https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Against-All-the-Gods-of-Egypt.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n\tby Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
Text: Exodus 12:1-13<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nI. The descendants of Jacob moved to Egypt because of a severe famine and within a short\ntime became slaves in that land – Genesis 15:13\n A. Yet, God promised to rescue them and returned them to land promised to\nAbraham.\n
B. When the time came, God raised up Moses to deliver his people – Exodus 3:9-10<\/p>\n C. Pharaoh would resist God, providing an opportunity for God to display his might –\nExodus 3:19-20\n
D. The plagues became a judgment against all the gods of Egypt – Exodus 12:12<\/p>\n
II. Egypt worshiped over 80 gods<\/p>\n A. “For beneath and above everything in Egypt was religion. We find it there in\nevery stand and form from totemist to theology; we see its influence in literature,\nin government, in art, in everything except morality. And it is not only varied, it is\ntropically abundant; only in Rome and India shall we find so plentiful a pantheon.\nWe cannot understand the Egyptian – or man – until we study his gods.” (Durant,\np. 197)\n B. “The Egyptians considered sacred the lion, the ox, the ram, the wolf, the dog, the\ncat, the ibis, the vulture, the falcon, the hippopotamus, the crocodile, the cobra,\nthe dolphin, different varieties of fish, trees, and small animals including the frog,\nscarab, locust and other insects.” (Davis, p. 95)\n C. “Even Pharaoh was a god, always the son of Amon-Ra, ruling not merely by\ndivine right but by divine birth, as a deity transiently tolerating the earth as his\nhome. On his head was the falcon, symbol of Horus and totem of the tribe; from\nhis forehead rose the uraeus<\/i> or serpent, symbol of wisdom and life, and\ncommunicating magic virtues to the crown. The king was chief-priest of the faith,\nand led the great processions and ceremonies that celebrated the festivals of the\ngods. It was through this assumption of divine lineage and powers that he was\nable to rule so long with so little force.” (Durant, p. 201)\n
D. God proved He was greater than all these gods – Exodus 18:10-11<\/p>\n
III. The Plagues<\/p>\n
A. Water to blood – Exodus 7:20-21<\/p>\n 1. Some state that the word blood<\/i> doesn’t necessarily mean blood, but can\njust mean a blood-red color.\n
a. Even if this is so, the waters did change color and all the fish died.<\/p>\n 2. “It was appropriate that the first of the plagues should be directed against\nthe Nile River itself, the very lifeline of Egypt and the center of many of\nits religious ideas. The Nile was considered sacred by the Egyptians. Many\nof their gods were associated either directly or indirectly with this river\nand its productivity. For example, the great Khoum was considered the\nguardian of the Nile sources. Hapi was believed to be the ‘spirit of the\nNile’ and its ‘dynamic essence.’ One of the greatest gods revered in Egypt\nwas the god Osiris who was the god of the underworld. The Egyptians\nbelieved that the river Nile was his bloodstream. In the light of this latter\nexpression, it is appropriate indeed that the Lord should turn the Nile to\nblood! It is not only said that the fish in the river died but that the ‘river\nstank,’ and the Egyptians were not able to use the water of the river …\nimagine the horror and frustration of the people of Egypt as they looked\nupon that which was formerly beautiful only to find dead fish lining the\nshores and an ugly red characterizing what had before provided life and\nattraction.” (Davis, p. 102)\n 3. None of these gods were able to prevent the destruction of their very\nrealms.\n
B. Frogs – Exodus 8:2-4<\/p>\n 1. Frogs are naturally present along the Nile. What changed is the quantity\nfound.\n 2. “In various parts of the East, instead of what we call ovens they dig a hole\nin the ground, in which they insert a kind of earthen pot, which having\nsufficiently heated, they stick their cakes to the inside, and when baked\nremove them and supply their places with others, and so on. To find such\nplaces full of frogs when they came to heat them, in order to make their\nbread, must be both disgusting and distressing in the extreme.” (Clarke, p.\n101).\n 3. The frog was associated with the goddess Heqt, the wife of the creator of\nthe world and the goddess of birth.\n a. Women would wear amulets with the image of Heqt during\nchildbirth for protection.\n b. Consider the irony in the statement that the frogs invaded\nPharaoh’s bedroom and even jumped on his bed!\n c. By the way, even the involuntary slaughter of a frog was punished\nby death.\n
4. Even the removal of the frogs caused distress – Exodus 8:12-14<\/p>\n
