(HAR-HAT—THE CELESTIAL SUN OF EGYPT)
ON looking through an illustrated history of Egypt, we are at once struck by one especial feature therein; we find that there was a certain hieroglyphic, or emblem, which was peculiarly characteristic of this remarkable nation. No one who knows anything about it could think of Egypt, and the Egyptians, without at once recurring to it. What I allude to is that which went by the name of "Har-hat," or "the celestial sun," which consisted of a circle or globe, sustained by two wings, one on each side, and a serpent, or more frequently two serpents, emerging from it. This tripartite emblem, composed, as I have said, of a circle, wings, and serpent, represented the Deity, the Triune God, and occupied a conspicuous place over the entrance of some of the great temples of Egypt.
In further elucidation of this, I now turn to a passage in Deane's treatise on the worship of the serpent. In explaining what I have here touched on, he writes as follows: "The Egyptian priests, understanding this to be the signification of the hierogram, addressed themselves to the task of discovering the mystery. A most ingenious theory was accordingly devised by Hermes Trismegistus, who was probably the high priest of the god Thoth, or thrice great Hermes, whose name he assumed, in compliance with the universal custom of the religion. The god Thoth was believed to have been the author of the Egyptian hieroglyphics. According to this theory, the GLOBE typified the SIMPLE ESSENCE OF GOD, which he indifferently called THE FATHER, THE FIRST MIND, THE SUPREME WISDOM. THE SERPENT emerging from the globe was the VIVIFYING POWER OF GOD, which called all things into existence; this he named THE WORD. The WINGS implied the MOVING OR PENETRATIVE POWER OF GOD, which pervaded all things; this he called LOVE. The whole emblem was interpreted to represent the SUPREME BEING in His character of CREATOR AND PRESERVER. The definition of the Deity by Trismegistus is poetically sublime: ‘GOD IS A CIRCLE WHOSE Center IS EVERYWHERE AND CIRCUMFERENCE NOWHERE.'”
This then is that which this emblem is thought to express. The sun, as we know, was universally worshipped by the eastern nations of old. On their high places, in groves, on the roofs of their dwellings, they carried on their idolatrous orgies, doing sacrifice to their god under the names of Baal, of Chemosh, of Moloch. Hence, when Israel was about to take possession of Canaan, they had to be warned against this sin especially, against bowing down to the sun, the moon, the stars, and all the host of heaven (Deut. 4:1919And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven. (Deuteronomy 4:19)); caution to which they gave little heed, seeing that in Ezek. 8:1616And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east. (Ezekiel 8:16) we find them setting the Lord's word at naught, and worshipping the sun at the very gate of the temple. Such was this people; so that Josiah, when he sought to purge the land from idolatry, had to cast out of the temple the horses which his predecessors had given to the sun, and also to burn its chariots with fire. Now this being the case, may we not infer that it was chiefly from Egypt, where the sun was held in such especial veneration, that they borrowed their idolatrous practices? In Acts 7:4343Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away beyond Babylon. (Acts 7:43) we have an intimation of this, where Stephen accuses them of taking up, and that at the time of the exodus out of Egypt, the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of their god Remphan. All this I notice, in order to show that the sun, as typifying the Deity, was that which the old world, not excepting the Jews, was in the habit of worshipping.
