Hidden Figures, Part 2: Old Testament

   The 2016 film Hidden Figures follows in the footsteps of The Help (2011) and The Butler (2013) in telling the stories of people that were not considered worthy of telling in the 1960's because of deep and systemic prejudice.  These movies resonate with "ordinary people" and show that human dignity and ability are not restricted to those in the limelight.
   As more stories surface about instrumental but overlooked individuals, I asked myself if there are stories of foreigners, women, children or servants in the pages of the Bible.  Indeed, they are there, but it is sometimes our summary retellings of these stories leave them out.  Let's take a closer look at some Old Testament characters that God includes in his story.

In the story of Abraham: Eliezer of Damascus

   Abraham is a wealthy man of the Middle East who was called by God to be an exemplar of faith and whose faith would pass on from generation to generation among a tribal group known as the Hebrews or later as the people of Israel.  Our summaries of Abraham's life tell of his remarkable journey without a clear roadmap, the promises made to him, the miraculous way he became a father at the age of 99, and his obedience in offering Isaac on an altar at God's command.  After these events, we would add that Abraham got a wife for Isaac so that the line would continue.

   The Scriptures, however, devote a full chapter to the agent God used to secure a wife for his son.  Although he isn't named in Genesis 24, he appears to be the same "chief servant" Abraham mentions nine chapters earlier as Eliezer of Damascus as the one who would inherit all Abraham's wealth if no child were to be born of his body.
   Eliezer's task was daunting: he was to take a significant journey, find Abraham's relatives and find a suitable bride for his master's son.  The weight of the transaction was not lost on Eliezer, and he himself becomes an exemplar of faith.  His bold prayer seeking God's guidance in finding the right woman for Isaac is moving and full of wisdom.  He asks for a sign that will point out the right young woman.  One who would offer him hospitality at her family home and offer care for a stranger's camels was someone with a heart of kindness and patience.  Each camel can drink 200 litres in a short time, but drawing water from a well a bucket at a time would have been time consuming!

   When Eliezer returns with Rebekah, it is clear that his mission has been successful.  Isaac takes her as his wife, and the promise moves forward.  It does so through the faithfulness of a servant. 

In the story of Moses: Miriam

   One could say that Moses was a hidden figure that God brought out of obscurity to lead his people, but my focus here is on his older sister Miriam.  When Moses was an infant, she stood by to watch as his mother desperately floated him on the Nile River in a papyrus basket, hoping to keep him alive despite the Pharaoh's edict that all male children be drowned.  One might say, "What was the use of watching the basket?"  The likelihood of the baby surviving crocodiles or hippos was remote.  Even if the basket was untouched by beasts, how long could a baby survive without human care?
   But Miriam's task was indispensable as the story unfolds.  When Pharaoh's daughter sees the basket, she recognizes a Hebrew baby within it.  Instead of hostility, however, she has pity.  Instead of observing the rules of the Egyptians, she follows a higher norm that considers the arrival of the basket as a gift of the Nile god, one which she will not refuse.  Miriam's quick thinking and shrewd negotiation with Pharaoh's daughter has the result of Moses being nursed by his own mother and for payment.  Thus, Moses in his most formative years is taught the ways of the God of Israel before he enters the palace and its treasures of learning because his sister Miram was on hand.

In the story of Joshua: Rahab

   Conquering the Promised Land fell to the leadership of Joshua, after Moses passed away.  On the other side of the Jordan River, fortified cities and well-equipped armies are not about to surrender to a band that had been wandering in the wilderness for about 40 years.  Joshua sends out scouts to learn more about the people of Jericho, the nearest settlement.  Somehow these two found an inkeeper named Rahab.  In that culture, an innkeeper doubled as a prostitute.  The Israelite men may have shocked Rahab in that they were seeking only information, whereas the "pagan" Rahab certainly shocked the men by knowing so much about the LORD and by her reverence for Him.  She hides them when local intelligence determines that foreigners have entered the city, and she boldly requests  a promise of rescue when God will grant them victory over her people. (See Joshua 2.)

   A hidden figure of ill repute and her entire household are all that is spared of the city of Jericho.  They become part of the Israelite people; Rahab herself is married by Nashon, who may well have been one of the unnamed spies.  Rahab remains unhidden in the New Testament, where she is mentioned three times: once in the family tree of  Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus of Nazareth, once in the Hebrews 11 list of faith heroes and once in the book of James.

