a whopper that big. The only thing this movie has in common with the original story is a boat, a lot of water, and some characters’ names. The vast majority of the movie is an enormous perversion of the biblical record. The negative reviews I’d heard and read about how bad the film was didn’t come close to capturing its utter awfulness.

My three-word movie review? WORST.MOVIE.EVER. I couldn’t believe someone could take a straightforward story and distort it so badly.

God’s Word is packed with some of the most amazing and inspiring stories of all time, and it infuriates me that people pervert them like this. And this movie is a perversion on many levels.

God chose to spare Noah because he was a righteous man of faith who “walked with God” (Genesis 6:9; 7:1). He was a “preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5). He was the recipient of God’s grace because he was “a just man, perfect in his generations” (Genesis 6:8-9). Being “moved with godly fear” to obey God, Noah “became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith” (Hebrews 11:7). He may have spent upwards of 120 years in faithful toil while building the ark (Genesis 6:3).

To see this godly man portrayed in such an appalling way borders on the blasphemous and reveals the deep spiritual sickness in the minds of those who conceived and created this movie.

God’s Word tells us why it records stories such as that of Noah: “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come” (1 Corinthians 10:11, New International Version).  

Jesus Christ Himself gives us a glimpse of the world as it will be just prior to His return to earth: “And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all…Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed” (Luke 17:26-30).

What He is saying is that in Noah’s day people had grown so accustomed to their hedonistic, self-centered, violent culture that they had simply lost sight of God and how He viewed the world. And like sheep being led to the slaughter, they remained oblivious to the danger until it was too late.

There’s a powerful lesson here for us today. Have we lost sight of God? Do we recognize the gathering storm?

If you want to use your time wisely, skip this movie and read the book—and pray for God’s wisdom to learn from what He inspired to be written there as a lesson for us so many centuries ago!

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Comments

  • Jacob Hitsman
    Bravo Scott, Wanted to congratulate you on one of the best movie reviews I have ever read. You have my sympathy on the suffering and rage you had to endure while viewing this blasphemy. It is an expression of gratitude on my part that I have a preview on the movie at your expense. Spiritual sickness is a correct evaluation of the motivation to get this movie made to begin with. This certainly was not much different than previous attempts to distort the Truth of Christ and the Kingdom of God. The movie "The Ten Commandments" is my best movie of all time and I have a copy of it in my house. There are minor distortions of Truth in this movie also. At the same time I felt that the sincerity of the actors and the producer was as good as it could be. I did not notice Satan's hand in this movie so clearly as the recent pictures to be sure. There is one other Bible series that I have found acceptable and if you are interested let me know and I will tell you about it. The point here is with how much they distort the truth and what intention they have with their hearts. An atheist is not concerned with God by definition so he is concerned with dollars and this is the main motivation in this film about Noah. This is just another one of Satan's perversions in another form of which we should not be surprised to see. To expect anything different would be to deny the treacherous times we are living in. When God tells us Satan is the god of this world now we believe Him and see his perversion of truth everywhere including Hollywood. Satan is in virtually every film they produce to one degree or another. Watching movies produced with this in mind comes very rarely if ever with me. We are here to reject insult to God and don't be a part of it which means to not view this blasphemy. Life is about choices we make and God is always there to help us get better and more close to the Kingdom of God. He is there for us to call upon and receive help in time of need. Thank you again Scott for suffering for me to put yourself through this blasphemous film called Noah so that I could get a proper perspective on this film without seeing it. Let us pray Your Kingdom come dear Lord Jesus, Amen
  • Deanne
    Totally agree. I saw it too thinking it would reflect basic things like 8 people saved instead of the rubbish they decided to make. What was I thinking? I wasn't. This movie has obviously been designed to distort people's minds against God and fill them with utter filth. The only thing I liked was the rainbow at the end and even that they managed to distort. Deanne
  • macnana
    thanks Scott, i was planning to download but now that you have enlighten me on certain major point, i will say goodbye to Noah story-movie made by human and read more about the Bible story which is very and more inspiring. Greetings from Ghana!
  • Janet Treadway
    Very good post and I hope people will not support it with their hard earned money. Of course how can you expect anything better since it was produced by an self proclaimed atheist. Satan is very cunning and sly to the people who have blinders on to the truth. Disappointed in Russell Crow. I say let it fall on it's own sword and that can only happen if people keep their money in their own pocket and use it for something better than wasting their time at this movie. It is good you came to the defense of a very Godly man, Noah. Janet
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