One More Night with the Frogs
I am indebted to the late brother Charles Hodge for the title of this post and for the basic thoughts in it. I remember reading some material written by him years ago with this title.
In that material, he discussed the events recorded in Exodus 8:1-15. These verses tell of the second of ten plagues that were visited upon Egypt. As I remember it, brother Hodge described this plague in graphic detail. He reminded those who read his material how ugly and offensive frogs are. He also reminded the readers that, according to the material in Exodus, frogs were everywhere; including on their beds, in their kneading bowls, etc.
Please read carefully the following from verses 8-11.
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 houses 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.
Do you see any hint about why brother Hodge used “One More Night With The Frogs” as the title to his material and why I chose it as the title of this post? The question that came to brother Hodge’s mind and which he wanted his readers/listeners to consider had to do with Pharaoh’s answer to Moses’ question. The gist of all of this was that, since the situation was as bad as it was, what reason did Pharaoh have for not wanting to get rid of the frogs immediately? Why wait until the next day?
With that in mind, you may have already guessed some of the applications. That incident from scripture and the answer given by Pharaoh can be helpful for some serious and meaningful self-examination.
I thought about making some of the applications here, but I will leave it to you (and me) to do our own “homework.” Are there attitudes, actions, relationships, associations, etc. that are as ugly (or even more so) than the frogs in Egypt? Would our lives be much better if these things would not be a part of our lives? More importantly, would we be pleasing God more without them?
If any of that is true, maybe we should ask ourselves why we keep spending more time with the “frogs” in our lives? Are we going to follow the example of Pharaoh and put off taking care of the issue or are we going to begin taking steps now to get rid of the ugliness and, at the same time, please God?
It seems to me that at least one more application could be made. As those who are familiar with this account know, Pharaoh went back on his promise to let the people of Israel leave Egypt once the frogs were gone.
Sadly, many still follow Pharaoh’s example in this as well. We can fail to get rid of things in our lives that are harmful to us and displeasing to God. Pharaoh reminds us that there can also be a tendency to go back on commitments we’ve made to God once things “smooth out” in our lives. How about all of us getting rid of the “frogs” in our lives now and resolving to keep the commitments we’ve made – especially those we’ve made to God?
AUTHOR: Jim Faughn
