What happens when a king's arrogance meets divine intervention? Discover the dramatic narrative behind the plague of frogs in Egypt, as we dissect Exodus 8:1-15 and uncover the striking similarities to Aesop's fable, "The Frogs who Wished for a King." Witness how Pharaoh’s hardened heart results in a relentless series of plagues, each more severe than the last, driving home the message of God's overwhelming power. Despite his fleeting promises of freedom for the Israelites, Pharaoh's stubbornness only heightens the nation's suffering.
Next, we turn our attention to the deeper symbolism of the frogs and their connection to Egyptian deities, particularly Heket, the goddess of fertility. This plague isn’t just an inconvenience—it's a profound statement about God’s sovereignty over life and death, countering Pharaoh’s brutal decree against Hebrew newborns. As the plagues progress, the distinction between the Egyptians and Hebrews becomes clearer, marking a pivotal point in Pharaoh’s reluctant recognition of Yahweh’s dominion, even as he continues to resist.
Finally, we explore the powerful role of prayer through Moses's intercession for Pharaoh. This moment underscores that true power lies with God, who responds to the pleas of His people, upending the assumed power dynamics of earthly rulers. With a nod to Jesus washing Judas' feet, we reflect on God’s unending mercy and the universal offer of the gospel, prompting us to pray for everyone, especially those seemingly far from redemption. Join us as we weave these biblical narratives into a cohesive exploration of divine sovereignty, human stubbornness, and the transformative power of prayer.
What happens when a king's arrogance meets divine intervention? Discover the dramatic narrative behind the plague of frogs in Egypt, as we dissect Exodus 8:1-15 and uncover the striking similarities to Aesop's fable, "The Frogs who Wished for a King." Witness how Pharaoh’s hardened heart results in a relentless series of plagues, each more severe than the last, driving home the message of God's overwhelming power. Despite his fleeting promises of freedom for the Israelites, Pharaoh's stubbornness only heightens the nation's suffering.
Next, we turn our attention to the deeper symbolism of the frogs and their connection to Egyptian deities, particularly Heket, the goddess of fertility. This plague isn’t just an inconvenience—it's a profound statement about God’s sovereignty over life and death, countering Pharaoh’s brutal decree against Hebrew newborns. As the plagues progress, the distinction between the Egyptians and Hebrews becomes clearer, marking a pivotal point in Pharaoh’s reluctant recognition of Yahweh’s dominion, even as he continues to resist.
Finally, we explore the powerful role of prayer through Moses's intercession for Pharaoh. This moment underscores that true power lies with God, who responds to the pleas of His people, upending the assumed power dynamics of earthly rulers. With a nod to Jesus washing Judas' feet, we reflect on God’s unending mercy and the universal offer of the gospel, prompting us to pray for everyone, especially those seemingly far from redemption. Join us as we weave these biblical narratives into a cohesive exploration of divine sovereignty, human stubbornness, and the transformative power of prayer.
This evening we'll be in Exodus, chapter 8. Exodus 8,. We begin a new chapter. Tonight We'll be looking at verses 1 through 15. Exodus 8, 1 through 15.
Speaker 1:Many of you are familiar with Aesop's fables, a collection of fables credited to Aesop, who was a slave and a storyteller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BC. Now, these fables originally belonged to oral tradition. They weren't assembled into a collection of fables until several centuries after Aesop's death. One of these fables is called the Frogs who Wished for a King. It goes like this the frogs were tired of governing themselves. They had so much freedom that it had spoiled them, and they did nothing but sit around, croaking in a bored manner and wishing for a government that could entertain them with the pomp and display of royalty and rule them in a way. To make them known that they were being ruled, they declared that there was no milk and water government for them. So they sent a petition to Jupiter asking for a king. Jupiter saw what simple and foolish creatures they were, but to keep them quiet and make them think they had a king, he threw down a huge log, which fell into the water with a great splash. The frogs hid themselves among the reeds and grasses, thinking this new king to be some fearful giant. But they soon discovered how tame and peaceable King Log was. In a short time, the younger frogs were using him for a diving platform, while the older frogs made him a meeting place where they complained loudly to Jupiter about the government.
Speaker 1:To teach the frogs a lesson, the ruler of the gods now sent a crane to be king of Frogland. The crane was a very serious king from the old king log. He gobbled up the poor frogs left and right and they soon saw what fools they had been. In mournful croaks, they begged Jupiter to take away this cruel tyrant before they should all be destroyed. How now, cried Jupiter, are you not yet content? You have what you asked for, so you have only yourselves to blame for your misfortunes.
