MOSES – 14
Maybe you had the same experience with some of your children that Akhenaten and Nefertiti had with theirs. They were brought up as monotheists, worshippers of the only true Creator God. But when their parents died they reject the faith or their fathers.
Let me continue with the story of this interesting royal family. While Akhenaten and Nefertiti were still alive, their third eldest daughter Ankensenpaaten married Tutankaten.
In this relief the wife touches her husband. Can you see how delicate she is doing it? We men appreciate a culture of touch.
After the death of their parents, they ascended the Egyptian throne at Akhetaten. Walking amongst the ruins I I reminded myself of the fact they initially worshipped the unseen Creator God Aten.
And then something happened that challenged their faith in the belief of the Creator God.
The priests of Thebes at Karnak, telling them to forsake their worship of the creator God and revert back to the worship of Amun.
What would you have done? Stick to what you know is the truth and die for it, like your parents, or forsake truth and live.
Crossing the red sea at sunset, I thought of the last great test that will come to all of us. We will have to choose between worshipping the Creator and worshipping something manmade.
Tutankaten, which means in the living image of Aten, decided to forsake monotheism. So he changed his name to Tutankamun, which means in the living image of Amun.
Amun was the foremost god in the pantheon of Egyptian polytheism.
He had hardly begun enjoying kingship and learning all the names of the Egyptian deities, when he suddenly died. Some scholars believe he was also murdered.
I visited his famous tomb in the Valley of the Kings. It was here, on November 25, 1922 when Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon had a glimpse of the most incredible burial treasures ever discovered.
But today the tomb is empty except for the king’s gold coffin, which I will show you in a minute. For the rest of his funeral treasures we have to visit the Cairo museum. Let’s go there and have a quick look at it.
This is a model of the boat on which Tutankamun’s mummy was transported across the Nile to his final resting place in the Valley of the Kings. Just look at the fine workmanship.
At the entrance of the tomb, they found these life size statues of the king. Black wood covered with gold.
Egypt had an over supply of gold so they produced these shoes of gold for Tutankamun to walk around in his afterlife.
Because he forsook the worship of the creator God, he had to collect quite a few minor Egyptian gods to accompany him in his after life. The Apis bull was one of them. The Israelites also worshipped him at Sinai.
The goddess Serpet guarding the huge chest in which the mummy of the king was found. The artwork on this chest is superb and of course it is done in gold.
When they opened this huge chest, they found a shining golden coffin.
There it is. They opened it with great care and expectation. And what did they find? Three coffins packed into one another.
We all appreciate beauty. God has made us that way. In our next presentation I want to show you more treasures of Tutankamun. But I also want to show you a little of the eternal beauty which I discovered in the life of Moses. It refers to the beauty of God’s love. You cannot af