“Kingdom Come”: Left Behind Review, Part 3–Egypt’s Rich History is Now Declared an Abomination
On page 89, Egypt has failed to send representatives to attend the Feast of Tabernacles. So, as King David says,
It should be no surprise that this has kindled the wrath of the Lord. One of the reasons He decreed mandatory involvement in these observances was that these nations had reviled His chosen people in generations past. [Talk about a grudge!]
The Feast of Tabernacles allows all nations to pay homage to the Lord, in His house, for the annual harvest and provisions. The Lord has been faithful. Egypt has proven unfaithful.
So the Lord will slay the two Egyptian elders who led the others not to send representatives, and send drought to Egypt.
Um….What, more wrath, and Old Testament style on your a**? I thought we were past that now in the Millennium? UGH!
Rayford and his men are chosen to rebuild Egypt and brainwa–er, evangelize the Egyptians into seeing this abusive tactic as their just punishment, and repenting.
I mean, all this suffering and death because they didn’t send some people to a feast? Sounds like a man who beats his wife for burning dinner….
On page 110, we read that “Since the Feast of Tabernacles in Israel several days before, no rain had fallen in the entire nation of Egypt.”
Er….Isn’t that perfectly normal for EGYPT? And most other places as well, except maybe for Seattle or the rain forest? Far more significant is the drying up of underground springs and rivers, which I assume includes the Nile, the main source of water in Egypt.
Page 94 is kinda weird. Pretty, young Ekaterina starts calling Kenny (Buck and Chloe’s son, now an adolescent) “Mr. Williams” because, “If I’m going to work for you…I mean, not that I’m saying I’ll get the job…”
Er, even if you do get the job, why on earth would you not call your boss by his first name? You know, like people normally do?
Page 118 is especially painful for anyone who knows anything about Egypt: Tsion Ben-Judah goes into the parliament building and begins haranguing like some prophet:
“Woe to you, says the Lord God of Israel, for helping to scatter His people throughout the generations.
He healed your land and reestablished you, populating you solely with believers until your offspring were born.
Yet you kept the name of your nation, a stench in the nostrils of God. Egypt: ‘temple of the soul of Ptah,’ indeed! Ptah a pagan deity from generations past. Where is he in your time of need?
You deigned to rebuild this structure after the global earthquake, somehow believing God would be pleased by an edifice that looks nothing like a temple dedicated to Him but rather harks back to your days worshiping patron deities?
Still, all He required of you was to observe the sacrifices and feasts, and you thumbed your noses at Him. Is it any wonder He has cursed your land?
Where was your backbone, your leadership, when unbelievers persuaded you to commit the affront of absenting yourself from the Feast of Tabernacles?”
ARGH! There is so much wrong with this! Where do I begin?
First of all, it’s such an affront to not attend a feast one year, that God wants to smite them all? Is this a loving, merciful God, or the blasphemous idea of a god so jealous of his own honor that, like some medieval tyrant, he must kill and torture to satisfy his wounded pride?
Second, how is it so horrible to want to honor your nation’s colorful past with a temple built in the style of ancient ones? Egypt is rich in history, culture, monuments.
What, were they supposed to destroy the pyramids, the Sphinx, their old temples, their artifacts, etc., because they were pagan?
This isn’t directly stated, but this whole rant against them–for not changing their name and for building a temple in ancient style–suggests that they should have done this, too.
Basically, the Egyptians are made to feel ashamed–that they have horribly offended God–for using their culture’s rich architectural past!
Also, quite a grudge! Egypt has not been pagan for 2000 years: First it became Christian, then, during the Islamic migrations, became Muslim. The Coptic Church still exists there.
In any case, the nation worships Allah, NOT Egyptian deities, yet here it’s treated as if it never turned away from worshipping Ra, Ptah, etc. So Egypt is still being punished for the slavery of the Hebrews, which happened some 4000 years ago!
And that leads to the most ludicrous and offensive part of this rant: EGYPT IS NOT THE EGYPTIAN NAME OF EGYPT!!!!!! Tsion is so ignorant it’s laughable: Egypt is an English name, taken from a Greek name.
Tsion is verbally abusing the Egyptians for a name they do not use. The ancient Egyptians called their land Kemet, or black land.
The country’s name went through various changes down through the centuries before Christ, as the language and practices changed.
Sure the later Egyptians used a name derived from Ptah, but it wasn’t “Egypt,” and they were pagan, so would see nothing wrong with it.
The Ptolemies took over and could not pronounce Hwt-ka-ptah, so it became Aegyptus. The land became Christian, and then Arabic Muslims took over and could not pronounce Aegypti (changed to Copti).
Christian Egypt used these Ptah-derived names, and the Egyptian church is still called Coptic, so why can’t the Millennial Egypt?
But modern Egyptians don’t use any of these names, but Misr, an Arabic name which refers to the land, the same as Kemet did. (See The Origin of the Name Egypt by Nermin Sami and Jimmy Dunn.)
But, just as with anyone who is being unfairly attacked and verbally abused, somebody tries to speak in their defense–but is not allowed. A young man stands up and says, “Sir, if I may argue our side of the issue–” And this is the result:
“Your side? You are accursed! Or are you a believer, confident you shall live past your hundredth birthday?”
“It merely happens that I respectfully disagree–”
“Respectfully? You are fortunate you remain on this earth, for God willed that your young compatriots become examples for the rest of this nation.”
“But, sir, that is precisely our point. What kind of a loving God is so capricious that He would–”
“Demolish this building!” Tsion roared. “Rebuild it as a temple to the Lord. Delight in His ways. Seek His face. Follow His statutes. Never again disobey His commands. And henceforth this land shall be known as Osaze, ‘loved by God.’ Lest you fear that His wrath evidences something other than His love, imagine what He could have done in the face of this ultimate insult.”
And still more threats if they don’t do what they’re supposed to do.
LET THE MAN SPEAK! The young man said the same things I thought as I read this, but he got the typical abuser response: “I went easy on you!”
And Egypt is to turn its back on its wonderful cultural heritage, act like its history is worth nothing but scorn and contempt, because 2000 years ago, they were not a Christian country.
Well, neither were any of the European countries, or Latin America, or even our good ol’ USA, which back then was filled with Native American culture and religions.
This is tyranny, plain and simple, yet we’re supposed to accept it as the rule of a loving god, and consider it okay, that Osaze–er, EGYPT–got what they deserved? This sounds like brainwashing in order to mob bully anyone who disagrees!