THURSDAY 07 October 2021 “Frogs!!” Exodus 8:1-15

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Hello my “Walking with Jesus” friends,

I wonder which animals you most enjoy and which ones either frighten you or you actually detest? My wife and I have what is called a ‘wet lands’ behind our home and the croaking of frogs, especially at certain times of the year can be almost deafening. Also, especially when they are very small, the frogs seem to find their way into our home through even the slightest crack in the door. It is not difficult for us to therefore imagine what an invasion of frogs might be like!

We’re walking with Moses in the early days of one of the most amazing events in all history… the Exodus of nearly 1 million Hebrew slaves from bondage in Egypt. Join me today in Exodus 8. It has been a full week since the miracle of the Nile river water turning to blood, and Moses has been waiting to hear from God. We presume the Nile river turned back again to normal water flow, but we don’t know how long that took. Exodus 7:24 says the Egyptians “…dug along the Nile to get drinking water…” You and I both know what thirst is like. We all need water, lots of water, every day. Can you imagine the panic among the people? There was no TV news, no Internet, no Radio to explain to the population what had happened! All they knew was the Nile water was blood, and they were desperately thirsty, so they dug new wells as fast as they could!

Finally word comes to Moses. The Exodus record says: “The LORD said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘This is what the LORD says: ‘Let My people go, so that they may worship Me. If you refuse, I will plague your whole country with frogs! The Nile will team with frogs. They will come into your palace and your bedroom and even onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people…” (Ex. 8:1-4) I can’t tell you exactly where Moses was when he received this word from God, but I can well imagine the scowl on his face as he began to imagine millions, perhaps billions of frogs everywhere! I wonder if Moses was fearful of bringing this warning to Pharaoh?

The record says: “So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and frogs came up and covered the land. But the magicians did the same things by their secret arts! (Ex. 8:6,7) Oh my, the relentless power of Satan’s dark kingdom in continuing to subvert God’s dual plan of gaining the liberation of His people from bondage in Egypt and also proving Himself to be the only true and living and all powerful God. I’m sure both Moses and Aaron were greatly frustrated that now for a third time Pharaoh’s sorcerers and magicians have imitated God’s miracle!

I wonder how long it took the magicians to figure out they could not reverse this plague, just as they were unable to turn the Nile river blood back to fresh water, and their staff/snakes were not able to defend themselves against Aaron’s staff snake! But eventually Pharaoh was fed up with the frogs and with his helpless magicians, and so the most powerful man in the world did something he likely had never done in his life… he called for help! He sent word, inviting Moses and Aaron back to his palace and asked them to pray to their God and stop the frog plague!

Can you imagine the profound sense of elation Moses and Aaron must have felt as they hurried to the palace with whomever had come from the Pharaoh to summon them. For the first time it appears Pharaoh might be softening and willing to negotiate. I can imagine they are stepping on frogs as they rush along, even in the courtyard of the palace. As they approach the large door of Pharaoh’s court, I’m sure there are servants sweeping frogs out of every corner, and pulling them down off the walls, maybe even picking frogs off each others’ backs! Finally Moses and Aaron stand before Pharaoh again and Pharaoh speaks: “Pray to the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the LORD….” (Ex. 8:8)

Moses and Aaron are stunned! A breakthrough! Pharaoh looks desperate as frogs jump through the windows into his palace, and even onto his throne! His officials are beside themselves and also are desperate for this frog infestation to be contained and stopped… but like the magicians, the officials are helpless. Egypt is, for the first time in centuries, at the mercy of a God who can create a plague no one can stop! Moses responds: “I leave to you, Pharaoh, the honor of setting the time for me to pray for you and your officials and your people, that you and your houses may be rid of frogs, except for those that remain in the Nile.” (Ex. 8:9)

Because we do not have any record of God and Moses discussing what Moses should tell the Pharaoh in response to his request for deliverance from the frog invasion, I am assuming Moses was learning a very important spiritual lesson that you and I need to learn. Moses was learning to pray to God, while at the same time be involved in a conversation with the Pharaoh, and stand amidst croaking frogs, maybe even have some frogs jumping up on him! Talk about multi-tasking!! Have you developed that spiritual skill yet my friends? Evidently as Moses listened to Pharaoh’s plea for help, Moses prayed to God seeking God’s answer, the Holy Spirit spoke into Moses heart and mind, and thus Moses responded as God was directing him! This was a significant change in how Moses was learning to partner with God in this amazing mission.

I’m sure Pharaoh didn’t hesitate a moment… “Tomorrow’, Pharaoh said. Moses replied, ‘It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the LORD our God. The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials and your people tomorrow; they will remain only in the Nile.” (Ex 3:10,11)

As Moses and Aaron turned and walked out of that palace courtyard, again likely escorted by one of the guards, can you imagine the conversation? “I warned you guys not to ever come back here again for fear you may end up killed or thrown into the dungeon. I must admit, I’ve never seen the Pharaoh like I’ve just seen him today. It seems he’s finally met his match. His magicians can’t reverse the frog plague by their powers and the officials can’t come up with a good plan for frog eradication. But be careful what you do next.”

Exodus 8:12 says Moses did pray and the LORD did stop the plague. But what about the millions of frogs, you might ask? The record says: ‘The frogs died…’ (everywhere). They were piled into heaps and the land reeked of them…’ An infestation of millions of jumping, croaking frogs is one thing, but piles of dead and decaying frogs is another. Which do you think would be worse? How long did it take them to bury all those frogs and clean up the mess? I don’t know! And as Pharaoh watched from his palatial overlook balcony, as people scramble to find and pick up dead frogs, what do you think was going on in the Pharaoh’s? Exodus 8:15 tells us: “But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart… just as the LORD had said.” Oh my friends, that’s us isn’t it? When we’re in the pit of pain, we cry for God’s help. But when the pain is relieved, we turn away, we become self reliant and we forget so easily. I wonder what God might be saying to you and me today about how we manage pain and our forgetfulness? I think it’s time to pray…. what do you think?

Today’s Scripture is Exodus 8:1-15.

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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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