False gods
Ex 20:3-5 “You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them…”
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
Here are some famous last words made about technology:
“Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.” - 1949 Popular Mechanics magazine.
“There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home.” – in 1977 by Ken Olsen, founder of legendary minicomputer company DEC
“The Macintosh uses an experimental pointing device called a ‘mouse’. There is no evidence that people want to use these things.” – in 1984 by John C. Dvorak, American columnist and broadcaster in the areas of technology and computing.
“Spam will be a thing of the past in two years’ time.” – in 2004 by Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder.
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go. (Exodus 5:2)
And here are some famous last words made by Pharaoh before the judgement of the ten plagues.
Have you ever thought that the ten plagues that God poured out in judgement on Egypt seemed rather arbitrary? Why use frogs, a bloody river, flies and locusts? The Bible gives two clues as to the answer.
Pharaoh boldly asserts, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey him and let Israel go?” (Ex 5:2).
God speaks of executing judgement on all the gods of Egypt.
Ex 12:12 “On that same night I will pass through Egypt … and I will bring judgement on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.”
EGYPTIAN GODS JUDGED
So Pharaoh won’t listen to Moses and felt no compulsion to obey God’s commands because:
He claimed not to know God and thus felt that he was not subject to his authority. He did not acknowledge that God had any sovereignty over his life.
He was trusting in the false gods of Egypt along with their priests and magicians and submitted only to their authority.
So the showdown between Moses and Pharaoh becomes a “battle of the gods” and results in ten very specific plagues, not arbitrary in any sense.
EGYPTIAN GODS JUDGED
All the plagues brought upon the Egyptians are directly related to their folly and sin in worshipping false gods.
Every plague was a frontal attack against a particular Egyptian god, proving that the true God was the one who had authority over that area of life, as he indeed has over every area of life.
As they had a pantheon of gods, the Egyptians assigned a specific deity to rule over all aspects of their lives from the mundane to the miraculous. Let us look at each of the plagues and the significance they would have had to both Pharaoh and his pagan subjects.
EGYPTIAN GODS JUDGED
Interestingly in addition to the Biblical account we have a ancient papyrus written by an Egyptian named Ipuwer which seems to be an eyewitness account of the ten plagues. The papyrus discovered in the 19th century and translated by A.H. Gardiner in 1909 is in the Leiden Museum in Holland.
Some excerpts from the document are “the river is blood” (2:10), “grain has perished on every side” (6:3), “the land is without light” (9:11), “all animals, their hearts weep” (5:5) and “the children of princes are dashed against the walls” (4:3). It also speaks of the escape of the slaves with the wealth of the Egyptians - “Gold and lapis lazuli, silver and malachite, carnelian and bronze... are fastened on the neck of female slaves.” (3:2)
EGYPTIAN GODS JUDGED
Renenutet was a goddess of nourishment and the harvest depicted as a cobra, or as a woman with the head of a cobra. 1 Later, as a snake-goddess
worshiped over the whole of Lower
Egypt, Renenutet was increasingly
associated with Wadjet, Lower
Egypt’s powerful protector and
another snake goddess
represented as a cobra. Eventually
Renenutet was identified as an
alternate form of Wadjet, whose
gaze was said to slaughter
enemies. Wadjet is the cobra on
the crown of the pharaohs. 1
1 "http:// en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Renenutet">http:// en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Renenutet
RENENUTET & WADJET
WADJET GUARDING RE’S CROWN
Another cobra goddess was Meretseger, ‘she who loves the silence’, who could punish criminals with blindness or her venom.
As a cobra, she spat poison at anyone who tried to vandalise or rob the royal tombs. In art she was portrayed as either a coiled cobra, or as a woman-headed cobra, or rarely as a triple headed cobra, where one head was that of a cobra, one of a woman, and one of a vulture. 1
1 "http:// en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Meretseger">http:// en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Meretseger
MERETSEGER
MERETSEGER
(from Saqqara, Egypt)
And so as a sign to the snake-worshipping Egyptians, when Moses and Aaron go before Pharaoh, “Aaron threw his staff down in
front of
Pharaoh
and his
officials,
and it
became a
snake.”
