Transcript The Plagues Powerpoint (courtesy of L. Groeneweg)

YAHWEH vs. the Egyptian gods
 Polytheistic
Society – over 80 gods
 Influenced its literature, government, art,
and morality
 Some sacred animals: lion, ox, ram, wolf,
dog, cat, ibis, vulture, falcon, hippo,
crocodile, cobra, dolphin, fish, frog, scarab,
locust, etc.
 Pharaoh was a god, the son of Amon-Ra
 God
was going to reveal himself to the
Egyptians by the plagues
 The plagues were not just against Pharaoh
and his people, but against “all the gods of
Egypt”
 Every one of the plagues was an insult to the
gods of Egypt
 Nile
was the heartbeat of Egypt -- trade,
commerce, crops
 All waters became like blood (even drinking
water)
 Direct attack on many of Egypt’s greatest
gods:

1. Khnum – guardian of the Nile
 Nile
was the heartbeat of Egypt -- trade,
commerce, crops
 All waters became like blood (even drinking
water)
 Direct attack on many of Egypt’s greatest
gods:


1. Khnum – guardian of the Nile
2. Hapi – god of the annual flood
 Nile
was the heartbeat of Egypt -- trade,
commerce, crops
 All waters became like blood (even
drinking water)
 Direct attack on many of Egypt’s greatest
gods:



1. Khnum – guardian of the Nile
2. Hapi – god of the annual flood
3. Osiris – god of the underworld whose
bloodstream was the Nile
 Nile
was the heartbeat of Egypt -- trade,
commerce, crops
 All waters became like blood (even
drinking water)
 Direct attack on many of Egypt’s greatest
gods:




1. Khnum – guardian of the Nile
2. Hapi – god of the annual flood
3. Osiris – god of the underworld whose
bloodstream was the Nile
4. Tauret – goddess of the river
 Nile
was the heartbeat of Egypt -- trade,
commerce, crops
 All waters became like blood (even
drinking water)
 Direct attack on many of Egypt’s greatest
gods:





1. Khnum – guardian of the Nile
2. Hapi – god of the annual flood
3. Osiris – god of the underworld whose
bloodstream was the Nile
4. Tauret – goddess of the river
5. Nu – god of the life in the Nile
 It
is fitting that the 1st plague directly
attacks the Nile and its gods and goddesses
because the Nile was the lifeline of Egypt.
 Where were the gods/goddesses of the Nile
to help the Egyptians during this first plague?
 The
appearance of frogs would not have
been unusual after the 1st plague
 Direct attack on the goddess Heqt (Heket) –
creator of the world and the goddess of birth
(head and body of a frog)
The appearance of frogs would not have been
unusual after the 1st plague
 Direct attack on the goddess Heqt (Heket)–
creator of the world and the goddess of birth
(head and body of a frog)
 She assisted women during childbirth
 Involuntary slaughter of a frog could be punished
by death
 What did the Egyptians have to do with the
frogs?
 Asked Moses for God to take them away
 Where was Heqt?

 The
word kinnim is translated as lice, sand
fleas, or fleas
 It comes from the word meaning “to dig”
 This was an attack on Geb, god of the earth
 The
word kinnim is translated as lice,
sand fleas, or fleas
 It comes from the word meaning “to dig”
 This was an attack on Geb, god of the
earth
 It was also an attack on the priests of
Egypt, because they had to shave their
hair every day (bodies every other day) to
keep off the lice
 What could they do?
 Moses
does not use the word “flies” but
rather “swarms”
 It may have been a plague of beetles (scarab
beetles)
 Amon-Ra had the head of a beetle
Moses does not use the word “flies” but rather
“swarms”
 It may have been a plague of beetles (scarab
beetles)
 Amon-Ra had the head of a beetle
 He was the creator and king of the gods
 The scarab beetle was actually a dung beetle
 This was the 1st plague in which God makes a
distinction between His people and the Egyptians
 God puts redemption between His people and
the Egyptians
 Did Amon-Ra do that?

