Let's start today by rereading a portion of last week's plague, the Nile River turning to blood. Starting in Exodus 7:19:
(19) and Yahweh said to Moses,
"Say to Aaron,
Take your staff,
and stretch out your hand upon the waters of Egypt--
upon their rivers, upon their canals, and upon their pools, and upon all their reservoirs of water--
that they will become blood,
and blood will be in all the land of Egypt-- both in wood [vessels] and in stone [vessels],"
(20) and Moses and Aaron did thus,
just as Yahweh had commanded,
and he lifted up the staff,
and he struck the waters that [were] in the Nile before the eyes of Pharaoh and before the eyes of servants,
and they turned-- all the waters that were in the Nile-- to blood,
(21) while the fish that were in the Nile died,
and the Nile stank,
and the Egyptians weren't able to drink the waters from the Nile,
and it became blood in all the land of Egypt,
(22) and the magicians of Egypt did thus/likewise with their sorceries,
and the resolve of Pharaoh was strong,
and he didn't listen to them,
just as Yahweh had said,
(23) and Pharaoh turned,
and he went to his house,
and he didn't set/place his resolve to this either,
(24) and all the Egyptians dug around the Nile, water to drink,
because they weren't able to drink from the water of the Nile,
Notice, at the end of this, how stubborn Pharaoh is. Moses just trashed the drinking water for the entire nation, and what does Pharaoh do? He goes back to the White House, ignores the press, and ignores his people. He doesn't care. He refuses to listen to Moses. He refuses to even see the problem. Just close your door, and pretend there's no problem.
That's impressive. My own flesh and blood has called me "quietly stubborn"-- which I'm not sure is a compliment (I tell myself he's calling me Ezekiel, not Pharaoh). And maybe you are, as well. But I'm not sure that any of us could match Pharaoh here. Pharaoh shows remarkable stubbornness. The magicians may not be able to match Moses. But Pharaoh is a worthy adversary.
This brings us to new stuff. Verses 25-29 (my apologies; I didn't realize the Hebrew numbering was different, and I'm too lazy to switch it to English numbering; but this starts in Exodus 8):
(25) and seven days were completed after Yahweh struck the Nile,
(26) and Yahweh said to Moses,
"Go to Pharaoh,
and say to him,
"Thus has said Yahweh:
Release my people, that they may serve me,
(27) and if, refusing, you [are] to release, LOOK! I am striking all your territory with frogs!,
(28) and the Nile will swarm with frogs,
and they will come up,
and they will enter into your house and into the inner room of your bedroom, and upon your bed and in the house of your servants and among your people and in your ovens and in your kneading bowls,
(29) and against you and against your people and against all your servants they will come up-- frogs!",
Yahweh here encourages Pharaoh to use his imagination. Picture frogs everywhere. First, they'll "swarm," completely filling the Nile, in the same way the Israelites have "swarmed," filling the land of Egypt (Exodus 1:7).
Then, then they will rise up. They'll enter your house, and your bedroom. They'll jump onto your bed, with its nice Egyptian cotton sheets. They'll be everywhere-- in your house, in your servants' houses, and in your people's houses.
When you bake anything, you'll notice a weird smell about halfway through. And you'll open the oven door, to see a dead frog. When you're making bread dough, you'll have to fish a dead frog out of the bowl before you start. Everything will tainted. Nothing will ever feel clean. Nothing will taste right. Nowhere is safe.
When my wife and I were looking for our first apartment together, for after we got married, we found this really cute brick apartment with a phone number out front. We called it, and the guy said, "I have a place just opening up, but we haven't had a chance to clean it yet." He drove over, and led us through the apartment. We got to the bathroom, and there was this thing in the bathtub. Kind of hairy. Pretty big. Looked closer, and it was a dead bat. Looked up, and there was a foot-long crack where the wall met the ceiling.
I tried to tell Heidi that we could use bleach to clean out the tub, and it'd still be a really nice apartment. She wasn't buying what I was selling. No.