(Ex 7:10)
SNAKE JUDGEMENT
When the Egyptian magicians Jannes and Jambres did the same thing with their secret arts, God embarrasses and shows up
their false
religion
when Moses’
staff-
turned-
snake
devours the
snakes they
produced.
(Ex 7:11-12)
SNAKE JUDGEMENT
The Nile River was key to the agriculture and livelihood of Egypt and was thus regarded as sacred.
Hapi was the god of the Nile supposedly responsible for bringing the fertile flooding. His followers worshipped him even above Ra as without the Nile the Egyptians would have perished. They annually sacrificed a girl, or as others say, both a boy and girl.
But it is the true God, in his providence, who made and controlled the Nile.
HAPI – THE NILE GOD
HAPI
And so God brings judgement on the Egyptians for
worshipping this false river god.
Exodus 7:20-21 Moses … raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood. The fish in the Nile
died, and
the river
smelled so
bad that
the
Egyptians
could not
drink its
water.
Hapi, a supposed god, had now brought not prosperity, but ruin. As the Egyptians annually sacrificed children to Hapi, God might have designed this plague as a punishment for such cruelty.
When Moses turned the waters of the Nile into blood:
Where was Taweret, the hippopotamus goddess of the Nile?
Where were the gods Khnum, Anqet and Satet, who were the guardians of the source of the Nile?
THE RIVER GODS
TAWERET
Where was the fish-goddess Hatmehit, when all the fish in the Nile River died?
One of the greatest gods
of Egypt was Osiris, the
god of the underworld.
The Egyptians believed
the Nile water was the
transformed life-blood
of Osiris. Isn’t it ironic
that the true God turns
the Nile water to blood
when he judges the
worshippers of Osiris?
HATMEHIT & OSIRIS
OSIRIS
HATMEHIT
The frog goddess Heqet was often shown as a frog-headed woman or as a frog.
Because the Egyptians saw that there were many frogs, all appearing from the Nile, they associated the frog with fertility and resurrection, and so Heqet was the goddess of childbirth.
But fertility is a result of the true God’s blessing:
Gen 1:27-28 …male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number…”
HEQET – THE FROG GOD
HEQET
Ex 8:1-4 “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the LORD says: … I will plague your whole country with frogs. The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your
officials and
on your people, and
into your ovens and
kneading troughs.
The frogs will go up
on you and your
people and all your
officials.’”
HEQET – THE FROG GOD
Heqet was believed to assist women in childbirth. Consider
the irony in the statement that the frogs invaded Pharaoh’s
bedroom and
even jumped
on his bed.
Their beds
were the
very places
where the
blessings of
Heqet were
sought.
HEQET – THE FROG GOD
Frogs were considered sacred and could not be killed. Yet now the frogs were in the beds, ovens and kneading troughs and the
Egyptians
were
prohibited
from killing
them
because
of their
foolish
idea of a
frog-god!
HEQET – THE FROG GOD
Ex 8:13-14 The frogs died in the houses,
in the courtyards and in the fields. They were piled into heaps, and the land reeked of them.
Heqet, the supposed goddess of fruitfulness, had brought only inconvenience and a stench in the land.
HEQET – THE FROG GOD
Geb was the Egyptian god of the Earth… It was believed in ancient Egypt that Geb’s laughter were earthquakes and that he allowed crops to grow. 1
But it is God who gives sun and rain for the crops of all men:
Matt 5:45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
1 "http:// en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Geb">http:// en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Geb
GEB – THE EARTH-GOD
GEB
Then comes
the first plague
that the magicians
could not
duplicate:
Ex 8:16
Then the
LORD said
to Moses,
“Tell Aaron,
‘Stretch
out your
staff and
strike the dust of the ground,’ and throughout the land of Egypt the dust will become gnats.”
GEB – THE EARTH-GOD
The word
“gnats” is
rendered as
“lice” in some
translations.
