<\/p>\n
In Romans, the Apostle Paul wrote about the earth pointing to God\u2019s \u201ceternal power and divine nature.\u201d The Koomans, two filmmaking brothers, certainly sensed that while making their newest movie, \u201cDaniel and the Fiery Furnace.\u201d<\/p>\n
It unfolded when Mena Massoud, portraying Daniel, and Elijah Alexander, playing King Nebuchadnezzar, filmed a scene on-location in India from Daniel 2, when the king \u2014 furious over astrologers who couldn\u2019t interpret his dream \u2014\u00a0ordered Daniel\u2019s execution. Facing his would-be killers, Daniel visited Nebuchadnezzar, asking for more time to petition God for an answer to the king\u2019s dream \u201cso they would not be executed along with the other wise men of Babylon\u201d (Daniel 2:18, NLT).<\/p>\n
When Massoud began reciting his lines, telling Nebuchadnezzar the meaning of his dream, Daniel and Matthew Kooman told CBN\u2019s \u201cFaith in Culture\u201d the atmosphere on set shifted powerfully.<\/p>\n
The scene centered on the latter part of Daniel 2, when Daniel foreshadowed the coming of Christ and what many biblical scholars believe to be a reference to Jesus\u2019 triumphant return in the end times:<\/p>\n
During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed or conquered. It will crush all these kingdoms into nothingness, and it will stand forever. That is the meaning of the rock cut from the mountain, though not by human hands, and crushed to pieces the statue of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God was showing the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true and its meaning is certain\u201d (Daniel 2:44-45, NLT).<\/p>\n
\u201c[Massoud is] speaking these words from Scripture, and a wind blows across the set,\u201d Daniel Kooman recalled. \u201cBehind the camera, tents were hitting walls and blowing off set. A rainstorm, a crack of thunder \u2014 things that we hadn\u2019t experienced in the natural realm on any day leading up to that for 25 days of prep and shooting. None of these sort of occurrences were happening until those words of Scripture about the everlasting kingdom that is coming [were spoken].\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of a sudden,\u201d he said, \u201cthe natural realm responded to those words of prophetic Scripture.\u201d<\/p>\n
With an impressive $1.2 million raised in crowdfunding, the Koomans said they are confident audiences are eager for epic-style theatrical films like \u201cDaniel and the Fiery Furnace.\u201d<\/p>\n
More importantly, Matthew Kooman told CBN News he is confident the project has divine backing.<\/p>\n
\u201cGod was clearly behind it from the beginning,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd we were blown away by just the success of raising funds through people who wanted to be a part of telling the biblical story. That\u2019s what the real synergy was.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trusting in the Lord \u2014 and standing by the courage of one\u2019s convictions \u2014 is critical to success in Hollywood, the brothers said, particularly for filmmakers making content retelling biblical stories.<\/p>\n
Calling the project \u201cincredibly challenging,\u201d Daniel Kooman said the one thing that kept him and his brother grounded was constant meditation on the source material, the Old Testament book of Daniel, and a genuine belief in the inerrancy of the totality of Scripture.<\/p>\n
The movie pulls cross-references from throughout the Bible. In addition to Daniel, the film blends in scriptural accounts from the books of Psalms, Isaiah, Habakkuk, and Jeremiah.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found practically \u2026 we couldn\u2019t take one step on any given day without a leading or a direction from the Lord,\u201d said Daniel Kooman. \u201cThat can sound abstract, but, for us, it was like, \u2018OK, what are we gonna do today and how is it going to have an impact?\u2019 It\u2019s only gonna be if it honors the Word.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pointing to Isaiah 55:11, which says Scripture \u201calways produces fruit\u201d (NLT), Daniel Kooman said he noticed a one-to-one correlation that, when they dedicated themselves to accurately retelling the story of Daniel as it\u2019s depicted in the Bible, \u201cthere was an incredible blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople on set \u2014 actors and people involved in the production \u2014 experienced that,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a daily occurrence of God\u2019s help through the production.\u201d<\/p>\n
Watch the full episode of \u201cFaith in Culture\u201d with the Kooman brothers in the video above.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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