Unworthy "gods"

Introduction

A marshal in Napoleon’s army who was devotedly and enthusiastically attached to him was mortally wounded in battle. As the last struggle drew near and he lay dying in his tent he sent for his chief. Napoleon came. The poor man thought his emperor could do anything. He earnestly pleaded with his leader to save his life. The emperor sadly shook his head and turned away. But as the dying man felt the cold, merciless hand of death drawing him irresistibly behind the curtain of the unseen world, he was still heard to shriek out, “Save me, Napoleon! Save me!” In the hour of death, that soldier discovered that even the powerful Napoleon could not give him life.

As we continue our study through Exodus, we are going to look at 9 of the plaques tonight and how all of Egypt would call out to their “gods” to save them. We will see one by one that those false gods will all lose to the one true God. Tonight’s teaching is going to be a little more heavier, which means, that I really encourage you to take notes because you are going to need them for your discussions in small groups. While the bible doesn’t rightly come out and say who these false gods were, we can look at ancient Egyptian history and see that the Lord has chosen these specific plaques to prove that He is the one true God and that the Egyptian gods are unworthy to follow. Let’s go into a time of prayer as we prepare to hear the Word of God tonight.

(Prayer)

1.) Unworthy Osiris(Ow-Sai-Ruhs)

In the second part of chapter 7 in Exodus, we see the first plague, the Nile turning into blood.

Exodus 7:14–19 CSB

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hard: He refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning. When you see him walking out to the water, stand ready to meet him by the bank of the Nile. Take in your hand the staff that turned into a snake. Tell him: The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness. But so far you have not listened. This is what the Lord says: Here is how you will know that I am the Lord. Watch. I am about to strike the water in the Nile with the staff in my hand, and it will turn to blood. The fish in the Nile will die, the river will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable to drink water from it.” So the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over their rivers, canals, ponds, and all their water reservoirs—and they will become blood. There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in wooden and stone containers.”

The Egyptian god that is being shown unworthy to follow is Osiris. According to my studies, Osiris was considered an all-seeing and all-powerful “god”. Osiris apparently had the power to turn death into life, but the the plague in the Nile River showed that Osiris didn’t have that power. Look at verse 21.

Exodus 7:21 CSB

The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad the Egyptians could not drink water from it. There was blood throughout the land of Egypt.

Osiris didn’t come through. He couldn’t bring those fish back to life. The one true God is the only one who can bring things from death to life.

(Example: Jesus raising Lazarus)

2.) Unworthy Heka

The second plague has to deal with frogs. Let’s look at chapter 8 of Exodus.

Exodus 8:1–7 CSB

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and tell him: This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. But if you refuse to let them go, then I will plague all your territory with frogs. The Nile will swarm with frogs; they will come up and go into your palace, into your bedroom and on your bed, into the houses of your officials and your people, and into your ovens and kneading bowls. The frogs will come up on you, your people, and all your officials.” The Lord then said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, canals, and ponds, and cause the frogs to come up onto the land of Egypt.” When Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. But the magicians did the same thing by their occult practices and brought frogs up onto the land of Egypt.

In Egypt, they worshipped a god named Heka. According to their beliefs, she was a goddess whose body was shaped like a woman, but her head was like a frog. She was considered the goddess of fertility at she aided women in childbirth. With all these frogs around Egypt, no one could touch them. These frogs didn’t help anyone, they just irritated people. One thing we need to recognize from this is that the Living God is the only one who opens and closes a woman’s womb.

(Story of Rachel in Genesis)

Genesis 29:31 CSB

When the Lord saw that Leah was neglected, he opened her womb; but Rachel was unable to conceive.

Genesis 30:1–2 CSB

When Rachel saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she envied her sister. “Give me sons, or I will die!” she said to Jacob. Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God? He has withheld offspring from you!”

3.) Unworthy Geb

The third plague is gnats. Let’s look at chapter 8 starting at verse 16

Exodus 8:16–19 CSB

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the land, and it will become gnats throughout the land of Egypt.” And they did this. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, and when he struck the dust of the land, gnats were on people and animals. All the dust of the land became gnats throughout the land of Egypt. The magicians tried to produce gnats using their occult practices, but they could not. The gnats remained on people and animals. “This is the finger of God,” the magicians said to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

There was an Egyptian god named Geb, who was considered the “earth god”. He apparently blessed the Egyptian people with the dust of the earth, which provided fruit, grain, and vegetables. By bringing the gnats, the Lord was showing that He is the true provider. Those in Pharaoh’s circle are starting to realize who the really is the Lord. Look at verse 18 again.

Exodus 8:18–19 CSB

The magicians tried to produce gnats using their occult practices, but they could not. The gnats remained on people and animals. “This is the finger of God,” the magicians said to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

4.) Unworthy Beelzebub

Exodus 8:20–23 CSB

The Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh when you see him going out to the water. Tell him: This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. But if you will not let my people go, then I will send swarms of flies against you, your officials, your people, and your houses. The Egyptians’ houses will swarm with flies, and so will the land where they live. But on that day I will give special treatment to the land of Goshen, where my people are living; no flies will be there. This way you will know that I, the Lord, am in the land. I will make a distinction between my people and your people. This sign will take place tomorrow.”

Today, the term Beelzebub refers to Satan, but in the day of Egypt, Beelzebub was considered the fly god. Beelzebub was suppose to protect people and the land of Egypt from a particular fly. By worshipping Beelzebub, Egypt was apparently protected from an invasion of flies. Clearly Beelzebub didn’t come through.

