Great empires have risen up and have become the gods of their age. Kings and princes have taken upon themselves high titles and have been worshipped by the multitudes. Nevertheless, ask these empires now whether there is any beside Jehovah?
God taught the Egyptians that He was God. “The Egyptians considered sacred the lion, the ox, the ram, the wolf, the dog, the cat, the ibis, the vulture, the falcon, the hippopotamus, the crocodile, the cobra, the dolphin, different varieties of fish, trees, and small animals including the frog, scarab, locust and other insects.”(John Davis, Moses and the Gods of Egypt, p. 95).
I think many people miss the point of the plagues God sent against Egypt during the days of Moses. Sometimes people get so wrapped up in studying fleas and locusts that they forget the purpose of the plagues. The plagues were not just to be an inconvenience to the Egyptians—they were designed to teach the Egyptians about the power and might of Jehovah. It seems as though every plague was a direct affront to one or more of the gods of Egypt. God told Moses, “But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.” (Exodus 7:4-5). At the death of the firstborn, Jehovah said, “against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.” (Exodus 12:12).
But where is Amon-Re, the supreme god of Egypt? His temple in Karnak now lies in ruins. Where is Isis, the mother goddess of fertility and nature? Where is Osiris, the god of the dead and of the underworld? Where is Horus, the god of light—the god represented as a falcon-headed man wearing a sun disk as a crown? Where is Ptah, the chief god of Memphis, the one whom they believed created the moon, the sun, and the earth?
Consider the Babylonian Empire. She who was great among the nations—where is she now? You could go to Iraq and stand upon the mounds that once housed some of the most feared armies of the world—but it is now covered in sand and forgotten by time. You could stand upon the mounds of ancient Nineveh and let those hidden ruins remind you that there is, but one God and empires sink before Him. Go to Greece and walk amidst the ancient temples where the apostle Paul once traveled. Recall how Paul told the Athenians about the God “who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things” (Acts 17:24-25). As you walk through the many temples in Athens it is as though you hear a solemn voice amid those ruins saying, “I am God, and there is no other.”
Onward Rejoicing, John B. Daniels, Associate Minister
