Good Morning.
And the Lord spoke 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 all your territory with frogs.’” (Exodus 8:1)
The first plague had demonstrated that the river Nile was not a god. It was but a servant of the Creator and would once again display the handiwork of the God of the Hebrews by producing an abundance of frogs. This plague severely compromised the intense demand for cleanliness possessed by the Egyptians. So much so that Pharaoh pleaded with Moses to have the frogs removed. Thus God used frogs to reveal the first chink in Pharaohs’ armor.
Something else important happened here; Moses instructed Pharaoh to determine the time that the frogs should be removed. Perhaps Pharaoh was inclined to think that the Nile being turned to blood had been happenstance. If Pharaoh determined the time that frogs should be removed and it happened just so, it would be evident that what was happening was not happenstance at all. Essentially, Moses told Pharaoh to make a request that he would consider to be impossible to fulfill. Right on time, God honored Pharaoh’s request and the frogs died and had to be piled up in heaps, causing the land of Egypt to stink.
The point we can take away from this is that God is willing to prove Himself even to the scoffer and unbeliever. His reason for doing may vary but I tend to think that, because He is long suffering, these signs to unbelievers are intended mainly to prick their heart that maybe they will turn from their way and repent. The apostle Paul indicated that the gift of tongues was intended to be a “sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers” (1 Corinthians 14:22). Again, our Father is eager to reach those who don’t believe and will go so far as to do things they believe to be impossible.
As His people, how then should we consider the unbeliever? In other words, are we willing to go the extra mile that those who don’t believe might be stirred by our testimony? Or are we content to write them off and consign them to their fate? The heart of God is that the wicked would repent and be saved. That needs to be our heart as well. Wicked men make it very hard to feel that way toward them at times, nevertheless, our mission is to be a faithful representative of our Creator in His Creation and to His Creation. If He can use frogs to make His point, surely He can use you and me.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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