The Promised Land (Series)

Summary

The Promised Land is a new comedy series in the style of The Office based on the Israelites’ forty-year trek from Egypt to the Promised Land. Featuring delightful caricatures of the original Biblical figures, The Promised Land manages to be funny, respectful, and charming, without wading deep into any theological ditches. The show paints a very human portrait of each person using intelligent writing and wit to bring modern problems to ancient Israel.

Assessment

The Promised Land is a workplace comedy based on the Old Testament accounts of Moses and the Israelites’ journey from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land. The show demonstrates amazing quality, particularly in the areas of writing, acting, and Biblical accuracy (in terms of events in Exodus). Utilizing clean — yet sassy — humor, the show relies on relatable caricatures of Biblical figures to create familiar “corporate/office” style situations exaggerated for comedic effect.

The show itself manages to remain theologically neutral without straying into any kind of secular mindset. God is obviously present and obviously providing miracles for the Israelites, but the show is not making any deep theological claims. It sticks with the very human elements of the characters, putting them in relatable situations that the audience can easily see themselves in.

In terms of the events and culture surrounding the characters, the show so far remains incredibly accurate to the original accounts in Exodus and archaeological evidence about ancient Israel. In fact, the show seems to be more in like with the events in the Bible than a lot of dramas about the same subject, even down to little, specific details (such as trumpets blowing as God descended to Mount Sinai).

Light-o-Meter

• Writing: 6 out of 7 Little Lights

• Filmmaking: 6 out of 7 Little Lights

• Acting: 6 out of 7 Little Lights

• Cleanliness: 6 out of 7 Little Lights (there are some circumcision jokes, but they are not crude)

• Theological Message: 5 out of 7 Little Lights

• Overall: 6 out of 7 Little Lights

Talk

I cannot tell you how delightful I’ve found this show so far. It had me giggling almost the entire three episodes and, when I wasn’t giggling, I was getting punched in the feels by how sweet and sour some of the non-comedic moments are. This is an amazingly hilarious and delightful comedy fit for the whole family (without feeling like a hypersanitized/goody-two-shoes kind of show).

I like so many things about this show, but I’ll highlight a few:

1. Moses and Zipporah are shown to have a good relationship. Too many modern comedies take the “dysfunctional marriage” route for humor and that’s both sad and exhausting (also, yes, they do mention the whole Exodus 4:24–26 incident, but they don’t dive deeply into the emotional ramifications of it).

2. The characters are pretty archetypal, but in a good way. You can almost see the exact caricature templates the writers pulled from things like The Office and Parks & Rec. and applied to the Biblical figures. This said, they not only chose the archetypes well for each figure, but they have also merged them with the proper historical roles pretty seamlessly. They also take care not to mock the Biblical figures, but delight in their humanity.

3. It’s not afraid to be goofy and innocent. While the show does have sweet and slightly serious moments, it’s also cute and silly. You have everything from guys awkwardly chasing each other up sand dunes to someone sneaking very un-sneak-ily to eavesdrop on someone else to the small problems of local bureaucracy.

4. It’s not edgy. So many comedies nowadays seem like they’re racing to be the edgiest one out there with the highest sex-jokes-per-minute ratio or the most amount of angsty, toxic character choices that can be made in a season. The Promised Land is just funny and cute and family friendly without being boring.

5. Chisisi.

I think the final thing I want to expand on is how Biblically accurate the events of the show are to the accounts in Exodus. I keep referring back to my Bible juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust to double-check when something new pops up, but, like I stated earlier, this show is proving itself to be more accurate to the timeline than most dramas about Moses that I’ve seen. Is it perfect? No. But it is incredibly spot-on for historical fiction. Honestly, it’s helping me remember more about this time in the Old Testament than most Sunday school lessons I’ve heard on the same topics.

So far the most glaring thing they’ve omitted is some of the bloodier elements of God’s wrath — either upon Israel or upon the Gentiles around them. I’m not going to begrudge them this, because it’d be very difficult to make “go execute your brother and your neighbors because of their sin” funny in any circumstance. On top of this, they also do still depict many of the Biblical consequences that the Israelites faced after sinning, so the show isn’t painting this picture of “Israel was perfect” or “any of the sins they committed were just laughed off hahaha”, there are real consequences to Given how much they are doing so, so right, this creative decision to soften the story a little bit not only makes sense, but in my opinion is a non-issue.

Alright, review over. You’re going to go check out this show and see if it’s something you’re interested in and I’m going to go check out the merch (I might need that Chisisi shirt).

Where to Enjoy

Watch The Promised Land for free on YouTube: The Promised Land - YouTube

Show Website for More Info & Rationale Statement: The Promised Land | The Exodus as a Comedy

---

Disclaimer: This review is for this specific product and this product alone. In no way, shape, or form is this review meant to be an endorsement of the private lives, individual choices, lifestyles, or behaviors of those company(ies), publisher(s), creator(s), producer(s), author(s), artist(s), etc. associated with this product. It is God's sole providence alone to judge, and we make no claim to this right. With our reviews, we're simply looking at the value and merits of this specific product alone through the content and perspective of a Christian worldview. We pray you find it helpful and useful.