This plague
would have
been an
embarrassment
to Geb, the god
of the earth.
Egyptians gave
offerings to
Geb for the bounty of the soil - yet it was from “the dust of the ground” that this plague originated.
GEB – THE EARTH-GOD
This plague would have been especially dreadful for the priests of Egypt, who shaved their bodies all over every other day to guard against the presence of lice. 1 The daily rituals of the priests would have been rendered impossible because of physical uncleanness. So the land was infected with lice, yet the priests could not even enter their temples to appeal to their gods due to their ritual impurity!
1 Greek historian Herodotus wrote of the Egyptian priests. “The priests shave their bodies all over every other day to guard against the presence of lice, or anything else equally unpleasant, while they are about their religious duties; the priests, too, wear linen only, and shoes made from the papyrus plant… They bathe in cold water twice a day and twice every night - and observe innumerable other ceremonies besides.” (The Histories, p. 99).
The winged scarab beetle symbolised the sun god Khepri. The Egyptians imagined that the sun was propelled through the sky the same way that the real insect pushes a ball of dung around. Khepri supposedly
rolled the sun like a huge ball
through the sky, then rolled it
through the underworld to the
eastern horizon. Each morning
Khepri would renew the sun so that
it could give life to all the world.
But God made and controls the sun:
Job 9:7 He speaks to the sun
and it does not shine; he seals
off the light of the stars.
KHEPRI - SCARAB
Moses pronounces the next judgement of God to Pharaoh:
Ex 8:21 … I will send swarms [of flies] on you and your officials, on your people and into your houses. The houses of the
Egyptians will
be full of flies,
and even the
ground where
they are.
KHEPRI - SCARAB
Actually Moses
did not use the
phrase “of
flies” here - he
simply used
the word
“swarms” - the
phrase “of
flies” is added
by the English
translators. 1
1 See biblehub.com/ text/ exodus/ 8-21.htm
KHEPRI - SCARAB
It is quite possible that the ‘swarms’ in this passage may have been swarms of the scarab beetle. The scarab was
actually a dung beetle – an insect that feeds on the dung in the fields. The plague of swarms of scarabs, with mandibles
that could saw
through wood,
was destructive
and worse than
termites!
KHEPRI - SCARAB
The Septuagint renders the word “arob” as kunomuia or dog-fly. It’s important to note that the Septuagint was a Greek translation of the OT by Hebrew scholars living in Alexandria, Egypt.
If this is the correct rendering, this plague must have been
particularly hateful to the
Egyptians, because they held dogs in the highest veneration, under which form they worshipped Anubis.
ANUBIS
ANUBIS
The Egyptians held in idolatrous reverence almost every animal. Yet God created the animals and intended man to have dominion over them – not to worship them.
Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground. (Gen 1:28)
APIS, MNEVIS & HATHOR
But man worships what he was meant to rule.
The Egyptians held in
particular veneration the ox,
cow, and ram. Among these,
Apis and Mnevis are well
known; the former being a
sacred bull, worshipped at
Memphis, as the latter was
at Heliopolis. Hathor was
the cow-headed goddess of
the desert. This may be the
reason the Israelites
requested Aaron to make a
calf-god in the wilderness.
HATHOR
APIS, MNEVIS & HATHOR
By the infliction of the next judgement, the Egyptian deities again sink before the God of the Hebrews.
Ex 9:3 “… the hand of the LORD will bring a terrible plague on your
livestock in
the field—on
your horses
and donkeys
and camels
and on your
cattle and
sheep and
goats.”
APIS, MNEVIS & HATHOR
Imhotep served under the Third Dynasty king Djoser as chancellor to the pharaoh and is considered by some to be the
earliest physician in early history. 1
IMHOTEP & THOTH
IMHOTEP
THOTH
He was later
worshipped
as a god of
medicine and future generations
identified or confused him with Thoth, the ibis-headed god of knowledge, architecture, mathematics and medicine.