C. Lice – Exodus 8:16-17<\/p>\n 1. The word is translated various ways, but it comes from a Hebrew word\nmeaning “to dig”. Hence, this was probably a critter which borrowed\nunder the skin.\n
2. It came from the earth, a strike against Geb, the god of the earth.<\/p>\n 3. It was especially dreadful to the priests of Egypt, for they were required to\nshave all their body hair off every day (including eyebrows and eyelashes), \nwear a single tunic, and bathe twice a day, so that no lice would come\nupon their bodies.\n
D. Swarms – Exodus 8:21-24<\/p>\n
1. The type of insect is not specified in the Hebrew text. <\/p>\n
a. The word “flies” was added to many of the English translations.<\/p>\n b. Some believe it was the scarab, or what is commonly called the\ndung beetle. These beetles have mandibles capable of sawing\nthrough wood and can be more destructive than termites. \n (1) Notice the statement in verse 24 about being in all the\nhomes of the Egyptians.\n (2) Again, this beetle was considered sacred to the Egyptians.\nThe scarab makes small balls of dung which it pushes\naround. The Egyptians pictured their sun god, Ra, as a\nscarab pushing the sun across the sky.\n
c. A more popular belief is that the dog-fly was the insect.<\/p>\n (1) “This fly multiplies rapidly in tropical and subtropical\nregions (hence the delta with its Mediterranean climate\nwould be exempt) in the fall by laying its six hundred to\neight hundred eggs in dung or rotting plant debris. When it\nis full grown, the fly prefers to infest houses and stables,\nand it bites both men and animals, usually in the lower\nextremities. Thus it becomes the principal transmitter of\nskin anthrax (see plague six), which it contracts by crawling\nover the carcasses of animals that have died of internal\nanthrax.” [Kaiser, Exodus<\/i>]\n
(2) Remember the dead frogs?<\/p>\n 2. This was the first plague where God made a distinction between His\npeople and the Egyptians.\n a. It was not a natural overpopulation of insects. The sudden\nappearance and disappearance is more than just a natural\noccurrence.\n b. Flies would not make a distinction based on borders or\nnationalities – Exodus 8:22-23\n
E. Diseased Livestock – Exodus 9:2-6<\/p>\n
1. Horses and cattle were not only valuable animals, they were also sacred.<\/p>\n
2. It is commonly believed that the disease was anthrax.<\/p>\n 3. “All Egyptians use bulls and bull-calves for sacrifice, if they passed the\ntest for ‘cleanness’; but they are forbidden to sacrifice heifers, on the\nground that they are sacred to Isis.” (Herodotus, p. 101)\n 4. The god Apis was represented as a bull. A bull was selected to represent\nthe god and supposedly had the power of prophesy. When the Apis bull\ndied, all the land of Egypt mourned for him as if they had lost Pharaoh\nhimself. The priests would then travel through every pasture in Egypt\nlooking for a replacement – a calf bearing a black coat with distinctive\npatches. Imagine the priest’s turmoil after this plague!\n 5. Another goddess was Hathor, represented by a cow or a woman with a\ncow’s head. She was the symbolic mother of Pharaoh. The king of Egypt\nwas referred to as “the son of Hathor.”\n
6. Again, the Israelite’s cattle were not affected.<\/p>\n
F. Boils – Exodus 9:8-11<\/p>\n 1. This was probably skin anthrax, a black abscess that develops into a\npustule. They are particularly painful and generally affect the knees, legs,\nand soles of the feet (see Deuteronomy 28:35 for a similar plague).\n a. This would explain why Pharaoh’s magicians could not stand\nbefore Moses.\n 2. This was an affront to the Egyptian gods Serapis, the god of healing;\nImhotep, the god of medicine; and Thoth, the god of intelligence and\nmedical learning.\n
G. Hail – Exodus 9:18, 23-26<\/p>\n
1. Egypt is a dry land. It normally receives only two inches of rain per year.<\/p>\n 2. The Bible mentions that the flax and barley crops were ruined (Exodus\n9:31-32), which places this event in January.\n 3. The plague originated in the sky, the realm of Nut, the sky goddess. It was\nalso an affront to Shu, the god of the wind; Horus, the sky god of upper\nEgypt; Isis and Seth, who were suppose to protect crops.\n
H. Locust – Exodus 10:13-15<\/p>\n 1. Swarms of locust can destroy an entire village’s food supply. Yet, here\nwas a swarm that covered the nation of Egypt.\n 2. Again the gods of Egypt were silent. Where was Nepri, the god of grain;\nErmutet, the goddess of childbirth and crops; Thermuthis, the goddess of\nfertility and harvest? Again Isis and Seth were unable to protect the crops.\n
I. Darkness – Exodus 10:21-23<\/p>\n
1. Here was an insult to Egypt’s entire religion and culture.<\/p>\n 2. The sun god, Amon-Ra, was considered to be the greatest blessing in all\nthe land of Egypt. This god was supposed to be Pharaoh’s father.\n 3. The Egyptians had many other gods who were also insulted: Horus, the\ngod of light; Ptah, the creator of the sun, moon, and earth; Atum, the sun-god and creator; Tem, the god of sunsets; Shu, the god of sunlight and air,\nand many others.\n
