YEA Lesson Library

The Lesson

Put yourself in Moses shoes and ask, "Am I really ready to go to Pharaoh one more time and tell him that "Jehovah says, 'Let my people go and worship me?'" That's exactly the order Moses received from God. Seven days passed since the Nile had turned to blood. Pharaoh probably sighed with relief thinking his visitors wouldn't return with a message from God. But no such luck.

To motivate Pharaoh, or at least try to get his attention, God added a penalty to the message if he hardened his heart and refused to let the Israelites go into the wilderness to worship Him. He said, "If you refuse, I will send vast hordes of frogs across your land from one border to the other.” Now that's a lot of frogs!

Egypt's land area is basically the same today as it was when Moses was meeting with Pharaoh. Today it's 1,001,449 square kilometers. In other words, Egypt is about the size of Texas and New Mexico. You know that it would take a gaggle of frogs to cover Texas and New Mexico! The frog was one of Egypt's gods. Well, if the Egyptians loved their gods, they were going to see a lot of them. Then the Lord said to Moses. "Instruct Aaron to point the rod toward all the rivers, streams, and pools of Egypt, so that there will be frogs in every corner of the land." Aaron did, and frogs covered the nation.

Think about it. Frogs invaded the homes, bedrooms, ovens, bread-kneading troughs, and even Pharaoh's palace. Pharaoh could see his hopping gods right up close - frequently. Imagine sitting down to eat with frogs hopping on your table, plate, glass, and silverware. A frog isn't really the type of garnish you want on your ice cream, is it? Pharaoh and all the Egyptians had these croaking, crawling, creeping intruders - everywhere! The magicians again imitated this miracle and somehow produced frogs. But who needed more frogs at a time like this? Pharaoh had enough of his frog gods. He summoned Moses and Aaron and told them to "Pray to the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the LORD."

Moses said to Pharaoh, "I leave to you the honor of setting the time for me to pray for you and your officials and your people that you and your houses may be rid of the frogs, except for those that remain in the Nile." "Tomorrow," Pharaoh said.

Moses replied, "It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the LORD our God. The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials and your people; they will remain only in the Nile." Moses prayed to God about the frogs and God answered Moses' prayer. Frogs died in the houses, courtyards, and in the fields. What an absolute stench! Frogs were piled up everywhere. The land reeked of them. Compared to what was to come, frogs were just a trivial annoyance. But, in spite of the smell, Pharaoh regained his confidence and reneged on his word.

God had a plan and was working His plan. Was Pharaoh going to outsmart God? His plan was that Pharaoh, the Israelites, and the Egyptians would know well that He was the one true God of Heaven by the time He delivered the Israelites. Seminar One in the first book of the Great Bible Heroes series (to follow the Creation series) starts with, "Then God issued this edict: "I am Jehovah your God who liberated you from your slavery in Egypt. You may worship no other god than me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them: For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments" (Exodus 20:1-6). This is absolute bedrock to your Christian faith. The Egyptians had many gods, of which frogs were just one. But the God of Heaven is Supreme. He's worthy of our complete trust and worship.

What does all of this have to do with this seminar? The very first plague God sent on Egypt was turning the Nile into blood - that's where Pharaoh threw all the little boy babies to die. The next plague gave them their fill of one of their gods - croaking, crawling, creeping frog gods. The Egyptians were in total violation of the first commandment.

Then what does all of this have to do with you? Can we point a finger at Pharaoh without examining ourselves? What things do we put before the true God of Heaven? The way we know is by what we do. Do we give in to peer pressure and drink or break the Sabbath? Do we put other relationships above our relation- ship with God? What about physical things such as a car, stuff, clothes, the way we look, sports, etc.? Are these things more important than pleasing God? Do these things take the place of reading your daily devotionals and praying? What happens when you do this? "For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me."

But the flip side is all good. God says He will show "love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments." God didn’t want Pharaoh or the Egyptians to get hurt, but they disobeyed and suffered the consequences. He doesn't want you to get hurt either. Will you put Him first in your life and keep His commandments daily?