Vs. 13And 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.Vs. 14 and they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank.

The second plague that was brought about by God through Moses on Pharaoh and his people, invites our attention to the consequences of ridiculing God and not giving prominence to Him.  In Exodus chapter 3 vs. 13 and 14 we read conversation between Moses and God. Moses asks God, who He is. An unusual reply comes from God. Look at the following verses.  “And Moses said unto God, Behold, [when] I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What [is] his name? what shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.”  That is God. That is God’s name. “I AM”. “I AM THAT I AM” “I AM” describes the character of God. “I AM” describes what HE IS. He is Alpha, and Omega. He is the beginning and the end. There was no God like Him before nor can we see anyone hereafter. He is the God, “Who was who is, and who is to come.” He is the first and the last. He is worthy to receive glory and honor and power: for He has created all things, and for His pleasure they are and were created.

Nevertheless, Pharaoh hardened his heart. “And Pharaoh said, Who [is] the LORD that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.” Exodus 5:2 When Pharaoh went to the extent of ridiculing God, our God comes with a decision that stuns us. Look at the following verse.  “Then the LORD said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land”. Exodus 6:1

God makes Moses a God-like figure for Pharaoh. He uses Moses as His instrument and delivers Israelites.  In the second plague that was brought about by God before Pharaoh, God shows how ridiculous it is to worship idols. Egyptians worshipped Heket a frog-god. Frogs were plenty in number at the Nile River. They produced rapidly. Egyptians, therefore, made frogs as their gods. They made idols which looked like frogs and called them Heket. They believed that Heket’s spouse made human figures out of mud and Heket blew life in to their nostrils. This was just nothing but a mockery of God’s creation. We read as if God telling Egyptians, “you want frogs and frog-gods, here are frogs, and I will give them plenty to you.” With the power of God, Moses brought forth frogs. The river brought forth frogs abundantly. They went up into Pharaoh’s house, in to his bed chamber, on to his bed, into his ovens, into his kneading troughs, and upon his people, and upon all his servants. The frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. Pharaoh’s mockery did not end there. He called his magicians and the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt. Nevertheless, we see a great difference here. With their powers in occultism and magic they brought forth frogs; but could not destroy them. This increased the problem instead of solving it.

Pharaoh realizes the power of God, and then he calls 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.” Exodus 8:8

Look at the promise of God made to Moses.

“And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet”. Exodus 7:1

Pharaoh did not worship the living God, but depended on Idol, so God made Moses a god to Pharaoh.  Moses tells Pharaoh that because his magicians could not destroy glory goes to himself and his God.  “And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I entreat 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?” Exodus 8:9

Moses prays and frogs are gone, but see what happened thereafter.  And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank” Exodus 8:14  God could have made frogs disappear from the land and given them pure fresh air; but that did not happen. God made them toil to gather the frogs in heaps, and the land stank.

Here is a warning for a believer who sins. There is forgiveness, no doubt, when a believer asks for forgiveness after sinning. But the stink remains for quite some time. Men forgive, but it hard for men to forget. There is a great deal of difference between forgiving and forgetting. Past sins come before us, several times reminding us of our sins. It is hard for us to totally forget what we have done. It is only the grace of God that can make us believe that our sins are totally forgiven.

Let us be careful and not commit sins, rather than giving an opportunity for people to bring about our past sins before people reminding time and again our past life.

Leslie M. John 

To the only God through His Son Jesus Christ. Amen.