EXODUS 8: 1 – 15
Recently, I read a sermon by Randall Bates titled “One More Night With the Frogs.” I would like to revisit Exodus 8:1-15 and see if any of it is familiar to us. This talks about the second plague that God brought upon Egypt. The first was a plague of blood. Everywhere you looked in Egypt, all the water of the land had turned blood red. The rivers, the ponds, the wells, the streams, every source of water was turned to blood. As if that was not bad enough, the second plague was frogs. Not just one, not just one thousand, but millions of frogs. Everywhere they sat, stood, walked, slept, or rested, frogs surrounded them. Frogs in your bed, frogs sitting on your plate while you eat, frogs in the bathroom. And remember, frogs croak, so can you imagine the constant noise?
Some of you are asking why anyone would put up with frogs. Why do we not just kill them? Most people enjoy eating frog legs for dinner. This would not work in ancient Egypt because one of their gods was known as Heka. Heka had the body of a woman with the head of a frog. Egyptians believed that Heka was responsible for breathing life into all living things, including mankind, and was the goddess of fertility. So, as crazy as we think this may be, Heka was an especially important god, a sacred animal, and frogs could not be killed.
If you think about this, we can see that our God had two purposes by sending frogs. The first was to help persuade Pharaoh to free the Jews, and secondly, to punish the Egyptians for worshiping a god other than Him. You cannot tell me that God does not have a sense of humor.
During the time of the Exodus, the Pharaoh employed magicians to entertain him, and they were skilled in trickery, able to amuse the Pharaoh and his household. We have to remember that Satan, our friend the devil, is always hanging around to help confuse matters and cause trouble. Satan has many powers, but luckily for us, God limits his powers. Satan can only do what God will allow him to do and what we as humans agree to participate in. The power that Satan has is less powerful than the power God has given us to defend ourselves from the devil. However, we must exercise control over the devil to avoid trouble. Many times, it seems to be more fun to allow Satan to influence our actions.
Pharaoh’s magicians, with Satan’s help, could produce the illusion of frogs but were unable to eliminate them. So, when the magicians tried to show equal powers with Moses, they only made things worse. It does not pay and is not wise to compete with God. Many times, our God will allow evil to show that His powers always win and that our God rules the Universe. Make no mistake thinking otherwise.
Our God created the frogs in Egypt, and He could remove them at any time He wanted to. The Egyptians were forced to realize that their gods were powerless to remove the frogs, and as the frogs began to reproduce and to die of natural causes, they began to pile up and smell. The goddess with the woman’s body and the frog head was worthless against our God. With frogs piled up everywhere, the magicians could not deny that the frogs had been created and that the frogs were no illusion.
Finally, Pharaoh had had enough and begged Moses to remove the frogs. The frogs were three and four deep everywhere you looked, and the noise was horrible. (Ribbit, ribbit by the millions.) All Pharaoh had to do was ask Moses, and the frogs would be gone. Moses allowed Pharaoh to name when the frogs would leave. By asking Moses, Pharaoh was asking God to remove the frogs. As unbelievable as it is, Pharaoh asked Moses to remove the frogs tomorrow. Not now, not tonight, but tomorrow. Pharaoh wanted the frogs gone but was not willing to surrender power to God. Right now, we are all probably thinking, why would Pharaoh not want to get rid of the smell, the nastiness, the noise, and the inconvenience the frogs were creating as soon as possible?
Let us pause for a moment to consider this question. Why did Pharaoh not want to surrender to God and get rid of the Plague of Frogs? Now, let us ask ourselves if we are not like Pharaoh in many ways? Everyone in this room, especially me, is plagued with something. Just like Pharaoh, we could be rid of these plagues by asking for God’s help. The plagues that separate us from God can be removed at any time by simply surrendering.
Pharaoh was probably thinking that if he were patient, the frogs would jump into the Nile and float away. Maybe the magicians would figure out new magic and make it go away. Just as the pharaoh, we are all waiting for some form of human intervention to solve our problems. Some folks are too lazy to make a change and are waiting for someone else to do it for them. Some folks enjoy wallowing in their despair. Whatever their excuse for not changing is, it is sad because they will never quit wading in their plague of frogs. How wrong is it to be satisfied to live in squalor rather than to enjoy God’s company? We are guilty of waiting till tomorrow to start our diet, I will quit drinking as soon as this bottle is gone, I will stop smoking later, I will not let her take my paycheck again, and I will stop getting high when I feel better. It is incredibly sad and even stupid to put off trying to improve our lives. Life is very short and not guaranteed. Some of us have put off being happy for so long that we have forgotten what it is like to be happy. I am here to tell you that a simple choice can be made, and your entire life will change for the better. You have heard me say many times that Jesus/God will not make you do anything, but He will help you do anything if you ask Him. Philippians 4:13 plainly states that you can do all things through Him who strengthens me. There are several examples in the Bible where folks almost surrendered to God and were almost saved. You probably know people who have talked about being saved but have not followed through. You may be that person who knows they should repent and be saved. Please do not wait till it is too late. Once you are dead, you will not be able to repent or be saved. Eternity is a very long time to spend in hell when it would have been so easy and rewarding to be born again. For reasons we do not understand, we all want to wait till it is more convenient to accept God. It seems as though we are always busy and have to finish some task before we reach that point.
Just like Pharaoh, we are telling God that we are in no hurry to accept Him and to be saved from eternity in hell. Sleeping with frogs is easier than accepting God. One more night of sin, nasty frogs, and foolishness will not hurt anything. Unless, of course, it was our last night on earth. Not taking care of our earthly concerns and waking up in hell will be very disappointing.
I pray that tonight you will decide you are tired of sleeping with the frogs, weary of their noise, tired of their nastiness, and are ready to make that life-changing decision, accepting Jesus into your life. Tonight is the first night of the rest of your life. Tonight, it would be a great night to put all the plagues of your life behind you and start a new life.