Let's go to the part where God is telling Moses what to say to Pharaoh...
"And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs: And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs: And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants. And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt. And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt." Exodus 8:2-7
...wait a minute... back up... what was that? "And the magicians did so with their enchantments"..??? o_0 The frog plague was the second one of the plagues... the first one was about turning water into blood... which Pharaoh's magicians also did with their enchantments... the idea I suppose is to say that their gods could do the same as Moses' God, and as long as they could do the same thing Pharaoh was not going to listen to them... but isn't it actually a foolish thing to do. It's like someone giving you a black eye, and you say "Oh yea? Well, I can do that too!" and you punch yourself in the eye! Sorry for the not so lady like example...I hang out with a guy every day. So, there are frogs everywhere, in the river, on the streets, in your house, in your bed, in your food, and if you accidentally open your mouth while sleeping they would probably jump in too...if that isn't bad enough Pharaoh's magicians go and make even more frogs. Way to go guys. Anyway, that was just a little dumb magician moment, but this is the sad part.
"Then Pharaoh called 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. And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I intreat 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? And he said, To morrow..." Exodus 8:8-10
Frogs were one of the animal-gods the Egyptians had. I don't know much about this god, I'm sure you can find out more about it... but it kind of makes me think of one of my last posts about stolen gods... gods that can be anything we put before the Lord, and sometimes these gods can be more of a curse to us. What I find sad is how when Moses comes and asks Pharaoh "Great, when do you want to get rid of these frogs, I can ask the Lord and He will destroy them!" And Pharao says "Tomorrow"... We were wondering about why he says this... it could have been his pride... I don't think it was procrastination in this case as I'm sure the frogs were driving everyone crazy... but no, Pharaoh spoke, and he decided that tomorrow would be the day. I have heard teachers in the past explain that the frogs could be seen as sins in our lives... and how many times don't we say Tomorrow to God. "Tomorrow I will stop doing drugs.", "Tomorrow I will stop seeing this person I shouldn't be with.", "Tomorrow I will stop beating my wife.", "Tomorrow I will stop lying.", "Tomorrow I will think about God.", "Tomorrow I will be a better sister.", "Tomorrow I will change my ways.", "Tomorrow my friend could be too late...."
Unfortunately I know people and I myself have been in situations when I have preferred spending one more night with the frogs instead of coming to God. Sometimes because I wanted to maybe gain time and figure another way to have it my way... Sometimes it can be as simple as knowing that you have to forgive that person that hurt you, but no, not today, not tonight... tonight you want to sink in the mud with the frogs croaking about all the bad things this person has done to you, or whatever the issue is.
What's kind of interesting, and this is just my observation so I could be wrong, but it seems to me that God also played Pharaoh's game... the other plagues that followed were announced to happen "Tomorrow" ... as in each time Moses would tell Pharaoh that unless he let the people go a plague would come "Tomorrow".
"People say, eat and drink for tomorrow we die"...but what else does the Bible say about tomorrow?
"Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain.Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that." James 4:13-15
People plan what they will do today, and tomorrow and in a month and in a year... some have very impressive agendas. It's not bad to plan, but know that our lives are really like vapour, we apprear for a little time and then vanish. Not long ago we lost a dear brother at the church. A young student who had his whole life in front of him... A cousin of mine was in a car accident not long ago and as a result two young girls lost their lives. Even some old person could tell you that life goes by much faster than you really think. So, what's the point? Live your lives to the fullest, but live it unto God... honour Him with your life, give it to Him and He will bless you eternally. When should you do that? ;)...
"For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves today to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day." Exodus 32:29Today is the day...
Moses was willing to make things right between Pharaoh and God... my husband pointed out to me last night that today we have Jesus to intercede for us. Sin, the frogs in our lives are what are keeping us from walking in purity with the Lord. Jesus, if you will, is here to make things right, He will wash us from all the sin in our lives. Confess your sins to the Lord, let's come clean... We can come to Him.... when? ;) Glad you asked!
