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Destroying Khnum
“He turned their waters into blood
And he caused their fish to die.”
(Psalm 105:29)
Much as we saw in the previous verse, God is taking apart those things that the people of Egypt worshipped. The Nile River always has been the source of life for Egypt; in the plague, God turned it into a source of death. Not only can blood not sustain fishwife, it also cannot water crops or provide water for the people. And this plague, the first of the ten, affected not just the Nile, but all water in the land of Egypt.
The Egyptian god Khnum was the god of the Nile, of water, and of procreation. And, as we saw with Amun-Ra, their false gods cannot resist the power of the Almighty God of the universe. As we have noted, God is bringing low those gods that were served in Egypt — remember, this is a demonstration of power not just to the Egyptians, but to the Israelites who had fallen into the idolatry of the people around them (Joshua 24:14).
Even today, our human hearts have a bent toward idolatry. We lean toward it and subtly permit elements of it in our lives — sometimes it is not so subtle! Worse yet, we often incorporate it into our worship. This goes beyond the icons of Eastern Orthodoxy or the idols of the Roman church. In fact, anytime we incorporate things in worship apart from what God has explicitly commanded, we have embraced a form of idolatry. Whether this be images of Jesus that we scatter around our churches or homes, choosing to sing humanistic songs, importing art and drama into the service, or just simply engaging in things that manipulate the minds and hearts of the participants to a certain end. It is idolatry because it is not trusting God to lay out in His Word how we are to worship. And God will bring idolatry low, even today. We may not see chalices of water turn into blood, but He will bring the downfall of those who do not honor Him in all things.
A Proverb in a Song: part 2
“Hear this, all ye peoples!
Listen carefully, all who dwell in the world!”
(Psalm 49:2 {Psalm 49:1 in English Bibles})
Notice to whom this psalm is written. All too often we only think of the scriptures in terms of being written for God’s people, yet, this psalm is addressing all people of world! Oh, what an important reminder this is that the oracles of God are to be shared with all of creation—young and old, rich and poor, far and near. The gospel is for every culture and race and the truth of God is suitable for all.
How often we adopt the attitude, when dialoguing with non-believers, do we back down from holding to this great truth. We adopt the attitude of our culture which says, “Let me believe what I want to believe and I will let you believe what you want to believe…” It makes people uncomfortable when you hold fast to the position that the truth of scripture is the only truth and all other things that masquerade as truth have their origins in the pits of Hell. It does not sound very “tolerant” to say that, does it? Yet, is light tolerant of the darkness? Indeed, not! Light casts darkness away!
We live in a world where people have preferred darkness to light (John 3:19), for in the darkness, the sins of men remain hidden. Light exposes sin for what it is and light hurts the eyes when it is seen for the first time, yet, beloved, light is where we belong, for God is light. And as we are in the light, we then must, by necessity, reflect the light of His glory into the world and the world will largely reject us—not for who we are, but for whose light we shine. Beloved, do not be shy about shining your light amongst men and women, the truth of scripture is for all mankind—without qualification or exception. Truth is truth, regardless of the circumstances. So shout to the world, with this psalmist, that they would hear the truth of God’s wonderful revelation!
I will tell the wondrous story,
How my lost estate to save,
In His boundless love and mercy,
He the ransom freely gave.
Sing, O sing of my Redeemer!
With His blood he purchased me;
On the cross he sealed my pardon,
Paid the debit and made me free.
-Philip Bliss
The Preacher's Study 