Speaker 1:Well, this fable is a good illustration as we return to Exodus and look at the second plague that God sent to Egypt. It's not just good because it involves frogs, although that's helpful, but because of the conclusion and what these frogs were told. You have what you ask for, so you only have yourselves to blame for your misfortunes. This is the reality for Pharaoh and, as a result, the reality for all of the Egyptians. Pharaoh's heart continues to be hardened and so the Lord continues to increase the intensity of the plagues that are sent.
Speaker 1:You'll recall, last time we saw how the Lord turned the Nile River into blood, and while it was inconvenient and annoying, it only lasted about seven days and the Lord eventually relented. Pharaoh refused to listen to the Lord. He eased his conscience, remember, because his magicians came along with a small amount of water and were able to replicate the plague in a smaller way. Remember, they didn't reverse what had been done by God through Moses and Aaron. They couldn't reverse it. They could only imitate it. Satan can only imitate. But it was enough for Pharaoh to go away, content as if everything was fine. And so this evening the annoyance of the plagues continues, of the plagues continues. But as it does, it moves from the river into the people's homes and even into the palace of Pharaoh. Now again, we'll see this plague. It's not detrimental, it's still not very destructive. However, it is moving inland, indicating that the Lord is closing in on Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Before long, pharaoh's hard heart will lead to far more destructive plagues, and he only has himself to blame, not the Israelites, not God, not Moses himself, and the entire nation will be affected because of it.
Speaker 1:So let's read together, beginning in verse 1 of Exodus, chapter 8. Then the Lord said to Moses go in to Pharaoh and say to him thus says the Lord let my people go that they may serve me, but if you refuse to let them, gohold, I will plague all your country with frogs. The Nile shall swarm with frogs that shall come up into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls. The frog shall come up on you and on your people and on all your servants. And the Lord said to Moses say to Aaron, stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals and over the pools and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt. So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. But the magicians did the same by their secret arts and made frogs come up on the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said plead with the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord. Moses said to Pharaoh be pleased to command me when I am to plead for you and for your servants and for your people that the frogs be cut off from you and your house and be left only in the Nile. And he said tomorrow. Moses said be it as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord, our God. The frogs shall go away from you and your houses and your servants and your people. They shall be left only in the Nile. So Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh and Moses cried to the Lord about the frogs, as he had agreed with Pharaoh. And the Lord did according to the word of Moses. The frogs died out in the houses, the courtyards and the fields and they gathered them together in heaps and the land stank. But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
Speaker 1:Well, we have to admit, as we look at this second plague, it is a little humorous. I imagine grandmas opening their cabinet doors to get a kneading bowl and a frog jumps out. I'm sure there were a lot of screams all around the land. There's an old Jewish poem that children recite during Passover and it goes like this One morning, when Pharaoh awoke in his bed, there were frogs in the bed and frogs on his head, frogs on his nose and frogs on his head, frogs on his nose and frogs on his toes. Frogs here, frogs there. Frogs were jumping everywhere. And this is exactly what's happening. It's certainly not a deadly plague. It's not even a scary plague in any way. I'd be much more concerned about my only water source being turned to blood than I would a bunch of frogs. But it's also not just a silly thing that the Lord did. It serves an important purpose and it has several important implications.
Speaker 1:Now here we have a tremendous example of the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 1. God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not to bring to nothing, things that are so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. In fact, as the psalmist is explaining the plagues in Psalm 78, he writes that God performed his sign in Egypt and his marvels in the fields of Zoan. He sent among them frogs which destroyed them.
Speaker 1:What does the psalmist mean? The plagues were a warning. Remember they're increasing in intensity. They were a part of a warning of what was to come complete and total destruction. Remember, the death of the firstborn is coming and then, eventually, pharaoh and his army will be swallowed up completely. It's a warning to Pharaoh and the people of Egypt. Pharaoh wants to be the sovereign of the land. He wants to mistreat the people of God, but the Lord will not stay silent. The people want to enslave and mistreat the Israelites. There will be no peace in their land. The Egyptians want to worship false deities and ignore the one, true and living God.
Speaker 1:Once again, the plague. This plague specifically targets a revered deity of the water. So, taken as a whole, the plagues remind us of the warning of Psalm 2. Therefore, o kings, be wise. Be warned, o rulers of the earth, serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son lest he be angry and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are those who take refuge in him. The wrath of the Lord is kindled and the harder Pharaoh's heart becomes, the greater the intensity of the plagues.
