Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Adult Sunday School Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/bb/bb19980315.htm

PSALMS: DIARIES OF GODLY OLD TESTAMENT SAINTS
Psalm One Hundred And Four - Vigilantly Correcting The REVISED THEOLOGICAL ERROR Of Apostates
(Psalm 104:1-35)
  1. Introduction
    1. Scripture predicts that there will be an apostasy, a falling away from God's truth, in the latter days according to 2 Thessalonians 2:3. Accordingly, believers in Christ are to be vigilant in their stand for the truth of God's Word according to Jude 3-4.
    2. The fact that taking a correct stand for the truth is to be practiced by the upright, and just how it is to be done is displayed for us in Psalm 104:1-35 as follows:
  2. Vigilantly Correcting The REVISED THEOLOGICAL ERROR Of Apostates, Ps. 104:1-35.
    1. Psalm 104 is incredibly similar in subject matter and layout to the Egyptian hymn "The Hymn to the Aton" authored by pharaoh Amenhotep IV (Akhnaton or Ikhnaton), Leupold, Psalms, p. 722; Archer, A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, p. 219; Edward McNall Burns, Western Civilizations, p. 48.
    2. Amenhotep IV began reigning 65 years after Israel's departure from Egypt (Ibid., Archer, p. 214, 219) when Egypt's pagan religion had deteriorated into a system of magic under the priests. He apparently tried to reform it to create a monotheistic religion that made t he sun the Creator god of the universe, Ibid., Burns, p. 48. Instead of the Middle Kingdom of "Re" for the sun, he called the sun disk "Aton".
    3. Since this reformed belief made the sun the universal Creator, it ran directly opposite Israel's claim that Jahweh Elohim of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was the Creator God of the universe!
    4. Accordingly, when Amenhotep IV formulated his "The Hymn to the Aton" to glorify the sun as the Creator of the universe, the unknown author of Psalm 104 in Israel responded by setting the record straight!
    5. Just how Psalm 104 treats this subject contrary to Amenhotep IV's hymn to "Aton" is shown as follows (We have a separate page recording Amenhotep IV's hymn for you to use to contrast with Psalm 104):
      1. In place of the sun, "Aton" receiving the honor as Creator in Psalm 104, Israel's God, Jahweh Elohim is enumerated as the Creator of all things throughout the psalm, cf. v. 2-9.
      2. In place of the sun, "Aton" receiving the honor as the Providential Sustainer of all life, Israel's God, Jahweh Elohim is pictured adapting the earth to meet the needs of all life on earth, Ps. 104:10-23.
      3. In place of the sun, "Aton" being in dominion of the universe, Israel's God, Jahweh Elohim is the Sovereign God of the universe, Ps. 104:24-32.
      4. Of special import is the Psalm 104 author's MUTED reference to the sun in verses 19 and 22a:
        1. Genesis 1:14-18 reveals that the heavenly bodies were created by God to divide day from darkness, for man to tell time and to give light on the earth.
        2. Accordingly, Ps. 104 pictures the moon and sun in those divinely assigned roles.
        3. HOWEVER, though Genesis 1:16 shows the sun to be the greater light to rule over the lesser light of the moon, PSALM 104:19 presents the MOON as marking the seasons, and the SUN as knowing when to go DOWN! Thus, the SUN'S role is INTENTIONALLY MINIMIZED in its being SUBJECT to God's assignment to give daylight and signal time, and that in the SUBSERVIENT role of ENDING its blaze to bring on the night with the MOON!
    6. Having revealed the true menial servitude of the sun to Israel's Jahweh Elohim, the true Creator of the universe, the psalmist closed his psalm with a twofold call:
      1. He called for his soul to glorify the true Creator, Jahweh Elohim, hoping that God would be pleased with his meditation that honored Him as opposed to the false god, Aton, Ps. 104:33-34, 35b.
      2. He also called for the sinners who promoted falsehood (like Amenhotep IV in honoring "Aton" as the Creator of the universe) to vanish from the earth, Ps. 104:35a.
Lesson: When confronted with DIRECT theological opposition to the truth that Israel's God was the Creator God of the universe, the psalmist in Israel RE-WROTE the pagan "The Hymn to the Aton", inserting Israel's God as the TRUE Creator to form "The Hymn to the Jahweh Elohim of Israel", and put the sun in its proper role as a mere menial servant to the Creator, Jahweh Elohim!

Application: On the level that apostates misrepresent God's truth, we must counter with reasons for our faith, whether it be in the theaters of science, literature, or any other medium! (1 Peter 3:15)