What You Need To
Know About Noah
The Movie, The Controversy, The
Biblical account, & What to take away from it all
By Deborah L. Kunesh
Was Noah an
angry, vindictive man who truly felt that God’s will was to eradicate all of
humanity to the point where he was at one point determined to kill his
granddaughters? Or was Noah an honorable
man of God following directions and trusting in his Creator? Can ultimate truth and dramatic license,
co-exist?
That’s what
I wanted to find out.
There has
been a lot written in the past few weeks about the recently released movie “Noah”. Everything from some in the Christian
community asking people to boycott it due to its serious detour from the
Biblical account, to others in the Christian community discussing the pros and
cons of the movie more openly or asking people to share more Biblically-based
Noah movies in their churches, to the movie being banned in certain countries, to
commercials stating that this is the #1 movie.
This movie and it’s telling of a story, has
caused an uproar, and in the world of entertainment, the uproar is sometimes
seen as a positive thing…creating a buzz of curiosity that lends itself to a
surge of popularity.
But the real
issue here, for me, was finding out what was really in this movie by first-hand
account and then comparing it to the Biblical account to bring light to all of
the hoopla and madness.
Never one to
simply believe whatever I hear, I felt it was important to see for myself where
the truth lies.
Everybody
has something to say about this movie and I’m no different. But I did go into it with no expectations,
open eyes and I actually saw it and processed all that I was seeing and did the
research so I could write about it in hopes of bringing some perspective.
It all
started with my husband wanting to see the movie weeks before the controversy
began. He loves Biblical movies and add
to that the typical guy movie characteristics of special effects and battles,
and you’ve got a serious draw.
The main
concern I have with those of my fellow Christians attacking the movie out of
anger rather than addressing the truth, in love, is that it is my concern that in doing so, we
become ineffective. We lose our voice. We can’t be effective if we don’t understand
the enemy.
Sometimes we have to dig our
hands in the dirt a bit and uncover the facts, in order to be able to
effectively share the truth with an unbelieving world. I can definitely understand the concerns, however, and
I respect everyone’s opinion of either going to see the movie, or deciding not
to.
Stay with me
here…I’ll show you what I mean.
I can
understand the sanctity of God’s Word and of a desire and necessity to honor
God and not be drawn into the darkness of the world. I also, at the same time, strive for a Christian
walk more closely resembling that of Jesus, who sat down with sinners, got to
know them and then showed them the truth, in love.
If there is a large buzz about a movie whose
baseline story (even as minimally baseline as this is) is taken from the Bible,
then to be able to intelligently discuss the facts and what is in the movie,
could very well be a door opening for someone who might previously not consider
listening.
So, let’s find
out what this movie was all about and compare that to what the Bible says.
It’s not a
stretch to say that this movie is a lot of dramatic fantasy with some bits of
Biblical truth thrown in. The movie was really emotional and disturbing in parts and a big deviation from Scripture, but at the same time, I think there are some important things to take away from it. In all fairness, the Biblical account of Noah is minimal and to do a 2 hour movie would require some additions and embellishments, though my preference would be for those to stay more true to a scriptural account.
For someone
like me, who takes everything in and processes it through an internal filter to
find truth, the experience of this film was emotionally exhausting, to be
honest.
One thing I
will say right off the bat is, this film takes a lot of creative license and in
some areas, really pushes the envelope.
I have not seen a Biblical movie yet, as of late, that doesn’t take
creative license to make the movie more dramatic and engaging or, even,
controversial. But this movie has to be the one to win the prize in that
department.
So, in order
to set the record straight on a few things...The Biblical Noah never threatened
to kill his grandchildren (this is a complete and admittedly disturbing fabrication
added to the story and one that, if this had taken place, my husband and I were
ready to walk out of the theatre truth be told). In
fact, Shem and his wife had sons with no mention of twin daughters. The Biblical Noah also does not leave a young
girl, trapped, to be trampled by a stampeding crowd in order to save himself
and his son (though I think this holds a deeper meaning which I will discuss
shortly).
We must keep
in mind that in interviews, those involved in the movie stated that they had
used not only the Bible as a source, but also other religious texts as well as
old rabbinical texts.
Throughout
the movie also are gold-like nuggets that start fire. According to
Slate.com
The evil men have mined the land for “zohar.” This element looks like gold and has essentially magical powers—it’s used to make light and, later, for a sort of antediluvian pregnancy test. Zohar is not mentioned in the story of Noah, but the Hebrew word does appear later in the Old Testament in Ezekiel and Daniel and is commonly translated to refer to a light of some sort. It’s also the name of the foundational text of Kabbalah, something Aronofsky has used before, most prominently in Pi.