Speaker 1:Now, if you're wondering, I'm not going to preach a sermon on each and every plague, but we will take several of them together in the weeks ahead. But I want to focus on the frogs because this plague teaches us several things that will be evident throughout the entire plague narrative, and so the first thing for us to consider is that everyone's destiny is in the hands of God. Mighty Egypt, the great superpower of the ancient world, was threatened by frogs. The destiny of Egypt is certainly in the hands of the Lord, the God of Israel. There's a pattern for us to notice that emerges in the narrative as we look at the plagues.
Speaker 1:Each plague is first threatened by God and then it is implemented. They don't just happen. There's a warning that comes beforehand. And then the first two plagues are they are imitated by the magicians. Remember, they're only able to imitate Aaron's. Remember when Aaron's staff was thrown on the ground and the magician sorcerers came and they replicated and Aaron's staff ate theirs. And then Aaron did as God had commanded in the water, the Nile turned to blood, and the magicians came along with probably a small glass of water, a little basin of water, and said we can do that too. And turned it to blood. They can only imitate, and we see that same thing here. But after this there will be no more imitation. They won't be able to do it. They will acknowledge that this is the finger of God.
Speaker 1:But then we see in the pattern that God removes the plague. He warns, he threatens, he implements. There's imitation and then he removes the plague and of course this is until the final plague which involves death. But this pattern warning, implementation and removal it highlights a certain aspect of God's judgment. Thus says the Lord. We see there in verse 1. And the announcement of the second plague begins. It's the preface to God's command to Moses, highlighting that the Lord is in control every step of the way. We will see later in verses 8 through 12,. Moses will pray and ask God to take away the frogs. But even there we see, god's response is according to his own plan. He wasn't convinced or coerced by Moses. He was doing exactly what he always was going to do. Thus says the Lord. These are powerful words and, as we will see along the way, god is taking direct action against Pharaoh's rule. The Pharaoh of Egypt was called the Lord by his people and some writings of this time even dared call him the great God. Now the Lord will send Moses, his spokesman, and Aaron, as Moses' spokesman, to speak for him and challenge Pharaoh directly, to challenge his rule.
Speaker 1:Notice again in verse 1, the phrase is repeated Let my people go in order that they may serve me. This phrase, it's a constant theme we see through these early chapters of Exodus. We saw in chapter 4, in verse 23, then chapter 5, in verse 1, chapter 7, verse 16, and now here in chapter 8 in verse 1. It comes up again in verse 20 and 21, chapter 9, verses 1 and 13,. Chapter 10, verses 3 and 4. It comes up over and over and over again, and that tells us something.
Speaker 1:As you read your Bibles, you should look for these types of repetition to see what is the main point here, what is being driven at, and this is something that the Lord has made his priority Let my people go and worship me in the wilderness. I have a people and they need to be free to worship me, and so when the Lord says to let his people go to serve him, the meaning is really that they can go and worship. It's a bit more explicit in chapter 5, where we have a picture of corporate worship, calling on Pharaoh, remember to let the people go and make sacrifices and observe a festival, but we all know that worship is not just our corporate gatherings. Worship is included in the totality of our lives. It's a life recognizing that God is the only Lord and master and so worshiping God with the entirety of our lives, in addition to worshiping him as the corporate people of God. This is what he wants for the Israelites, and the totality of worship is included in God's statement that my people may serve me. He's talking about worship, and as much as I want to preach an entire sermon about this, I won't. I will just make a quick comment.
Speaker 1:An important theme emerges here, and that is that God is not pleased with any effort, especially in tyrannical governments, to suppress his people in their worship of him. Be there no mistake In places like China and North Korea and the Middle East, parts of India, certain parts of Africa and even in the United States and Canada during global pandemics, governments have attempted to keep the people of God from meeting to worship God. That is not a decision for governments to make. It goes well beyond God's ordained purposes. For government, it doesn't matter if it's a monarchy or an oligarchy or an aristocracy, or a democracy or a republic. No government has God's approval to dictate to the people of God when and how they may worship, and Christians should never submit to any efforts to suppress what God has commanded. And it may not be tomorrow, it may not be in a decade, but eventually the Lord will restore his worship. The Israelites waited many generations, but eventually the Lord had enough.
Speaker 1:And here in verse two, we see that he decided to dismantle the entire rule of Egypt because his people were no longer allowed to worship freely, and he used frogs. Now, I didn't figure this out on my own my Hebrew isn't good enough, but the word we have translated as frog here is more like the word croaker. The croakers would cover the land. This is part of God's judgment. Why frogs or croakers? Well, the first reason is the most obvious, and remember last time I said that we would see this with each of the plagues. God is presenting his power over the false gods of the Egyptians.