In the story of David: an Egyptian slave 

   Before he ascends the throne, a "hidden figure" plays an important role in the life of David, a one-time shepherd and youngest son of Jesse of Bethlehem.  Perhaps because of his own humble beginnings, David does not scorn a man found half-dead as he pursues a band of raiders who have burned his city and taken all that was dear to him and his men--their wives and children.  There is reason to pause and dish out scarce supplies for this foreigner in order to hear his story.  Great dignity is given to the helpless man in this account: he is an Egyptian slave of ruthless Amalekites, who left him behind when he became ill (1 Samuel 30).  He is willing to guide David and his followers to the camp; his only plea is that they do not kill him or hand him back to his masters.  David's reputation of integrity to this point assures the readers that the silence on this point means that David did indeed keep his word to the slave and did him no harm. Due to the help of this slave, David recovers everything and everyone that had been taken.

In the story of Naaman: a servant girl and other servants

   Naaman is a foreigner to the people of Israel, an army general for ancient Syria.  Despite his status in worldly terms, we would hardly expect to find his story in the pages of the Bible.  Syria and Israel were military rivals, but Naaman does not receive mention because his tactics were a threat to the people of God.  Instead, he comes to Israel because he seeks healing from leprosy.  Now, Naaman would never have come up with this plan on his own.  Leprosy was by definition incurable at the time; it was a death sentence.  However, an Israelite girl who had been taken captive by the Syrian army and who worked as a domestic servant for Naaman's wife suggests that he see the prophet Elisha in the land of her birth.  Despite Naaman's prestige, he listens to the advice of a hidden figure.

   As the story unfolds we see that Naaman still would not have received healing from leprosy if left to his own devices.  The instructions of Elisha, given by a messenger, seem undignified to Naaman so that he is ready to refuse and return to Damascus in the same diseased and hopeless condition.  It is his servants who convince him to see reason and overcome his pride.  And thus Naaman dips seven times in the Jordan River and catches a glimpse of the glory of Yahweh, the God of his enemies.

These examples are just a few of the "hidden figures" that God does not overlook in the story of redemption.  Feel free to leave a comment about any other Old Testament characters that fit this category.

   

Hidden Figures Part 1: A film connecting to a Bigger Story

   The successful book and film Hidden Figures tells the true story of women who were instrumental in the American space program in 1962 and onward.  This film came out in 2016, but it continues to generate income and capture hearts because its message connects to a bigger story in our culture, including Black Lives Matter and #MeToo.  The discrimination faced by Dorothy Vaghan, Mary Jackson and Katherine Johnson based on gender and race is tackled head-on.  Alan Shepherd and John Glenn are household names, but without a vast team of support staff at NASA there would be no rocket, no launch and no successful re-entry.  The three women documented in the film give us another angle to explore the operations at NASA's site in Virginia in light of a budding civil rights movement, the infancy of the IBM computer and the hopefulness of the Kennedy presidency.
   The clever pun in the title--figures--denotes both persons and the mathematical operations they performed, and that is how this film points to an even bigger story than early efforts to further opportunities for women and Blacks in America.  The rooms filled with engineers and human computers remind us that most people remain anonymously in the background when great achievements happen.
   Think, for example, of the first man to make it to the North Pole.  This achievement is given to one person, named Robert Peary.  The first Western person to climb Mount Everest, with cameras to prove it, was Sir Edmund Hillary.  However in both cases we easily forget that without their Inuit and Sherpa guides, respectively, neither of these triumphs would have been recorded.  Hundreds of porters were involved even further behind the scenes to carry the 13 tons of baggage to the base camp at Everest [1]. In the case of Robert Peary, there were other hidden figures besides the team of Inuit men who guided him.  There was African American Matthew Henson who has only recently been recognized as instrumental to the success of the trek and also Captain Robert Bartlett, who may have been deliberately left at a base camp so that the glory would not have been shared with him.
   Upon reflection, no invention or accomplishment can be claimed by any one individual.  Not only the network of people around him or her need to be acknowledged but also the technologies and advancements that have paved the way.  Staying with the examples already cited, technologies like the Inuit inventions of sleds and warm clothing, navigation systems, mountain climbing equipment, such as crampons and snow goggles were essential.
   Such acknowledgements are seen, to a certain extent, at awards ceremonies where recipients name or refer to the people who have helped them along the road to their achievements.  Nevertheless, even in the smaller achievements that we take pride in, it is good to remember that we could not have done these difficult things alone or without infrastructures we take for granted.  Admitting this is not just humility, it is honesty.

[1] See the photo caption on https://www.theguardian.com/travel/gallery/2013/may/23/mount-everest-first-successful-ascent-in-pictures