Recently I read an article entitled - ‘14 Reasons Why I won’t watch ‘The Chosen’ → a livestream ‘TV’ series roughly based on the Gospel story of Jesus Christ. The author of the article was Randall La Celle.
My first thought when I heard about ‘The. Chosen’ was.. what a strange name for a Christian series. The Church of God is never called the chosen. God's Chosen people are the Hebrews of Israel.
So why the name?
Then, La Celle’s reasons to NOT watch the series, were profound, and troubling. So, though I have never watched the show, I posted La Celle’s article on social media - for Christians who do watch, to consider. Here’s a clip of the author’s cautionary premise:
‘We are living very near the return of Jesus Christ, in the solemn day of atonement. If the Christian life is a battle and a march, we have no time to waste, let alone on theatrical shows produced by those consulting with the Antichrist power and Ignatius's spiritual-formation teachings.
There is much about The Chosen that should concern the sincere Christian. This show blends every major religion into one pot: a mystic, pantheistic, ecumenical, feministic, Jesuit, and Mormon golden calf. It is candy-coated with Biblical references to appear Bible-based while treating the Word of God as just another book and blurring any distinction between God's remnant movement and the apostate church.’
After posting it, a friend wrote this back to me - “Interesting article. I do love this show. When it comes to inaccuracies, I tend to overlook them. Don't get me wrong, they bother me, but I have yet to see a movie or teaching that doesn't have any.”
OK. So the important questions to ask ourselves are:
Do inaccuracies in a Gospel movie matter? Perhaps my friend is Biblically astute enough to spot them. But what about those who aren’t?
Should the inaccuracies not trouble us? Shall we shrug our shoulder’s while the Bible is re-written for ‘Prime Time’ viewers?
And as La Celle pointed out - with the Day of the Lord fast approaching - is a movie fest that takes liberties with truth the best use of our time? Are there better ways to ‘redeem’ the remaining days?
Has a movie become a replacement for reading the Book? It's not such a foolish question. Watching a film does not translate to encouraging anyone to read a book.
I realize there are far worse offerings on television than a Gospel based storyline, but with the lateness of the hour - do any of us have time to waste watching the Gospel rather than reading it and preaching it? I watched one enjoyable section in episode 4 where the Lord tells Peter to throw his nets into the sea. What took 20 minutes to watch in the episode, is less than a minute read in Scripture.
In that fishing episode I caught 2 departures from the story in Luke. First of all the Lord told Peter to throw down [all] his nets. Peter threw down one net.
In the Chosen - Peter does exactly what the Lord told him to do. Drop one net over board. Yes, in some cases the differences are apparently insignificant.. to most observers.
In the Chosen film, only one small fishing boat is inundated with fish. In The book of Luke, TWO fishing ships are inundated with fish.
Does it make a difference? Why don't you ask the author of the book?.. The one who magnified his Word above his name
The one who edited it so carefully that the most salient points are included where - as the apostle said - ‘If everything Jesus Christ did was included, the world could not contain the books.’ (John 21:25) That's some precise editing. Should man mess with it?
2 QUESTIONS: 1) Is it time well spent?
Does the time Christians spend watching a movie about Luke chapter 5, have any impact on the time they have remaining to study Luke chapter 5?
Is the holy spirit talking to them, sharing the minute and significant details of the record - while they watch it on film? Are they gaining an in depth understanding that can be transmitted by the Book?
(One person privately asked - Isn’t the film fine for ‘children’. I say ‘NO’. If they think they’ll learn about Jesus watching the movies.. at what point do they switch to reading about him? History has taught that such a switch will never happen. If they start with ‘watching’ anything - they’ll stick with watching. The love of reading is cultivated EARLY in life.)
But time spent in watching the show, is only one of the problems with the idea.
Sunday, April 23rd, 2023,
Today on my daily prayer walk, I talked it over with the Lord. His suggestion? Watch some of it for myself, to see if it’s worth watching’.