Speaker 1:In Egyptian religion and mythology there was a deity named Heket. This was a frog-headed goddess who personified generation, birth and fertility, and Hecate was sometimes depicted with the body of a frog, and frog amulets or bracelets, charms, were common in ancient Egypt for fertility. She also probably played a part in the myth of the rebirth of the god, osiris, since she was depicted as present at his mummification, sitting on a pedestal at the foot of his stretcher. Now related to this is the fact that we saw back remember when Moses was a newborn very well-known part of this narrative. When Moses was a newborn, pharaoh attacked the children of the Hebrews, attempting to kill the boys and throw them into the Nile. So this is a judgment for that act, with the very symbol, the frog, that is the symbol of fertility.
Speaker 1:You see the connection God is telling them. You've attempted to strike at the fertility of my people, but I will take out your God of fertility in Egypt, because I am the one who opens and closes the womb. I am the sovereign one of all the earth. And verses three and four say the Nile shall swarm with frogs that shall come up into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls. The frog shall come up on you and on your people and all your servants.
Speaker 1:Now there's a relationship here to what we saw all the way back in chapter one, in verse seven, which says the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly. They multiplied and grew exceedingly strong so that the land was filled with them. And you'll remember, this was the very thing that caused the Pharaoh to grow concerned and brought about his determination to reduce the population by killing all of the boys. And so in a sense, god is saying you were concerned about Israelites. I put those people there. They are my people, they are my children. You didn't like when the land teamed with Hebrews. But how about frogs? And of course it should be obvious, but important to mention that God uses the frogs to display his sovereignty. Look again at verse four. The frog shall come up on you and on your people and on all your servants. Now I know some, I know some people living in the deep South who wouldn't mind that, who just fry them and eat them, but for most people that wouldn't be all that pleasant them, but for most people that wouldn't be all that pleasant.
Speaker 1:And there's actually two themes here One that is emerging and being hinted at, and we will see it more clearly in the next few plagues, but another one that we've seen all throughout. The obvious theme that we've seen, already considered, that we've already considered, is that God is making himself known. We've seen it several times. I will do this thing so that you will know that I am the Lord, I am the God of all the earth. That should be obvious. The other theme is one that we see emerging and that is a theme of distinction. We'll see this more and more. Notice God tells Pharaoh that this will happen. To whom? To you and your people and all your servants. In other words, everybody in society, every caste of society, every level of society will be affected by this.
Speaker 1:In verses five and six, when Aaron stretches out his staff, he stretched out his hand and we are told that the natural water sources in Egypt are impacted and frogs covered the land. But the Lord's starting to draw out lines of distinction. He's pointing to your people, pharaoh, your people and my people, the people of Pharaoh and the people of God. Pay attention as we move along in these plagues and you'll see that distinction emerge more and more Well.
Speaker 1:There's another thing to notice here, related to God's purpose of making himself known. Pharaoh is beginning to understand who the Lord is. Remember, back in Moses's first encounter with Pharaoh, chapter five and verse two. He asked Moses who is the Lord? Who is this Yahweh? I do not know him. Well, if you jump down now to verse eight, what do you see? Pharaoh tells Moses this is from the words of Pharaoh plead with the Lord, plead with Yahweh. You see, god's sovereignty is shining through and Pharaoh is starting to take notice. He's come a little ways. Now he knows the name of the God of the Hebrews. Now he knows the name of the God of the Hebrews. Pharaoh's getting to know the one true God. Yet he does not like anything that he is seeing or anything that he is hearing.
Speaker 1:Pharaoh's heart is hard and after each of these plagues it gets harder and harder, sometimes described as a hardening, sometimes as Pharaoh's hardening, sometimes as the Lord's hardening. We've seen that. We've discussed that already. But at the root of this hard-heartedness, this disobedience and this unbelief is a distrust and a dislike for God himself. That's at the very heart of unbelief. We like to think of it as something else. Unbelief, we like to think of it as something else.
Speaker 1:Maybe I just have questions or maybe I'm just ignorant. Well, certainly, all of that can play a part. But when you get down to it, there is a dislike. I do not trust or like the God that I see here. Sometimes people say, well, god that I see here. Sometimes people say, well, the God I worship wouldn't do this, or that he wouldn't be that way. The God I love wouldn't agree with you. Perhaps there's a better way of making that statement, and that would be to say I don't like the God that I meet in the Bible. That's what they're really saying. And here we see three reasons that you may not like the God of the Bible and the Pharaoh, and the reasons why Pharaoh did not like Yahweh. He judges the wicked, he makes distinctions and he's bigger than you and me and everything and everyone. Three reasons why people hate God. But, as we might expect, there's another challenge to God's sovereignty. Notice verse 7,.