1 SOURCE: "http:// en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Imhotep">http:// en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Imhotep
Ex 9:8-9 Then the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of soot from a furnace and have Moses toss it into the air in the presence of Pharaoh. It will become fine dust over the whole
land of Egypt,
and festering
boils will break
out on men
and animals
throughout
the land.”
IMHOTEP & THOTH
This was a significant command referring to a cruel rite common among the Egyptians. They had several cities in which at particular seasons they sacrificed men, who were burnt alive; and the ashes of the victim were scattered upwards in the air, with the view, probably, that where any atom of dust was carried, a blessing was entailed. Moses does something similar but with a different intention, and more certain effect 1 – showing that the practice brought a curse, not a blessing.
This medical plague of boils highlighted the uselessness of Imhotep and Thoth, the gods supposedly in charge of medicine, healing, and medical learning.
1 Treasury of Scripture biblehub.com/ exodus/ 9-8.htm
IMHOTEP & THOTH
Nut was the sky goddess. Her most general appearance is that of a woman resting on hands and feet, her body forming an arch, thus representing the sky. Her limbs typified the four pillars on which the sky was supposed to rest. She was
supposed originally
to be reclining on
Geb, the earth.
She supposedly
swallowed the Sun
at night and gave
birth to it again at
dawn.
NUT – THE SKY-GODDESS
NUT
GEB
Ex 9:23-24 When Moses stretched out his staff toward the sky, the Lord sent thunder and hail, and lightning flashed down to the ground. So the Lord rained hail on the land of Egypt; hail fell and lightning flashed back and forth.
Ex 9:24-25 It was the worst storm in all the land of Egypt since it had become a nation. Throughout Egypt hail struck
everything in the fields—both people and animals; it beat
down
everything
growing in
the fields
and stripped
every tree.
Where was the
sky goddess
Nut while all
this was
happening?
NUT – THE SKY-GODDESS
Renenutet was a cobra goddess from
the Delta area. She was considered to protect the harvest and given the epithets “Goddess of the Double Granary”, the “Lady of Fertile Fields” and the “Lady of Granaries”. She was
the mother
of Nepri. 1
RENENUTET & NEPER
RENENUTET
NEPER
Neper (alternative Nepra or
Nepri) was a god of grain. His
female counterpart was Nepit,
the goddess of grain. 1
1 " ancientegyptonline.co.uk/ renenutet.html"> ancientegyptonline.co.uk/ renenutet.html
2 "http:// en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Neper_(mythology)">http:// en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Neper_%28mythology%29
Ex 10:13-14 So Moses stretched out his staff over Egypt, and the LORD made an east wind blow across the land all that day and all that night. By morning the wind had brought the locusts;
they invaded
all Egypt and
settled down
in every area
of the country
in great
numbers.
RENENUTET & NEPER
Ex 10:14-15 Never before had there been such a plague of locusts, nor will there ever be again. They covered all the ground until it was black. They devoured all that was left after the hail—
everything
growing in the
fields and the
fruit on the
trees. Nothing
green remained
on tree or plant
in all the land
of Egypt.
RENENUTET & NEPER
Scarcely anything could have distressed the Egyptians more than the destruction of the flax, as the whole nation wore linen garments. The ruin of their barley was equally fatal, both to their trade and to their private advantage.
Again, as with the preceding plagues, the gods of Egypt were silent. You have to wonder what their worshippers thought as they saw the devastation. Where was Nepri, the god of grain? Where was Renenutet, the patroness of the harvest?
RENENUTET & NEPER
In the Ancient Egyptian religion the principal creator god is the sun-god Ra. Other creator deities were Amun, Atum, Bennu, Khepri, Neith
and Ptah. 1
But the Bible says:
Gen 1:1 In the
beginning God
created the
heavens and the
earth.
1 "http:// en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ List_of_Egyptian_deities">http:// en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ List_of_Egyptian_deities
CREATOR GOD
Ra was a sun god whose cult was centred at Heliopolis, and is usually represented with a man’s body and a falcon’s head surmounted by a solar disk. Ra was believed
to sail across the sky in a boat each day
and under the world at night.
