Exodus 8:1-15 comments: the plague of frogs

Exodus 8:1 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2  And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs: 3  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: 4  And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants. 5  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. 6  And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. 7  And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt. 8  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. 9  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? 10  And he said, To morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the LORD our God. 11  And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; they shall remain in the river only. 12  And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh: and Moses cried unto the LORD because of the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh. 13  And 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. 14  And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank. 15  But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.

We have the rod turned into a snake, the surface water turned to blood, and now, frogs unleashed on the land; three wonders that the heathen magicians are also permitted to copy.

Frogs, in a different context, represent unclean spirits.

Revelation 16:13  And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

Note: In the verse from Revelation the unclean spirits resemble frogs but are not frogs. Here are two more comparisons that we should examine and be careful of taking too literally of unlike things joined by like for a comparison. Remember, these things look or act like each other but are not the same thing as each other.

Job 11:12  For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass’s colt.

John 1:32  And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.

Events in the physical world often seem to represent events in the spiritual world and the spiritual world is more real even than the limited, finite world of the senses we perceive. We are like people chained in a cave facing the wall with a fire behind us. We can only see shadows on the wall of what is going on behind us, out of our sight, where the greater reality, the real truth, exists. Some of us prefer the shadows but others long to turn and face the truth. Even heathen philosophers like Plato understood this in a limited way, as I took the cave allegory from him.

If there is a comparison to be made one might imagine the guiding rod of God’s instruction turned into the lying serpent by man’s choice of whom to believe in Eden, the surface water turned to blood as a representation of the will of God corrupted by man’s vain religion of the time from pure, life-giving water to a bloody mess, and the frogs covering the land of Egypt showing its infestation in every place by evil spirits. These three wonders are copied, counterfeited, if you will, by the heathen magicians. We might take this as a lesson for today, as well.

Pharaoh, for the first time, acknowledges the reality of Jehovah and asks Moses and Aaron to 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 (verse 8). But, when relieved, Pharaoh’s hardened heart will not permit them to leave.