“ In the Beginning”
Directed by: Kevin Connor
analysis by Eloi Casis
Summary of the Film:
The story begins with Abraham travelling with his wife, Sara, Lot his nephew, and his followers and flocks to Canaan (God’s promise land). Sometime in their dwelling, their herd increase until strife arouse between herdsmen. Some of the people are losing faith and are questioning Abraham’s loyalty to God. Abraham refreshed the views of his people with regards to God’s greatness by telling them the story of creation, of Adam and Eve.
In the beginning, God created the heaven and earth. And at the 6th day, He created the man from the dust and blowing life into his nostrils, he was named Adam. When Adam tried to find a help-mate, none of the animals are satisfactory. And so God put Adam to sleep, and creates a woman from his rib. The woman was named, Eve. A serpent tempted the woman to eat from the tree of knowledge, telling her that it will not lead to death: she succumbs, and gives the fruit to the man, who eats also. The two became aware of their nakedness; they hid from bushes and cover their bodies with fig leaves, and hide from the sight of God. God cursed the snake then cursed Adam and Eve with hard labor and with pain of child birth, and banishes them from the garden.
Eve gave birth to 2 sons, Cain and Abel. When the two grow up, Abel’s offering to God was more acceptable. Cain became envious of his brother and leads him in killing Abel. God cursed Cain to become a vagabond upon the face of the earth for the rest of earth. God blessed Adam and Eve with another son, Seth. From then on the descendants of Seth were called Children of God.
Abraham’s story continued. Sarah being barren, offered her handmaiden, Hagar to Abraham. Hagar gave birth to a son, Ishmael, but was also blessed by God. Sarah grew jealous of this and treats Hagar harshly. God appears to Hagar, telling her to return, but promised her son shall also be the father of a “multitude”.
The Lord God had a covenant with Abraham. He told him that Abraham will become the father of a great nation and will bless him. However, Abraham was old and Sarah is barren. But when Abraham is 99 yrs old, the lord again appears to him and affirms his promise. And Sarrah give birth to a son who is called “Isaac”.
When Isaac grows older, God commanded Abraham to offer his son as a sacrifice. The two travelled 3 days until they reach the mountain God instructed. Along the way, Isaac repeatedly asked his father where the sacrificial animal to be burned is. Abraham had said that the Lord will provide one. He puts Isaac to sleep. His heart cannot bear this task, to kill his son, but his faith to God prevails. Just as he is about to struck Isaac, an angel prevented him, and gave a ram in place of Isaac to be sacrificed. God speak to him that he was being tested. As a reward for his obedience and faith he received another promise of numerous seed and abundant prosperity. Some time passed and Isaac married the wife his father brought him home. Soon Sarah and Abraham died. The nation wept hard for the death of Abraham.
Isaac married Rebecca, who gave birth to twin boys, Esau and Jacob. Isaac favoured Esau and Rebecca favoured Jacob. Rebecca was uncomfortable during her double pregnancy and went to inquire God why she was suffering so. She received the prophecy that the twins were fighting in her womb and would continue to fight at their lives. The prophecy also said that the older would serve the younger. Traditionally, Rebecca did not share this prophecy to his husband.
When Rebecca gave birth, the first to come out emerged red and hairy all over with his heel grasped by the hand of the second to come out. The first born was named Esau, who became a hunter, and Jacob, who was a simple man, a dweller of the tents.
One day, when Esau returned from the fields, he begged Jacob to give him some of a lentil stew. Jacob offered to give Esau a bowl of stew in exchange of his birth right (the right to be the recognized as first born) and Esau agrees.
When Isaac was in his death bed and was already blind, he decided to bestow the blessing of the first born upon Esau. He sent Esau out of the fields to trap and cook a piece of savory game for him, so that he could eat and bless Esau. Rebecca heard this and realized that Isaac’s blessings would not go to Jacob. She therefore ordered Jacob to bring her 2 goats from the flock, which she cooked in the way Isaac loved and had him bring them to his father in place of Esau. Jacob protested and told his mother that Isaac will curse him when he finds out this deception as soon as Isaac felt him. Rebecca answered that the curse will be upon her if Jacob will not obey. Before she sent him to his father, Rebecca dressed him in Esau’s garments and laid goat skins on his arms and neck to stimulate hairy skin. Their disguise succeeded as Isaac believed that Jacob was Esau, and blessed him. Upon Esau’s return, he realized that he was deceived and it surprised Isaac. But he didn’t take back his blessings to Jacob. Esau was heartbroken and filled with hatred towards Jacob. He vowed to kill Jacob as soon as Isaac died. Rebecca heard about this and ordered Jacob to travel to her brother in Harran until Esau’s anger subsided. She convinced Isaac to send Jacob away by telling him that she despaired for Isaac to a timed life.
