The Frogs come onto the land

Moses was told to return to Pharaoh and command him to let God’s people go. He was told if he refused God would send a plague of frogs. Pharaoh’s heart was still hard, so Aaron stretched out his staff over the waters and “frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh’s magicians were able to convince Pharaoh they had similar powers with their secret arts. Yet they had no power to take them away!

The Egyptians considered frogs to be sacred. One of their gods was Heqt a fertility goddess who had a face like a frog. It was frogs that kept the insect population in check and from destroying the crops.

Frogs live halfway on water and on land. Death is coming from below and getting higher and higher. First is the water into blood and now the frogs come out of the water. There is an undoing of creation. Snakes eat frogs so it is amusing that Pharaoh (who wore a cobra headdress) is brought down by frogs.

Pharaoh called Moses and asked him to plead with the Lord to take away the frogs. He agreed to let the people go when the frogs were gone. It is Pharaoh who decides that they should go tomorrow and not sooner. The next day, the frogs all died. The Egyptians gathered them together in piles and the whole country stank. When the tyrant submits to God then the “monsters” will depart. The smell of dead frogs reminds the Egyptians that sin leaves a stench long after it is dealt with!

Pharaoh hardened his heart and didn’t keep his promise to let the Israelites go. He has done this before so maybe he thinks he can keep getting away with it!

An Undoing of the World from Below (8:6)

Frogs are hybrids, they are amphibian and can live on land and water. They are considered “monsters” that can live in land and water. There is no escaping them. They are like a half-formed creature that is in between water and earth. The frogs get everywhere from the private to the public, from food making to the officials. The plagues are going to be a breaking down of the order of creation.

The Egyptian Magicians (8:7)

It is funny that the Egyptian Magicians just reproduce the plague which is causing them harm and instead of healing the plague they are NOT stopping the plague but increasing it. They can’t stop it. God solves issues for the Israelites and helps them such as the snakes in the wilderness biting the people where God provides a means of healing.

The Frogs and the Water (8:11)

Pharoah wants the frogs to go back to the water and remain there so that order may be restored instead of chaos coming to the land. Instead of right away he says “tomorrow”. There would be one more night with the frogs. Pharoah could have repented but he didn’t. Instead, It gave Pharaoh time to harden his heart again. He didn’t care for the plight of his people. The Suddenly, in a moment of time the frogs on dry land died immediately that next day.

Heaps of Frogs (8:13-14)

There is a difference in the Bible between a mountain (hierarchy) and a heap. A heap is a clump of something that doesn’t have order. It is like a mass of chaos heaped together. It has no structure like a mountain. Pharoah does not listen as he hardens his heart.

Categories: Exodus

Tags: bible, Exodus, god, moses, pharaoh