But God created the sun for man’s
benefit, not to be an object of worship.
Gen 1:16-18 God made two great
lights—the greater light to govern
the day and the lesser light to
govern the night. He also made the
stars. God set them in the expanse
of the sky to give light on the
earth, to govern the day and the night,
and to separate light from darkness.
SUN-GOD RA
RA
Ex 10:21-23 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness will spread over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.” So Moses stretched out his hand toward
the sky, and
total darkness
covered all
Egypt for three
days. No one
could see anyone
else or leave his
place for three
days.
SUN-GOD RA
The cults of Amun and Ra became increasingly popular in Upper and Lower Egypt respectively and were later combined to create Amun-Ra, a solar creator god. 1
Amun-Ra was a major god of the Egyptians. In fact Amun-Ra was given the official title “king of the gods” by worshippers. 1
But now the light of the sun-god Ra was blotted out. This plague of darkness was an insult to Egypt’s religion and entire culture.
1 "http:// en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Ra">http:// en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Ra
SUN-GOD RA
Pharaoh was supposedly a god, always the son of Amun-Ra, ruling not merely by divine right but by divine birth, as a deity transiently tolerating the earth as his home. On his head was the falcon, symbol of Horus and totem of the tribe; from his forehead rose the serpent, symbol of wisdom and life, and communicating magic virtues to the crown. The king was chief-priest of the faith, and led the great processions and ceremonies that celebrated the festivals of the gods.
PHARAOH
Pharaoh Horemheb with Amun-Ra, the king of the gods, standing beside him.
In the last plague, Pharaoh’s successor – a supposed deity - was killed:
Ex 12:29 At midnight the LORD struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne,
to the firstborn of
the prisoner, who
was in the
dungeon, and the
firstborn of all the
livestock as well.
THE GOD PHARAOH
Ex 12:30 Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.
Earlier on in the Book of Exodus we see how Pharaoh authorised the killing of Hebrew boys by the Egyptians:
Ex 1:15-16 The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, … “When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth
and
observe
them on
the
delivery
stool, if
it is a
boy, kill
him…
But now we have a plague where not only Pharaoh’s firstborn dies. So do all the Egyptian firstborn. So this was also a judgement for the killing of Hebrew boys.
Matt 7:2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Gal 6:7-9 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
REAP WHAT YOU SOW
Like the Egyptians, many pagan religions deified the sun, moon stars, rivers and animals.
Rom 1:18-25 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness … For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise,
they became fools … They
exchanged the truth of God
for a lie, and worshiped and
served created things
rather than the Creator—
who is forever praised. Amen.
CREATION VS CREATOR
Later in the time of Elijah, we see God’s judgement on those who worshipped Baal. Baal was supposed to bring rain. Yet Elijah
stopped the
rain for 3½
years.
BAAL
As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word. (1 Kings 17:1)
3 years later the
Bible recounts the
break in the
drought following
the overthrow of
Baal worship on
Mount Carmel.
1 Kings 18:44
So Elijah said,
“Go and tell
Ahab, ‘Hitch up
your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’ ”
The drought imposed and withdrawn at God’s word was a challenge to Baal’s sovereignty over nature.
BAAL
But a god is not necessarily an idol or a spiritual deity.
Samson had a weakness for Philistine women and put them before his service to God.
Ultimately it
was a Philistine
woman who
was responsible
for his eyes
being gouged
out and being
forced to work
as a slave.
(Judges 16)
FALSE GODS
In our Western culture where worship of idols, animals or planets is rare, we still have those who hold higher regard for the creation than for the Creator. And some have even denied that God played any role
in the creation of the universe.
Today concern for the
environment (e.g.
trees, oceans, rivers)
and animals has taken
the place of reverence for
God. Father God has been
replaced by Mother Nature.
Activists want to save the
whales and the rhinos, but break
God’s law by murdering unborn babies.
