Read with Me
Exodus 7:25-8:15 (HCSB)
Seven days passed after the LORD struck the Nile.
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and tell him: This is what Yahweh says: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me. But if you refuse to let them go, then I will plague all your territory with frogs. The Nile will swarm with frogs; they will come up and go into your palace, into your bedroom and on your bed, into the houses of your officials and your people, and into your ovens and kneading bowls. The frogs will come up on you, your people, and all your officials.”
The LORD then said to Moses, “Tell Aaron: Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, canals, and ponds, and cause the frogs to come up onto the land of Egypt.” When Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. But the magicians did the same thing by their occult practices and brought frogs up onto the land of Egypt.
Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Ask Yahweh to remove the frogs from me and my people. Then I will let the people go and they can sacrifice to Yahweh.”
Moses said to Pharaoh, “You make the choice rather than me. When should I ask on behalf of you, your officials, and your people, that the frogs be taken away from you and your houses, and remain only in the Nile?”
“Tomorrow,” he answered.
Moses replied, “As you have said, so you may know there is no one like Yahweh our God, the frogs will go away from you, your houses, your officials, and your people. The frogs will remain only in the Nile.” After Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the LORD for help concerning the frogs that He had brought against Pharaoh. The LORD did as Moses had said: the frogs in the houses, courtyards, and fields died. They piled them in countless heaps, and there was a terrible odor in the land. But when Pharaoh saw there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.
Listen with Me
By the seventh day, the Nile was running clear once again. But that had merely been a shot over the bow, designed to show Pharaoh and his officials just how powerful God is. But since that demonstration had not moved Pharaoh’s heart, the Lord moved on to the next punishment.
This punishment involved the creation of millions of frogs that would surge up out of the waterways and move over the land and into homes. This was not a normal occurrence, or even an enhanced normal appearance of frogs. These frogs were created by the Lord for this specific purpose.
God commanded Moses to tell Aaron to stretch out the staff over the waters of the land, and when he did that millions of frogs immediately surged out of the water onto the land. Frogs were a normal part of the aquatic life along the Nile, but they always remained moderate in numbers, and they confined themselves to the waterways. But these frogs poured out of the waterways and into the cities and houses to the point that it wasn’t possible to move without stepping on one. And when people woke in the morning or in the middle of the night, they found that their beds were covered with wet frogs!
The magicians worked out a way to make frogs “magically” appear in water, but they were unable to make any of the frogs disappear, which would have been more useful.
Finally, after several days, Pharaoh himself had had enough. He called Moses and Aaron and requested that they pray to Yahweh that the frogs would be taken away. This shows that even at this early date, he realized that this calamity had not come from Moses and Aaron, but instead had been sent by the God they served. Pharaoh even offered to allow the people to leave the land to worship the Lord if the Lord would take the frogs away.
Moses gave Pharaoh the privilege of naming the time that the plague would end. Interestingly, Pharaoh didn’t choose immediate relief. He chose the next day instead. And the next day, due to the prayers of Moses and Aaron, the plague ended. But the frogs did not disappear. Instead, they simply dropped dead right where they were. So, now the land was filled with millions of dead frogs, which immediately started to rot and stink.
But Pharaoh showed that his heart was still as hard as a rock. As soon as the problem of the frogs was solved, he refused to allow what he had previously promised.
Pray with Me
Father, sadly, the breaking of the promises we made to You when the heat it was on is still a problem today, even among Christians. We are quick to promise something to try to twist Your arm to give us what we want or what we think we need. But once the problem is solved or once the situation is resolved, we walk away without so much as a sincere thank You, and any promises made are forgotten or rationalized away. Forgive us, Lord, for our hardness of heart in this area, and help us to do better in the future. Amen.