Jacob fell in love with Rachel, his uncle’s younger daughter. Laban agrees for Jacob to marry Rachel, only after serving for 7 yrs. However, he was deceived by Laban with presenting Lea, his older daughter as the veiled bride. They said its tradition that the older daughter should marry first. He married Rachel after he offered another 7 yrs of service. Jacob was blessed with 12 sons.
Jacob favoured his son Joseph and gave him a coat of many color, indicating that Joseph would assume family leadership, as a gift. Because of this, his brothers become envious. They grew angrier when Joseph told them about his dream in which all his brothers will bow down to him. His brothers plotted to kill him, but Reuben interposed and suggested them to instead throw Joseph in a well and planned to secretly rescue him later. However, the other brothers planned to sell him to a company of Ishmalite merchants. They dragged him and sold for 20 pcs of silver. His brothers dip his coat in goat blood and showed them to their father, saying he had been torn apart by wild beasts.
He was sold as a slave to Potiphar, pharaohs butcher. He resisted the advances of his master’s wife for a long time until she accused him of trying to rape her. This caused him to be thrown in the prison for 12 years. One time, the Pharaoh had troubled dreams he known world, Joseph sold and Joseph was referred by the buttler. He was called from prison and interpreted the Pharaoh’s dream, in which seven lean cows which rose out of the river and devoured seven fat cows. Joseph interpreted that for seven years Egypt will be abundant then will follow seven years of famine. The Pharaoh was impressed that he made Joseph viceroy over Egypt and managers of Egypt’s grain stores due to the prophecy of famine.
Jacob’s family experienced the famine that he sends his 10 sons to Egypt, excluding Benjamin, to procure grain for their starving families. Joseph recognized them immediately but did not reveal himself. He wanted to see his full brother, Benjamin, Joseph accused them of being spies and imprisoned them, having Simeon as a hostage, and demanded Benjamin be produced to prove their claims. This brought distraught to Jacob. However, Judah pledged that he would protect Benjamin from harm, and Jacob sent the brothers again. On meeting them, Joseph threatened to imprison Benjamin but Judah offered himself in Benjamin’s place. It was interpreted before that Joseph was testing his brothers with his threat and Judah passed the test. Overcome with emotion, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers and provided them to move Jacob’s entire family to Egypt. Joseph forgave his brothers and waves all the hatred he had felt for them for selling him.
Moses story begins when Egypt’s population was getting bigger. The Pharaoh ordered that all new born baby boy be killed by drowning in the Nile river. Moses’ mother was afraid that she placed moses in a basket and let him float in the nile. His older sister Miriam oversees him, until the basket floated and reached the daughter of the Pharaoh who was then bathing in the Nile. Miriam approached the princess and asked if she wanted the baby to be nursed by a Hebrew woman, her own mother. The princess agrees and when moses was a boy, he was sent back to the palace to be the adopted son of the Pharaoh’s princess.
He grows up in the royal family of Egypt and once should be next in line for the thrown. However, he noticed the cruelty of the Egyptians to the Hebrew slaves. One time, he could not bear the beatings of the Egyptian and tried to help the slave, this lead Moses in killing the Egyptian. Moses soon discovered from a higher source that the affair was known, and that Pharaoh was likely to put him to death for it; he therefore made his escape over the Sinai Peninsula. In Midian he stopped at a well, where he protected seven shepherdesses from a band of rude shepherds. The shepherdesses' father Hobab (also known as Raguel and Jethro, a priest of Midian was immensely grateful for this assistance Moses had given his daughters, and adopted him as his son, gave his daughter Zipporah to him in marriage, and made him the superintendent of his herds. There he sojourned forty years, following the occupation of a shepherd. While tending the flocks of Jethro at Mount Horeb, he saw a burning bush that would not be consumed. When he turned aside to look more closely at the marvel, God spoke to him from the bush, revealing his name to Moses.
God ordered him to take His people, the Hebrews, out of the cruelty and slavery in Egypt. With his staff, he and Aaron tried to convince and bargain with the pharaoh to release the hebrews. But the pharaoh and his magician mocked moses and the staff given to him by God. It was then that Egypt was sent with 10 plagues by God that the Pharaoh allowed the hebrews to go.
Moses led his people until the Egyptian catch up on them. It was the Moses’ faith and God’s help that made them escape through the parting of the red sea using his staff. The hebrews escaped. And sometime in their dwelling, Moses travelled for days in the mountain and receive the stone tablets bearing the 10 commandments from God. Moses was upset when he returned and saw that the hebrews had created idols and image Gods as they lose their faith to lord God. He then threw the stone tablets to them.
