Posted on 09/11/2020 5:43:15 AM PDT by Hebrews 11:6
The Bible encourages us to meditate on it (Ps. 1:1-3, 119:11-16, etc.); these artists have done so, and their works can assist us and enrich our own thoughts about biblical characters, incidents and concepts, and increase our faith in He who is behind it all. As you encounter and consider these images and the related Scriptures and the Spirit enlightens your understanding, please share it with us!
But it is not only oil-on-canvas that can so help us; I refer to the astonishing video series The Chosen, which strolls through the four Gospels at the most leisurely pace. The eight episodes of Season 1 are finished, and the second of a planned seven seasons is coming soon. I say "leisurely" because after an entire year’s viewing Jesus still has only seven of the apostles (although He's preparing to call up Thomas from the minor leagues--but Thomas is skeptical, of course). Anticipating a canvas of fifty-plus hours instead of a movie's paltry two hours, The Chosen turns the characters (especially including Jesus!) into three-dimensional humans and brings the Gospels alive--you have never seen anything even remotely like it! Here is the Official Trailer.
Here is a link for free viewing of The Chosen: “Works with your phone, tablet, and you can cast to your Roku or Chromecast.” Last fall I paid $34.98 for DVDs and ongoing internet access—best 35 bucks I’ve ever spent (I don’t recall how much our marriage license cost, but then it was 42 years ago).
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In almost every depiction, Samson attacks the lion’s mouth.
Just my observation ... no analysis.
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Thanks for that.
Noticed that, too. Don’t know the according-to-Hoyle protocol for an immensely strong man overpowering and killing an attacking lion, but those painters and sculptors seem to.
The 1950’s comic strip and a couple of others depicting “wrestling” the lion don’t follow.
There is something to it. I’ve got so much to learn ...
Planning a safari?
An amazing assortment of concepts to depict a very unusual feat. Thanks for the pleasure.
Roger that.
“In almost every depiction, Samson attacks the lion’s mouth.”
Yes, I noticed that too. The passage in Judges says:
14:5 Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother. As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. 6 The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done. 7 Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her.
This shows two things not depicted.
1) It was EASY for Samson to kill the lion.
2) He tore it apart like a young goat. I imagine dismembering a goat for cooking by ripping off its limbs. No one shows Samson ripping off the lion’s limbs.
3) The way lions attack is with the claws first and then the mouth. I saw one picture with Samson pulling the lion’s front paws away from him. Just expand that to ripping off the legs.
4) The bees build a hive in the chest. How does that happen unless they get in? Ripping the jaws apart or the head off works. Or tearing off the forelimbs and exposing the rib cage.
God is wise to not give too many details. It keeps things interesting with our imagination.
“The 1950’s comic strip and a couple of others depicting “wrestling” the lion don’t follow.”
I really liked the comic book depiction, complete with his Philistine wife. Samson fits today’s comic book ‘dark hero’ perfectly.
One more comment about Samson and the lion.
He was a NAZARITE. He wasn’t supposed to touch or eat anything unclean: a lion or a dead body. He ate honey out of the lion.
Compromising already, Samson?
God is foreshadowing future problems.
I’m inferring from several facts—from the promise of his birth, from God frequently strengthening and using him, from God working through him in his twenty years of leading Israel, and from Samson’s answered prayer at the end—I’m inferring that, despite Samson’s weaknesses, we’ll be enjoying his somewhat more subdued company eternally in heaven.
I agree, but all judgment is up to Jesus Christ. Salvation requires being led by the Holy Spirit. I believe he was.
His final prayer and its answer, though far from conclusive, nevertheless seem telling. I’m hopeful: what a character!
May have jumped ahead six days right there....
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