General News
6 November, 2026
Pastor's Ponderings: The Plague of Frogs
The book of Exodus (8:1–15) tells the story of the second plague that God brought upon Egypt through His servant Moses.
The book of Exodus (8:1–15) tells the story of the second plague that God brought upon Egypt through His servant Moses.
Moses was instructed to deliver an ultimatum to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, demanding the release of the Israelite slaves.
This was the second of ten occasions on which Moses would confront Pharaoh with the same demand.
He was to warn him that if he refused, God would send a plague of frogs upon the land, invading every aspect of Egyptian life: their homes, the royal palace, their kitchens where they prepared their food, and everywhere else.
One might ask, “Why frogs?” The answer is that it was a deliberate affront to one of
their own pagan gods, Heqet, the ancient Egyptian goddess of fertility.
By using an event associated with one of Egypt's gods to overwhelm the country, God was demonstrating in the most practical way possible His absolute supremacy over the gods of Egypt.
The biblical account tells us that Aaron, who was with Moses, stretched out his hand
with his staff over the waters, and frogs appeared and came up over the land.
Upon seeing this, Pharaoh's magicians, eager to demonstrate that they could do the same, imitated the miracle through the power of their demonic deities, further increasing the problem.
But they were unable to make the frogs go away.
The thing that brings this passage of Scripture to mind is that, following the recent rains, I am beginning to think my home here is also receiving a visit from Moses!
While most people complain if they have a mouse or two in the house, recently here in the centre, my home seems to be invaded by frogs every night!
Although they are mostly gone by morning, during the night I can sometimes hear them moving around, knocking things over and occasionally croaking quite loudly.
I'm beginning to understand what the people of Egypt must have been feeling at this time.
Unlike my own personal plague of frogs here in Central Australia, which mostly disappear by themselves, we read that during the Egyptian plague, Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and asked them to pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from the people and the land.
In return, he promised to let the Israelites go.
Moses responded by challenging Pharaoh to nominate the exact time for the frogs' departure, further demonstrating God's power.
Pharaoh declared, “Tomorrow”, and it happened according to his declaration.
However, as would soon become an established pattern with this particular monarch, as soon as the plague had been removed, he reneged on his promise to release the Israelite slaves and continued to hold them in bondage.
This behaviour illustrates how temporary distress can produce temporary repentance but rarely brings about genuine transformation.
Matthew Henry notes in his commentary that convictions born of suffering often fade once the suffering ends, an observation clearly demonstrated in this biblical account.
Sadly, this is a phenomenon all too commonly seen in our own day and age.
How often have we heard people of influence call for “days of prayer” during times of crisis, only to observe their ungodly lifestyles at other times?
Or what about those who treat God as though He had a switch that could be turned on or off at will, according to their particular needs?
The prophet Isaiah (29:13) writes of such people, saying, “These people come near to me with their mouth and honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me....”
Jesus also had something to say about such people, as the apostle John (6:26) records:
“Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.”
God is not mocked.
There are many passages of Scripture that teach us that we must come wholeheartedly to Him, not merely when circumstances become difficult, but at all times.
One such passage is Deuteronomy (6:5): “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”