Exodus 8:9–10: “And Moses said to Pharaoh, ‘Accept the honor of saying when I shall intercede for you, for your servants, and for your people, to destroy the frogs from you and your houses, that they may remain in the river only.’ So he said, ‘Tomorrow.’ And he said, ‘Let it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God.'”

God brought a second plague against one of the idols of Egypt. Frogs were the symbol of the goddess of reproduction, Heket. Archeological digs have yielded many frog amulets from this time in Egypt. So once again, since the symbol of a frog was their god, it was abundantly clear that the God of the Hebrews was mightier than their frog god. Just as when God turned the water into blood, Pharaoh’s priests were called to duplicate the supernatural act. But for a second time they could only duplicate the plague and call out more frogs, but could do nothing to stop the river of frogs swarming Egypt.

A few frogs around the Nile were common, but now frogs were everywhere. They “covered the land” like no one had ever seen. Men were forced to step on them as they walked down the street. No doubt it was a stinking mass of slick and slimy crushed amphibian carcasses. If someone slipped and fell, they undoubtedly fell into a mass of putrid dead frog bodies. If someone sought to find clean water to wash off, that water was overrun with frogs, so there was no relief there. Again the sacred Nile River was a source of pollution impacting the land.

Since the priests were incapable of removing the plague, the few million frogs improved Pharaoh’s theological perspective. He begrudgingly recognized the power of the God of the Hebrews and temporarily relented, saying that the people could go out and sacrifice to the Lord. Moses asked Pharaoh to name a time when he should ask God to remove the frogs. At first glance it seems strange that Pharaoh said, “Tomorrow.” It seems like he would say, “Right now!” Maybe Pharaoh hoped they would go away by themselves before Moses prayed, proving that Moses didn’t really have any power. Or more likely it was because he didn’t want to let go of his sin right away, like us. Do we pray stuff like, “Lord, forgive my sin. Take it from me . . . tomorrow,” because we love our sin and don’t want to give it up. God sees sin as a stinking pile of dead frogs. We wouldn’t kiss or even touch a dead frog. Why do we sometimes love and cling to our stinking sins?

“LORD, cleanse us, forgive our sins and change our hearts. We need You to not only cleanse and forgive, but to help us see sin as You see it.”

============================================================================

Exodus 8 KJV

8 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. ² And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs: 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: ⁴ And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants. 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. ⁶ And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. ⁷ And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt. 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. ⁹ And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I intreat 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? ¹⁰ And he said, To morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the Lord our God. 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. 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. 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. ¹⁴ And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank. ¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said. 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. 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. 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. ¹⁹ Then the magicians said unto Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said. ²⁰ And the Lord said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Let my people go, that they may serve me. ²¹ Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are. ²² And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth. ²³ And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be. ²⁴ And the Lord did so; and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants’ houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies. ²⁵ And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land. ²⁶ And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us? ²⁷ We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the Lord our God, as he shall command us. ²⁸ And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: intreat for me. ²⁹ And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will intreat the Lord that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, to morrow: but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord. ³⁰ And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and intreated the Lord. ³¹ And the Lord did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one. ³² And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.