Now, frogs maybe aren't quite as gross or scary as bats. But thousands of frogs, everywhere? Honestly? It's horrifying. Especially because these frogs are like a smart, invading army, rising up against you. They will be everywhere, in everything. In some ways, it's like the greatest prank of all time. But it's the kind of story that's only truly funny, when it's not happening to you.
Now, how does Pharaoh respond to this threat?
What's interesting here, is that Exodus leaves a gap in our story. We aren't told. Part of being a good storyteller is that you cut out unnecessary details. That helps keep people interested. And whatever Pharaoh said here, is far less interesting, and far less important, than what he will say later [and maybe saving his words for later gives them more of a punch?].
So instead, in Exodus 8:1, we find Yahweh giving the command to Moses to get this frog plague started:
(8:1) and Yahweh said to Moses,
"Say to Aaron,
'Stretch out your hand with your staff upon the rivers, upon the branches of the Nile, and upon the pools, and bring up the frogs upon the land of Egypt,"
(2) and Aaron stretched out his hand upon the waters of Egypt,
and the frogs came up,
and they covered the land of Egypt,
(3) and the magicians did thus/the same thing with their sorceries,
and they brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt,
Let's pause. Here, again, the magicians were able to imitate Yahweh's signs and wonders. But that's all. They can't fight back. They can't do anything actually useful. All they can do, is make the frog plague a tiny bit worse.
Verse 4:
(4) and Pharaoh called to Moses and to Aaron,
and he said,
"Plead to Yahweh, that he would take away the frogs from me and from my people,
and I will release the people, that they may sacrifice to Yahweh,"
What we see in verse 4, is Pharaoh's resolve completely fall apart. The frogs are everywhere. The way I picture it, is that behind the scenes, his wife is giving him the business over these frogs. It's one to be the tough guy in front of Moses. But when your wife slips into bed with you, and her feet touch a frog... it's game over. Next time she makes a loaf of bread for you, she won't take the frog out the kneading bowl first.
So Pharaoh here does the right thing. Maybe it's his wife. Maybe it's just him. [I should take all that out, but I can't make myself]. The Nile turning to blood was one thing. A frog invasion is something entirely different.
So Pharaoh says the right things, and he makes the right decision.
Indirectly, he acknowledges Yahweh. He knows that Yahweh is behind all of this. And he hopes that Yahweh will be responsive to Moses' prayer.
What we are seeing, is that Pharaoh shows incredible movement here, spiritually. He indirectly acknowledges Yahweh.
The other thing we see here is that Pharaoh shows movement about Israel. When Pharaoh talks about the Egyptians, he calls them "my" people. But who are the Israelites?
Pharaoh doesn't call them "my" people. He doesn't call them "your" people. They're just, "the" people. Pharaoh is giving up, partially at least, his claim over Israel. He's leaving it open, whose people the Israelites really are. If you're Moses, you're seeing progress. If you're Pharaoh, this is a massive weakening.
Verse 5:
(5) and Moses said to Pharaoh,
"Kindly tell me when I should plead for you and for your servants and for your people, to cut off the frogs from you and from your houses?
Only in the Nile they will remain,"
Moses here shows tremendous faith. It's one thing to take a step of faith, trusting that God is with you, and stretching out your hand for healings, and signs, and wonders. It's another thing to put a time stamp on it.
One of the first books I read on power healing-- by John Wimber maybe?-- (power healing= "commanding healing in Jesus' name, understanding your authority in Christ) talked about how when you pray for healing, don't put a time on it. Don't say, "In Jesus' name, back pain leave NOW. In Jesus' name, walk NOW."
You don't have control over when that person is healed, or how fast they are healed. That's God's choice. You can pray, with faith that God can do it fast. You can pray, asking them to try it out afterward, and see what kind of instant results they got.
But if you try to put a time stamp on it, and God doesn't do it within that window, what do you do? You tell yourself, God didn't heal them.
Now, I think this is good advice. I've seen a number of instant healings. But most of the time, at least when I pray for people, healings are more gradual.