 Plague
against domesticated animals of
Egypt
 Bulls and bull-calves were sacred and
used for sacrifices (heifers not sacrificed
because they were sacred to Isis)
 The flies would have become carriers of
infectious diseases (anthrax bacteria) and
this would have infected the livestock.
 Apis – Apis Bull was a living image of the
god Ptah; had the power of prophecy
Plague against domesticated animals of Egypt
 Bulls and bull-calves were sacred and used for
sacrifices (heifers not sacrificed because they
were sacred to Isis)
 The flies would have become carriers of
infectious diseases (anthrax bacteria) and this
would have infected the livestock.
 Apis – Apis Bull was a living image of the god
Ptah – had the power of prophecy
 Hathor – cow-headed goddess of the desert;
symbolic mother of pharaoh

 Skin
anthrax?
 Boils on the knees, legs, and soles of the feet
 This explains why pharaoh’s magicians
couldn’t stand before Moses
 Attack on Serapis – god of healing
 Skin
anthrax?
 Boils on the knees, legs, and soles of the feet
 This explains why pharaoh’s magicians
couldn’t stand before Moses
 Attack on Serapis – god of healing
 Attack on Imhotep – god of medicine who
was a real man during Zozer’s reign
 Skin
anthrax?
 Boils on the knees, legs, and soles of the
feet
 This explains why pharaoh’s magicians
couldn’t stand before Moses
 Attack on Serapis – god of healing
 Attack on Imhotep – god of medicine who
was a real man during Zozer’s reign
 Attack on Thoth – god of intelligence and
medical learning
 Cairo
receives about 2 inches of rain per year
 Attack on Nut – sky goddess
 Cairo
receives about 2 inches of rain per year
 Attack on Nut – sky goddess
 Where was Shu – the wind god?
 Where were Isis and Seth – protectors of the
crops?
 Locusts
could destroy entire village food
supplies in minutes
 Described as an army (Joel 1:6)
 The Egyptian gods were silent:
 Nepri – god of grain
 Locusts
could destroy entire village food
supplies in minutes
 Described as an army (Joel 1:6)
 The Egyptian gods were silent:
 Nepri – god of grain
 Isis
 Thermuthis – goddess of fertility and the
harvest
 Locusts
could destroy entire village food
supplies in minutes
 Described as an army (Joel 1:6)
 The Egyptian gods were silent:
 Nepri – god of grain
 Isis
 Thermuthis – goddess of fertility and the
harvest
 Seth – god of crops

“But when Moses said that what he [Pharaoh]
desired was unjust, since they were obliged to
offer sacrifices to God of those cattle, and the
time being prolonged on this account, a thick
darkness, without the least light, spread itself
over the Egyptians, whereby their sigh being
obstructed, and the breathing hindered by the
thickness of the air, they were under terror lest
they be swallowed up by the thick cloud. This
darkness, after three days and as many nights
was dissipated.”

Josephus, Book II, XIV, 5)
 The
plague was insult to Egypt’s entire
religion and entire culture
 Amon-Ra – sun god
 The
plague was insult to Egypt’s entire
religion and entire culture
 Amon-Ra – sun god
 Horus – god of light
 The
plague was insult to Egypt’s entire
religion and entire culture
 Amon-Ra – sun god
 Horus – god of light
 Ptah – created the moon, sun, and earth
 The
plague was insult to Egypt’s entire
religion and entire culture
 Amon-Ra – sun god
 Horus – god of light
 Ptah – created the moon, sun, and earth
 Tem – god of the sunset
 Shu – god of sunlight and air
 The
first born was not only an heir of a
double portion of his father’s inheritance,
but represented special qualities of life
 The death of a firstborn son would cripple
a family legally and emotionally.
 This plague was more devastating than all
others combined
 This plague is the most memorable
(Hebrews 11:28)
 Directed
against ALL the gods of Egypt
 Exodus 12:12
 “Of
what value is an idol, since a man has
carved it? Or an image that teaches lies?
For he makes it trust in his own creation;
he makes idols that cannot speak. Woe to
him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’ Or
to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’ Can it give
guidance? It is covered with gold and
silver; there is not breath in it. But the
Lord is in his holy temple; let all the
earth be silent before him.”
 “What
profit was there in worshiping all
your man-made idols? What a foolish lie
that they could help? What fools you were
to trust what you yourselves had made
Woe to those who command their lifeless
wooden idols to arise and save them, who
call out to the speechless stone to tell
them what to do. Can images speak for
God? They are overlaid with gold and
silver, but there is not breath at all
inside! But the Lord is in his holy Temple;
let all the earth be silent before him.”