Speaker 1:The magicians did the same by their secret arts and made frogs come up on the land of Egypt. Notice it says they used secret arts. Now, I mentioned last time that we should not believe that anything is going on here other than what the text says. People have offered all kinds of tried to make all sorts of natural explanations about this and how it was part of the season and they would have just naturally come up out of the water anyway. Apparently, moses had impeccable timing.
Speaker 1:But the magicians are ultimately servants of Satan. And what can Satan do? He can only do one thing, and that is imitate. And here we see it again. And just as ridiculous as turning their own clean water to blood to prove a point. Here again we see the magicians not doing away with the frogs, not cleaning up the land, but increasing the misery by bringing even more frogs. It's foolish. Now, they might have secret arts, but they sure aren't wise or intelligent.
Speaker 1:It reminds us of what we read in Psalm 37. The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him, but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for he sees that his day is coming. Surely the Lord laughs at their attempts to show that they are equal in power with him, and we should laugh right alongside him. Any attempt made to try to match the sovereignty of God, it should be laughed at and it should be mocked. I know it's popular for people to think that Christians are supposed to find the most gentle, nice sounding words to say about everything and everyone. Nowadays we're supposed to watch our tone and make sure we don't use any criticism that could seem too direct or be heard from someone as being too harsh, but that has a lot more to do with our culture being feminized than it does with the Bible. Are we supposed to be more tempered than God? I think people who make these kinds of claims have never read the prophets. Many of the words of Jesus and the gospels are many of the things written by the apostle Paul.
Speaker 1:The truth is that unbelief is absurd and any attempt at trying to equal the power, the power and authority of God is laughable. I mean, think about how God chose to do this. I will show my sovereignty over the mightiest nation on all the earth with frogs. He has a million ways to accomplish his purposes and, friend, he has a million ways to get to you. If you're here and your heart is filled with unbelief, it's not that we think it's absurd that you might ask questions, but to continue in unbelief is the most unreasonable response to what God has revealed to you in abundance.
Speaker 1:The Bible says that what can be known about God is plain to you because God has shown it to you for his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world and the things that have been made. So you are without excuse, and we see that God doesn't mind using small and weak and despised things in the world to highlight his sovereignty, with him humbling the Egyptians with frogs. And in the same way, god uses weak and despised preachers to call you to die to yourself, to put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. The judgment of God does not have to fall on you. God, as most of you would know, even if you're an unbeliever, as you have heard, I'm sure, living in America God loved this world so much that he sent his only son into this world to live a law-fulfilling life, to die a sinner's death and to be raised from the dead.
Speaker 1:He didn't do that because he had to. He didn't do that because he needed to. He did that in love and he did that that you would look to Christ and recognize I can't fulfill the law as I'm required to do. I'm condemned already. I don't want to suffer the wrath of God and die under his judgment. That is just and that I deserve. Christ did that for us and if I die, I die everlastingly under the judgment of God. And yet Jesus, by his power, raised from the dead that he may reign and rule forever and ever, conquering sin and death.
Speaker 1:And the Bible says put your faith in this Lord, put your faith in this savior, trust the one who came into the world and lived and died that by faith alone you might not have to endure the judgment of God. You see, it sounds so simple, it sounds weak, it sounds small to those with unbelieving hearts. And yet this is exactly what God has done, and he has saved his people from beginning to end. And all those who are his will never be cast out when we are in Christ. We are in Christ forever and ever. And so, instead of trying to measure up to a sovereign God who created and sustains all things, the Bible calls out to you stop trying to be your own God, stop trying to do what you cannot do and trust in the Savior. Or, as I read earlier from the Psalm kiss the sun. Kiss the sun that you need not endure God's wrath. Well, in the end, the Egyptians learned, pharaoh learned, and I pray that you will acknowledge, my friend, that the Lord holds the destiny of all creatures in his hands. Trust the Lord, jesus Christ. Well, another thing we see in the text is that if you know the Lord, you are more instrumental in this world than the mightiest and the most powerful.
Speaker 1:The theme of the weak and powerless continues, and in verses eight through 12, we see God's sovereignty in Moses's prayer. I mentioned previously that this is the first time that Pharaoh even acknowledges the Lord and even asks Moses to pray on his behalf. Imagine how crazy this is. Moses, we have a problem here. Could you pray for me? I hate your God. I'm in a battle against your God. I believe that I'm more powerful than your God, but could you do me a favor and pray for me? You know, it's easy to think that the heads of government or big business or the richest people in the world have the real power and are the ones with the future in their hands, but God is showing us that he exercises his sovereignty in creation in connection with the prayers of his people.
