Rosie the Reviewer {The Bible - In the Beginning and Exodus}

3.3.13 marks the start of the History Channel's The Bible miniseries a 10 hour 5 week experience. This mini series will tell the story of the Christian Bible from the first Chapter of Genesis depicting the fall of mankind to the prophecies yet to be fulfilled in Revelation.

This review contains SPOILERS!

Eve in the garden partaking of the fruit from the tree of knowledge.

Abraham ready to sacrifice his son Isaac.

Joshua with Moses after the Exodus as they view God's Ten Commandments for the Hebrews.

2 1/2 **
My Review: In the Beginning and Exodus
We first open by seeing Noah and his family on the ark God told him to build. However, Adam and Eve, the fall of mankind, even Cain murdering his brother Abel were practically honorable mentions through brief sequences where there is an actor dramatization. Then you jump forward to Abraham and his wife Sarah and his cousin Lot and his family. The Angels who come to warn Abraham has often been thought that Jesus was one of them. All of which I thought the acting was nice.

You see the birth of Ishmael Abraham's first son from handmaiden Hagar {forgetting to insert their trip to Egypt at one point}. Fast forward fourteen years and Sarah has Isaac, afterward, Sarah forces Abraham to choose between his sons {this is one of the reasons I really am not a fan of Sarah}.

The next scene is the depiction of Abraham ready to sacrifice his son Isaac. When a lamb, not a ram as stated in the Bible, appears.

This jumps from the sacrifice all the way to the enslaved Hebrews in Egypt. My issue, what happened to the story of Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Esau, the twelve tribes of Israel, Judah and Tamar, or even how the Hebrews came to Egypt through the story of Joseph??? Oy vey!

We then see Moses as a young man, and his Egyptian mother nearly looks as young as the actor portraying Moses, where he murders the Egyptian for nearly beating a Hebrew slave to death. Fast forward to Moses' older years and we see Moses and God speaking to him through the burning bush.  I was expecting to see Zipporah, Moses wife, and her family however they are never shown. The scenes depicting the plagues were well done and I even thought the man who portrayed Moses was okay. However, after the Hebrews were allowed their freedom, it was estimated that there was well over a million Hebrews, yet it looks like there are only a couple hundred in the encampment before they crossed the Red Sea. Another thing that did bother me, it states that Pharaoh and his men drowned in the sea, but in this series, they chose to change it and Pharaoh did not follow his men.

My main issue with this mini-series is the factual errors. I thought that Roma Downey would have researched further to make sure everything was correct before debuting this piece. I believe they stated that they wished for this series would make the Bible cool for people. Yet, what happens when they read it and find out how the creators did the bare minimum to create it. Most of all, how will all the incorrect information make us as Christians look??

I do plan on finishing the series, but I am sorely disappointed in Roma and her husband. I really thought they would do a better job than this!