Seven days after the Lord struck the Nile Moses and Aaron were back before Pharaoh.
For 430 years the Israelites served one Pharaoh after another. God’s command was for Pharaoh to free them, so they could serve Jehovah.
Moses said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord: Let my people go, so that they may serve me.
“If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs” (Exodus 8.1-2).
Strongmen and autocrats extract labor and wealth from their subjects to increase personal wealth. They depend on powerless people to serve their desire for more and more possessions.
They always resist the call to “let my people go” so the oppressed can serve a just and righteous God.
The autocrats’ playbook includes suppression of dissent, curbing freedom of speech, restricting media and internet access.
They often establish strong security forces, secret police, or intelligence agencies to monitor and intimidate citizens, stifling any opposition or calls for freedom.
China and Russia are two of many examples of this practice.
Autocrats also manipulate or weaken democratic institutions and the rule of law to consolidate their power.
According to one Internet article, “It is a common practice for autocrats to stack the judiciary with loyalists, limit the independence of regulatory bodies, and control the electoral process through gerrymandering, voter suppression, or outright manipulation of election results.”
The third method of autocrats is to discredit independent journalism, label critics as enemies of the state, or spread disinformation to confuse and manipulate the public.
One common trait of Pharaoh-like leaders is they refuse to live by Jesus’ admonition to “give and it will be given to you” (Luke 6.38).
Frogs
Frogs were regarded as sacred to the Egyptians. They were associated with the frog goddess Hequet, who assisted women during childbirth.
The first plague revealed Jehovah’s supremacy over the Nile god. The second plague addressed the frog goddess.
Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt (Exodus 8.6)
Once again, Pharaoh’s magicians could increase the misery of frogs, but they were not able to clear the land of them
But the magicians did the same by their secret arts and brought frogs up on the land of Egypt (Exodus 8.7).
Walter Kaiser has observed: “Pharaoh has finally been forced to acknowledge the power of Jehovah, not by the armies of humans, but by squadrons of little frogs.”
Pray for Me
Pharaoh is beginning to move away from his declaration, “Who is the Lord, that I should listen to him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord” (Exodus 5.2).
Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the Lord to take away the frogs from me and my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord” (Exodus 8.8).
When he asking for prayer, Pharaoh used the sacred name of God, Jehovah. It was beginning to dawn on the king that Jehovah is God and not the Nile River or the frog goddess.
I once heard an old Texas preacher remark about the phrase in the 23rd Psalm, “He makes me lie down in green pastures.”
The pastor said, “Sometimes God makes us lie down, so we will have to look up.”
God allows the little gods of self-sufficiency to fail us so we will look up to him in prayer and surrender.
Moses set a date for frog removal to accentuate God’s role in the process.
Moses said to Pharaoh, “Kindly tell me when I am to pray for you and for your officials and for your people, that the frogs may be removed from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile.”
And he said, “Tomorrow.”
Moses said, “As you say! So that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God” (Exodus 8.9-10).
One of my friends was the Chaplain Emeritus of St. Luke’s Hospital. During World War II, he was a doctor but exchanged that profession for one of praying for the sick.
My friend told me that when God answered specific prayers it increased his faith in the reality of God’s existence.
Pharaoh should have recognized Jehovah’s existence as the One True God. Unfortunately for him, that was not the case.
But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said (Exodus 8.15).
I have studied prayer and prayer for healing for several years. One thing I have learned from outstanding practitioners of prayer is that miracles do not necessarily produce lasting trust in God.
People are willing to experience the gift of a miracle and rather quickly return to rebellious behavior.
Action in the Brickyard
The Old Testament scholar, Walter Brueggeman, entitled this part of the Exodus story “Action in the Brickyard.”
The One True God used Moses to reveal God’s character in his name. Jehovah means “I will be with you.”
That is amazing news for humans.
God’s sacred name accentuates Jesus’ last words in the Gospel of Matthew: “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28.20).
The second aspect of the story is about a new reality. Moses’ actions were like a sign, “Under New Management.”
Let’s consider these two thoughts as we reflect on the first petitions of the Lord’s Prayer.
Our Father in heaven,
may your name be revered as holy.
May your kingdom come.
May your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6.9-10)
YouTube Video
Rudy Ross, and I discuss this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
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