I Spy God

Read Exodus chapters 9, 10 and Exodus 11:1-10

The Daily Bible doesn’t provide commentary for today’s reading…I sure wish it did.  Several years ago, I had the privilege to attend a Seder meal just in time for Passover.  It was an incredible experience, one any Christ follower should definitely partake in if given a chance.  The picture of Messiah Christ alone seen clearly through the Seder teaching is worth it!

But I digress.

Because I was able to experience the Seder meal and teaching, I wanted to share what I learned with the kids from my church.  Wanted to show them how the Bible, even those rules and celebrations from days of old, are still for our benefit.

So I knew I had to preface the teaching of the Passover with the story of the Exodus out of Egypt… and as you all know;

You have no idea how true that statement is.  I learned so much!!  So in lieu of commentary provided by The Daily Bible, I will take this opportunity to share some of what I learned with regards to today’s (and yesterday‘s) readings.

So why all these random plagues?  Blood?  Well, I do get that one…that would be pretty freaky and gross.  But frogs?  Gnats?  Besides being very annoying, they’re relatively harmless…granted, not if there are millions crawling all over, but still.

You see, these specific plagues are not a random use of pests to get God’s point across.  God chose each specifically.

As you have probably figured out by now, the Egyptians don’t worship the same God as Moses.  In fact, they worshiped many different gods they believed controlled the weather, the sun, moon and stars, or could bless them with fertility, long life, good harvest, etc…

Each plague God chose to display His power through was specifically used to debunk an Egyptian god:

Hapi

Khnum

   BLOOD – Egyptian gods Khnum & Hapi
Khnum was the water god who ruled over all water.  Hapi was a water and fertility god.

   FROGS – Egyptian god Heket (or Heqt)
Heket was the god of growth and fertility.

Geb

   GNATS or lice (from the “dust of the ground”) – Egyptian god Geb
Geb was the god of the earth.

Amun

Ra

   SWARMS – Egyptian god(s) Amun Ra
Amun was the god of the air and Ra the sky and sun god.
These two deities eventually merged to become the great king of their gods.

Apis bull

LIVESTOCK DISEASED – the Apis bull was a living image of Egyptian god Ptah

Imhotep

   BOILS – Egyptian god Imhotep
Imhotep was the god of medicine.

Nut

   HAIL – Egyptian god Nut
Nut was the sky goddess who controlled the weather.

Osiris

   LOCUSTS – Egyptian god Osiris
Among other things, Osiris was also the god of agriculture.

Aten

DARKNESS – Egyptian god(s) Ra & Aten
Aten and Ra were some of the many sun gods.

Related Articles:
What is a Seder?   (about.com)
The Seder Service in a Nutshell    (chabad.org)
Introduction to a Christian Seder    (cresourcei.org/index.html)
Why Did God Send Frogs, Locusts, Boils and the Other Ten Plagues of Egypt?   (voices.yahoo.com)
Against All The Gods of Egypt (#1)   (padfield.com/index.html)
Against All The Gods of Egypt (#2)   (padfield.com/index.html)
Against All The Gods of Egypt (#3)   (padfield.com/index.html)
Ancient Egypt Online   (ancientegyptonline.co.uk/index.html)