Medieval Battle Reenactment
Building Bridges Through Bible Narratives
by Dr. Larry Dinkins
My exercise of choice is swimming, which has given me opportunities to speak with fellow swimmers about water related stories from the Bible. Jonah and the shipwreck at Malta both relate to swimming as well as stories like Jesus stilling the sea or walking on the water. Recently at the pool, I started chatting with a man named Arthur who revealed that his hobby was medieval battle reenactments. He often dresses up in battle armor with various weapons and actually engages “the enemy” for crowds of people. I told him I had a favorite battle story from the Bible and proceeded to tell him the story from Exodus 17 about Moses and Joshua’s defeat of the Amalekites. This prompted a further discussion of battle tactics, weaponry and the crusades. As we parted, I told him where to find other Bible battle stories on the internet and encouraged him to review Exodus 17. My prayer is that Arthur will be curious enough to investigate this topic, search further in the Word and discover the Captain of the Lord of Hosts – the Lord Jesus Christ.
