The Plague of Frogs

If you have your Bible, turn with me to the book of Exodus to see Exodus chapter 8. You know, I praise the Lord for my mom and dad and how they raised me. And the things they taught me growing up as a child. And one of the things my father tried to instill in me as a young boy was to fear God and fear God only and fear no man. He taught me not to fear things. He taught me not to fear people. He taught me not to fear circumstances. And so I would grow up in a home where. My dad was emphasizing the fear of God over anything else, and what the Bible says about the fear of God, and how Matthew 10 says that we are not to Fear the one who can kill body, but only fear the one who can kill body and soul in hell, and that's the Lord God Himself.

And so I was raised with that mentality. I was raised with that instruction in the word of the Lord to fear only God and nothing else. And I praise the Lord for how I was raised and that's pretty much how I've lived my life. And I think that for the most part I go through life without fearing much of anything at all, except. Except when my son began to drive. You know, I got in the passenger side of my car with my son behind the wheel. And I realized that, boy, I tell you, this is one incredible task to be able to sit there patiently.

And not have any controls. There's not a wheel on my side. There's no brake on my side of the car. I can't do anything except pray and watch and hope that the angels above will protect us as we travel down the road. And as I think about the fear of God and the fear of man, you, the Bible says that the unbeliever has no fear of God.

And that's why in Revel 14, when the angel flies to mid-heaven, his whole gospel is: fear God and give him glory. In the midst of a time when the world is falling apart and all the trumpets and bowls are being poured out, the seals are being broken, the emphasis is: don't fear Antich, fear Christ. Don't fear what's going on in the world. Fear God and fear God alone. And yet man will refuse to fear God, just like Pharaoh refused to fear God and the Egyptians. They only feared their gods. Jehovah meant nothing to them.

And one of the aims of the plagues was to help people understand the all-powerful God of the universe and to fear him. And to bow before him and to worship him and to glorify his name. But Egypt, led by Pharaoh, would refuse to do so. And as I study these plagues, it's hard to imagine how. The great tragedy of the plagues would not cause man to fear him. And yet, the Bible does tell us it's the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. It's the goodness of God. And I'm going to show you the goodness of God in verse number 1 of chapter 8 as we begin looking at the plague of the frogs.

And the implications of this plague for our lives today. Let me read it for you. Exodus chapter 8, verse number 1. Then the Lord said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh and say to him, Thus says the Lord, let my people go, that they may serve me. But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite your whole territory with frogs. The Nile will swarm with frogs, which will come up and go into your house. and into your bedroom, and on your bed, and into your houses of your servants, and on your people, and into your ovens, and into your kneading bowls.

So the frogs will come up on you and your people and all your servants. Then the LORD said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers. over the streams and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt. So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt. The frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. And the magicians did the same with their secret arts, making frogs come up on the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, Entreat the Lord that he remove the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the Lord.

And Moses said to Pharaoh, The honor is yours to tell me, When shall I entreat for you, and your servants, and your people, the frogs, be destroyed? From you, and your houses, that they may be left only in the Nile. Then he said, Tom. So he said, May it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God. And the frogs will depart from you and your houses and your servants and your people. They will be left only in the Nile. Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the LORD Concerning the frogs which he had inflicted upon Pharaoh.

And the LORD did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, the courts, and the fields. So they piled them in heaps, and the land became foul. But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart, and did not listen to them as the Lord had said. Seven things I want you to see out of these verses this morning concerning the plague of the frogs. The first is the comp before the plague.

And let me show you how God, in His wonderful grace and mercy, addresses Moses. He says, go to Pharaoh. Say to him, Let my people go, that they may serve me. But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite your whole territory. with frogs. God goes and God could inflict the plague, but instead he tells Moses to go tell Pharaoh, let my people go. Let them go. Because if you don't, this is what's going to happen. And that is just the compassion and mercy of God because you will note that on the third plague, there is no warning.

It just comes. But once again, God is showing how compassionate He is to the rebellious heart. God in his mercy gives Pharaoh a chance to relent, to repent, to let the people of Israel go, to change. He's already rejected the word of the Lord. He's already rejected the miracle of the rod and the snakes. He's already rejected the first plague of turning the water into blood.

He's rejected all that, and yet God says, Go to him and tell him one more time, let my people go. See, that's the goodness of God. God doesn't have to do that, but he wants to let Pharaoh have the opportunity to repent. And you'll notice that throughout all the plagues, he gets all these opportunities.