"For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." II Cor 6:2Let's not be stuborn like Pharaoh... I know I can not sleep in peace when I have frogs in my head... my peace comes from coming to God and asking Him to take them away... Today.
I really say all this from my heart, and with love... I know dear people to me that struggle with drugs/false gods or other frogs that don't let them sleep... and yet they cry, "Just one more night, just one more day." We can't do it alone... but God is here, He can break the chains now, this day...
Peace
8 comments:
Very good post, Mrs. Jimena!!
Sadly, there are a lot of people that want one more night with the frogs!!
Wow! What an awesome and convicting post!
You have hit a great point here; I think many, including myself, would rather wait (avoid) to surrender to God our sins and trappings until "tomorrow" so we can, as you said, either figure out a way to do it our way or just cling to the false comfort of our sins. We would rather spend one more night with the frogs than find rest for our souls in the comforting presence of the Lord.
What a great reminder that today is the day to forsake all and cleave to Christ!
Thanks.
Kaysie
Jimena,
Thanks for the comment. Yes, I have to admit, I haven't got it all worked out either. Sometimes it does seem like "soul" is synomymous with "spirit,' or "mind" with "soul," etc. ("So then with my mind I serve the law of God...").
But, I can say with confidence that there must be at LEAST three parts, if not more. Not that long ago I heard someone compare us to Ezekiel's temple, which had five parts I believe. It was a pretty compelling presentation.
Anyway, this is a very good post you have here. I never would have thought about that correlation between the frogs and our procrastination in getting rid of the sin in our lives.
Also, there was something very interesting I read in a book a few months ago that showed how all of the plagues of Egypt discredited at least one of the Egyptian gods. For example, the goddess Heqt was the frog goddess as well as goddess of fertility. However, she was unable to control the population of the frogs GOD sent as judgment (neither could the magicians get rid of them, just cause more of them to come).
I will post the rest of the list of discredited Egyptian gods in a blog post a little later.
Have a blessed day!
~Kristina
Hi Jimena,
Very good post! I never thought about frogs that way! :-) Thanks also for the comment on my blog -- your insight on the suicidal aspect of atheism was well put!
God bless
Phylicia
Thank you Kristina,
You are right, there are a lot of people that want one more night with frogs... myself included. I have to keep myself in check and know that when I don't have peace about something I must bring it to the Lord right away and not try to sleep on it as I have done sooooo mnay times before. Thanks for your comment!
Kaysie, yes I too struggle to surrender "all" to Christ many times. But it's good o know that we can trust the Lord in "all" things and that He is available Today! Thanks for your comment :)
Hi Kristina, thanks for your comment too. That sounds very interesting, about Ezekiel's temple... I am still trying to figure out the spirit-soul thing today... right now I'm at us being more like body-flesh-spirit-mind and soul... hehe, but yes that's more than two. I too have heard about the correlation of the plagues with Egyptian gods, but I don't know much about it. I didn't want to write about something I didn't know much about but thought it would be good to mention it and if you want to share about it, great!
Hi Phylicia, I too had never heard about frogs before until I hear about it :) I don't want to take credit for this because it was not my clever observation. I have listened to quite a few studies before and pretty much all I share is what I have either read or heard before. The only observation I made in my post was really about how after Pharaoh had said "Tomorrow"... God also said "Tomorrow". I said it was like playing Pharaoh's game, but I think it was God's grace in giving him time to change his mind, and his mercy by not just doing it right away. Thanks for you comment!
Blessings to you all...
Wow, very insightful! I too have struggled with "spending one more night with the frogs" in my life.
It's too bad they couldn't get the movie right. I always find that irritating when I've read the book!
There has been at least one preacher that has preached on that topic, "One More Night with the Frogs". Hmmmmmmm............not too sure who it was though.
Hi Karen,
Yes, many times I have been disappointed after watching a movie based on a book I've read... but at least they tried... thanks for your comment :)
Courtney thank you for your comment! I just did a quick google search and found many many articles and pastor notes on spending one more night with the frogs. As I mentioned to Phylicia I don't take credit for it as I too have heard it before... and I have just found some very interesting articles on it too. :)
Blessings!
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