September 15, 2024
Reading: Exodus 8:1-15
Focus: Exodus 8:10 – “Tomorrow,” Pharaoh said
Father God, Thank You for miracles. Thank You for the miracles You have wrought in our lives. Help us to pay attention to Your word so that we can obey You. In Jesus Name. Amen.
It had been seven days of blood. Now the Nile has been restored. But still, Pharaoh would not let the people go. The Bible tells us he hardened his heart. Moses and Aaron spoke to Pharaoh, asking that he “. . . Let my people go, so that they may worship Me.” Then, he was told exactly what would happen if he did not let them go. God was very specific with the details of what was coming. Frogs, everywhere. In the palace, in the bedrooms, on the beds, in the houses of officials and people and into the ovens and kneading troughs. In other words, you won’t be able to move without stepping on a frog.
Frogs were sacred to the Egyptians. The Egyptian goddess, Heqet, had a frog head. She was the goddess of birth. The frog was a symbol of fertility. Heqet was the goddess of the last moments of the birth process. She was also associated with the flooding of the Nile and germination of corn. She was one of the most popular deities of Egyptian women. She was believed to control the waters of the Nile and ensure their timely arrival each year.
Pharaoh was warned and he didn’t believe it. His magicians had been able to replicate the water into blood of the first plague so, he believed they would be able to do the same here too. He would not accept that God was greater than himself and all the gods of Egypt. He refused to let the Israelites go. God told Moses to tell Aaron to stretch out the “. . . staff over the streams and canals and ponds and make the frogs come up on the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 8:5). The frogs invaded everything. Food, water, beds, children’s beds, EVERYWHERE. These frogs not only showed the powerlessness of their gods, but that also showed that worshipping false gods brought nothing.
In the palaces of the Pharaoh and his officials, the servants lived and worked on the lower floors. The upper floors were where the family lived. Some houses had two and three stories and were surrounded by walls and landscaped gardens. Now since God said that the frogs would be in their beds, they had made their way up the stairs and into the family areas of the palaces. There was nowhere to hide from them.
Pharaoh’s magicians were able to replicate the flood of frogs. Although, I can’t imagine why they would have wanted to. There were already enough frogs around. But try as they might, they could not make the frogs go away. The pressure was on. Now, think about this. How many frogs would it take to cover the land of Egypt, get into houses to the second and third floors, into food stores and just everywhere? There had to be thousands, hundreds of thousands. Where did they all come from? Normally, frogs are not that abundant in any place but here God’s word brought forth innumerable frogs. Noisy, slimy, hopping frogs. Eeeewwww!
Now, there are those who want to tell you that this was a normal reaction to the Nile turning to blood. However, that was seven days ago. Wouldn’t you think the frogs would have come out of the waters, wherever they were, when the water turned to blood and not seven days later?
Pharaoh had to have been hammered with appeals from his officials and the people to do something about the frogs. He realized that his magicians were useless. They could bring on more frogs, but they could not get rid of the frogs that God had sent. Now because the frog was a sacred animal, they couldn’t just be killed. But so many frogs had to be a terrible experience. So, he swallowed his pride and called for Moses.
Pharaoh asks Moses and Aaron to “Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away . . .” and he promises to let the people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord. Do you think he might really mean it? Moses asked Pharaoh to set the time for them to be rid of the frogs. Pharaoh said, “Tomorrow.” WHY? I would have said “NOW!” But tomorrow it would be. Now, I wonder, maybe he hoped that they would just go away on their own. There are two things I wonder about here. 1) Since the frogs appeared as soon as Aaron stretched out the staff over the waters, why would he have thought that they would go away just a quickly? 2) Why did he want to wait until the next day?
I’m thinking he couldn’t believe that God was in control of everything. That his gods were impotent. However, to give him credit, he did ask that Moses ask God to get rid of the frogs. Now, most of us know that sin always brings consequences. Pharaoh apparently did not even think that there would be consequences. So, tomorrow, the frogs would be gone. But they did not just disappear. They died. Once there had been live, hopping, croaking frogs everywhere. Now, there were heaps of dead frogs everywhere. They died where they stood. They had to be shoveled out of the houses, dug out of the food and shaken out of the bed sheets. And they stunk. Rather than just making the frogs disappear, God left the evidence that the frogs had been very real and not an illusion.
But Pharaoh, rather than being grateful, hardened his heart and refused to let the Israelites go. He didn’t consider what he had seen and felt, nor did he even believe he had any reason to fear. He simply refused to let them go. His need for God to do something for him no longer existed. His softening had only been temporary, existing only as long as the problem existed.
There are a few things we can learn from this. We are often warned that our actions are wrong. We have speed limits. If we go over those limits, we can get a ticket. Drinking and driving is against the law. When we are caught, there are consequences to pay. We are warned by these laws. But not everyone obeys them. Our parents tell us to do or not do something or consequences will be realized. What do we do? Some always follow the rules, but others don’t. God gave us the Ten Commandments. Whether people agree or not, these ten statements rule our lives, or at least they should. Most laws are based, in one way or another, on them. Other laws are made in rebellion of God’s word.
God is merciful. He warns us of right and wrong. He waits for us to choose what we will do. He will not force us to follow His laws. In the case of Pharaoh, God had commanded that he release the Israelites. But Pharaoh would not listen. He did not know God and therefore, had no idea of His power. God showed him over and over again Who He was. But Pharoah refused to see. God’s design of judgement and mercy is to convince us that there is no one like our God. No one as wise, as good, as formidable. No friend so desirable, or so valuable.
Rather than being grateful, Pharaoh drew his kingly pride around himself and went back to his old ways. Remember this, until the heart is changed, renewed by the Holy Spirit, convictions fade, the need for God evaporates and promises made in the heat of the moment are forgotten. God’s patience is tried by the impenitent. When He rescues them, pointing them to repentance, they forget. Just like Pharaoh, they harden their hearts. God wants all to come to Him, repentant. He wants us to take Him at His Word and love Him with our whole heart, soul and might. That is why Jesus came, taught, suffered, died and rose from the dead. To show us the way to restoration with God.
Is your heart hardened or renewed?
Father God, Thank You for Your Word. Help us to be repentant. Help us to turn to You and not harden our hearts. Forgive us when we do harden our hearts. In Jesus Name. Amen
Food For Thought
- The Bible says that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. In what way do you think Pharaoh was still responsible for his own actions?
- Why do you think that God used things that were significant to Egypt to plague the Egyptians?
- Why do think that God allowed the magicians to be able to replicate the first two plagues?
- Are there times in your life that you knew God wanted you to do but you refused? What did not do about it?
- Do you think that God still works in peoples’ lives just as He did in Pharoah’s? Why or why not?
