10 plagues

[pelathais]

Originally Posted by Timmy

(Anybody notice the complete lack of cynicism and sarcasm in my post? )

No. That smirking avatar fills in what you leave unsaid. (BTW... The movie Avatar is finally available to be seen on cable. Anybody see it? I can't make my youngest watch it because he feels that it's just too preachy).

And.... back on topic:

Since almost every ancient civilization identified natural forces with some god or another, it would be inevitable to find the linkage that nahoke points out. This link is a popular subject (or was) in most UPC Bible schools.

Given the proliferation of anthropomorphic deities who are identified with just about every natural force - if the God of the Bible were to do anything, He would inevitably be seen as "opposing" this or that god.

Fact of the matter is, the Egyptian frog god didn't really play that big of a role in Egyptian society. Same with flies, locust, etc. And just how do we make the "water-into-blood" curse associate with Osiris whose most prominent symbols are the shepherd's crook and the flair - symbols of authority and administration?

I lost interest in this particular methodology back when Bro. Arlo assigned it as a topic in OT at Gateway. The theme excited him, it proved fruitless to me.

Consider: The Hebrew God decides to give the smack-down to the unruly Egyptians - so He takes out the Frog god? That'll show those leek eating Egyptians!

But in response, the Egyptians say something like, "I didn't even know we had a Frog god!"

Frogs are icky. Too many frogs is a curse in and of itself. Given their specialized environmental needs, an over-abundance of frogs would indicate that the NATURAL order is unbalanced. The dramatic appearance of so many frogs would indicate that something is seriously wrong with the ponds and streams in your backyard.

[*AQuietPlace*]

Originally Posted by Timmy

(Anybody notice the complete lack of cynicism and sarcasm in my post? )

I did, actually!

[mizpeh]

Originally Posted by Timmy

(Anybody notice the complete lack of cynicism and sarcasm in my post? )

Are you feeling okay?

[Timmy]

Originally Posted by mizpeh

Are you feeling okay?

Fine! I'm fine! Not paranoid! Nothing to do with http://apostolicfriendsforum.com/showthread.php?t=31975! I'm fine!

[nahkoe]

Originally Posted by pelathais

Since almost every ancient civilization identified natural forces with some god or another, it would be inevitable to find the linkage that nahoke points out. This link is a popular subject (or was) in most UPC Bible schools.

Given the proliferation of anthropomorphic deities who are identified with just about every natural force - if the God of the Bible were to do anything, He would inevitably be seen as "opposing" this or that god.

Fact of the matter is, the Egyptian frog god didn't really play that big of a role in Egyptian society. Same with flies, locust, etc. And just how do we make the "water-into-blood" curse associate with Osiris whose most prominent symbols are the shepherd's crook and the flair - symbols of authority and administration?

I lost interest in this particular methodology back when Bro. Arlo assigned it as a topic in OT at Gateway. The theme excited him, it proved fruitless to me.

Consider: The Hebrew God decides to give the smack-down to the unruly Egyptians - so He takes out the Frog god? That'll show those leek eating Egyptians!

But in response, the Egyptians say something like, "I didn't even know we had a Frog god!"

Frogs are icky. Too many frogs is a curse in and of itself. Given their specialized environmental needs, an over-abundance of frogs would indicate that the NATURAL order is unbalanced. The dramatic appearance of so many frogs would indicate that something is seriously wrong with the ponds and streams in your backyard.

Really? So Southern Baptists and UPCers have something in common after all.

The cultural and religious identification with elements of nature is mostly what I was considering. The list itself is just a curiosity IMO. I've been kind of thinking all day about a God who would go out of His way to say "hey, I'm bigger than these things you worship" vs a God who would say "hey, you're scum". Every time I've heard this presented, it's always been from the point of view that God was trying to make them miserable enough to let Israel go. What if the whole thing was giving them a choice, giving them the awareness of who He is so they could make a choice? It changes some things inside of my head to even consider that it *could* be that.

[pelathais]

Originally Posted by nahkoe

Really? So Southern Baptists and UPCers have something in common after all.

LOL. Actually, if the Southern Baptists ever found out how much we lifted from their literature ...

Originally Posted by nahkoe

The cultural and religious identification with elements of nature is mostly what I was considering. The list itself is just a curiosity IMO. I've been kind of thinking all day about a God who would go out of His way to say "hey, I'm bigger than these things you worship" vs a God who would say "hey, you're scum". Every time I've heard this presented, it's always been from the point of view that God was trying to make them miserable enough to let Israel go. What if the whole thing was giving them a choice, giving them the awareness of who He is so they could make a choice? It changes some things inside of my head to even consider that it *could* be that.

That's a pretty good analysis right there. You got me to thinking...

What if we sort of do an overlay of the "Plagues of Egypt" (as natural phenomena attributed to pagan gods) with the events of Elijah and the Prophets of Baal, culminating in the events on Mount Horeb (1 Kings 18:19-19:21)?

Both series of events could be said to have a penultimate at Mount Horeb/Sinai. In both series of events the pagan deities were shown to NOT have any power over the natural elements. In the case of of Elijah, even Yahweh was shown to be "absent" from having a direct presence in the natural forces.

I think your tack of saying, "...Consider a God Who is bigger than what you have been settling for..." is actually a good way to handle the "10 Plagues."

Nice thoughts!