CREATION VS CREATOR
Now there is nothing wrong with being concerned about the planet and the environment. In fact God put man in charge of the welfare of animals and plant life.
Gen 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in
our likeness, and
let them rule over
the fish of the sea
and the birds of
the air, over the
livestock, over all
the earth, and
over all the
creatures that
move along the
ground.”
CREATION VS CREATOR
And we should be
concerned about
the animals.
Prov 12:10 A
righteous
man cares
for the
needs
of his
animal…
But concern for the creation must not be done at the
expense of forgetting our obligation to our Creator.
CREATION VS CREATOR
And so we see in the future that God will judge those who revere creation but ignore the Creator. We see this in the 7 trumpet judgements in Revelation.
The 1st trumpet judgement
affects the earth, trees and grass.
Rev 8:7 The first angel
sounded his trumpet, and
there came hail and fire
mixed with blood, and it was
hurled down upon the earth.
A third of the earth was
burned up, a third of the trees
were burned up, and all the
green grass was burned up.
CREATION WORSHIP
The 2nd trumpet affects the sea.
Rev 8:8 The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood…
CREATION WORSHIP
The 3rd trumpet affects the rivers.
Rev 8:10-11 The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water—
—the name of the star
is Wormwood. A third of
the waters turned bitter,
and many people died from the
waters that had become bitter.
4th trumpet affects the solar system and stellar bodies.
Rev 8:12 The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.
See NOTE 3
CREATION WORSHIP
5th trumpet - God judges those who worship fallen angels and demons. We see the release of fallen angels that God has shielded mankind from. Man is now left to experience the true nature of these false gods he has worshipped.
Rev 9:2-4 The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given
power like that of scorpions
of the earth. They were
told not to harm the grass
of the earth or any plant or
tree, but only those people
who did not have the seal of
God on their foreheads.
FALLEN ANGEL WORSHIP
The 6th trumpet – again fallen angels are no longer restrained from harming man.
Rev 9:14-15 … “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” And the four angels who had been kept
ready for
this very
hour and day
and month
and year
were
released to
kill a third of
mankind.
See NOTE 5
FALLEN ANGEL WORSHIP
It is clear that these judgements are because men have worshipped both demons and idols. Because in the context of that judgement we read:
Rev 9:20-21 The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts.
The intention of the judgement is for man to repent. The judgement is God’s way of trying to get people to realise the folly of worshipping man-made things.
FALLEN ANGEL WORSHIP
At the sounding of the 7th trumpet there is the announcement of judgement on “those who destroy the earth”:
Rev 11:15-17 The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders… fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying:… “The time has come … for destroying those who destroy the earth.”
This is not about the physical earth but the moral corruption in man. God is more concerned about the moral destruction of the earth.
DESTROYING THE EARTH
Pagans worship objects that are not gods by nature
Isaiah 44:6-9 “This is what the LORD says… I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it… Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.” All who make
idols are nothing,
and the things they
treasure are
worthless. Those
who would speak up
for them are blind;
they are ignorant,
to their own shame.
NOT GOD BY NATURE
Even the craftsman who makes the idol is but a man and sometimes his object of worship resembles himself.
Isaiah 44:10-14 Who shapes a god and casts an idol, which can profit him nothing? He and his kind will be put to shame; craftsmen are
nothing but men… He
shapes it in the form of
man, of man in all his
glory, that it may dwell in a
shrine. He cut down cedars,
or perhaps took a cypress
or oak. He let it grow among
the trees of the forest, or
planted a pine, and the rain
made it grow.
NOT GOD BY NATURE
See NOTE 4
And then they worship the object of their own creation and expect it to save them:
Isaiah 44:16-17 Half of the wood
he burns in the fire; over it
he prepares his meal… He
also warms himself… From
the rest he makes a god,
his idol; he bows down to
it and worships. He prays
to it and says, “Save me;
you are my god.”
