Moses Series Reaches Top 10 on Netflix: How a Revolution Changed the World Started with a Nursing Mother

Moses Series Reaches Top 10 on Netflix: How a Revolution Changed the World Started with a Nursing Mother

A three-part documentary about the Old Testament figure Moses has landed among Netflix’s 10 most popular series.

“Testament: The Story of Moses” debuted on the streaming platform in March as the No. 1 and since then, gripping docudramas and expert interviews have captivated audiences.

This three-part series is narrated by Charles Dance and “depicts the remarkable life of Moses as a prince, prophet and more with insights from theologians and historians.”

 

“I was thinking of ‘The Prince of Egypt’ or ‘The Ten Commandments,’ and those are all great movies, but it seems like Moses is almost presented as a superhuman,” Kelly McPherson, executive producer of the series, told the Christian Post.

“We like the fact that he’s a flawed person; he has to overcome a lot of things and what was, by many accounts, a tragic childhood. We like to make him more human. He does superheroic things, yes, but there’s a side to him that very, very human and very, very flawed at the same time,” he continued.

Rabbi Maurice Harris, one of the Jewish commentators in the series and author of “Moses: A Stranger Among Us,” argues that it is Moses’ humanity that resonates with viewers.

“This is one of the better examples of this type of Bible story being brought to the big screen,” he told The Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “And I also think that maybe it’s enough of a surprise for an audience that comes from different backgrounds to keep people engaged.”

Harris added that the diversity of the expert panel also appealed to the audience.

“Within 15 minutes, you’re faced with the fact that you’re hearing from Muslims and Jews and Christians and women and men,” Harris said. “And if you’re a person who comes from a very conservative ‘small-c’ religious background who is committed to a literal interpretation of the Bible, you’re faced with the fact that you have some conservative and liberal members of these three traditions who also react and I think that might help broaden the audience.”

While most reviews of the series have been positive, others have criticized it for its “creative liberties” and “improving” the different presentations of Moses in Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

Regardless of the argument, viewers did not deny that the series made them think differently about a man of God who brought millions of Jews out of captivity and is widely credited with recording the first books of the Bible.

“I love the fact that this story begins with a woman breastfeeding and her baby,” said Celene Ibrahim, an Islamic studies scholar who has taught religious studies at Hebrew College and is also featured in the series.

“How likely is it in our conception to think that the revolution will start with a breastfeeding mother,” he added.