Five books. One story. And it was never really about Katniss. This week we’re looking at how The Hunger Games echoes something a lot older: the way scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, has been telling one singular story about God’s love for you the whole time.

Blog Version

Have you ever noticed how the whole world of the Hunger Games, from the crushing control of the Capitol to a society that is completely desperate for a rescue, is actually echoing a story that was written thousands of years ago? All five books are telling a singular story, and it’s not the one you’d think by reading the original trilogy.

When you read all five books of The Hunger Games, you begin to realize that it never really was about Katniss. The whole series is showing the rise and fall of President Snow and Panem.

I was watching the movies the other night, since Netflix is taking them off later this month, and I realized I’d never actually watched all of them. I’d seen the first one and then just read the rest of the books, so I knew the story, I just didn’t remember how it played out on screen. As I was watching, I was thinking about the books, but I was also thinking about how I needed to prep for this devotion this week. It started to occur to me that there’s an echo of something in the Hunger Games series: these books are all different stories that lead up to one bigger story. They follow different people, but it’s all leading to the final book.

One Story, Many Books

That’s when I had the thought that this echoes something from scripture that I don’t think a lot of people think about: from Genesis to Revelation, scripture is a story of Jesus, of His sacrifice and His love for us.

In Genesis, we see Adam and Eve bringing sin into the world. We see Abraham going to sacrifice Isaac and getting the ram instead. We see Noah being set apart. All of this isn’t there just to set up the story, because these are things that actually happened, but it’s all pieces in God’s plan. Exodus tells us about the requirements for sacrifice, a stopgap until the appropriate time for Jesus to come to earth. Hosea is the story of a man commanded to love a prostitute to represent how Israel was treating God, and honestly, it’s applicable to us too, because sometimes that’s how we treat God.

From the histories to the poetry to the prophecy, we see all of these things weave together, Old Testament to New, to tell one story: the story of God’s love for you.

A Meticulous Plan

When we talk about salvation and the sacrifice Christ made, we understandably focus on the story of the Gospels. But when you take a step back and take the whole 66 books of scripture into account, you realize it’s so much bigger. There was a meticulous plan in place.

This wasn’t something that God just woke up one day and went, “Hey Jesus, you want to go down to earth?” This was something God went, “We’re going to put this here. We’re going to make this here.” It was very precise. And the result was Christ’s sacrifice, so that you could know God, and know Him fully.

Honestly, when you take in the scope, the amount of detail and planning, the way it all aligns with the Old Testament, because God knew what the detractors were going to say, it’s awe-inspiring.

Take Some Time This Week

So as you go into this weekend and the following week, take some time to look into the foreshadowing of the Old Testament. Remember just how much planning God did to make sure you knew you were loved and cared for, that He has a plan and a purpose for your life. And He loves you so much that He sent His only Son to die for you.