In agreement with the theatrical version, the Biblical
Noah was, in fact, someone who found favor in the Lord and according to Genesis
6:9
“Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.”
Though the movie has Noah receiving his
revelations about his calling in 2 dreams, one at the hand of a hallucinogenic
type agent, the Biblical account had God directly communicating with Noah, even
to the point of telling him how to build the ark, what it was to include and
even the size that the ark needed to be.
Genesis 6:13-22: So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. 15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high 16 Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit high all around. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. 20 Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”
22 Noah did everything just as God commanded him.
According to this source
“It is given in cubits as being 300 cubits long by 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits high. A cubit in the OT was generally about 17.5 inches. However, an Egyptian royal cubit measured about 20.5 inches. Since Moses was educated in Egypt we must allow for the possibility that the longer measurement was meant here. The Ark, therefore, could have measured from 437 feet to 512 feet in length! It was not until the late 19th century that a ship anywhere near this size was built.”
I wasn’t
sure how I would feel about this movie and in reading reviews stating that the
movie made Noah out to be a vegetarian environmentalist, I have to say that
this is NOT what I found in general. While
there is a scene where Noah is with his son Ham and they see an
animal who was killed by the sons of man (the descendants of Cain) and other
thoughts interjected that indicate an affinity for the earth and animals and the evilness of man, the main theme is that they are saddened at man’s
inhumanity to creation.
The truth
is, Biblically, meat was eaten generally just at special times, for festivals,
etc., especially in a pre-flood world, so this element of the movie, and that
interpretation, did not surprise me. God
states in Genesis 9:1-3, which indicates that prior to this, eating meat was
not a regular practice.
“ Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2 The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. 3 Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.”
The additional truth is, the film does attempt to show what the Bible states in Genesis 6:
“The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time” and also “God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways.”
The film does show all types of corruption
and devastation. It does not, however,
go into all of the types of sin, but it does show savagery, evil intent,
violence, man’s inhumanity to man and animal alike, and the fact that though
the Bible states that we are to be stewards of the earth and to treat others as
we would want to be treated, that humanity, has failed at all of that.
Early in the movie, I had mixed feelings,
especially with the addition of these jagged rock type monsters that came onto
the scene. They later explain that they
are fallen angels called “watchers” whom the Creator had punished due to their
trying to help Adam and Eve when they left the Garden of Eden, and that though
they had been made of pure light, that they were cast down and covered in
jagged rock, forever imprisoned in this form unless God decided to bring them
home.
This of course is a fabrication. Some have stated that it could refer to the
Nephelim, which the Bible describes as giants or mighty men.
What I did like about this interpretation
was that it openly spoke about the battle between darkness and light and how
man, most times, will gravitate towards the darkness rather than the light,
when left to his/her own devices.
“ After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham and Japheth.”But the Noah movie has all 3 of the boys as young men as the ark is being built, with the help of these rocklike monsters aka trapped fallen angels, with Shem finding a wife in a girl they find along their nomad trek through barren land and once formed cities, who has been left for dead with her reproductive organs removed, via the sons of man (descendants of Cain) and leaves the other 2 sons, Ham and Japheth, without mates.
The Biblical account, however, states that Noah, his wife and their 3 sons and their respective wives, all boarded the ark together, so all 3 sons were married at the time of the flood.
Genesis 7:6 “ Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters came on the earth. 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 8 Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, 9 male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth.”
Noah, in an attempt to save his son and get back to the ark seeing this angry stampede approaching at lightning speed, makes a heart-wrenching decision in a heartbeat, to save his own son at the expense of Ham’s innocent girlfriend who just seconds later is killed in the angry stampede.
Prior to this, the audience is treated to lots of disturbing imagery of animals being slain and women being dragged, screaming, to Heaven knows what kind of fate…it’s hard to gauge what exactly the thought was here and one even got the idea that these women were going to be used for food or abuse. Some state that this was a glimpse into the concept of hell.
In the Biblical account, none of that takes place and as we are reminded in the Biblical account, all 3 sons were already married at the time of the flood and boarding the ark.
As for Tubal-Cain….Tubal-Cain was said to be the original inventor of metal weapons, and the movie does hold true to showing Tubal-Cain with lots of metal weapons.
Genesis 4:22 “Zillah also had a son, Tubal-Cain, who forged all kinds of tools out of bronze and iron. Tubal-Cain's sister was Naamah.”According to Jewish history, Tubal-Cain’s father, the sixth generation from Cain, was Lemech.
