I gotta say, I had a hard time with the Sunday Scripture Art this week. I have been reading the book of Joshua, because it is the focus of what the kids at my church are presenting today for Youth Sunday, and… I. Just. Can’t. I don’t have a fun interpretation of any of this.
As you may know, I grew up outside of any faith tradition. I was always super spiritual, even as a kid. Always seeking. I did have a Bible, and read it sometimes. But it was stuff like this that kept me from ever really considering Christianity.
The book of Joshua is basically the story of Joshua and his army going from city to city wrecking total destruction on the place and killing all its inhabitants (with a few noteworthy exceptions), in the name of God, because God has promised the land to be theirs. Never mind the people who were already living there.
And the whole campaign of death and destruction ends with the people making a covenant with God. Joshua is very clear, warning them in advance:
“You cannot serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm, and consume you, after having done you good”.
(Joshua 24:19-20)
….yaay?
So I’m looking forward to seeing what the kids do with all this death and destruction today. I am told that the message will be something along the lines of
“What does it mean to faithfully fight?”
I’m gonna go out on a limb and say not like Joshua did.
So anyway, I went in a slightly different direction than my typical paintings, sculpture, or installation art. Today is PRODUCTION DESIGN. Specifically, that scene from Game of Thrones where Daenerys and Drogon destroy King’s Landing with fire, killing most of its inhabitants. Much like Joshua and his army destroyed Jericho with fire and killed most of its inhabitants. Except I don’t think Joshua had a dragon.
If you are interested in how production designer Deborah Riley and her 200-person team on Game of Thrones filmed the destruction of King’s Landing, here is a great article on the topic.