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Thoughts from Exodus 7b-8a: Shaming the Gods
By daniel | February 23, 2007
Plagues one and two. The Nile and frogs. Anqet was the goddess of fertility and the Nile – their source of life and nourishment. In turning the life-giving waters to blood (their symbol of death), all hope in this goddess was shattered. She was clearly no more powerful than the God of Israel, and couldn't protect them or give them life. To rock their world like this could perhaps even shake their belief in the existence of the god/goddess.
Heqet, the goddess of childbirth and creation, was symbolized by the frog. Her blessing and control was said to protect women during childbirth, and the appearance of many frogs during seasons of the Nile was a sign of her presence and blessing. With the plague of frogs, God demonstrated this goddess' lack of control by using those very signs of blessing to torture the people she was said to protect. Instead of the seasonal thousands, it sounds more like millions of uncontrolled frogs with nowhere else to go wedged into every space in Egypt.
Topics: The Word |
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