Aaron's Biggest Questions in The Prince of Egypt

The final Prince of Egypt post! If you missed the earlier installments, here are the links for thoughts on Moses and Miriam.

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Even though the Prince of Egypt Aaron is very different from the real-life Biblical version, I saw a lot of myself in his arc (no, not just because we share the same name). It’s just that in the past two years, and especially the last couple of months, I find myself dipping into some of the same beliefs Aaron carries.

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God? When did God start caring about any of us?

When drafting this post, I felt forced to ask God, where are You? why are You silent? do You even care?

In this movie, Aaron is cynical- notice he doesn't dismiss His existence. Instead, Aaron denies God's goodness. He’s the exact opposite of Miriam, who is clinging to hope with every ounce of her being. Aaron sees God’s deafness to his sister’s prayer and concludes Miriam is wasting her time.

So Aaron complies with oppression because he sees no way to change the system. Not only does he comply, but Aaron also discourages any attempts to reform or deliver. It’s not that Aaron wouldn’t like to be delivered, but rather he believes each attempt will make oppression more burdensome.

“Miriam, do you want us flogged?”

“Tell your people as of today, their workload has been doubled thanks to your god”

“How does it feel, to be struck to the ground?”

“Moses, when did you start caring about slaves? Was it when you found out you were one of us?”

But then something incredible happens.

Aaron watches Moses- he sees how Moses advocates for the Hebrews, and he sees how God uses Moses to send the plagues onto Egypt. And something in Aaron changes.

Look at that top picture, and you'll notice one lone person walk towards the dark, towering sea. That's Aaron, standing out among the fearful Hebrews and placing his life in the hands of God. A God who, half a movie ago, Aaron was convinced didn't care.

I think this highlights why God needs us humans to fix our broken world. God wants to convince us that He does care. And I don’t think God convinces Aaron without Moses’ help. Without Moses, I think Aaron would still cower in fear, hoping for deliverance but never believing it’s possible, even with the plagues of God. In Moses, Aaron gets a little glimpse of what God feels when He sees injustice.

Despite being the least faithful to the Biblical account, Aaron’s small arc is so realistic that it reflects many people’s thoughts today. This is a snippet of the same kind of journey in real life, told by the Oregon SDA president while participating in a peaceful protest for George Floyd and Breonna Taylor:

“when our Adventist group of pastors and leaders spoke and prayed with the crowd, there were many random onlookers who expressed afterward how much they appreciated what we were saying and doing because they ‘didn’t think a church or denomination in Portland would care about something so significant’”

Do you hear that?

When did God start caring about us?

He always has. And He wants us to embody that reality.

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