Exodus 8:1 - Meaning and Application

Pharaoh is first threatened and then struck with frogs, and later in this chapter with lice and flies. These were small, despised creatures, yet in huge numbers they became a severe plague on the Egyptians. God could have punished them with lions, bears, wolves, or birds of prey, but he chose these weaker instruments instead.

He did this, first, to show his own power. He is Lord over all creation, and all creatures are under his command. Some people have said that God shows his power just as much in making an ant as in making an elephant, and his providence is shown just as clearly when he uses the smallest creatures as when he uses the strongest. In judgment as well as in mercy, the power is God’s, not the creature’s. We should stand in awe of him, because when he chooses, even the smallest parts of creation can be turned against us. If God is against us, all creatures can become our enemies.

Second, God did this to humble Pharaoh’s pride and correct his arrogance. It must have been deeply humiliating for this proud ruler to be brought low and forced to submit by such tiny creatures. A child can usually deal with frogs and gain the victory over them, yet now they came in such numbers and with such force that Pharaoh, with all his chariots and horsemen, could not stop them. God brings down proud rulers who mock him, and he shows them that he can make the weakest creature shame them and trample on them.

As for the plague of frogs, we can notice several things. First, how it was announced. Moses, no doubt, was receiving fresh instructions from God each day, and perhaps while the river was still blood, he was told to warn Pharaoh of another judgment if he stayed stubborn: If you refuse to let them go, you will suffer for it (Exodus 8:1, Exodus 8:2). God does not punish people for sin unless they continue in it. If a person turns back, God withholds the blow (Psalm 7:12). So here, if Pharaoh refused, God would strike his land, which also meant that if he obeyed, the dispute would end at once.

The threatened plague was broad and hard to escape. Frogs would enter their homes, beds, and tables. They would not be able to eat, drink, or sleep in peace, no matter where they were, because the frogs would be everywhere (Exodus 8:3, Exodus 8:4). God’s curse follows a person wherever he goes, and it presses hard on everything he does (Deuteronomy 28:16). When divine judgments come with God’s authority behind them, no one can escape them.

Second, we see how the plague was carried out. Pharaoh paid no attention to the warning and was not at all willing to give in, so Aaron was told to stretch out his hand and rod as the signal. At once the plague came. The frogs swarmed over the land under God’s invisible command, and the Egyptians, with all their skill and strength, could not stop them or even slow them down. Compare this with the prophecy of an army of locusts and caterpillars (Joel 2:2), and with (Isaiah 34:16, Isaiah 34:17). At God’s call, the frogs came up and covered the land. God has many ways to disturb people who live in comfort and ease.

Third, the magicians were allowed to copy it in a limited way (Exodus 8:7). They also brought up frogs, but they could not remove the frogs God had sent. The unclean spirits that come from the mouth of the dragon are described as frogs that go out to deceive the kings of the earth (Revelation 16:13). That likely points back to these frogs, especially since that passage follows the turning of water into blood. The dragon, like the magicians, meant to deceive, but God meant to destroy those who would be deceived.

Fourth, Pharaoh began to yield under this plague. This was the first time he showed real softening (Exodus 8:8). He asked Moses to pray for the frogs to be removed and promised that he would let the people go. The man who had spoken with open contempt about God and Moses was now glad to depend on God’s mercy and Moses’ prayer. Those who mock God and prayer in hard times will sooner or later be made to see their need of both, and they will cry out for help (Matthew 7:22). People who once sneered at prayer have often ended up begging for it.

Fifth, Moses fixed the time with Pharaoh and then asked God in prayer to remove the frogs. Moses showed that his works did not depend on the stars or on some lucky hour. He told Pharaoh to choose the time himself. No time named by the king would be refused (Exodus 8:9). This was meant to convince Pharaoh that, if the plague did not open his eyes, its removal might. God uses many different ways to bring people to repentance.

Pharaoh chose tomorrow (Exodus 8:10). Why not right away? It was not because he wanted the frogs to stay another night out of pleasure. More likely, he hoped they might leave on their own, so he could escape the plague without owing anything to God or Moses. Moses agreed to his word and said it would be done at the time Pharaoh named, so Pharaoh would know that there is no one like the Lord our God. No one has such power over all creatures, and no one is so ready to forgive those who humble themselves before him. The great purpose of both judgments and mercies is to show us that there is no one like the Lord our God, none so wise, so mighty, or so good. No enemy is so dangerous, and no friend is so worthy of trust.

Moses then prayed to God to send the frogs away (Exodus 8:12). We should pray even for our enemies and persecutors, even the worst of them, as Christ did. In answer to Moses’ prayer, the frogs that had come up one day died the next day, or the day after. They all died (Exodus 8:13), and their bodies were left in heaps so people could rake them together. Their smell became offensive (Exodus 8:14). This showed that they were true frogs, not an illusion. The great Ruler of the world uses the lives and deaths of his creatures as he chooses, and he may call back a life that he gave, without any wrong to his justice, when he has another purpose for it.

What was the result of this plague (Exodus 8:15)? When Pharaoh saw there was a pause, and without thinking about what he had just suffered or what he should have feared, he hardened his heart.

Two lessons stand out here. First, unless God renews the heart by his grace, the changes forced by trouble do not last. Conviction fades, and promises made under pressure are soon forgotten. What melts in the sun will freeze again in the shade if the air itself has not changed.

Second, sinners who will not repent abuse God’s patience in a shameful way. The relief he gives them is meant to lead them to repentance, but they use that relief to become harder. While God kindly gives them time to make peace, they use the delay to gather their stubborn unbelief again. See (Ecclesiastes 8:11; Psalm 78:34).