Speaker 1:Look at verse eight. Pharaoh's magicians, and perhaps his gods, have directly failed him again. There are frogs everywhere, including his very own washbowl. And so he calls for Moses and Aaron and he says I need you to pray for me and my people. That's what he's asking. It's remarkable. But notice what else he says Plead with the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord. I will do what the Lord has commanded me to do. He has a good understanding now that he's backed into a corner, so he wants to relent. Okay, fine, I will let you go. And so Moses asks in verse 9, okay, when do you want me to do this? And we see God's sovereignty here as well.
Speaker 1:Pharaoh was well aware that only God could make this stop, and so much so. And Moses' confidence was so high at this point that he could say tell me when. And notice how odd Pharaoh's response is. He says in verse 10, tomorrow. Now you might be wondering why he didn't say right now. Do it right now, let's get this over with. But I think I agree with the commentators who argue that it's best to read this as Pharaoh still being skeptical and maybe even a bit sarcastic here. Surely this can't happen soon. It will take weeks to take care of this problem. And so he says do it tomorrow, just get it over with.
Speaker 1:And I love Moses's response. Okay, be it as you say, so that you may know that there is. There is no one like the Lord, our God. The frog shall go away from you and your houses and your servants and your people. They shall be left only in denial. He's confident the Lord will do this and this too will magnify God. Pharaoh says tomorrow. And what does God do? He will do it tomorrow and magnify himself in the eyes of Pharaoh.
Speaker 1:Isn't it interesting that Moses is saying Pharaoh, god is going to answer this for you, because I want you to know, and he wants you to know, that there is no one like the Lord. You're going to find some things out about the Lord that you didn't know before, and you're going to find it out in what he does in this plague. Moses tells Pharaoh the frogs will depart, but interestingly, he doesn't tell Pharaoh how. He tells him that the only living frogs left will be the ones in the Nile, and it seems like Pharaoh should have been a little more thoughtful in his request. And so Moses leaves and we're told in verse 12, he cries out to the Lord in prayer. And now there again there's a significant phrase.
Speaker 1:Cry out is used at all the critical points in the book of Exodus. In Exodus five remember the foreman cry out to God. It's a time of great peril when the Egyptian army is bearing down on the people of Israel at the Red Sea. In Exodus 14, the people cry out to God. It's a time of great peril when the Egyptian army is bearing down on the people of Israel at the Red Sea. In Exodus 14, the people cry out to God. Well, moses leaves Pharaoh's presence and what does he do? He cries out to God in prayer. Why, what's at stake here? Well, there's actually a great deal at stake here.
Speaker 1:The revelation, the manifestation of the sovereignty of God, calls for Moses to implore the God of Israel, and he cries out to him. Imagine the story being told among the Israelites. They were an utterly powerless people and suddenly they're being told that the most powerful man that they have ever known was reduced to the point that he had to go to Moses, their religious leader, to ask him to pray to their God, and that the future of the nation of Egypt was not in the hands of Pharaoh and might very well be taken down by a bunch of frogs. It was placed in the hands of Moses as he interceded before God. Can you imagine how they would have responded to that, how the Israelites would have heard that, lord, are our prayers more significant in the course of your designs in the history of nations than are all the rulers of those nations? And God is showing them absolutely. You are my people and I rule the world by my word and spirit and I choose, as one of the instruments of my decree, your prayers to move the course of the nations forward and to reveal my divine plan. It reminds us of what we considered a few months ago.
Speaker 1:Remember when pastor Smith preached from first Timothy, that we have a responsibility to pray for civil leaders? Why? Well, there are many reasons, but this is a big one. The Lord uses our prayers for government officials to fulfill his purposes and and we may look powerless in the world as God's people, but, brothers and sisters, through prayer we are the chosen instrument of the future of time and history. You may be in a tough spot. Maybe your health is failing and even though you've taken really good care of yourself, you can't stop things from breaking down. Maybe you're having challenges in your family. You've tried to make things better, but the more you try, the worse they seem to get. Maybe you're struggling at work and no matter what you do and how hard you push yourself, your boss isn't acknowledging you, your career isn't advancing and the work is growing increasingly frustrating.