I opened my phone, downloaded the ‘Angel’ app, and let the holy spirit guide me through fragments of 3 episodes. In just 5 minutes I saw a critical prayer for Israel completely changed, and an addition to the Word of God that tears the Bible to pieces.
If you are familiar with the fall of man, as recorded in Genesis, it was effected by satan taking the WORD of GOD and ‘changing a word’, and by ‘adding a word’. The rest - as they say - is history.
CHANGING A WORD
THE MOST IMPORTANT PRAYER FOR ISRAEL - CHANGED :
In the THIRD episode of ‘The Chosen’, the actor playing ‘Jesus’ led little children to recite a prayer for Israel from Deuteronomy 6. It was Israel’s MOST CRITICAL prayer. Their failure to follow it, is what led to their demise. The CHOSEN changes it completely..
This is the prayer in the Bible:
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
5 AND thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
6 AND ‘THESE WORDS’ which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:
7 AND thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
8 AND thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
9 AND thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.
Deuteronomy 6:4 - 9 is a prayer of WORSHIP TO GOD.
This prayer in Deuteronomy was SO IMPORTANT that the Jews were to teach ‘THESE WORDS’ to their children;
to speak THEM often;
to BIND THEM upon their foreheads, (a figure of speech meaning to keep the words at all times in their thoughts);
and to WRITE THEM- that is to accurately record ‘THESE WORDS’.
Is it ‘THESE WORDS’ if the words are changed?
Here’s what the writers of The CHOSEN changed the prayer to:
‘Hear Israel, the lord is our God the Lord is one. You shall love the lord your God with all your heart all your soul, and all your might.’
And it shall come to pass if you will surely listen to the commandments I command you today, that you may gather in your grain, and your wine, and your oil, and you will eat and be satisfied. I am the lord your God who led you from the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. Amen.’
The solemn prayer went from worship of the One TRUE God, to a prosperity petition for how to get enough to eat.
POLYSYNDETON
Each verse of the prayer (5 - 9) begins with the word ‘AND’, which is a Biblical Figure of Speech called ‘Polysyndeton’.
A Figure of Speech in Scripture, is the Holy Spirit’s EMPHASIS of something that is so important - that the figure acts as a STOP SIGN that we don’t miss it.
In the case of the prayer in Deuteronomy, the 'many ANDs’, connect every phrase of the prayer, that NONE of them is ignored, or eliminated. Yet, in the CHOSEN version of the prayer, verses 6, 7, 8, and 9 are eliminated.
ADDING A WORD
In the VERY FIRST episode (#1) that I watched of the CHOSEN series, I heard Mary pray to the ‘God of the Universe’.
In the NEXT episode (#2), I heard JESUS pray to the ‘King of the Universe’.
The GOD of the UNIVERSE is NOT ONE OF JEHOVAH’S NAMES.
THERE IS NO SUCH NAME IN SCRIPTURE AS ‘THE KING OF THE UNIVERSE’.
THERE IS NO SUCH NAME IN SCRIPTURE AS ‘THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE’.
AND.. HERE IT IS…
THE WORD ‘UNIVERSE’ IS NOT EVEN FOUND IN THE BIBLE.
Does that matter?
What is wrong with the phrase ‘GOD of the UNIVERSE’? Why would it make the Bible fall to pieces?
For starters, there is no word Universe in the Bible.. (Ironically, the word Unicorn is in there, but Universe is not. )
What IS a UNIVERSE according to Webster’s Dictionary?
‘The Universe is the totality of known or supposed objects and phenomena; all existing things including earth, its creatures, the heavenly bodies, and all else throughout the ‘COSMOS’. [outer-space]
Even though it is a Greek word, there is NO WORD “COSMOS” IN THE BIBLE. There is no word ‘outer space’ in the Bible.
Well, there’s no word Rapture either - but the concept is there. Is the concept of a Universe in the Bible? No. It is not. God never made an outer space.