Moses continued to travel until he died, he never reached Canaan, but this sojourn was continued by Joshua, the successor of Moses to lead the people.
Characters of the Story and their Behavior
1. Abraham
Abraham was a great leader. He has an authority and a strong disposition to lead his people. He was loved and respected by his people as seen, when he died, the people wept over him. He was a good husband to Sara and a good father to Isaac. His faith is unquestionable before the sight of God that’s why he was chosen and God makes a covenant with him and his descendants after him. Twice, he shown his faith to God; first is when God made the covenant with him, that he will be the father of a nation, despite of his old age and his wife being barren. Sara, his wife laughed at this covenant and did not take this seriously. It is understandable that Sara would not believe this, knowing she can’t bear a child and her husband, aging 99 yrs old. However, Abraham sticks with his faith to God and as promised, Sara gave birth to their son, Isaac.
Abraham’s faith was admirable. I think that no parent can surpass his courage in sacrificing his own son. In modern times, one parent will do everything to save the life of his own child. The natural reaction would be, “Why do I have to obey Your orders, if You are the God of all the goodness, why do You have to take the life of my son?” However, Abraham defies this norm. His unwavering faith in God prevails
2. Isaac, Rebecca, and Jacob
The story of Isaac and Jacob caught my attention. I am trying to recall all my childhood bible story telling times, and I could not recall the story that was of Jacob deceiving his brother with his mother as co-conspirator to get the blessing of Isaac. Personally, I think that this part of the story is quite sensitive for children, they would not understand this too much. Anyhow, in all fairness to Rebecca, she did this just as so the prophecy can be fulfilled not just because she favored Jacob than Esau.
Jacob’s reaction was also understandable. He was afraid that Isaac might curse him when he may find out that they had deceived him. Jacob is a just person and an obedient son and a follower of God.
3. Esau
The deception of Jacob to be blessed by Isaac made Esau heartbroken. His right to be blessed by his father was taken from him unfairly. I was trying to analyze the behavior of Esau during those times. Does he really deserve to suffer over his brother, with the prophecy as the only basis? Although, we cannot question God’s prophecy, what I see in this story is that, Esau does not really deserve the blessing of Isaac (birthright blessing for the first born during this times is a blessing from God). It is because of his behavior and attitude. There was a time when he chooses a plate of lentil stew over his birthright. He was asked by Jacob if he wanted to trade his birthright to him over this food, he did not force Esau, but Esau chose the food. The interpretation to this act is that Esau values material things rather than blessings from God. With this kind of attitude, I believe that he cannot be appropriate for the benefits that come along with that right.
4. Joseph
Joseph’s character was my favorite in the story. He was favored by Jacob, his father, which is understandable, because his mother was Jacob’s true love. He was also blessed with a talent to interpret dreams. His brothers, of course, will grow envious of him. He suffered a lot, being sold to traders, being a prisoner for 12 years, until he was assigned as the viceroy of Egypt. Joseph has a pure heart and was overcome with his joy and emotions when he saw his brothers after how many years. At first he was angry at them, but then he forgive them and even mentioned that it is God’s will that he was sold until he becomes the viceroy of Egypt, in able for him to help his family out of famine.
5. Moses
Moses is a man of faith as well. I admire his humility when he learned that he was born Hebrew, he chooses to leave the privilege of being an Egyptian royalty. He was called by God to move the Hebrew slaves out of the cruel Egypt. He shown courage and vast of faith as the task of persuading or asking the Pharaoh to free the slaves is very difficult. The times when they were mocked by the Pharaoh were hard for them as well. Until God send the 10 plagues that they convinced the Egyptians to free the people. It was also difficult for him to encourage the Hebrews to have faith in God as they cross the red sea. From the beginning up to the crossing of the red sea, when he received the 10 commandments from God up to his death bed, Moses remained righteous follower of God.
As a Psychologist during this times
I would like to consider that in these times, all that matters would be one’s faith in God and his will and right to choose. God created us with free will. He gave us rules to obey and it’s up to the people whether they will choose what is right and what is wrong. People in these times, although, they were privileged, because they get the message of God through angels and messengers, were also prone in committing evil. It’s a natural reaction to anger, hatred, and jealousy. However, a true follower of God is someone who will choose what is right and will surrender his fate to the His mercy. Faith really matters because those who are faithful are being rewarded by God not only in material things (like abundance and prosperity in their living) but also in spiritual aspects.
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