Homeland - From Conquest to Kingship

As Pastor Paul touched on, the motif of "God is With us" and "Trust in God" is still alive and strong in the miniseries' third and fourth episodes.  I really like the way they are retelling the stories and touching on this major theme.  It seems to be pointing to an overall theme of Jesus being "God with us" when he is born.

It is quite obvious (and this is not a negative thing at all) that the producers, directors and writers of this miniseries always had Jesus in mind first and foremost.  I like what they've done so far, and I hear that Jesus is coming this next Sunday, so that is good news indeed!

Things they missed:

1. Conquest of Canaan: To the casual observer on Sunday evening the Israelites defeated Jericho and everything else fell into place.  The conquest of Canaan wasn't all neat and tidy for the Israelites though.  Immediately after Jericho the Israelites were defeated at Ai because of Achan's sin.  Again, I understand and respect that they must blitz through many of these stories for time's sake but there are quite a few gems missed here.


2. Samson: They handled Samson's story relatively well.  Although Samson was depicted as a bit better of a guy than he really was.  It's hard to know what to include and what to exclude with the Samson story, but it would have been nice if they would have included the three times Samson lied to Delilah before he finally told her the truth.  Samson was blinded by lust and pride, even though Delilah made her intents clear by using all 3 lies against him (unsuccessfully), he still ended up telling her the truth about his power, subsequently sealing his own fate.  There is also the small matter of casting.  Samson was a Jew from the northern tribe of Dan, most scholars believe that it is very unlikely that he was black.  I respect the producer's intent by the casting though and did not see this as a major issue.

3. Other Judges: I was kind of disappointed they chose the Samson story over Deborah and Barak, Ehud or even Jephthah.  Also, the story of Ruth, which is paramount to Jesus' genealogy, would have been a fantastic choice as well.  It would have been nice to get a break from the violence in favor of a love story.  The Ruth story is hard to do quickly, but it could have been done well.

4. David's Anointing: I don't know why they chose to do it the way they did, and it was really one of the only points in the episode that I really didn't like it and thought it cheapened the biblical account.  But Samuel identifying David randomly on the side of the road and asking him his name was not the correct way to handle it in my opinion.  Where was Jesse?  Where were David's brothers?  It is an important piece the messianic puzzle to note that David was the youngest and least qualified of the brothers to apply for kingship.  I was disappointed with how this was handled.

Five Favorite Things:

1. The Destruction of Jericho: I really loved how they handled the appearance of the warrior angel to Joshua and how they showed Joshua carrying out God's plan as the angel explained the strategy to Joshua.  I thought it shortened the story effectively, added suspense and culminated with a brilliant depiction of the fear in the hearts of those in Jericho when the Israelites shouted.  I liked them splitting to Rahab who said "It's happening" when the shouting occurred.  I thought it was a great way to kick start the episode.

2. Transitioning to Kingship: I like that they started with Samuel and the elders of Israel arguing over the need for a king.  The dialogue was believable and well done, and the casting of Samuel was superb in my opinion.  The selection of Saul was handled correctly and I really enjoyed the drama that unfolded between Saul and Samuel.  They really did a good job of depicting Saul as a king in conflict with himself and his God. Trying to do "the right" thing, but not always seeking God's will.

3. The Conflict of Saul and David: I've never seen this handled in such a convincing and provocative way.  David's role was cast perfectly and the scene with David and Saul in the cave was one of the best parts of the series this weekend.  The transition from Saul to David showed the raw emotion David must have been feeling (not to mention the conflicting emotions) when he learned that Israel lost a great defeat while losing both their King and David's best friend.

4. David and Bathsheba: While Uriah was not one of David's best friends as was depicted in the series (he was a Hittite, and therefore not an Israelite.  He would not have been with David before David was king and was most likely a contracted soldier from one of the nations David conquered.) I thought they handled David's ultimate sin very well.  The tension with Nathan, the prophet, was obvious and the grief concerning the loss of his first born son was authentic.  This is a hard story to tell on TV and I thought they did very well.

5. Continuing the Theme: God is with us... the ultimate theme of this series took a twist when the people of Israel demanded a King instead of God.  It turned into God is with ME, first said by Saul, and then multiple times by David.  The creators of the series are showing that humanity and sin is the ultimate problem that must be dealt with.  We want things our way and think that the ends sometimes justify the means (Saul, David, Samson) but that's not how God sees it.  It will be interesting to see how this theme continues through exile and into the birth of Jesus.

Final Thoughts:

While I struggled with the Samson story, I thoroughly enjoyed the story of the first kings: Saul and David.  I thought, once again, it was supremely cast, written well, and the action was believable and accurate (especially with the David story).  I look forward to next week as I feel the series has only gotten better from episode to episode.

- Pastor Josh