I just finished teaching through the Book of Proverbs in my Wisdom Literature class and thought I’d share this video. It is exactly what the title of the post says a “commercial for God.” Basically, these two girls read Proverbs 3:9-10 verbatim. Just be careful because it might give you a sickening feel in your stomach when you see that God has an 800 number.
I used this video as entry way into discussing the doctrine of retribution and how it is part of Old Testament theology, but was not intended to be taken as a complete picture of how the world works. So, it can, therefore, be abused. For instance, I brought texts like Proverbs 30:7-10 into the picture to show that the doctrine of retribution wasn’t even meant to be taken as a complete picture of how the world works within the Book of Proverbs itself.
At any rate, you might find a better video for entering into the doctrine of retribution. But, this is the one I used:
So, this is the thirdinstallment in my series on videos for teaching the Bible. This was kind of a result me putting two and two together in my head. And, it turned out to be a really good way to kick off my class on Ezekiel. I think I got a real laugh out of a good number of students, which usually helps to get things going on the right foot. You can also use it as in illustration of the silliness that sometimes emerges in popular usage of the Bible.
So, I had been reading back through some passages on Ezekiel in prepping for my session on Ezekiel. And, I read the symbolic act passage in chapter 4 about Ezekiel baking bread. And, then it hit me …. “Ezekiel bread.” I had seen this in the store before, but it never clicked. There was a chapter and verse reference to Ezekiel on the package, so I had to look it up to see what the reference was. Sure enough … 4:9:
And you, take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them into one vessel, and make bread for yourself. During the number of days that you lie on your side, three hundred and ninety days, you shall eat it.
So, I went on YouTube to see if I could find a commercial or something and found this (but I also saw some recipes for Ezekiel bread, which might even lend to more comic effect):
I first ask how many of my students have heard of this product. And, with the whole health thing being big right now, most of them had seen it at some time or another. Then, I tell my students that if I ever see them or anyone else buy this in a store I will laugh at them … audibly. I proceed to tell them that this company has failed to include the context of Ezekiel 4:9 on the wrapper:
10 The food that you eat shall be twenty shekels a day by weight; at fixed times you shall eat it. 11And you shall drink water by measure, one-sixth of a hin; at fixed times you shall drink. 12You shall eat it as a barley-cake, baking it in their sight on human dung. 13The Lord said, ‘Thus shall the people of Israel eat their bread, unclean, among the nations to which I will drive them.’ 14Then I said, ‘Ah Lord God! I have never defiled myself; from my youth up until now I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by animals, nor has carrion flesh come into my mouth.’ 15Then he said to me, ‘See, I will let you have cow’s dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread.’ (NRSV)
If they are indeed selling you “Ezekiel bread”, what guarantees do you have about the fuel they used for the fire over which it was baked? …
Anyway .. you can make this pretty funny in person.
This is second post in my series on videos for teaching the Bible. In my survey courses, I usually do a class session on how Biblical narrative works. In that session I discuss type scenes. Videos that I usually use are parodies. I explain that parodies function by exploiting a type scene.
An easy example of videos that could be used here would be the “I’m a Mac” commercials and the new MyTouch commercials (Perhaps this example is most fresh in my mind because of my AT&T woes – yep, I’m still under contract for a while, so don’t ask me if I’ve heard about Verizon getting the iPhone). The “I’m a Mac” commercials set up a type scene that the new MyTouch commercials exploit:
After showing the videos, I then move into a discussion of type scenes in the Hebrew Bible. I usually use the prophetic call type scene and discuss Moses, Isaiah, and Jeremiah alongside Jonah, which shows what happens when the type scene is broken.
Nearly every time I mention on Twitter that I am going to be using a video in one of my classes it garners at least a little bit of interest. So, I’m toying with the idea of starting a series on videos for teaching the Bible. This would be meant primarily for teaching in academic settings. If it seems like folks are interested, I’ll continue on with it since possibilities for videos to use in class are nearly endless. But, wading through the sea of nonsense on YouTube can also be a bit tiring.
Starting the fall semester that just ended I began using a lot more video in my classroom because it seemed to work so well on the first day of one of my classes. In addition, Prezi makes incorporating video as easy as cutting and pasting a URL. For my first presentation from last semester see HERE.
I’m starting off this (potential) series with one of the videos I used in that presentation. It is Sublime’s cover of “Rivers of Babylon.” I used this video because many students know or at least know of Sublime. And, some of them were even fans (I find this a bit troubling since it makes me feel like the music I loved in high school is now “classic rock”). So, this may pique their interest a bit. Here’s the video:
After letting them watch the video, I then moved into a discussion of the sanitization of the Bible that sometimes takes place in a variety of settings, whether in church or when pop culture puts its hands on the Bible as well. I began that discussion by telling them that the song is taken from Psalm 137. I then tell them that they might not have liked the song quite as much if they knew what the rest of the Psalm said, i.e. verses 7-9 (NRSV):
7 Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites
the day of Jerusalem’s fall,
how they said, “Tear it down! Tear it down!
Down to its foundations!”
8 O daughter Babylon, you devastator!
Happy shall they be who pay you back
what you have done to us!
9 Happy shall they be who take your little ones
and dash them against the rock!
That doesn’t really make for a chilled out rock tune!
Since I used this video in the opening lecture of the semester, I then kind of spring-boarded into a discussion of the fact that studying the Bible in an academic setting was not going to be quite like the way that many of the students had possibly been accustomed to reading the Bible. We would be looking at the entire Old Testament, or at least as much of it as we could, even if it confronted us with difficult questions and potentially new ways of reading.