And now, in connection with the above, let us turn to Isa. 18:11Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: (Isaiah 18:1): "Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia." This passage, I, in common with others, have always believed to have reference to Egypt; and not only so, but, because of the expression "shadowing with wings," I was wont to associate it, in some vague, indefinite way, with the winged sun of the Egyptians; an impression which was greatly corroborated on finding that Lowth, in his translation of Isaiah, instead of "the land shadowing with wings," writes, and correctly, I find, in the opinion of the learned, "the land of the winged cymbal." And here I shall doubtless be asked, what connection I see between a sun and a cymbal. True, it may be said, they are both of them circles, but beyond this there is surely no resemblance. And yet it is on this very account that I strongly suspect the winged cymbal of Isaiah to be identical with the winged emblem, the celestial luminary of Hermes Trismegistus; and that the Lord in this passage, by the mouth of His prophet, is speaking ironically; that His object herein is to cast contempt upon that which was held sacred by man, that which in Egypt was the chief expression of God. What I mean is this: the Egyptians, in speaking of their native land, that land so distinct from every other land in the world, naturally, in the pride of their hearts, and seeking to propitiate him whom they worshipped, we can easily imagine, would speak of it as the land of the winged sun. The celestial sun of Hermes Trismegistus, holding as it did such a prominent place among the hieroglyphics of Egypt, so conspicuously placed outside their temples, as the highest idea of Deity, of the supreme God, would naturally suggest such an appellation as peculiarly suited to Egypt. This then it is, I believe, which the Lord contemptuously meets in the passage before us. In His eyes, what was this boasted emblem of Deity? what but an idol, an abomination, with a false god, a demon, behind it? And hence, taking occasion from its peculiar structure and form, we find the prophet casting contempt on the land and the people, by disdainfully speaking of that as a cymbal, a tinkling unmusical thing, a mere plate of brass, which in Egypt bore the high-sounding title of sun; much in the same way that king Hezekiah gave the name of Nehushtan, a piece of brass, to the brazen serpent of Moses, which the children of Israel in their wicked folly had set up as an object of worship. This then I believe to be the solution of the word of Isa. 18:11Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: (Isaiah 18:1), "The land of the winged cymbal." Egypt, with all its boasted wisdom, was such in his sight, and still more so in the sight of the Lord; and its children a race of blind, senseless idolaters. "The idols of Egypt," he says, shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it." (Isa. 19:11The burden of Egypt. Behold, the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. (Isaiah 19:1).) And again, "The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof. The Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof." (Isa. 19:13, 1413The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof. 14The Lord hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit. (Isaiah 19:13‑14).)
And now let us look farther on, namely, to the close of this prophecy, to Isa. 19:18-2518In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the Lord of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction. 19In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord. 20And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them. 21And the Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the Lord, and perform it. 22And the Lord shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the Lord, and he shall be entreated of them, and shall heal them. 23In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. 24In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: 25Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance. (Isaiah 19:18‑25). Egypt, we here see, is at last to enjoy the favor of God, to share, in company with Assyria, the blessings which are promised to Israel: "In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst or the land (or earth): whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.”
(Isa. 19:24, 2524In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: 25Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance. (Isaiah 19:24‑25).) Accordingly, as we read, five cities in Egypt are to speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the Lord of hosts; one of the five being named—not "the city of destruction" (Isa. 19:1818In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the Lord of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction. (Isaiah 19:18)), as we read in our text, but—"the city of the sun," as it is in the margin. Now what, I ask, does this mean? What does this title import? What strikes me is this, that the Lord's object herein is to contrast the state of Egypt in that day with its past state, with its moral condition of old.
The celestial sun, then, was an abomination, an idol; but Egypt at last is to be purged of its idols: an altar to God is there to be set up, and a pillar for a sign and a witness to Him; while Christ, the true Light, is to chase the darkness away, to displace all that is evil and offensive to God. Hence, to mark this wonderful change, this expressive title is given, "the city of the sun," a city which will be defiled by no idolatrous emblems, such as the winged cymbal of old; but there, on the contrary, may we not say, that the loud cymbal, the high-sounding cymbal, of which the Psalmist sings in his prophecy, will be heard in those days, telling out the praises of Israel's God in the realm of the Pharaohs. And here let me add, that there is a certain resemblance between the sun we here speak of, the true light that is yet to come and visit this earth, and the winged sun of the Egyptians; the coincidence being designed to render the contrast between them more strikingly evident. What I mean will be found in Mal. 4:22But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. (Malachi 4:2), where the coming of Christ is declared: “Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings." Here observe how the Lord is set forth under the figure of a sun, and not only so, but, like the god of Egyptian mythology, a sun having wings.
Thus, then, we have looked at two points, two phrases strikingly contrasted one with the other, "the land of the winged cymbal," and "the city of the sun:" and most blessed it is to see that, while this prophecy in connection with the former opens with an expression of divine contempt, of displeasure, in speaking of Egypt, it concludes in connection with the latter by showing what His purposes are; that in the end this idolatrous land is to be brought, in company with Israel, into covenant with God; that in the coming days of His glory it will enjoy the light of His countenance: one of the innumerable proofs this of the truth of that word, "WHERE SIN ABOUNDED, GRACE DM MUCH MORE ABOUND.”
THE following is a remarkable instance of the way in which God will at times visit a soul, independently of all the ordinary means of conversion. A poor idiot in Scotland, who up to the day of his death had never uttered a rational word, in his dying hour opened his eyes in amazement at what was revealed to his soul by the Spirit of God, and spake as follows:-
“I see! I see!
What do I see?
Three in One—and One in Three—
And all the Three are all for me—
All for me!”