INTRODUCTION
In Exodus 7-12, Moses through the power of God releases 10 plagues of different sorts on the land of Egypt which included, turning all the water to blood, plagues of insects, boils, and hail. Finally, the death of every first-born son included the death of Pharaoh’s eldest who would someday inherit the kingdom of Egypt.
We will see that they were delivered not just to let Pharaoh know who God was but also to let the Israelites know who God was. Because they have been enslaved for 430 years, they didn’t know God, they have become used to being enslaved and used to being around the idol gods of Egypt. And so not only did God have to convince Pharaoh who He was, but He also had to convince the Israelites who He was.
THE MIRACLES
Some people question if the miracles recorded were actually miracles, note the following thoughts.
1. In each case they were accurately foretold, as to the time and place of occurrence.
2. The intensity of such things as the frogs and lice was beyond all possibility of what could have been expected naturally.
3. Both their occurrence and their ending were demonstrated to be under the control and subject to the Word of God through Moses.
4. There was discrimination, some of the plagues afflicting the Egyptians and yet at the same time sparing the Israelites.
5. There was orderliness in their appearance, each event more severe than the one that preceded it, concluding with the most devastating of all, the death of the firstborn.
6. Also, there was progression in relation to the reaction of Pharaoh’s servants. At first, they could do anything that Moses did, but at last, admitted their failure and affirmed that ‘This is the finger of God!’
7. Over and beyond all this, there was a moral purpose in the plagues, they were not mere freaks of nature.
THE PLAGUE OF FROGS
‘Then 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 to let them go, I will send a plague of frogs on your whole country. The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs. The frogs will come up on you and your people and all your officials.’” Then the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the streams and canals and ponds, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.’” So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land. But the magicians did the same things by their secret arts; they also made frogs come up on the land of Egypt. Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “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.” Moses said to Pharaoh, “I leave to you the honour 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 the frogs, except for those that remain in the Nile.” “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; they will remain only in the Nile.” After Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the LORD about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh. And the LORD did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards and in the fields. They were piled into heaps, and the land reeked of them. But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.’ Exodus 8:1-15
Once again God commands Pharaoh to let His people go and worship Him, and He gives Pharaoh time to think about it, Exodus 7:16. If he refused then another miraculous outpouring of God’s judgment would come upon the land of Egypt.
The second plague brought frogs from the Nile. This was a judgment against ‘Heqet’, the frog-headed goddess of birth. Frogs were thought to be sacred and not to be killed.
God had the frogs invade every part of the homes of the Egyptians, and when they died, their stinking bodies were heaped up in offensive piles all through the land.
We can’t help but note the number of frogs there must have been, they were all over the land including in the bedrooms of many houses, Psalm 78:45. This would have had a huge impact on the living conditions of all those in Egypt and their spiritual conditions, as frogs were worshipped by the Egyptians, they wouldn’t be able to go about their daily lives without crushing them.
Again, the Bible doesn’t tell us how the magicians performed this trick, but it does say they used their ‘secret arts’, 2 Thessalonians 2:8-10. Remember they are magicians and magic was their art. They were secret because these magicians, like some today, don’t reveal how they do it. it’s interesting to note if the magicians were real miracle workers, why didn’t they miraculously remove the frogs instead of producing more?
At last, and for the first time, it appears that Pharaoh’s stubborn heart is beginning to soften, as he asks Moses to pray to the Lord and remove the frogs so that God’s people can go and worship Him. However, it appears that his request wasn’t genuine, he just wanted some relief from the frogs, and he has no intentions of letting God’s people go anywhere.
Notice also when Moses asked exactly when he would like the frogs removed, he replied, ‘tomorrow’. If we were in Pharaoh’s shoes I’m sure we would say, ‘now, get rid of these frogs right now’, but for some reason, he said ‘tomorrow’.
The very fact the frogs died the following day, is another miracle within itself. We can only imagine the stench and piles and piles of dead frogs were scattered throughout Egypt.
It appears when God put pressure on Pharaoh, his heart softened but now that the frogs were dead, he goes back to being hard-hearted again and refused to let God’s people go, Exodus 4:21.