NOT GOD BY NATURE
So they hope that a block of wood will deliver them:
Isaiah 44:18-19 They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they
cannot see, and their minds closed so
they cannot understand. No one stops
to think, no one has the
knowledge or understanding
to say, “Half of it I used for
fuel; I even baked bread over
its coals, I roasted meat
and I ate. Shall I make a
detestable thing from
what is left? Shall I
bow down to a
block of wood?”
NOT GOD BY NATURE
Hab 2:19 “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
no breath
in it.”
NOT GOD BY NATURE
But a false god can do nothing for you in your hour of need:
Jer 16:19 O LORD, my strength and my fortress, my refuge in time of distress, to you the nations will come… and say, “Our fathers possessed nothing but false gods, worthless idols that did them no good.”
NOT GOD BY NATURE
See NOTE 4
Even the spiritual forces behind idols are demons, which are not gods by nature:
1 Cor 10:19-20 Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons.
NOT GOD BY NATURE
You can make a god out of anything, but that does not make it God by nature:
Gal 4:8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.
1 Cor 8:4-6 So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.
NOT GOD BY NATURE
But you can make a god out of anything or anybody. It is not necessarily a physical idol. How can you tell what your true god is?
What do you spend your money on?
Matt 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth… But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven … For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
What do you talk about the most?
1 Pet 3:15 Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…
What or who is your God?
What do you spend your time doing?
Funny, isn’t it?
Funny how long an hour seems when we’re at church and how short 60 minutes seems when we’re entertaining ourselves or playing sport.
Funny how laborious it is to read a chapter in the Bible, and how easy it is to read two or three hundred pages of a good selling novel.
Funny how refreshing a sudden rain is at home, but how foreboding it is when it’s time for church.
What or who is your God?
What do you think about the most?
Phil 3:19-20 … Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven.
What would you be prepared to give up your life for?
Matt 16:24-25 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”
Who do you put your trust in when you have times of trouble?
Is your trust in your bank balance, your insurance policies or in God?
What or who is your God?
Who do you consult when you need counselling? Your pastor or your psychologist?
Psalm 1:1
(NKJV)
Blessed
is the man
Who walks
not in the
counsel
of the
ungodly…
What or who is your God?
Who do you pray to? Jesus or your ancestors?
Some people believe they can pray to their ancestors for help in times of trouble. Animists pray to their dead ancestors for guidance. In Nov 2012, SA President Jacob Zuma slaughtered 12 cows and burnt traditional incense at his Nkandla homestead. While dancing in his leopard skin, he asked his dead ancestors for help in his embattled political
career,
which has
been dogged
by repeated
corruption
allegations.
What or who is your God?
Can your dead ancestors help you? The Bible says that there is no knowledge or wisdom in the grave.
Eccl 9:10b … for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.
Deut 18:10-12 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in a the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD
What or who is your God?
Who do you put your trust in for the future? A fortune teller or God?
Some people believe that they can get guidance for their life from their dead relatives and friends.
Isaiah 8:19 When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists… should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?
GOD OF MONEY?
Westerners who laugh at those
who pray to their ancestors
often have another god they
trust in – money!
Matt 6:24 “No one can serve
two masters. Either he will
hate the one and
love the other,
or he will be
devoted to
the one and
despise the other.
You cannot serve both God and Money.”
What or who is your God?
GOD OF WORK?
Luke 8:14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked
by life’s
worries,
riches and
pleasures,
and they
do not
mature.
What or who is your God?
CELEBRITY WORSHIP?
Some make rock stars, movie stars or sport
heroes their idols. Dion da Mucci sang:
Looking back over the years
My story did unfold
I worshipped people and their gifts
Not the gift giver at all
You see people they’ve come and gone
But life in Him goes on and on
He’s given me a brand new song to sing
I put away my idols
I stripped away all the titles
Money wrinkles and things do decay
I put away my idols
What or who is your God?
GOD OF LUST?
1 Thess 4:3-5 It
is God’s will
that you
should be
sanctified:
that you
should
avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God
What or who is your God?
What or who is your God?
GOD OF SELF?