J. Death of the firstborn – Exodus 11:4-7<\/p>\n
1. As in many cultures, the firstborn was special. <\/p>\n
a. The child represented the future generations.<\/p>\n
b. The firstborn was the inheritor of the families’ estate.<\/p>\n c. The death of the firstborn would cause both an emotional and even\nlegal upset.\n 2. This plague was noticeable because it was so selective – only the firstborn\nand so general – the firstborn of the rich and poor and even the animals\nthat survived the earlier plagues. It could not have been a childhood\nepidemic.\n 3. This particular plague struck at the heart of all the gods of Egypt – Exodus\n12:12\n a. There was Meskhenet, the goddess who presided at the birth of\nchildren along with seven other deities; Min, the god of\nprocreation; Selket, the guardian of life; and Renenutet, the\nguardian of Pharaoh and his offspring.\n
IV. There is no God like our God – Psalm 77:11-20<\/p>\n
\n
The idea for this came from Dave Padfield’s series: Against All the Gods of Egypt<\/a><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Exodus 12:1-13 I. The descendants of Jacob moved to Egypt because of a severe famine and within a short time became slaves in that land – Genesis 15:13 A. Yet, God promised to rescue them and returned them to land promised to Abraham. B. When the time came, God raised up Moses…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[119,32],"tags":[709,484,90,304],"class_list":["post-36515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio","category-sermon","tag-evidence","tag-exodus","tag-god","tag-idolatry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":88008,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-god-take-so-long-to-bring-israel-into-the-promised-land\/","url_meta":{"origin":36515,"position":0},"title":"Why did God take so long to bring Israel into the promised land?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 22, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Jeffrey, I have a question and would like to seek your wisdom. This pertains to God's purpose in the various journeys involving the children of Israel. What does the scriptures say or infer about God's purpose? God asked Abraham to pack up and move to the land of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28657,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-god-kill-all-the-firstborn-sons-of-the-egyptians-when-it-was-pharaoh-who-sinned\/","url_meta":{"origin":36515,"position":1},"title":"Why did God kill all the firstborn sons of the Egyptians when it was Pharaoh who sinned?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 30, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In Exodus when the firstborn sons of all Egyptians die because of Pharaoh, why did God kill all the Egyptian sons for the sin of Pharaoh? Answer: It is easy to blame the leader and forget he wasn't the only one involved. He was by far the most prominent,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5162,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-modern-nation-of-israel-important\/","url_meta":{"origin":36515,"position":2},"title":"Is the Modern Nation of Israel Important?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 5, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Hebrews 6:13-20 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It doesn\u2019t take a genius to realize that the nation of Israel holds importance in the eyes of many people in America \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jerry Falwell: \u201cGod has raised up America in these last days for the cause of world evangelism and for the protection of His people,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86687,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/exodus\/","url_meta":{"origin":36515,"position":3},"title":"Exodus","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Exodus is the story of the Israelites' exit from Egyptian bondage by the power of God and how they were supplied for their journey toward the promised land. The basic divisions of the book can be divided into three parts: The Redemption from Egypt - Chapters\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39133,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-joseph-want-his-bones-dug-up-and-buried-in-the-promised-land\/","url_meta":{"origin":36515,"position":4},"title":"Why did Joseph want his bones dug up and buried in the Promised Land?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 3, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why did Joseph want his bones dug up and buried in the Promised Land? Answer: Joseph prophesied that Israel would not remain in Egypt. 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