Where was I and blogging when “The Prince of Egypt” by Dreamworks first came out? No matter, It’s still in print and can still be worth your time if your expectations are right. I was blessed to see this movie in the theater, which meant God got the maximum mileage out of the visuals in impacting me with the truth and reality of the scriptures covered in the movie.
This movie literally shook me when I was confronted with the visualization of the burning bush, the Nile turned to blood, the Red Sea being parted. I’ve read the story many times, I’ve said I believe the Bible cover to cover, and I do, but when presented with these visualizations, which of course are only speculations of how it may have appeared, I knew in my soul these miracles were real. The music was astounding, the lyrics of “Deliver Us” still ring in my heart when facing issues in my own life. If you manage to not be rendered a puddle of tears by the heart-wrenching lullaby (interwoven in “Deliver Us”), you need to check your pulse. I don’t know if Hans Zimmer is a believer, but what I do believe is that he is operating in a God-given gift with the music that gives this movie soul. You can’t help but feel God’s purpose and resolve in “The Plagues” with the refrain “thus saith the Lord!” The one exception to the music is unfortunately the song that was made popular by the movie, “When You Believe”, which has a New Age spin on it by emphasizing the Hebrews belief (just believe and it will happen) over the purpose and sovereignty of God.
Now, onto what to expect. Don’t expect a strict biblical representation of the story of Moses and the deliverance of the Hebrews from Egypt. The writers have taken artistic license, altering such details as Rameses (Pharoah) being the brother of Moses, Moses not being raised by his parents “until he is ready”, and others. I ran across some sites that explained how some of these details were changed to match Muslim history rather than biblical history (not merely random exercising of artistic license.) Know that you will find these inconsistencies in this movie. I will give Dreamworks credit for telling you these things right up front – that in order to learn the Biblical account of the Exodus to read the book of Exodus in the Bible, and to know you’re going to see some artistic license exercised. The gold that I hope you would find is a conviction of the things you know the Word to say, and to impress the reality of the miracles into your spirit. I would hope the music, notably “Deliver Us” would convince your spirit of the desperation of the Hebrews, the reality of their bondage and the triumph of their deliverance. And as the linked article points out, it’s a great conversation starter with your kids about the truth of the Bible.
