Frogs - Exodus 8:1-15

8:1-15 – Even though the water turning to “blood” (probably a red tide situation), was surely distressing, it wasn’t enough for Pharaoh to comply with God’s request. God tells M&A to go back to Pharaoh and demand a release of the Hebrews “and it thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs.” This doesn’t seem to be that serious of a threat to me, but who knows, maybe it was worse anciently. TB asks and answers, “Why frogs? Well, a frog was the animal symbol of fertility in Egypt; and Hecket was the frog/fertility goddess. So, here we have a further assault on the Egyptian false religion.” He also notes that frogs coming out of the Nile river was a naturally occurring event, but it usually happened in the October/November time of year with the frogs only coming a few feet out of the river and staying in the swampy marsh. The I also points out that the imbalance of the Nile’s water composition (red tide or algae or whatever it was) might have driven the frogs out of the water and onto the land.

TB also notes, “the supernatural nature of this happening was, again, that Moses directly it, that the number of frogs was enormously beyond imagination, and rather than simply handing around the banks of the Nile for a short time, near the puddles of water, as usually happened, these frogs would up in people’s homes, their bedrooms, even in the bread ovens.. a place where, likely, they had never ever been found before… was also unheard of.” We know that frogs have to stay moist in order to survive so that these frogs were being kept alive unnaturally was something that the people could take for a sign from God. It might also be time to point out that the conversation between Moses, Aaron, and Pharaoh is being made known to us so we feel like we are involved, however the general Egyptian people were not being included in these talks, so it might have just seems like a totally disaster for no reason to them.

To make this frog infestation every worse, TB says that these particular frogs were very small, could barely leap at all, but “are also known for generating the most obnoxious, never ending croaking.” Kind of like my little dog being the one who makes the most noise, barking like a maniac. Pharaoh again summons his magicians who “did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.” My question is, if there were already a ton of frogs coming out of the river by M&A’s command, how much more did the magicians have to do to get credit for having the same power. Frogs were already coming up at an unprecedented number, a few more is proof that the magicians are just as powerful too? Sounds fishy. TB notes “Pharaoh’s magicians could imitate to a degree what Moses had commanded, but they couldn’t overturn what God had done.”

Finally after spending a portion of time being tormented by all these frogs squaking, Pharaoh finally called for M&A and asks them to ask their God “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.” TB says that Moses rubs it in a little bit, asking glibgly, “when shall I entreat for thee?” Basically, “sure, when would you like them gone?” “Tomorrow” is Pharaoh’s answer, M&A answer “sure no problem,” and when Moses prays to God for the plague of frogs to be gone, they start dying, kind of just dropping dead where they sit.

As a testament to just how many frogs there were, when they died, “they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank.” There were so many frogs that their decaying bodies had to be gathered up and left to rot and the stink was horrible. It’s hard to imagine just how many frogs that would be considering that they were just little teeny things. It must have taken some time for all the frogs to die out, be gathered up, stink up the land, and then “when Pharaoh say that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said.” He rescinds his offer to let the people go, that’s a bold choice considering we are only on the second of 9 plagues.