(Review/Stand up Break)

5.) Unworthy Apis

Plague #5 was an epidemic that destroyed cattle. Look at chapter 9 of Exodus;

Exodus 9:1–3 CSB

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him: This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. But if you refuse to let them go and keep holding them, then the Lord’s hand will bring a severe plague against your livestock in the field—the horses, donkeys, camels, herds, and flocks.

Egypt had a temple that was dedicated to the black bull god Apis. By worshipping Apis, the Egyptians believed that all of their herds would be protected and preserved.

Are you starting to see a pattern? Whatever the false god was claimed to do, the Lord showed just how unworthy that false god was. This is significant for us, because many of us have false gods that we think are worthy of worshipping and in the end the result always shows just how unworthy those false gods are.

6.) Unworthy Religiosity

Let’s look at the sixth plague, boils.

Exodus 9:8–9 CSB

Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Take handfuls of furnace soot, and Moses is to throw it toward heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. It will become fine dust over the entire land of Egypt. It will become festering boils on people and animals throughout the land of Egypt.”

From my studies, some believe that the boils were an attack on the god of religious systems. To worship or serve as a priest in the temples, you couldn’t have a blemish, like a mole , boil, or any mark. The animals they sacrificed couldn’t have any markings as well.

Imagine for a second these temples being closed because the priests and animals had boils on them. Can you imagine seeing a sign “temple closed” do to boils? We don’t necessarily need to imagine because we experienced a year or so when church closed their doors and have said “closed due to Covid.”

Now, you won’t ever hear me say Covid isn’t real. The virus is real and it has effected many people in many different ways. However, what this pandemic has shown me and even convicted me of is that we can and have fallen for the false god of religion. We get comfortable with our cozy chairs , warm coffee, group games, big stages/equipment, inspiring messages and think we are some how “good.” People would say “Oh the church was closed during the pandemic.” No, the church was never closed, the god of religion was stopped and I believe in this time we are in the Lord is revealing who truly worships Him and who has worshipped the false god of religion.

Jesus said the following to a Samaritan woman in John chapter 4;

John 4:21–24 CSB

Jesus told her, “Believe me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and in truth.”

“True worship of the Lord isn’t confided to a building. True worship is how you live your life for the glory of Christ.”

7.) Unworthy Isis

The 7th plague is hail.

Exodus 9:13–18 CSB

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Get up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh. Tell him: This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. For this time I am about to send all my plagues against you, your officials, and your people. Then you will know there is no one like me on the whole earth. By now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague, and you would have been obliterated from the earth. However, I have let you live for this purpose: to show you my power and to make my name known on the whole earth. You are still acting arrogantly against my people by not letting them go. Tomorrow at this time I will rain down the worst hail that has ever occurred in Egypt from the day it was founded until now.

The false god Isis is now on the hit list. She was considered the “sky goddess” and she would provide rain to the Egyptians and protect them from hail, lightning, or any severe weather. She, just like the other false gods, could not compete with the Living God.

8.) Unworthy Insect Gods

In chapter 10 of Exodus, the Lord sends the eighth plague, locust;

Exodus 10:1–6 CSB

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may do these miraculous signs of mine among them, and so that you may tell your son and grandson how severely I dealt with the Egyptians and performed miraculous signs among them, and you will know that I am the Lord.” So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, says: How long will you refuse to humble yourself before me? Let my people go, that they may worship me. But if you refuse to let my people go, then tomorrow I will bring locusts into your territory. They will cover the surface of the land so that no one will be able to see the land. They will eat the remainder left to you that escaped the hail; they will eat every tree you have growing in the fields. They will fill your houses, all your officials’ houses, and the houses of all the Egyptians—something your fathers and grandfathers never saw since the time they occupied the land until today.” Then he turned and left Pharaoh’s presence.

If you read all of chapter 10 of Exodus, you will see that just hearing about locust brought fear to all. The people of Egypt feared and dreaded locust because they would eat all the remaining crops and threaten the existence of Egypt. All of the insect gods were no match for the power of the Living God.

Exodus 10:12–15 CSB

The Lord then said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the land of Egypt, and the locusts will come up over it and eat every plant in the land, everything that the hail left.” So Moses stretched out his staff over the land of Egypt, and the Lord sent an east wind over the land all that day and through the night. By morning the east wind had brought in the locusts. The locusts went up over the entire land of Egypt and settled on the whole territory of Egypt. Never before had there been such a large number of locusts, and there never will be again. They covered the surface of the whole land so that the land was black, and they consumed all the plants on the ground and all the fruit on the trees that the hail had left. Nothing green was left on the trees or the plants in the field throughout the land of Egypt.

9.) Unworthy Ra

The last plague we will look at tonight is the plague of darkness. Lets look at verse 21 of chapter 10;

Exodus 10:21–23 CSB

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, and there will be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness that can be felt.” So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness throughout the land of Egypt for three days. One person could not see another, and for three days they did not move from where they were. Yet all the Israelites had light where they lived.

This plague is showing how unworthy both the false god Ra and Pharaoh are. According to Egypts culture of worship, the false god Ra apparently embody who ever was the next pharaoh. This god is suppose to protect the land from darkness. You can also say that Pharaoh was suppose to protect the land from darkness and yet he failed.

Why did we go through this? Because we all have our false gods we need to identify and allow the Lord to show they are unworthy. Anything we hold higher than the living God is sin.

False god of Beauty

False god of Comfort

False god of Substances

False god of Religion

False god of Sex

False god of Money

False god of Self