I finally got around to watching the DVD of “The Book of Eli” the other day and have to admit that I was impressed by the film.
Although I don’t want to spoil the movie for anyone that hasn’t viewed it, the ads and reviews I saw offered up information that allows me in good conscious to talk about this point of the film.
The movie takes place in a violent post-apocalyptic world where all hope has been lost. Denzel Washington plays a traveler named Eli who encounters numerous obstacles as he makes his way across the land. But through it all he finds rest in his travel companion—a Bible.
Now in the film most of the books in the world have been destroyed, so this Bible is incredibly valuable. But outside of that there are people that don’t want this book unearthed as the message of hope is threatening to their agenda. This is a treasure that Eli is willing to fight for.
That got me thinking about how blessed I am to be publishing Bibles and making them available to the masses. I’m not living in a place where I’m kept from reading The Word. My team and I are in a unique role to help develop Bible offerings that can speak to the needs of people and help them to grow in their relationship with Christ and encourage them in their daily journey. We also are in a position to ensure that we’re making offerings in all price ranges to help everyone have easy access to the Bible and also enable evangelism efforts.
But the road of Bible publishing is oftentimes like that of Eli’s perilous journey. Although we aren’t being attacked by villains scavenging to survive, we do encounter resistance along the way. When you’re working with the Bible you come under spiritual attack. It’s amazing to me how things that you’d anticipate would go smoothly don’t. There’s an enemy out there that doesn’t want this message of hope delivered to the masses. I’ve no doubt that our team is faced with spiritual warfare on a daily basis. The resistance is strangely motivating as it becomes evident that the more obstacles you encounter on a particular Bible product, the more you know its influence will be on the world. The greater the positive impact for Christ, the stronger Satan pushes back. However, it’s an honor to be a part of a group of men and women that each day take on the armor of God and battle what comes their way in order to get The Word out.
So as you go about this world and leave your mark for Christ, know that the Thomas Nelson Bibles team is praying for you and is here to help as we’re on the frontlines together. And if you think of it, say a little prayer for us too.
I recommend “The Book of Eli” DVD and if you watch or have seen let me know your thoughts. Great surprise ending!
What battles are you facing currently?
Great post Gary. I really liked this movie, too—especially the ending. That caught me by surprise!
I loved the movie The Book of Eli, I saw it as a more violent retelling of Pilgrim’s Progress, or at least part of it. You have the road that must be walked, Vanity Fair, a companion and even the ending has very strong parallels to Pilgrim’s Progress. (Trying not to give away too much)
My pastor let me borrow Book of Eli last week so I finally got to watch it. I did enjoy the story, although when he said that after reading it for 30 years he came to a certain conclusion on the central message, I wondered if the script writers had read the Bible.
But all that aside, it was an interesting story and I enjoyed it.