MIKE’S MOVIE MEDITATIONS:
SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN
By Michael Sullivan
There are actually some good themes interwoven in Snow White and the Huntsman to meditate on, but we need to separate Biblical facts and imagery in connection with the matters of the heart from fairy tales, Hollywood and great special effects – in order to truly appreciate them.
The Witch/Evil Queen v. Snow White/True Queen
There is an obvious contrast between your classical “beauty is vain” bitter “man-hater” (Queen Ravenna – Charlize Theron) and the virtuous woman open and ready to love and be loved (Snow White -Kristen Stewart) – (Proverbs 31). Both having the common denominator of having bitter circumstances in their lives but one emerges “better” and stronger and the other remains “bitter” and wrathful. Although briefly covered in the movie, a contrast between two mother’s lessons on beauty to their daughters and how it influences their lives is seen.
Rescue and Deliverance from the Dark Forest and Deliverance from Hades/Hell
In the movie only one is qualified (the Huntsman – Chris Hemsworth) to get Snow White out of the Dark Forest.
In the Bible only God is qualified to save His Bride – the Church from the grip of death and Hades. God becomes a man (Jesus Christ) lives a perfect life, dies, descends into Hades (having the keys to Hades and death) and is raised and conquers “the death” that came through Adam for Her justification. This process began at the cross and was completed when Christ returned at the end of the Old Covenant age in AD 70 – at which time the curse of “the death” was swallowed up and defeated.
The Curse and Restoration of the Kingdom/Land and “Immortality” / Eternal Life
In the movie when the gracious King is murdered and replaced with the wicked and oppressive Queen, the land becomes dark and unproductive. When Snow White appears, her love tames the wild beasts and brings beauty and productivity to the kingdom’s land. Where might this concept come from?
In the OT and under the Old Covenant whenever Israel sinned or broke covenant with Jehovah, God would hold back the rain and turn the productive land into a hard dessert (Deut. 28). Perhaps a good example of this can be seen when the ungodly king of Ahab marries the wicked Jezebel and they turn the hearts of Israel to worship Baal – God withdraws the rain and causes a severe drought throughout the land (1 Kings 16:30—22:38). This was not just to serve as judgment or chastisement to humble Israel and cause her to cry out to God for forgiveness, but was imagery to describe the state of the heart. When God’s people were obedient to God’s Law, they were blessed and the land was productive. When they sinned, the hardness of the land indicated the hardness of their hearts thus the exhortation to “break up the fallow ground of your hearts…”
Under the New Covenant, God’s people get a “new heart” and God writes His Law on the hearts of His people. We have moved completely away from the Old Covenant “in the land” to the New Covenant “in Christ.” God’s Kingdom in the New Covenant is spiritual and blessings and curses are realized if one is inside the heavenly land/Jerusalem or outside Her gates. We have moved from physical types and shadows to the spiritual realities. The “creation” (Greek kitisis) and localized “world” that had been was preached to before the end of the Old Covenant age in AD 70 involved the creation of men that were groaning under inward decay of sin’s power magnified through the Law (Mark 16:15/Cols. 1:5-6, 23/Rom. 7-8:18-23YLT/16:25-26).
The idea that wherever Snow White goes there is healing and peace for the creatures of the land – is rooted in the Biblical truth that the Church carries with Her the living waters and Tree of Life which brings healing to the Nations whom she moves towards and whom stream to Her (Ezekiel 47/Revelation 21-22:17). God’s New Kingdom/Heavenly Land is a wonderful Garden which He continually waters through the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 35; 44) producing the fruits of the Spirit – love, joy, peace…(Galatians 5:22-26).
In the movie the wicked Queen’s powers are limited and cannot raise the dead. However, she is obsessed in trying to take the heart of Snow White. In the Bible, the love that comes through the King is the ONLY power that can raise the dead. Satan tried to defeat the Church but was “shortly” “crushed” in AD 70 (Genesis 3:15/Romans 16:20; Revelation 1:1; 20:10; 22:6-7, 10-12, 20). And there is no power of darkness that can take the heart of the Wife/Queen of Christ away from Him for He has regenerated and raised Her from the dead and has made Her an overcomer (Jude 24-25; 1 John 4:4, 3:9, 5:4; Revelation 3:11-12). Even when the trials of life get tough and professing “disciples” fall away, we cry with Peter, “Lord, where else can we go, for you alone have the words of eternal life” (John 6). We don’t get bitter, we get better through His unfailing unconditional love which upholds and carries us through this life.
In the movie the wicked Queen is consumed with finding “salvation” which is defined as staying physically beautiful forever or being granted “immortality” by taking Snow White’s heart.
Of course in the Bible “eternal life” comes through faith in Jesus Christ and is defined as the “saving of the soul” and has nothing to do with the beauty of our bodies or glorification of corpses – in this life or after the soul/spirit leaves the body.
Only the King’s kiss will awaken the lost sinner from their death/slumber and give true inner peace, healing and restoration. This comes through the preaching of the Queen’s (the Church) gospel. The Gates of this Kingdom remain open to you and the Spirit and the Bride say “come” drink of the living water which produces true “eternal life” (John 7:37-38, 11:25-26; Isaiah 60:11; Revelation 22:17).