God Help the Outcasts: How would God reply Esmeralda from Hunchback of Notre Dame - A Daily Devotional

7/2/2018

God Help the Outcasts: How would God reply Esmeralda from Hunchback of Notre Dame - A Daily Devotional

God Help the Outcasts sung by Esmeralda in the Disney film "Hunchback of Notre Dame" is full of wrong believing about God. Hopefully this post can help to clear His name and show you that He is a loving God who is definitely a Defender of the weak and humble.

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Disney movies don't talk about God very much. But when they do, He is portrayed in a negative light.
"God Help the Outcasts" sung by Esmeralda in the cathedral scene is a beautiful and touching masterpiece, except that it depicts God as Someone who is distant from man, stern and totally unapproachable. That couldn't be further from the truth.

The way Esmeralda almost begs God to have mercy on her people and the outcasts shows a false image of our kind, loving God who is a Defender of the lost, last and least. Let's take a look at the lyrics of "God Help the Outcasts":

[Esmeralda]
I don't know if you can hear me
Or if you're even there
I don't know if you would listen to a gypsy's prayer

Yes, I know I'm just an outcast
I shouldn't speak to you
But still I see your face and wonder
Were you once an outcast too?

God help the outcasts
Hungry from birth
Show them the mercy
They don't find on Earth
God help my people
We look to you still
God help the outcasts
Or nobody will

[Townspeople]
I ask for wealth
I ask for fame
I ask for glory to shine on my name
I ask for love I can possess
I ask for God and his angels to bless me

[Esmeralda]
I ask for nothing
I can get by
But I know so many
Less lucky than I

Please help my people
The poor and down-trod
I thought we all were children of God

God help the outcasts
Children of God

If you've never heard the song before, you can listen to "God Help the Outcasts" in this Youtube video below:

Analysis of God Help the Outcasts sung by Esmeralda in Hunchback of Notre Dame

These lyrics cast doubt on whether God even exists. He definitely exists and is very much alive - He was there since the beginning and will continue to live throughout eternity.

"I don't know if you can hear me
Or if you're even there"
Yes, I know I'm just an outcast
I shouldn't speak to you

God's possible reply to Esmeralda:

I hear the prayers of the righteous - people who believe in My Son Jesus.
My heart is for the outcasts of the earth. Look at how My Son Jesus treated them while He was on earth. He loved them, healed them and saved them.
Whatever Jesus does is My will revealed - He and I are One.
I love it when my righteous children speak to me. I desire to have close fellowship with them. The more they draw close to Me, the more I can bless them with life more abundant!

Supporting Verses:

"The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the [consistently] righteous (the upright, in right standing with Him)." (Proverbs 15:29 AMP)

"When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion and pity for them, because they were dispirited and distressed, like sheep without a shepherd." (Matthew 9:36 AMP)

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones [to death] those [messengers] who are sent to her [by God]! How often I have wanted to gather your children together [around Me], just as a hen gathers her young under her wings, but you were not willing!" (Luke 13:34 AMP)

"So Jesus answered them by saying, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself [of His own accord], unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever things the Father does, the Son[in His turn] also does in the same way. For the Father dearly loves the Son and shows Him everything that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will be filled with wonder." (John 5:19-20 AMP)

"Therefore, believers, since we have confidence and full freedom to enter the Holy Place [the place where God dwells] by [means of] the blood of Jesus, by this new and living way which He initiated and opened for us through the veil [as in the Holy of Holies], that is, through His flesh," (Hebrew 10:19-20 AMP)

The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows]." (John 10:10 AMP)

These lyrics ask a question: Was Jesus an outcast while He was on earth? The answer is yes and no. No because He was really well-loved by the sinners of the world - tax collectors, prostitutes - basically the lowly people who know that they are sinful.
On the other hand, Yes because He was hated by the Pharisees, scribes and Sadducees - those who belong to the upper echelons of society back then and who were self-righteous, thinking that their outward religiosity made them holier than others.
They were extremely jealous of Jesus because all the people of Israel were marvelled by Jesus and loved Him so much that they sought Jesus out in multitudes.

But still I see your face and wonder
Were you once an outcast too?

God's possible reply to Esmeralda:

When My Son Jesus hung on the cross at Golgotha, that was when He was made a total outcast.
People who stood at the foot of the cross viewed Jesus as a worthless sinner. The self-righteous rulers of Israel were gloating over His suffering.
Even I had to turn My favor away from Him because He had to suffer the full punishment in His body for all the sins of the world.
It broke my heart to see Him suffer all that pain, but I am so pleased by the perfect work that He has done.
Now that Jesus has paid the full penalty for all the sins of the world, mankind are no longer outcasts and they can finally be reconciled to Me.