Due to the influence of humanistic psychology our world is focussed on the exultation of self. People believe that their own ideas, opinions, ethics and preferences are the only ones to consider. The result is self-confidence, self-esteem, self indulgence, self-love and self-righteousness.
Rom 12:3 … Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgement, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.
Prov 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
Mark 3:34 “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
Some people take things which are not bad in themselves like sport, entertainment, food and family as their gods.
SPORT?
1 Tim 4:8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life
to come.
What or who is your God?
What or who is your God?
GOD OF PLEASURE AND ENTERTAINMENT?
1 Tim 3:3-5 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be … lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power.
What or who is your God?
The desire for and pursuit of pleasure:
Is futile
Eccl 2:1 I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure. So enjoy yourself.” And behold, it too was futility.
Chokes you and keeps you an immature Christian
Luke 8:14… they are choked by … riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.
Enslaves you
Titus 3:3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures…
THEIR GOD IS THEIR STOMACH
Phil 3:19 Their destiny
is destruction, their
god is their stomach…
1 Cor 6:12-13
“Everything is
permissible for me”—
but not everything
is beneficial.
“Everything is
permissible for
me”—but I will not be
mastered by anything. “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food”—but God will destroy them both.
What or who is your God?
GOD OF FAMILY?
Matt 10:37 “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me
is not worthy of me…”
What or who is your God?
Some are content because
they worship God. But
they actually worship
God plus something else.
The Samaritans did this.
2 Kings 17:33 They
worshiped the Lord,
but they also served
their own gods in
accordance with the customs
of the nations from which they had been brought.
So you worship God plus your ancestors, God plus money, God plus self. But Jesus said “No one can serve two masters” (Matt 6:24).
GOD PLUS SOMETHING
You can choose to serve
something that is not God by
nature:
Acts 7:39-42 “But our
fathers refused to obey him.
Instead, they rejected him
and in their hearts turned
back to Egypt. They told
Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will
go before us… That was the
time they made an idol in the
form of a calf. They brought
sacrifices to it and held a celebration in honour of what their hands had made. But God turned away and gave them over to the worship of the heavenly bodies.”
NOT GOD BY NATURE
Unlike those things
and entities that are
not God by nature, in
contrast Jesus is “in
very nature God” i.e.
eternal, sinless,
omnipotent (all
powerful), omniscient
(all knowledge),
omnipresent
(everywhere at once),
immutable (unchanging) etc.
Phil 2:5-7 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not
consider equality with God something to be grasped…
IN NATURE GOD
But just as surely as the Egyptians were judged, if you continue to worship false gods or put things or people before God, there will come a day when the very god you have worshipped will be “shown up” or destroyed.
Jer 13:24-25 “I will scatter you like chaff driven by the desert wind. This is your lot, the portion I have decreed for you,” declares the LORD, “because you have forgotten me and trusted in false gods.”
Ps 4:2 “How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?”
Ps 40:4 Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.
FALSE GODS JUDGED
You need to choose who you are going to serve – just as Elijah reminded the people of Israel
(1 Kings 18:21).
How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.
CHOOSE!
Give up your man-made gods and serve the true and living God today:
Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.
(Joshua 24:14-15)
CHOOSE!
I LIFT MY HANDS TO THE COMING KING
TO THE GREAT I AM, TO YOU I SING
FOR YOU’RE THE ONE WHO REIGNS
WITHIN MY HEART
AND I WILL SERVE
NO FOREIGN GODS
NOR ANY OTHER TREASURE
FOR YOU ARE
MY HEART’S DESIRE
THE SPIRIT WITHOUT MEASURE
UNTO YOUR NAME
I WILL BRING MY SACRIFICE
NOTE 3: The European Space Agency/ NASA SOHO, captured this image of a gigantic coronal hole hovering over the sun’s north pole.
NOTE 4: Illustration from " christart.com/ "> christart.com
NOTE 5: Illustration by Basil Wolverton (1909–1978) " wolvertoon.com/ bwapocalypse/ heat.html"> wolvertoon.com/ bwapocalypse/ heat.html
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