Letters From Grandpa #244

LETTERS FROM GRANDPA # 244

Dearest grandchild,

Today’s letter will deal with the uniqueness of God. Modern atheists often denigrate God by comparing him with god who were only idols. They falsely accuse Christians of being atheists too. They smirk and say that Christians are atheists because they don’t believe in hundreds of pagan gods. They claim to be consistent because they don’t believe in one more God than we do. By this line of reasoning they display their ignorance of reality. Yes! There are many gods that Christians do not believe in, but as the Bible teaches, there is no God like Jehovah (1 Ki. 8:23). Jehovah, the God is Israel, is unique!

The 12 main gods and goddesses in the Roman Pantheon were: Jupiter, Juno, Minerva, Vesta, Ceres, Diana, Venus, Mars, Mercurius, Neptunus, Volcanus, and Apollo. The Romans believed that every one of these gods and goddesses had a beginning. Jupiter and Juno were twins and are depicted by a statue of them nursing from the breasts of Fortuna Primihenia. Minerva was the daughter of Jupiter and Metis. Vesta was the sister of Jupiter. Vesta was the daughter of Saturn and Ops. Diana was the daughter of Letona and Venus was the daughter of Dione. Mars was the son of Juno and Jupiter. Mercurius was the son of Maia, and Neptunus was the brother of Jupiter and Pluto. Volcanus was also considered the son of Jupiter and Juno and Apollo was thought to be born on a sunny Greek island along with his twin sister Artemis. If you cannot see the difference between these pagan gods who had a beginning and the Eternal God who created everything I feel sorry for you.

The Ten Plagues God brought upon Egypt were not random, but specifically designed to discredit their pagan gods. Without going into detail, here are the ten plagues and the gods they totally discredited. (1) Water turning to blood - the god Hapi. (2) Frogs - the god Heket. (3) Gnats - the god Geb. (4) Flies - the god Khepri. (5) The plague on livestock - the god Hathor. (6) Boils - the goddess Isis. (7) Hail - the god Nut. (8) Locusts - the god Seth. (9) Darkness - the sun god Ra. (10) The death of the firstborn was a direct attack upon Pharaoh himself who was believed to be the son of Ra and the greatest god in all of Egypt. This arrogant dictator sneered at Moses and said: “Who is the Lord that I should obey Him?” (Ex. 5:2). As you know, the Pharaoh found out the hard way Who Jehovah was!

Or consider the contest on Mt. Carmel between Elijah and the priests of Baal. Elijah stood alone against 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah (1 Ki. 18:19). Fortunately for Elijah truth was not determined by a popularity vote or a scholarly consensus (1 Ki. 18).

Nebuchadnezzar was the King of Babylon and the most powerful man on earth. He was forced by God to acknowledge and worship Him as the King of Heaven. Jehovah is unique and distinct from every other god (Dan. 4:37). Darius was the King of the Medes and the Persians came to the same conclusion. The evidence also convinced him that the God of Daniel was unique. Consequently he sent out a decree to all the peoples, nations, and men of every language throughout the land that there was no God like the Living God Who lives forever (Dan. 6:26, 27).

It is interesting to note that some atheists seek to equate the God of Heaven with the Tooth Fairy. In this regard have you ever heard of a scientist in the prime of his or her life coming to believe in the Tooth Fairy? Yet MANY scientists have come to believe in Jehovah. This is why atheists do not attack the Tooth Fairy, Zeus or Jupiter. They claim they don’t believe in any God, but consistently attack only One Unique Special God. The fact that they focus on only One God provides an interesting insight into what they really believe!

King Solomon was said to be the wisest man on earth. When he built the Temple for Jehovah in Jerusalem he said: “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below .. .” (1 Ki. 8:23". He was right! Other gods were products of creation, but not Jehovah. He is the One Who created everything! He is eternal! Solomon correctly acknowledged: “The heaven of heavens cannot contain you. How much less the temple I have built” (1 Ki. 8:27).

Thinking people can easily make the transition from “God is no where” to “God is now here”.

I love you,

Grandpa Boyce