Wisdom's Corner
God Against Hekt

The Egyptians were very impressed with frogs. Each September, after the summer flooding by the Nile River, frogs would become very numerous in the small bodies of water left from the flooding. The Egyptians loved to hear the croaking of all of these frogs. It meant that the gods had done their duty and given the Egyptians enough water for a very fruitful next year.

The Egyptians believed the frog was the symbol of the life-giving power-goddess, Hekt. She was the goddess who oversaw the women, the mid-wives, who helped women have babies. She was thought to blow the breath of life into the nostrils of the new babies. Her husband, Khnum, was the god who made the bodies of babies on the potter's wheel from the dust of the ground.

Hekt was represented in paintings as a woman with the head of a frog. She was so important that she is pictured in one place as helping the god Anubis rebuild the body of Osiris after the god Seth had killed him. So when the True God gave Moses and Aaron the power to bring forth frogs by the millions (Exodus 8:1-15), He was showing His power over Hekt. There were so many frogs that they were bringing destruction (Psalm 78:45) to the land. The frogs didn't just stay in the pools of water and the river. They jumped into the houses. They jumped in their beds. The Egyptians could not even cook because the frogs were in their ovens. No one could take a step without stepping on a frog.

Pharaoh asks Moses to pray to Jehovah to take away the frogs the next day. This is important because Pharaoh is already showing that he believes God is stronger than Hekt. Moses prays to God and the next day the frogs all die. The people gather the dead frogs into large piles. The whole land stinks from the dead frogs.

This was a further demonstration by God to tell the Egyptians that Hekt had no power. Instead of breathing life, the symbol of Hekt is dead and stinking up the land.

I want to obey the One True God. And I know you do too. The only way to obey Him is to study His word, the Bible. So until next time, keep reading so that you can get the wisdom of God. And if any of this is hard to understand, ask an adult to help you.

Mark McWhorter

Copyright 1999

Published by The Old Paths Bible School
(http://www.oldpaths.org)