My Father in Heaven is Perfect

When I was a kid, I was scared of God. It started with what seemed like a creepy Bible story about God sending plagues on the Egyptians for not letting His people go. The message was clear; do whatever God wants or you will wake up with blood in your water bottle, frogs in your bread and no more sunshine. Of course, if you really insist on going your own way, you will end up dead. Not a lot to celebrate with a God like that.

The devil wants us to believe that God chose these plagues at random with the intent to torment, but when I took an art history class, I began to see it differently. A little study of the Egyptian gods explains the rest of the story.

I recently ran across a blog by Lee Andrew Henderson: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2041953/why_did_god_send_frogs_locusts_boils.html?cat=34

He says it better than I could say it myself:

“Why Did God Send the Ten Plagues?
At the time the Egyptians did not worship the one God that Moses believed in. Instead the Egyptians had many gods that they worshiped. There were gods of the sky, gods of the waters, gods for just about everything. Each one of the ten plagues that God sent through Moses were not just random plagues. Each of the ten plagues were specifically designed to defy some of the Egyptian gods.

Why Did God Send the Plague of Blood?
Two of the Egyptian gods were Khnum and Hopi. Khnum was the guardian of the Nile and Hopi was the spirit of the Nile. When God turns the Nile River into blood it is a sign that God is more powerful than Khnum or Hopi.

Why Did God Send the Plague of Frogs?
The Egyptians also worshiped a god of resurrection named Heqt. Heqt was believed to take the form of a frog. The plague of Frogs was a way of saying that God could control any form of frog.

Why Did God Send the Plague on Cattle?
Apis was the symbol of fertility and took the form of a bull god. The plague on the cattle was a sign that even God could strike down any cattle, even a bull god.

Why Did God Send the Plague of Boils?
The Egyptians also worshiped Imhotep, the god of medicine. When boils appeared on the people of Egypt and not even Imhotep can cure them it was a sign that God was more powerful.

Why Did God Send the Plague of Hail?
The plague of hail was sent to defy the god of Nut. Nut was the sky goddess and normally would be the one to control the weather.

Why Did God Send the Plague of Locusts?
Seth was the Egyptian god that was supposed to be the protector of the crops. The locusts destroyed crops so the plague of locusts was a way to defy Seth.

Why Did God Send the Plague of Darkness?
The Egyptians had many sun gods. Four of the Egyptian sun gods were Re, Aten, Atum and Hours. The plague of darkness was to challenge the sun gods.

Why Did God Send the Plague of the Firstborn? Osiris was the Egyptian god that was considered the giver of life. Osiris supposedly has the ability to give people to life but was unable to stop every firstborn from being killed.” - Lee Andrew Henderson

So there you have it, God always does everything with a purpose. As a matter of fact, the Bible actually spells it out for us. God told Moses WHY He was sending the plagues:

“I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt, I am the LORD.” Exodus 12:12

God wasn’t seeking to torment people; He was establishing His Sovereignty in the eyes of the Egyptians and the Children of Israel who had already begun to worship false gods. He was actually using emergency stops to wake them up and save their lives. There is no God like our God!

For scared children like us, that is really good news!

-Cherilyn Christen Clough

www.myfatherinheavenisperfect.com