The Second Plague: Frogs
- The plagues come with a pattern of 3. 3, 6, and 9 were unannounced; 1, 4, and 7 were in the morning; 2, 5, and 8 were done while talking to Pharaoh
Then theΒ LordΒ said to Moses, βGo in to Pharaoh and say to him, βThus says theΒ Lord, βLet my people go, thatΒ they may serve me.Β 2Β But if youΒ refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your country withΒ frogs.Β 3Β The Nile shall swarm with frogs that shall come up into your house and intoΒ your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls.Β 4Β The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your servants.βββΒ
5Β Β And theΒ LordΒ said to Moses, βSay to Aaron,Β βStretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt!ββΒ 6Β So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, andΒ the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.Β
- Some people speculate plagues were done against an Egyptian deity (god of the Nile, goddess depicted as a frog, eventually leading to Pharaoh a ‘god’ of Egypt).
- Frogs were seen as sacred because of Heqet the goddess of fertility (frog head), so they could not be killed.
7Β ButΒ the magicians did the same by their secret arts and made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.
- Again, wouldn’t the magicians want to bring the frogs out of Egypt instead of multiply them? Or perhaps they were sacred and they could not remove them
8Β Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said,Β βPlead with theΒ LordΒ to take away the frogs from me and from my people, andΒ I will let the people go to sacrifice to theΒ Lord.βΒ
- Pharaoh starts to grasp the power of God. He also sees how Moses and Aaron can intercede.
9Β Moses said to Pharaoh, βBe pleased to command me whenΒ I am to plead for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile.βΒ 10Β And he said, βTomorrow.β Moses said, βBe it as you say, soΒ that you may know thatΒ there is no one like theΒ LordΒ our God.Β 11Β The frogs shall go away from you and your houses and your servants and your people. They shall be left only in the Nile.βΒ 12Β So Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to theΒ LordΒ about the frogs, as he had agreed with Pharaoh.Β 13Β And theΒ LordΒ did according to the word of Moses. The frogs died out in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields.Β 14Β And they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank.Β 15Β But when Pharaoh saw that there was aΒ respite, heΒ hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as theΒ LordΒ had said.
- Some have also said that the plagues were done ‘naturally’. For example, the swarm of frogs happened after the Nile turned to blood as it was inhabitable. And then the rotting frog carcasses lured in gnats and flies, which lead to disease of the cows, etc. Sure this could have happened, but didn’t really make sense as it was 7 days later (see Exodus 7:25 and the frogs SWARMED the land. Either way there was divine intervention for sure.
The Third Plague: Gnats
16Β Then theΒ LordΒ said to Moses, βSay to Aaron,Β βStretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt.ββΒ
- This is the first of the unannounced plagues.
17Β And they did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, andΒ there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats in all the land of Egypt.Β 18Β TheΒ magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So there were gnats on man and beast.Β
- How could magicians turn a staff into a snake and bring forth blood and frogs but not bugs? Interesting
- The word for plague 3 is ΧΦ΄ΦΌΧ Φ΄ΦΌΧΧ (kinnim) which most likely means tiny biting insect. Older traditions view that word as βliceβ but more recent as βgnatsβ. Could be midges.Β
19Β Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, βThis isΒ the finger of God.β But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as theΒ LordΒ had said.
The Fourth Plague: Flies
20Β Then theΒ LordΒ said to Moses,Β βRise up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh, as he goes out to the water, and say to him, βThus says theΒ Lord,Β βLet my people go, that they may serve me.Β 21Β Or else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants and your people, and into your houses. And the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they stand.Β 22Β But on that dayΒ I will set apart the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, so that no swarms of flies shall be there,Β that you may know that I am theΒ LordΒ in the midst of the earth.Β
- God said that Goshen (where the Israelites lived) would be spared from plague #4 – this leaves me to wonder if they were spared from #1-3?
23Β Thus I will put a divisionΒ between my people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall happen.βββΒ 24Β And theΒ LordΒ did so.Β
- We don’t actually see Pharaoh’s response here, but we can take a guess at what it was!
There came great swarms of flies into the house of Pharaoh and into his servants’ houses. Throughout all the land of Egypt the land was ruined by the swarms of flies.
- The word for plague 4 is Χ’ΦΈΧ¨ΦΉΧ (arov) which means βswarmβ or βmixtureβ. We usually take this to mean flies (and what it is translated to) but some people think it could be scorpions, snakes, or even wild beasts!Β
- Psalm 78:45 says “He sent swarms of fliesΒ that devoured them…”
25Β Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, βGo, sacrifice to your God within the land.βΒ 26Β But Moses said, βIt would not be right to do so, for the offerings we shall sacrifice to theΒ LordΒ our God are anΒ abomination to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice offeringsΒ abominable to the Egyptians before their eyes, will they not stone us?Β
- This refers to animals the Egyptians considered sacred or taboo to kill like bulls, rams, and sheep.
27Β We must goΒ three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to theΒ LordΒ our GodΒ as he tells us.βΒ 28Β So Pharaoh said, βI will let you go to sacrifice to theΒ LordΒ your God in the wilderness; only you must not go very far away.Β Plead for me.βΒ 29Β Then Moses said, βBehold, I am going out from you and I will plead with theΒ LordΒ that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, tomorrow. Only let not PharaohΒ cheat again by not letting the people go to sacrifice to theΒ Lord.βΒ 30Β So Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to theΒ Lord.Β 31Β And theΒ LordΒ did as Moses asked, and removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; not one remained.Β 32Β But PharaohΒ hardened his heart this time also, and did not let the people go.
βMark well that, in all this, Pharaoh increased his guilt. His vows heaped up his transgressions. He forgot his promises; but God did not. They were laid by in store against him, and the blows of God upon him fell heavier and heavier, until at last Jehovah drowned him and his chosen captains in the Red Sea.βΒ
Spurgeon, Charles H. Take Away the Frogs. In The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Vol. 59. London: Passmore and Alabaster, 1913
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