Psalm 105:24–30 24And he increased his people greatly; And made them stronger than their enemies. 25He turned their heart to hate his people, To deal subtilly with his servants. 26He sent Moses his servant; And Aaron whom he had chosen. 27They shewed his signs among them, And wonders in the land of Ham. 28He sent darkness, and made it dark; And they rebelled not against his word. 29He turned their waters into blood, And slew their fish. 30Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, In the chambers of their kings.
Today's reading from Psalms left me feeling froggy.
We discovered in this portion of God's word how HE was working to free his people from Egyptian bondage. The Lord used hatred of the Egyptians to turn the hearts of his people toward a better home. (vs. 25) He sent plagues to force Pharaoh to let his people go. The Psalmist mentions the plague of darkness, the waters of the Nile turning to blood and the plague of frogs.
Psalm 105:30 Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, In the chambers of their kings.
I remember as a child in Sunday school thinking, “frogs? So, frogs aren’t bad!”
I liked the sound of Frogs croaking around the pond in the summertime. I remember thinking, “the more the merrier”. I suppose my little mind imagined a bunch of Kermits singing about rainbow connections, but my perception of the problem was very wrong.
Let’s look at few lessons about the plague of frogs from Exodus 8.
1. The Sin of the Frogs
The frogs were a sin of the Egyptians, a symbol of false worship. Their goddess of fertility was pictured with a woman’s body and the head of a frog. When the Lord sent this plague, he was sending a message that he was the only true God and was not tolerant of idolatry.
2. The Scope of the Frogs
Our Psalm only mentions them in the chamber of Pharaoh but they were everywhere.
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:
The Egyptians had frogs in every room of their house, frogs in the kitchen, on the countertops, in the ovens, underneath the sheets in their bedrooms, and even at work. There was no escaping the sound of the croaking and it was hard to take a step without smushing.
3. The Sorcerers and the Frogs
The Bible says that Pharaoh had magicians that could impress with their magic and they were able to do miracles themselves but unlike Moses, their strength was not from the Lord. The Egyptian king commanded them to step in and solve the problem. Here was their solution.
Exodus 8:7 And the magicians did so with their enchantments and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.
The attempts at fixing the problem only made it worse, more frogs in more places, more troubles not less. Can you imagine the look of anger on ole Pharaoh’s face when those he called to help only multiplied the mess?
4. The Solution for The Frogs
Exodus 8:8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Intreat 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.
Finally, after their attempts at solving the problem failed, Pharaoh had to beg for the Lord to end the plague. The Lord caused all the frogs to croak, I mean to die. (See what I did there!)
5. The Smell of the Frogs
The frogs were dead, they were no longer multiplying or moving but they were still a mess.
Exodus 8:13–14 13And 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. 14And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank.
Cleaning up all the croaked was certainly an inconvenience. (I am on a roll)
The stench of dead frog filled every home, every business and even the palace of the king himself.
Is there a spiritual point to all of this?
Like the frogs in Egypt, sin will affect every part of your life eventually, hurting your home life, stealing your sleep, and even affecting your appetite. Like the little boy who tried to clean up his mess with dirty hands, all attempts at self-salvation only make matters worse.
Only the Lord can truly save us from the plague of our sin!
Like in the land of Egypt, just because the source of the problem has been addressed there is still cleaning left to do. Sin leaves messes and stinky situations with which we always must deal, even after salvation.
Maybe you have made a mess that only our Master can fix, I know that I have. Perhaps, you have turned over a new leaf a lot of times but it keeps flipping back over. You need the Lord Jesus to help you begin to heal.
Learn from the Frogs before you Croak!
9/11/20