Supporting Verses:

"He was despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and pain and acquainted with grief; And like One from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or esteem Him. But [in fact] He has borne our griefs, And He has carried our sorrows and pains; Yet we [ignorantly] assumed that He was stricken, Struck down by God and degraded and humiliated [by Him]. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed for our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing]; The punishment [required] for our well-being fell on Him, And by His stripes (wounds) we are healed." (Isaiah 53:3-5 AMP)

"About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud [agonized] voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”" (Matthew 27:46 AMP)

Second Half of God Help the Outcasts

The verses below describe the mindset of a believer who sees God as a stern judge rather than the loving Father that He is.
Esmeralda's words reflect a believer who has a scarcity mindset, not knowing that God wants to bless His believers abundantly.
He has so much love that He wants to pour out upon us. As long as He has a righteous basis to do so, He will - a believer in Jesus Christ is qualified to receive all the blessings of God by His grace.

Also there is no such thing as "luck". I believe that luck is actually just leaving things to happen the way they would if you don't ask for God's help.
The devil wants us to believe in luck because that means that he has the freedom to attack you in your life and you will just say "It's because I have bad luck" - it is a mistake to not get God involved.

I ask for nothing
I can get by
But I know so many
Less lucky than I

God's possible reply to Esmeralda:

Esmeralda, ask Me for what you want and need. I want to be closely involved in your life, to bless and supply you. Ask for big things - I am Almighty God, nothing is impossible for those who believe in Me.
You don't have to rely on luck when you have My favor - All the blessings of God are found in My Son Jesus - seek Him and all these things will be added to you!

Supporting Verses:

"And my God will liberally supply ( fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19 AMP)

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." (Matthew 6:33 AMP)

"For you are recognizing [more clearly] the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [His astonishing kindness, His generosity, His gracious favor], that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich (abundantly blessed)." (II Corinthians 8:9 AMP)

Finally, these verses reflect a wrong understanding of the term "children of God". Not everyone is a child of God.
People who don't believe in Jesus are called "children of the devil" and their father is the "Father of Lies", Satan himself.
Children of God are the ones who have received Jesus as their Lord and Savior - only then do they join God's royal family as a king and priest.
Children of God are no longer slaves to sin but are heirs of righteousness and grace.

Please help my people
The poor and down-trod
I thought we all were children of God

God's possible reply to Esmeralda:

Esmeralda, you are mistaken. Not everyone in the world is My child. Only those who have believed in My Son Jesus are My children.
The people who have not believed in Jesus have another father: the devil, and they listen to his voice.

Supporting Verses:

"See what an incredible quality of love the Father has shown to us, that we would [be permitted to] be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are! For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him." (I John 3:1 AMP)

"In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother." (I John 3:10 AMP)

"You are doing the works of your [own]father.” They said to Him, “We are not illegitimate children; we have one [spiritual] Father: God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father [but He is not], you would love and recognize Me, for I came from God [out of His very presence] and have arrived here. For I have not even come on My own initiative [as self-appointed], but He [is the One who] sent Me. Why do you misunderstand what I am saying? It is because [your spiritual ears are deaf and] you are unable to hear [the truth of] My word. You are of your father the devil, and it is your will to practice the desires [which are characteristic] of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks what is natural to him, for he is a liar and the father of lies and half-truths. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me [and continue in your unbelief]. Which one of you [has proof and] convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? Whoever is of God and belongs to Him hears [the truth of] God’s words; for this reason you do not hear them: because you are not of God and you are not in fellowship with Him.”" (John 8:41-47 AMP)

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1 Comment

Eliot link

7/4/2020 06:36:18 am

Mr Editor sir you are wrong. You say that only those that care for God are his children. All on earth are God’s children. From the beginning of time, God has given us a choice. To follow him or go your own way without him. He has never forced us to do anything. Adam and Eve’s choice was to eat from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Yet no matter what choice we make he will love us all the same. If you focus on Esmerelda throughout the story you can probably tell that she wasn’t really apart of the church. Before singing “God Help the Outcasts” she almost swears and fights a soldier with a candle light post. In the Notre Dame. But, still she has a heart for those that are looked down upon by others. She see’s something just beyond the surface of others, like Jesus. So when you say the writing of the first verse is completely wrong. You are wrong, she’s just explaining to us that she isn’t close with God. And when she says that, “she shouldn’t speak to you”. She’s is thinking about the wrong she has done in her life, like being a street dancer and for not approaching God till now(most likely). Keep in mind to Esmerelda that she spends all of her time with the peasants and low people. She sees what they see and how they pray. They ask for wealth and fame and glory, but she is able to see past that through her heart. What you said about luck is true, I just don’t think the editors of that movie thought the way you did. They had other things on their mind like “Hercules”. Before I end this, I would also like you to know(if not already) that God cares abundantly for those that follow him. When closer to God he is able to answer more of your blessings and prayers. Jesus said to us that it would be better to be fully committed to God than half heartedly committed. Like wise, it would be better to not care at all than half heartedly care. It’s a scary thing, but it is “the gospel truth”

Hehe get it(;