God created a firmament in which he placed the heavenly bodies - and HE gave it a name - He CALLED the Firmament - “HEAVEN’.1 (Genesis 1:8)
The word is HEAVEN. Not Cosmos. Not Universe. The meaning is totally different because Heaven has boundaries. Our concept of a Universe has no boundaries.
He is our ‘Heavenly Father’. Not ‘Cosmic’ and not ‘Universal’. The words have totally different meanings.
Heaven is Biblically a place ‘above earth’ and bounded by waters. It is ‘finite’.
The universe is understood to be ‘infinite’ - putting it on footing with what we believe God to be.
The universe is said - by science - to be endlessly ‘reproducing or ‘creating’ itself’ - putting itself on footing with God.
The universe is understood to be endless - without boundaries - putting itself on footing with God.
The concept of a ‘self perpetuating universe, was proposed by ‘science so called’. Contrarily, The Bible teaches that God created the ‘heavens’ and the ‘earth’ - a fixed number of ‘seemingly innumerable2’ stars, one sun, and one moon. Period. No more, no less.
God FINISHED His work, and RESTED from it. There is no ‘expanding’ of any of them.
It is written - ‘Thus the heavens and the earth were FINISHED, and ALL the host of them.’ Genesis 2:1 Whereupon He ‘RESTED FROM ALL HIS WORKS’.
Did you see that.. It was FINISHED, including ALL the host of heaven. There is nothing in the Bible about God directing the stars to ‘replenish the sky’, and fill it further. Stars do NOT reproduce after their kind. Only the creatures of earth do - animal, vegetable, and man.
Man and earths creatures are the only things given to reproduction. God told Adam - REPLENISH the earth and fill it.
There is NO EXPANDING UNIVERSE.
There is ‘NO GOD of THE UNIVERSE’., nor is there a KING of the universe - because there IS NO UNIVERSE.
The entire concept of a ‘UNIVERSE’ is one of innumerable satanic PSYOPS designed to teach men that the Bible is a fairy tale.
The existence of a Universe presumes that -
God did not FINISH His works - as was written in Genesis - because there are more and more PLANETS beyond our ‘solar system’,
There are SUNS dying and being born at all times in the GREAT OUTER SPACE;
That unlike what the Bible declares of an Earth ‘fixed in its place’ - science says Earth SPINs, and ‘revolves around a SUN (heliocentric universe concept)
That ours is just one of BILLIONS and BILLIONS of suns.. in an ever expanding UNIVERSE…….
That God somehow forgot to mention the other suns..
That God somehow forgot in his Book, to mention outer space, in the creation story.
That God is joking (or worse) when he speaks - as he habitually does - of the sun moving.. rising, setting..
That God was also in error, or speaking in myths, when he called the earth - set in place on foundations - a ‘footstool’ to His heaven.
BUT.. you might ask.. What difference does it make?
Take a look around you.
Viva la differencia.
We are so far removed from truth, we might as well be back at Mt. Sinai, in Numbers 13, where 100% of God’s people lined up behind 10 unbelieving men, leaving the 2 men who spoke the truth - standing alone.
We are so removed from truth, that in 2020 when the luciferians launched a fake pandemic, everybody freaked out -donned occultic masks, and took deadly shots, meanwhile looking to a Church that blended in with the world seamlessly..
In the parable, a grain of sand is given for something infinitesimally small. Yet in the desert, put enough of them together in the wind and they can sandblast the paint off a 10 ton truck.
Lick by lick, the cow ate the grindstone.
At the end of the day, which this is, the problem with a film portraying Scripture, that contains errors - can’t be compared with the problem presented by a film with NO errors - but that keeps people from taking the same valuable time to…
‘Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.’ John 5:39
The movie and the Book are not the same thing, no matter how they cut it.
VJCB
And God called the firmament Heaven. Genesis 1:8
Innumerable - meaning man can’t count them. It is a figure of speech illustrating the VAST number of stars. Yet the Lord God knows EACH one. VIZ: PSALM 147: ‘He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.’