And at the outset, you think that Pharaoh's going to have a change of heart because he goes to Moses and says, hey, listen, man, you got to help me out here. Go to your God and implore him to take away the plague. You think that, man, Pharaoh's going to change. He doesn't. But at the outset, you think, wow, maybe there's going be a change of heart here. And so you see the compassion of God. Maybe you're here today and you haven't turned from your sin and you're still living in carnality and sin and going the way of the world and God and His wonderful compassion.

Has granted you one more day to live, one more opportunity to hear the word of the Lord. Turn from your sin, give your life to Him. One more day. He's given you, He's long-suffering, He's slow to anger. That's our God. The next thing I want you to see is we'll call the infiltration of the plague or the permeation of the plague. He says, if you don't do this, frogs are going to be everywhere. Now you think about that. They're going to be in your beds. They're going to be in your ovens. They're going to be over the whole land of Egypt.

They're even going to be on you. Now, I don know if you understand that or not. You know, I thought about you know, buying two three hundred different frogs and just, you know, letting them go in the auditorium here during the sermon, just to give you an idea of what that's like. That would be a waste of money. You know, I didn't want to do that, so I figured I wouldn do that. So, but you know, they were everywhere, all over the place. They were gross in Egypt. These frogs were in your bed. They were in your food.

They were on you. You couldn't walk down the streets without stepping on frogs. Now that's a problem for the Egyptians. Because they worship the frogs. They couldn't kill them. We'll talk more about that in a second.

But they're everywhere, all over the place. And God was symbolizing something. He was symbolizing the infiltration of sin into everything. Everywhere. Sin was everywhere. These people were into idol worship. They were into sin. And they and God was going to make sure that the idols they worship. We're going to be everywhere to show how idol worship permeates every aspect of your life. It permeates what you eat, it permeates where you go, it infiltrates what you say, it infiltrates where you sleep.

Everything. It's everywhere. And I began thinking about that in our lives. And how sin is just everywhere. Everywhere. We know it's in the world. The Bible says for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

And we know that the world is engulfed in sin. But sometimes we think that the church is immune from sin. It's not. It's not immune from sin. And people in the church involve themselves in all kinds of things that keep them from being what God wants them to be. When Ezra was praying to his God, he said these words, O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to thee. My God, for our iniquities have risen above our heads, and our guilt has grown even to the heavens. He was talking about the people of Israel and how their sin was all-encompassing.

It was all-consuming. And you think about that in our lives. And as a secondary application, how sin begins to permeate our lives. We've got to watch out for it. And we don't think of laziness as a sin, bit, selfishness, self-righteousness. We don 't. We just kind of pass them off. But you know what? We got to be careful. In the infiltration of those frogs throughout all the land of Egypt, God was telling them sin has permeated your entire lives. And I want to show you how thick that sin is by showing you frogs in your food and frogs in your oven and frogs in your bed and frogs in your streets and frogs on you.

Wherever you go, there's frogs everywhere. Because sin is everywhere. Point number three, I want you to notice with me the aggravation of the plague.

I mean, granted, we'd all be annoyed if there were frogs everywhere we went. But think of it this way. You see, their god, He, the god of the frogs, was the goddess of fertility. See? They believed that the frogs when worship would cause the women to become fertile. So God's play on that was to make the frogs so fertile that they were everywhere. All over the place. You want to talk about fertility? God says, I'll talk to you about fertility.

Look at this. This is an overabundance of frogs. And the problem was that they couldn't kill them because they worship them. It was against the law to kill the frog. So what do you do? You got to be careful where you step. They couldn bring the lawn out and just go up and down and run them over and just clear a path. They couldn be stepping on them, stomping on them, because they were worshipped. They were sacred to the Egyptians. Talk about an aggravation. What are you going to do? Can't kill them.

How are we going to get rid of them? What are we going to do? They're all over the place. And it emphasizes once again that. When God deals with idolatry, He wants to let you know He wants absolutely no competition. None. No competition. He wants to be the one and only. He wants to be the supreme ruler of your life. And so, like we said last week. He would cause this plague to be such a curse upon their idol worship that they couldn't help but see the God of the universe. Which leads me to our fourth point, and that is the multiplication of the plague.