Speaker 1:You might feel utterly powerless, but the Lord is teaching us that with him, our sovereign God, who controls all things for his glory and for the good of his people, in him, you are never powerless. God uses this instrument of prayer, he hears his people, and so Pharaoh, nor anyone like him can measure up to the influence that we, as the children of God, have with him. If you know the Lord, you are more instrumental in this world than the mighty and the powerful. God is sovereign and he hears and he answers our prayers. Yes, he has purposes. He has designs for civil governments and authorities and the places that they are. He has given us direction, all throughout the scriptures, on what those roles are and that those offices serve an important function in human societies. And yet, in the hands of God, they are but nothing. We need to pray, brothers and sisters. We need to pray that the Lord would help us as a people, as a nation, as a world, to move forward in godly wisdom and godly insight and not take the lies of the world and assume that that's just it, that we're powerless and we have no hope. We're coming up on the time of year.
Speaker 1:It always makes me a bit sad to look around and see Christians so discouraged and so distraught because we have an election coming and things might not turn out the way we want them to. Why do we fear brothers and sisters? Why do we get upset? Why do we get so anxious about it? As though the hearts of our leaders are not in the hands of our God, as though the Bible doesn't tell us that those who are in places of positions of authority and power are placed there by the hand of God, as though we don't have the ability to pray and by our prayers, that the Lord would powerfully use them to do what he has purposed for his glory.
Speaker 1:The very reality is that we may at some point find ourselves, and maybe even are now, like the Israelites living in Egypt, surrounded by God's judgment on a people. That may very well be the place we find ourselves. And yet what does the Lord continue to do that? We've seen, and we'll see it more and more. He continues to make distinctions. I have my people you are, my people Think about it right now. People, our brothers and sisters.
Speaker 1:In China, for example, I've read several things that say there are more Christians in China right now than all the rest of the world combined. There are more Christians in China right now than all the rest of the world combined. And yet it's illegal to be a Christian in China, and so they meet in secret and they have to find ways to share the word of God with one another, and there's massive amounts of persecution that take place, and places where they meet get broken up by secret police forces and they get dragged off to jail and they get killed for their faith in Christ. There's more martyrs today than there ever have been in the history of the church. And yet, as much as the people in China would wish that they didn't have a communist government ruling and reigning over them in every way that they do, in all the evil ways they do, how much faith are they displaying by meeting together and worshiping the Lord, jesus Christ, and we sit and wring our hands and get so worried about who is our next leader going to be? Yes, it's important. Yes, we should be involved. Yes, we need to get out and be aware of what the issues are and how they play out.
Speaker 1:But at the end of the day, brothers and sisters, if you're not praying, you're not using the very power that God has given to his people, the very instrument, the very means that he has provided that his purposes would truly be fulfilled. Well, one final observation for us, and that is that God is merciful in his sovereign judgments. We considered this last time, so I won't say much. But we see it once again. God's mercy is shown in the gradual nature of the plagues. God is sovereign in judgment. God is sovereign in prayer. We've seen, and will continue to see that God is sovereign in Pharaoh's self-condemnation. Remember the introduction you have only yourselves to blame for your misfortunes. But we also see that God is sovereign in mercy.
Speaker 1:The plague is relieved in verses 13 through 15. And it's relieved, but we should say it's relieved in a manner of speaking. Remember I said Pharaoh should have been a little more specific in his prayer request. Notice Pharaoh, as soon as there is relief in sight. What does Pharaoh do? Remember he promised if you go and pray for me and God relents, I'll let you go. And so now the frogs are dead. There's relief in sight. What does Pharaoh do? He hardens his heart again and brings further condemnation. Even still, it wasn't the first plague, it wasn't the second plague and it won't be the third.
Speaker 1:Through the ninth plague, when God brings death among the people of Egypt, it will be a gradual warning and it will be given time and time and time again. God visits the Nile, god sends the frogs, god sends the insects, god sends the boils, god sends the locusts. God gradually and repeatedly sends messages of warnings to Egypt, and those messages themselves entail mercy. You see God's patience in his not visiting final judgment immediately, but in sending gradual, repeated temporal judgments to reveal that he indeed is the Lord. All of it is designed to bring about repentance. The plague this one is mercifully removed in verses 13 and 14, but the consequences remain.
Speaker 1:I want you to think about the consequences here. First, there's a lot of cleanup work for the Egyptians. There's frogs everywhere, Egyptians, there's frogs everywhere, and then they all die immediately. Secondly, there's a stench throughout Egypt, the text tells us. One commentator wrote this. The man who first wrote and told this story had smelt dead frogs in tropical sunshine. Imagine the stench. This shows us how real this account is. Nobody would think to make something like this up, unless they'd smelt it with their own nose.
Speaker 1:Imagine if you went away on vacation. Maybe you leave and you turn your air conditioner up to 78 or 80 degrees. We're going to be out of town, we don't need that, but somehow, some way, some iguanas get inside of your home A very real possibility here in Florida and they get trapped inside your home no food, nothing to drink and they die On your couch, on your countertop, on your bed Dead iguanas in 78 degree weather for several days. Imagine how good it would smell when you open your door, tired from travel, ready to come home and lay down, and all you are greeted with is the smell of dead iguanas. I'm going to go ahead and guess that you would never forget that smell.
