We will begin this lesson in Exodus 8:1 “And the LORD spake unto
Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my
people go, that they may serve me. Exodus 8:2 “And if thou refuse to
let [them] go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs:”
One of the false gods of Egypt was a frog-headed goddess called
Heka. This frog-headed deity was worshipped, because they believe it
had creative power. We will see in this massive overabundance of frogs,
the tearing down of the worship of frogs. Animals of all kinds were
worshipped in Egypt, and even though there were so many frogs, they
were forbidden to kill them. Here, we see the request of Moses and
Aaron for Pharaoh to let the people go; and the threat of this great
plague of frogs, if he didn’t. These plagues God brought upon Pharaoh
and the Egyptians were to discredit their false gods, as we said
before. In V-3, we see just how severe this abundance of frogs was.
Exodus 8:3 “And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly,
which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber,
and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy
people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs:” Exodus
8:4 “And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people,
and upon all thy servants.”
The Pharaoh had full warning about how bad this plague would be,
before it happened. There would be frogs everywhere, even in the food.
He could repent, but he would not.
Exodus 8:5 “And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron,
Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the
rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land
of Egypt.”
Here, again, we see this rod that God had given Moses used to
bring this plague of frogs. Some of the writers try to explain where
the frogs came from, but they came from God. this, again, was a miracle
that God brought, Moses, Aaron, and the rod were all used of God to bring
this about.
Exodus 8:6 “And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of
Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.” Exodus
8:7 “And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up
frogs upon the land of Egypt.”
We see here, that just as God had warned, the frogs came, when
Aaron stretched out Moses’ rod over the rivers, Here, again, we see
Pharaoh’s magicians brought frogs, as well.
Exodus 8:8 “Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said,
Entreat the LORD, that he may take away the frogs from me, and from my
people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto
the LORD.”
This unbelievable overflow of frogs had gotten to the Pharaoh,
and he said that he would let the Hebrews go and worship. Here was the
first weakening of Pharaoh, and he had gone so far as to promise to
let the people go. This was a terrible predicament the Egyptians were in.
They could not kill these frogs, because they were objects of worship to
them.
Exodus 8:9 “And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when
shall I entreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to
destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, [that] they may remain in
the river only?”
Here, we see Moses asking Pharaoh, how soon he would let the
children go? Then Moses could go back and speak to God to kill the
frogs in the houses, and get the rest to congregate in the rivers. It
seems, Pharaoh had more than one house, and the frogs were in all of
them.
Exodus 8:10 “And he said, Tomorrow. And he said, [Be it]
according to thy word: that thou mayest know that [there is] none like
unto the LORD our God.”
This first “he” here was Pharaoh answering Moses’ question from
V-9. and he said “tomorrow”. The second “he” was Moses. Moses was, in
essence, telling Pharaoh to recognize the supremacy of Almighty God.
Moses accepted the date that the Pharaoh had set.
Exodus 8:11 “And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy
houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; they shall remain
in the river only.”
This was Moses speaking, here, telling Pharaoh that as he wished, it
would be done. God’s desire in this punishment, as in all punishment,
was to cause men to repent. It seemed as though this was the case here,
that Pharaoh had repented.
Exodus 8:12 “And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh: and Moses
cried unto the LORD because of the frogs which he had brought against
Pharaoh.”
Note, here, that Moses promised Pharaoh that the plague of the
frogs would be over, even before he prayed to God. Moses knew the
purpose of the frogs, and knew that God had accomplished what He set
out to do with them. Moses knew in his heart that God would do this.
Exodus 8:13 “And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and
the frogs died out of the houses, out of the villages, and out of the
fields.” Exodus 8:14 “And they gathered them together upon heaps: and
the land stank.”
Probably, this was a drastic understatement. I am sure the odor
from that many dead frogs was overwhelming. The Lord did not let Moses
down, He did exactly as Moses promised Pharaoh. the relief from the
frogs was just in part, because this terrible odor remained for a
while.
Exodus 8:15 “But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he
hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had
said.”
Here, we see a liar, or a double-minded man, in Pharaoh. He had no
intention of letting them go. This Pharaoh was a false god himself. He
didn’t believe in God. therefore, he had no morals; so a lie was
nothing to him. It is terribly dangerous to play games with God. A man
like Pharaoh was wishy-washy. He was unstable in all his ways. He lied
when he said he had chosen God. Woe be to Pharaoh and his people.
Exodus 8:16 “And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron,
Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may
become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.”
The word that was translated from “ken” some believe means
mosquitoes, but it really doesn’t matter whether this was an
overwhelming attack of mosquitoes, or lice. The results were the same.
They brought disease and great discomfort. It was interesting that God
made them of the sand, as he made man from the dust of the earth. God
can turn any type of matter into any form He desires. He is God. Here,
we see that God gave no warning to Pharaoh. It was automatic punishment
for Pharaoh’s lies.
Exodus 8:17 “And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand
with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in
man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all
the land of Egypt.”
We see literally billions of these pests. God could have brought
these lice, or mosquitoes, whichever one they were, without Aaron
stretching the rod over the sand. This was a show for Pharaoh, so that
he would know for sure that this plague came form the one true God.
There is nothing worse for man, or beast than either of these pests.
These pests have been known to drive livestock mad, and even cause
their death. With this many. there would be total torment for the
people, as well. When it said”…all the dust of the land became
lice…” you can see the horribly terrifying amount of pests turned
loose all over Egypt.
Exodus 8:18 “And the magicians did so with their enchantments to
bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and
upon beast.”
Here, we see the magicians were stumped. they could not do this.
Magicians are really slight of hand people. As in the blood, they,
probably, had some pill they put in the water to make it appear to be
blood. Magicians really have very little power, and the power they do
have comes from Satan, not God.
Throughout these two plagues, we have read about in these lessons,
God was trying to get the attention of Pharaoh and his people, and make
them realize who He was and that they must obey Him. So far, it seemed
to have caused Pharaoh to get more and more calloused. Tragedy does
one of two things. It will either cause you to come closer to God, or
it will drive you from Him. Here, Pharaoh was further away. The more he
ran from God the harder his heart became. As I said before, it was
not important whether this was literal lice or whether, as some authors
believe, it was mosquitos, the end result was the same. This was a
terrible pestilence on Pharaoh, his people, his livestock, and his
land. Notice, Pharaoh brought this upon himself, when he lied to God.
We will continue with this plague of lice in the next lesson.