The multiplication of the plague. Before that, two days ago, I was sitting down. At my table, and my son walked up, or he got up early in the morning, walked down, and he brought one of his toys with him. And Kate is six. He said, you know, Dad, he says, do you think that God would be upset if I liked this toy more than I liked him? I said, Why would you ask that? He goes Well, because sometimes, you know, I can't see God. And he says, So when I have a toy that I really like, I really want to do things with it, and I kind of like it more than I like God.

Is that wrong? Well, we had a wonderful opportunity to talk about what God means to us and how a toy or a thing doesn't last. It's only temporary. And God is the true God of the universe and how he rules overall and how he wants a relationship with us. And you can't have a relationship with an object, but you can have a relationship with the living God of the universe. And talk about what the Bible says in Exodus chapter 20 about God needs to be the supreme ruler of our lives, the sole object of our desires.

And trying to convey that to a six-year-old boy who likes his toys and wants to play with toys and sometimes thinks, wow, you, I like this toy a little bit more than I like my God. Is that wrong? I thought to myself, you know, at least he asked the question. You know, for most of us, we're like, oh, I love this thing, man. I'm into this. This is all I got. Boy, this is great. And we forget all about God. But I'm reminded of the fact that there are so many things that we tend to like and hold on to and it's really love and they become the sole object of our affection, don't they?

Maybe it's another person, another individual. And God wants no competition. He wants it all. Which leads us to the multiplication of the plague, and that's what the magicians did, right? It says over in verse number 7, and the magicians did the same with their secret arts, making frogs come up on the land of Egypt. How did they do this? I don't know. I don't have the froggiest idea. I mean, I mean, the frogs were everywhere. So how did they duplicate that? How did they make that happen? I don't know, but it was through trickery.

It was through arts. It was through magic. It was through deception. It wasn't really true because, you see, only God can create life. Satan can't create life. He can't give life, and he can't take life. God holds the keys to death in Hades. Revelation chapter 1. Which leads us to what I call the petition about the plague. The petition about the plague. Listen to what it says, verse 8. Then Pharaoh called from Moses. and Aaron and said, Entreat the Lord that He remove the frogs from me and from my people and I will let the people go.

Now, isn't that interesting? How come he didn't call them magicians? Why did he call Moses and Aaron? Why not say, okay, magicians, guys, listen to this, what you to do. Get rid of all those frogs for me, will you? Make them all disappear. Because you see, he knew they couldn't do that. It's the perfect illustration of Romans 1, where man suppresses the truth. Oh, he knows there's a God, he knows there's a ruler, but he refuses to bow in submission to that ruler. And he will believe any loophole he can to get out of doing so.

And that's Pharaoh. And yet, he calls Moses and Aaron in and says, I want you to do something. Entreat the Lord to get rid of these frogs. And then I'm going to let the people go. Now think about that for a moment. Think about that. Notice this.

He says this: Remove the frogs. Listen to the order. From me and from my people. See the selfishness there? It's all about me. A god in leader would, you know what? Free the people. Free the people. He'd give his life away for the people. But Pharaoh was a selfish man. So when he made this petition, it was a selfish petition. It was one focused. Fully on him and solely on him. And I like what Moses says. Moses says, The honor is yours. Tell me, when shall I entreat for you and your servants and your people that the frogs be destroyed from you and your houses?

That they may be left only in the Nile. You see, he's making Pharaoh realize that whenever he asks Moses to do it, Moses will do it, God will answer to show that God listens and hears and responds to godly people. And listen to what Pharaoh says. Tomorrow. Tomorrow? Why? He's going to sleep one more night with frogs? But look at the procrastination.

You see, that's what sin does to man, doesn't it? Sin causes man to wait. Sin causes man to say, tomorrow. When do you want to give your life to Christ? Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next week. When things get worse than they are now, when are you going to repent of your sin? Well, I don't know. Maybe tomorrow. You see, he didn't recognize the urgency because there really wasn't a true repentant heart in Pharaoh. And then notice this: he says, Entreat the Lord, and then I will let the people go.

See the bargaining there? He wants to bargain. Let me ask you a question. You ever bargain with God? You know, God, if you give me a job, I promise I will give you one-tenth my income to you. I promise. Just give me a job. Good job. It's got to be a good job. God, if you just get me out of this situation, boy, I tell you, I'll serve you, I'll honor you, I'll glorify your name. I'll be at church every Sunday, Lord. I promise I'll be there. I'll read the word of the Lord every single day. God, just get me out of my predicament.

