Quick Note – The Second Plague

Exodus 8:8-10 – “Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, ‘Plead with the LORD to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.’  Moses said to Pharaoh, ‘Be pleased to command me when I am to plead for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile.’  And he said, ‘Tomorrow.’  Moses said, ‘Be it as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God.’”

It is quite interesting to study the Ten Plagues that God brought upon Egypt because Pharaoh would not let the people of Israel go.  Just by looking at the list of the Ten Plagues, you can already tell that Pharaoh would have had to have a really hard heart to not give in by the first few.  Who would want to have the whole Nile filled with blood or a room filled with frogs or an Egypt filled with swarms of gnats and flies?  And these were just the first four plagues.  I don’t actually understand how Pharaoh could have taken so long to give in; but his stubbornness has left us with Biblical passages that are rich in lessons that we can surely learn from.  According to some people, the Ten Plagues were even specifically designed to showcase God’s power over all the Egyptians’ so-called “deities.”  Whether or not that previous sentence is true, we can certainly glean a lot by studying the passages that talk about the Ten Plagues.

One such passage is found in Exodus 8:1-15, which details the second plague – the plague of frogs.  This plague was supposed to be directed against the Egyptian goddess of fertility Heqet, which was represented by the frog.^[1],3  It is funny to see how something that was so treasured by the Egyptians as a symbol of worship became a tool of affliction.  But it isn’t surprising; for one frog is a nuisance, but a room filled with them is a horror.  I remember watching a TV show called Sweet Home Alabama, a dating show similar to The Bachelor on CMT.  In that show, the country girl took the guys on a date where they went to catch frogs in a swamp.  Now, for me, that would not be enjoyable, because I’m a city guy and I would hate fishing for frogs; but for some Southerners, it is considered fun.  Although it may be fun for some, I would venture to say that no one would want a room filled with them.  Surely, no one would want frogs to be all over their beds, in their food, and everywhere else in between.  But that is exactly what happened to Pharaoh and his people in Egypt.  They were plagued with frogs.

This passage filled with frogs is also filled with lessons for us to learn.  The first lesson is found in the context of the plague itself.  If we take a look at vs. 3, we find that the frogs would be everywhere – “…into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls.”  There was no place in which the frogs would not be.  This is just like sin and its consequences.  When sin enters a person’s life, it will invade every single piece and portion of it; not one area will be left untouched.  Its consequences will disperse everywhere, affecting everyone.  Although Pharaoh may have thought that the plague could be contained, he was completely wrong.  We need to learn from his mistake and realize that we cannot “contain” sin; its effect will reach out and touch every part of our lives.  We cannot let it have even an entrance, for an entrance is all it takes for that disease to spread.  The second lesson is found in the context of Pharaoh’s plea for help.  Although Pharaoh’s magicians were able to replicate this miracle (vs. 7), nowhere does it show that Pharaoh asked them for relief when the plague was in its full force.  Pharaoh went straight to Moses and asked them to plead with God for relief.  He knew that God had brought this plague and only He could provide relief.  As much as man tries to replicate God, they can never match Him in anything.  Ultimately, everything must bow down and humble itself before God, for God is the One in complete control.  We need to recognize that no matter how much we try, we can never match God and must instead humbly submit to His will instead of stubbornly trying to fight Him.  The third lesson is also found in the context of Pharaoh’s plea for help and is highlighted in the verses accompanying this post today.  It is in regard to Pharaoh’s one word answer to Moses’ question of when the plea for relief should be made – “Tomorrow.”  Instead of asking for relief right that instant, Pharaoh answered with the word “Tomorrow.”  Why?  Why would he wait for relief from the frogs?  We can only begin to speculate the reasoning behind this unusual answer.  According to Matthew Henry, it could be because he was hoping for some earlier relief that may allow him to forgo his obligation to let the people of Israel go.^[2]  It could also be because he, like so many of us, would rather stay in our sin and its consequences than to turn to God and repent.  So often, like Pharaoh, when God asks us to obey, we tell Him, “Tomorrow.”  Go share the Gospel with this person.  “Tomorrow.”  Get rid of that sin that I have been telling you is holding up your spiritual growth.  “Tomorrow.”  Receive me as Lord and Savior.  “Tomorrow.”  We just keep putting off what God is calling us to do today.  Why are we waiting like Pharaoh for relief and growth and blessings and joy?  We need to let go of whatever is keeping us from doing God’s will today.  Don’t put it off till tomorrow.

Just this passage focused on the second plague alone has already provided three lessons for us to learn and apply to our lives.  Take some time today to meditate over these verses and to look over some of the other plagues to see what you can learn from there too.

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^[1] The Open Bible: New King James Version. 1998 (electronic ed.) (Ex 8:2). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

^[2] Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: Complete and unabridged in one volume (105). Peabody: Hendrickson.

³ “Heqet.”  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heqet.