Speaker 1:And here, remember, these frogs are covering the whole land, in the homes and in the cabinets and in their beds, and it's all over the land. And this is a large piece of land. Who knows how many thousands, hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions of frogs. And they gather them up and they heap them all together. Well, that didn't happen in a few hours. This would have taken time, and the longer it takes under that hot Egyptian sun. It's starting to rot and it's starting to decompose, and certainly that smell grows worse and worse and worse. It's like the garbage facility in Deerfield you got a big mountain of trash. We have a big mountain of frog carcasses. How delightful does that sound? So imagine the stench on the land of Egypt, with frog carcasses everywhere.
Speaker 1:And again we see, though, how merciful God is being. In the plague of death, the Egyptians would not be retrieving the carcasses of frogs, but the carcasses of their firstborn children and their livestock. God is being merciful. At the Red Sea, there would not be the carcasses of frogs floating to the surf, but the carcasses of the choicest of Pharaoh's armies, destroyed by almighty God. He's being merciful, as awesome as the final scene of judgment is, my friend, do you not see the father is reaching out in mercy and saying don't take another step toward this judgment, I will bring it. Turn back, repent, receive my mercy, know that I am God. Do not walk into judgment. The dead frogs foreshadow the human carcasses of the plague of the death angel and the victory of the Red Sea. But Pharaoh is reprobate, and though God warns him mercifully, he hardens his own heart. But as you think of the sovereignty of God over Pharaoh and Pharaoh's self-condemnation. Think of God's sovereignty in mercy as well, because God's patience is constantly on display throughout the Old and the New Testaments. God is more patient than any of us would ever be. God is more gracious than we could ever imagine.
Speaker 1:In John chapter 13, we're told twice that it has been determined before the foundation of the world. Remember that Judas would betray Jesus. Jesus explicitly announces to the disciples that one among them has been destined by God and internal decree to betray him. In other words, jesus is conscious of the decree of God that Judas would be hard-hearted, unrepentant and would betray him. And yet do you realize, in the opening verses of this great chapter of scripture, in John chapter 13, that we're told that Jesus knelt to wash his feet? He knows he's reprobate and yet he kneels to wash his feet.
Speaker 1:John Calvin makes an incredible comment on that particular passage. He writes Jesus knelt to wash the feet of the son of perdition, who had been doomed to reprobation from the beginning of time, that he might open the gate. And, my friends, if Jesus can offer the gospel to Judas and if God can offer the gospel nine times to Pharaoh, then there is nobody to whom we cannot extend the free offer of the gospel. We see the free offer in the example of God's dealing with Pharaoh, in the example of Jesus' dealing with Judas, and so let us freely offer the gospel to all men to come and to taste and to see that the Lord is good.
Speaker 1:Everyone's destiny is in the hands of our God, and he uses the prayers of his people to bring about his purposes. You have more power in prayer than the mighty of this world have in whatever actions they take. Use that power, brothers and sisters. Pray for those that seem far from God. Pray that those that you'd least expect to turn to the Lord by faith will turn to the Lord by faith, and never forget just how merciful our great God truly is. Amen, let's pray together.
Speaker 1:Father, we are so very grateful for your sovereignty in the ways that you reveal it, but in revealing just how mighty and powerful you are and in showing us that the very means that you've granted to your people are the means that you use to bring about your purposes. Lord, in all of these things we can grow anxious and we can grow weary and we can be scared of what lies ahead, but you remind us that you are in control and you remind us that you've given us the very means that are necessary to bring about your purposes. They are what you have determined. And, lord, we cling to your mercy. We don't deserve it, but we need it. Oh, how we need it.
Speaker 1:Lord, not one of us is here tonight and can say that we come without sin in our hearts. Even this very day, even this very afternoon, even perhaps this very hour, we can acknowledge what it is that is bound up in our hearts, in unbelief and fear and in anxiousness, as we, as we don't trust you the way that we ought. And so, lord, we pray that you continue to be merciful with us, you continue to be patient with us, and we pray, lord, as we freely offer the gospel to all men everywhere, that you would extend your mercy onto them, that they would not harden their hearts like Pharaoh, that they would not be sons and daughters of perdition like Judas, but that they would come to the end of themselves, and that you would send your spirit to raise them up from the dead and give them new life. In the Lord Jesus Christ, and it's in his name we pray, amen.