We like to bargain with God, don't we? God, if you do this, I'll do this. You can't bargain with God. But you know what the funny thing is? A lot of times God says, okay.

And He gets you that job, He gets you out of that situation. And what happens? Nothing. No change. We just live life as we've always lived life. And that's a sad situation to be in, isn't it? Listen to what the psalmist says about that. Psalm 66, verse number 13. I shall come into thy house with burnt offerings. I shall pay thee my vows, which my lips uttered and my mouth spoke, when I was in distress. So when it says down in verse 15, but when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to them as the Lord had said.

And a lot of times we're just like Pharaoh, right? Make a promise to God. Oh, God, please, please do this. If you just ch my spouse, I promise I'll do this. And God changes them. And what do you do? Bible says, Pharaoh hardened his heart, didn't change, didn't keep his word. The next thing I want you to see is the intercession to end the plague. Moses is such a godly man. Boy, I tell you. He would intercede in verse number 12. They went out and they cried to the Lord concerning the frogs which he had inflicted upon Pharaoh.

He went out and did exactly what Moses asked. He cried to the Lord. He interceded on behalf of the Egyptians. That's the way Moses was. So he would go to the Lord and pray, and the Lord answered his prayer. The Lord did what Moses had asked. And then I want you to notice the.

Putre after the plague. Oh, the smell was bad. What's it say? So they piled them up in heaps, and the land became what? Foul. Can you imagine the stench? The smell. Twice it says in the first plague that the smell was foul.

The land smelled so bad because everything in the Nile River died. It all turned to blood. It smelled so bad. And now here we have it again. Some more putrefying smells. All these frogs in heaps. And he gathered them all up. God killed them all. And the smell, which talks to us about what? The stench that sin leaves behind. We forget about that, don't we? There's always a sm about sin. And sometimes that stench lasts a long time. It depends on what kind of sin it is, doesn't it? And how that sin was committed, how many people it affected.

But that smell would remain for a while. And sometimes in our lives, that smell remains for a long time, doesn't it? Because it's a severe sin. You need to remember that as you think about the plague of the frogs. I have just a couple of minutes left. Turn with me to Revelation chapter 16.

Frogs are mentioned one time in the New Testament. One time. Revelation 16. Here it is. And the sixth angel, verse number 12, poured out his bowl upon the great river of the Euphrates. This water was dried up, that the way might be prepared for the kings from the east. And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, which is Satan, out of the mouth of the beast, which is the Antichrist, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like what? Like frogs. Like frogs. For they are spirits of demons performing signs which go out to the kings of the whole world to gather them together for the war of the great day of God the Almighty.

Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his garments, lest he walk about naked and men see his shame. And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har Mag. This is one of my favorite passages in the Bible. And the interesting thing about this is that this is the sixth bowl being poured out. And if you've been with us for any length of time, you know that the bowls are poured out in succession. This bowl is poured out, so the great river the Euphrates is dried up.

Why is that important? Well, the kings of the East. Have to come together together against God to fight against Him. And the only way that's going to happen is because the river now is dried up. They can actually make it there, plus, out of the mouth of the dragon. Out of the mouth of the false prophet and out of the mouth of the beast come three unclean spirits like frogs. How does the un trin gather the kings of the world? Together to fight against God through trickery, through deception. And why are they like frogs?

Because frogs in Leviticus 11 Are representative of those things that are unclean, those things that are wicked, and those things that are an abomination to God. That's what frogs represent in the Bible. And so out of the mouth of the unholy tr come these evil spirits to trick man, to deceive man, to get man to come together to fight against God. That, my friend, is the end. Battle they cannot win. But I want you to notice that's Satan's plan.

But notice what it says in Revelation 17, verse number 17. For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose. And by giving their kingdom to the beast until the words of God should be fulfilled. And what happened way back in Exodus was a taste of what will happen in the book of Revelation at the end of the world, when the world comes to fight against The great God of the universe. The Bible says you got to be clean before Him.

And what cleanses us? It's the blood of Jesus Christ, our Lord. That's what cleanses us. And when it's all said and done, those who have given their lives to Christ. Will overcome. And I wonder this morning: have you given your life to Christ? I wonder this morning if you bowed in submission to the King of the universe. I wonder if, in your own life, as you look at the plague of the frogs, The infiltration of sin in our own lives are the things you need to deal with.

Issues in your life, your marriage. I trust that you will deal with them and get right with our God. Let's pray together.