During this struggle, due to their good fight against the sons of man, the light comes forth and the rocks crumble, as the Creator takes each of these light beings, home, as their actions have pleased God. Again, this is all fabrication and is not included in the Biblical account. However, these light beings listening to and pleasing God and God holding to a promise of redemption, is a spiritual concept that is explored in this dramatic display.
Genesis 7:13: “On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark. 14 They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind, everything with wings. 15 Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark. 16 The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord shut him in.”
That aside, thoughts on the Biblical account state that it took Noah 120 years to build the massive ark (and some say it could have been less, maybe 60-70 years) and 2 Peter 2:5 tells us he was a “Preacher of Righteousness”, but the Bible is not clear as far as I have seen, on if Noah preached for the people to change their wicked ways in regards to the impending flood.
All manner of chaos ensues throughout the journey, including Tubal-Cain making it onto the ark as a castaway and trying to turn Noah’s son Ham, against him. Also interesting to note is Tubal-Cain's eating of a snake in Ham's presence and the symbolism of evil going back to the snake in the Garden of Eden.
Then, it gets more disturbing, with Noah finding out that Shem and the young girl that Noah helped to save prior, were now expecting a baby. Noah is angry that all of creation is corrupt and threatens that if the baby is a girl, he will “cut her down”. He also, at this point, believes that not only were the sons of man evil (descendants of Cain), but that indeed, all of creation, including himself, and his family are evil and that all will die while only animals inhabit the new earth. This of course, is a serious deviation from Scripture.
The longer the movie went on, the more we were ready for it to be over with. The more disturbing the imagery and insinuations became.
The movie’s direction began to show that the weight of responsibility for following God’s calling began to weigh on Noah and one could surmise that he was going mad and beginning to lose the plot, not necessarily hearing from God, but beginning to add his own interpretations and self-importance, into the picture. Of course…all of this was added for dramatic effect and were not true to the Biblical account. But it did speak strongly to human nature and the difficult task at hand of following an important calling.
The movie became an emotional rollercoaster of disbelief and emotion. The very real feel of darkness vs. light was evident, despite the serious deviation from the Biblical account. The tug of war between evil vs. good, the lure of selfishness versus God.
Throughout the movie, Methuselah, Noah's grandfather who lived to be nearly 1,000 years old, was pivotal, meeting with Noah, his grandchildren, Noah's wife, performing a healing miracle allowing Shem's wife to conceive and then dying in the flood. None of this is factual from the Biblical account.
Once they arrive on dry land, Ham leaves the family, still angry at his father, but not before finding Noah drunk and naked. There is a small bit of truth in this telling of the story in that Noah did plant a vineyard and became drunk and his son found him in drunkenness.
Genesis 9:20The Biblical account goes further into anger by Noah about what he felt was done to himand Noah shares curses against his grandson, the son of Ham, who saw him in his nakedness.
Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. 21 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked.
The Creation account is included in the
movie and I have to say I give props to the director, an atheist, for including
that, because, truth to be told, he could have left that out.
The rainbow imagery was also included at
the end of the movie, indicating the covenant that God had made with Noah, with
the scripture Genesis 9:7
“As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”
There is also an additional line “maybe we will learn how to be kind to one another.”
I will tell
you that after my husband and I saw the movie yesterday afternoon, we both pulled out
the pertaining Scripture to refresh ourselves on the Noah account from the
Bible, my husband with his physical Bible, me with my online Bible, and we
read, and we discussed it, and we both searched and compared. We talked about it. We scoured.
And I wrote this review, which I hope will reach some who don’t know or
understand the Biblical account of Noah and who may just be interested in
seeking and searching further, for the truth.
This was
definitely a movie that kept you on the edge of your seat and the all-too-human
struggle of goodness vs. evil was palpable.
Would we see it again or buy the DVD?
No. It’s not an experience either
of us wish to relive. The movie was dramatic, edgy and emotionally draining. But am I glad I
saw it for myself so that I would have first-hand knowledge and seek
further? Yes, absolutely.
And I’m not
the only one…Bible apps and websites have seen increasing traffic. People interested in learning the truth.
Just goes to
show that God can use anything, even a movie with such controversial content,
to draw others to Himself.
Additional Resources
I encourage you to read the Biblical account of Noah, surprisingly only a few chapters long, for yourself:
Once there, you can read the story in whichever Bible translation you would like.
