4-2-3 Case Study: The Gods Of Egypt

Consider the plagues upon Egypt; each of those miracles (for that is what they were) was designed by God to expose the utter non-existence of the main Egyptian demons (idols). “Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am Yahweh” (Ex. 12:12; 15:11; Num. 33:4). The “gods” are spoken of for a moment as real and existing, in order to show Yahweh’s total superiority over them to the point that they didn’t exist. Note how it was the Egyptian people who were judged (Gen. 15:14); their idols (“gods”) are used by metonymy to stand for those who believed in them. Likewise “demons” is sometimes put by metonymy for those who believed in them (e.g. Mk. 2:32,34). The judgment upon Egypt's gods is brought out by an otherwise obscure reference in Ex. 7:19 to how "there shall be blood in all the land of Egypt on wood and in stone". "Wood and stone" is a term usually used in the Bible for idols; and "the Egyptian priests used to wash the images of their gods in water every day early in the morning" (1). Thus the gods were shown to be effectively dead and bleeding. The greatest Egyptian god was the sun-god Ra, and the Pharaoh was seen as his manifestation on earth. It may be that Pharaoh alludes to this when he threatens Moses: "Look, for there is evil [ra'a] before you" (Ex. 10:10). And Yahweh's response was to darken the sun and create a darkness which could be felt (Ex. 10:21)

The Other Gods Of Egypt

Yet rarely is there an explicit denial by God of the existence of those gods. They are shown to be meaningless inventions of men by the sheer power of the miracles. The New Testament use of demon terminology to describe the miracles of Jesus is another example of this. There is no explicit denial of the existence of demons, but their non-existence is demonstrated by the miracles. It is significant that the New Testament language of demon possession only occurs in the context of the power of God being shown through His miracles of healing. And yet, generally, Israel failed to grasp the lesson.

Have you ever wondered why Israel chose to make a golden calf? Why not some other animal? It appears that Israel identified the golden calf with the Egyptian goddess Hathor. "The Egyptian goddess Hathor came in the form of a cow, a woman with a cow’s head, or a woman with cows horns and / or cows ears. She bore several other titles including The Golden One and Mistress of Music. She was the patron of love, motherhood, drunkenness, fun, dance and music. The worship of Hathor degenerated into immorality and she is depicted in some scenes and statues as a sensual young woman. Hathor was the protector of travelers from Egypt to various areas including Sinai" . So Israel so quickly forgot the lesson so artlessly taught them- that the idols / demons of Egypt were of no power at all!
The following references to Hathor provide further insight:

Hathor had several forms including, a cow, a women with a cow’s head, or a woman with cows horns and or ears (2).
Hathor was also known as ‘The Golden One’ (3)
Hathor was the protector of travellers from Egypt to various areas including Sinai (4).
Patron of drunkenness (5)
Hathor had the title ‘Mistress of Music’ (6)
The worship of Hathor included playing on all kinds of musical instruments together with dancing (7).
The worship of Hathor was for the joy and pleasure of those who took part (8).
Hathor is also the goddess of love (9)
The worship of Hathor degenerated into immorality (10).

Whilst considering Israel’s relationship to Egypt, it is fascinating to discover that the dreams of Pharaoh at the time of Joseph were a clear inversion of the surrounding pagan ideas. One of the foremost Egyptian gods, Osiris, had seven cows; it must have taken some courage for Joseph to comment on the fact that the seven fat cows were to be eaten up by the seven thin ones (Gen. 41:20; possibly representing Israel in the long term, cp. Hos. 4:15-16; Am. 4:1). The point I wish to make in the present context is that the pagan ideas of Pharaoh were not explicitly corrected; instead, the supremacy of Yahweh and His people over them was taught by implication.

It has been shown by many writers that there are a number of mythical stories in surrounding Middle Eastern culture which sound like allusions to Biblical miracles like the sun standing still, the Red Sea drying up etc. (11). They attribute these miracles to their various gods. It is quite possible that these legends are only corruptions of the events which occurred in the Biblical record, and had their origin well after the performance of the miracles. However, it is impossible to accurately date the origin of these pagan legends. In accordance with the ample evidence that God did such miracles in order to destroy the credibility of the surrounding mythology and philosophy, it seems quite probable that these legends existed before the Biblical miracles occurred. When God parted the Red Sea or stopped earth’s rotation He would have been powerfully alluding to the legends which stated that such miracles had been done by deity X, Y or Z. It was clear that Yahweh, Israel’s God, had done these things – and in actual reality, not just in storybook legend.

APPENDIX: "Even the demons believe and tremble" (James 2:19)

"Demons" is put here by metonymy for the [supposedly] demon possessed people, and their observed 'trembling' at the time of their cure. But I don't think that this verse is James as it were telling us doctrinal truth about demons. The context of James 2 shows it to be part of an imagined dialogue between the "works man" [who thinks works can save], and a "faith man" [who thinks merely saying we believe is enough and our lives are irrelevant]. Both these imaginary men come out with 'wrong' statements, so it's not surprising that the 'works man' disparages 'faith' by saying that even demon possessed people can believe and be cured. Of itself, this passage can hardly be taken as proof that demons really do believe- the usual position taken is that demons are fallen angels who cannot believe and cannot repent nor be healed. This passage even taken on face value would contradict that system of belief.

Notes

(1) Umberto Cassuto, A Commentary On The Book Of Exodus (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1997 ed.) p. 99.

(2) M.A. Murray, Egyptian Temples (London: Duckworth, 1931) pp. 53-54.

(3) Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, Vol. 5, p.57.

(4) Eretz Israel, Vol. 12, p.118.

(5) Joyce Tyldesley, Hatchepsut The Female Pharaoh (London: Penguin, 1998) p.171.

(6) Joyce Tyldesley, ibid p.171.

(7) M.A. Murray, op cit p. 185.

(8) Journal of Egyptian Archaeology, Vol. 5, P.57.

(9) D.B. Redford, Egypt, Canaan And Israel In Ancient Times (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992) p.232.

(10) M.A. Murray, op cit p.54.

(11) Several standard Religious Education textbooks for schools include some references relevant here. Perhaps the most striking evidence for the extent of the allusions is provided by Immanuel Velikovsky in his books Worlds In Collision and Ages In Chaos ( London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1957 & 1959).