Frogs from the river: 2nd sign. Exodus 8:1-15 When Moses entered Pharaoh’s palace this time, he did not engage the king of Egypt in a conversation but delivered a statement of fact. Reptiles and amphibians were part of the Egyptians’ religious beliefs. Frogs were deified by the goddess Heqt, who was believed to assist women during childbirth. The Lord God, in His sovereign way of administering justice and delivering His chosen people, used these small creatures to humble Pharaoh’s pride. They responded to the Creator, leaving their natural habitats and moving freely to wherever there was water on the land.
Even though the powers of darkness duplicated the sign from the Lord, Pharaoh recognized they could not make the frogs leave the land and return to the Nile River. He acknowledged that there was a God he did not know, nor could he control His actions. Through their “enchantments,” the magicians were not powerful enough to make frogs go back to their habitat, and Pharaoh understood that. With words, he agreed to let the Israelites go to sacrifice to the Lord, but his heart remained unchanged, and he hardened it against God.
The instability of a person’s mind is called “double-minded” in the book of James. Pharaoh was a prime example. He permitted Israel to leave, but only in words, and as soon as the Lord removed the frogs, he withdrew his permission. Integrity and stability do not come to us by willpower, but through the work of God in the heart and mind of someone who has a genuine relationship with the Lord.
When we fear something, like potential danger or serious loss, we tend to make a change out of fear of the consequences if we keep going. However, if what prompted us to change turns out to be less of a problem than we thought and we revert to our old ways, we risk the after-effects becoming a bigger problem than the original cause of our fear. Stubbornness is self-centered, and when it causes resistance against God, there can be grief for the person who refuses to submit to divine authority, which affects others as well as themselves.
Even worse than the water turning into blood were the frogs that overwhelmed the entire country. The noise they made and the stench from their death and piled-up bodies would have been almost unbearable. Finally, Pharaoh responded to the effects of the plague and made his first compromising suggestion. The presence of frogs everywhere would have been terribly revolting to those walking on them, stepping on them, or lying in bed and finding frogs there. Eating a meal with frogs on the table would have been almost more than anyone could bear. Pharaoh still considered the plagues to be temporary, so he asked for the plague to be stopped by tomorrow. He would have expected the frogs to return to the river rather than dying all at once the next day. God has His own way of dealing with opposition, and we are wise when we don't try to predict how the One with the keys of life and death will use them. God's wisdom is so much greater than ours that we dare not question His acts of retribution any more than we try to understand or measure His acts of grace.
There are lingering effects of hostility toward God. Unbelief carries a moral stain that taints what an enemy of God says and does. The consequences of denying God and resisting His saving grace negatively influence those within that person’s sphere of influence. When a crisis has passed and someone calls for help, the memories of pain and fear quickly fade. In fact, some people feel embarrassed that they initially asked for assistance. An unrepentant sinner often returns to their old ways, and their heart becomes hardened. Promises made or short-term convictions give way to a darkness that was never truly overcome or resisted.