Frogs

Frogs
Words of Faith 10-5-2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2022
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Exodus 8
[1] 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. [2] If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs. [3] 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. [4] The frogs will go up on you and your people and all your officials.' "
[5] 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.' "
[6] So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land. [7] But the magicians did the same things by their secret arts; they also made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.
[8] 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."
[9] Moses said to Pharaoh, "I leave to you 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 the frogs, except for those that remain in the Nile."
[10] "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. [11] The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials and your people; they will remain only in the Nile."
[12] After Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the Lord about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh. [13] And the Lord did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards and in the fields. [14] They were piled into heaps, and the land reeked of them. [15] 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.

The frog plague has always puzzled me a bit. When I was a kid, I liked frogs. I would catch them and play with them. At one time, I caught dozens of them and put them in a pen I built in the backyard out of cinder blocks. It wasn't too long before I realized they were not doing well, so I set them free.
Apparently, frogs were a regular thing along the Nile River. It was unusual because it was August. Frogs typically appeared in December and stayed around the Nile. With this plague, the frogs were leaving the Nile, probably because of the dead fish in the Nile. They were invading the houses, courtyards, and fields. It's one thing to have a few in the backyard. It is quite another to have them all over the house.
The Egyptians regarded frogs as having divine power. In the Egyptian Pantheon, there was a goddess that had the form of a woman with a frog head. Lovely. They believed that the breath of life came from her nostrils. Because of this pagan belief, frogs were not to be killed.
The frogs were not divine. They died in the houses and were piled in heaps. The land began to reek with the stench.
It is quite an image. The things that we substitute for God are, in fact, false. They do not give life or have life in themselves. Eventually, they die and bring a stench. This idolatry could apply to any number of things. Anything we substitute or look to has a life-giving focus, will eventually die, disappoint, and bring a stench.
The sad phrase repeated again and again in this story concerns the hardening of Pharaoh's heart. He would not listen even when he saw there was a relief. It was his decision to harden his heart and not listen to Moses and Aaron.

Father God, I pray that my heart may never be hardened against You. I pray that I may always hear Your warnings and avail myself of Your direction. If there are things I have substituted in my life, help me to see those things and turn my eyes to You. In Jesus' Name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2022
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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