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That said, sometimes when you pray for people, there is a time limit on it for other reasons. If a worship leader is losing his voice, and you pray for healing 3 minutes before the service starts, you are praying for something big and fast (even if you don't say "NOW"). He needs it now, and not later that afternoon. You pray, subconsciously, different. Or when a coworker is going to have half her finger amputated if it doesn't show progress within five days, when she goes back to the doctor for a third x-ray... you pray with some urgency.
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So when I read Moses' words here, I understand that he's doing something that I can't, or won't (?), do. He shows tremendous faith in God. Moses doesn't simply offer to pray to God, that the frogs will be taken away. He offers to let Pharaoh choose the time, as an additional proof to Pharaoh that Yahweh is behind this. Moses wants to make sure Pharaoh understands that the frogs didn't just all disappear. It didn't just end, coincidentally. [Still wrestling with this, if I'm missing an application for myself here. Moses has way more faith than me, for sure. Or, he has a much higher relationship with God, and far more confidence in God, than I have, maybe. I don't know.]
Verses 6-8:
(6) and he (Pharaoh) said,
"Tomorrow,"
and he (Moses) said,
In accordance with your word, in order that you shall know that there is no one like Yahweh our God/Elohim," (7) the frogs will leave from you and from your houses and from your servants and from your people.
Only in the Nile they will remain,"
(8) and Moses went out, with Aaron, from with Pharaoh,
and he cried out to Yahweh concerning the matter of the frogs that he had agreed to with Pharaoh,
When Moses made that offer to Pharaoh, he did so in faith. It's not like he had a specific word from God about it, or specific instructions about it. All he had was faith in God.
And then what we see in verse 8, is Moses crying out to God. This, again, is what faith looks like. You find yourself making big claims about God to someone, and then, after you leave, you cry out to God, asking him to back up those big claims.
This is a perfect picture of faith, and prayer. Faith in God is not quiet, passive acceptance. Faith in God is vocal, directed to God, and assertive. Faith in God means having a real relationship with God, and actively relying on him.
Verse 9:
(9) and Yahweh acted in accordance with the word of Moses,
God wants his name to be honored. He wants his people to have total trust, and confidence in Him. He wants his people to cry out to him, asking him for help. And God likes to say "yes." So God here does, what He may not have if Moses hadn't prayed. Sometimes you have, because you ask.
So what we see, in verses 8-9, is a picture of a perfect relationship between God and Moses. This is the kind of partnership that God wants to have with us toward the world. We have faith toward God. And God has faithfulness toward us.
and the frogs died from their houses, from the villages, and from the fields,
(10) and they gathered them in heaps upon heaps,
and the land stank,
(11) and Pharaoh saw that there was relief,
and he made his heart/resolve heavy,
and he didn't listen to them,
just as Yahweh had spoken.
When Pharaoh's resolve weakened from the frogs, and he changed his mind about letting Israel go sacrifice to God, he was sincere about all of it. He had a true change of "heart." He'd hit rock bottom, and humbled himself, and done the right thing.
But once God helped him, and gave him relief from his suffering, he once again made his resolve like a giant boulder. He dug deep, and found his stubbornness, and didn't listen to them.
I've known non-Christians in life who have lost everything-- or are on the verge of losing everything. They were in danger of getting fired. They lost most of their friends. Their family wasn't really in the picture at all. And they found themselves staring into an empty bottle, or at a stupid TV, and they knew, they'd hit rock bottom.
And in desperation, in that moment, they cry out to God. And/or they reach out to you, knowing that you have a real, genuine, relationship with God. They know God hears you when you pray. That this is real for you. And so they come to you, asking for spiritual help. Asking you to help them talk to God.
In that moment, they make promises to God. They commit themselves to God. They're sincere. They know they have no one else. They know they need God.
I've also seen it, where God does miracles for these people, when they cry out to God. They get their job back. They sober up. They patch up relationships with friends. They are freed from whatever held them captive. And they come out of that rock bottom, thanking God, praising God. They know that their circumstances didn't just change-- just like the frogs didn't just die. God did that. [Like the Biden stickers people put by the gas pumps-- "I did that."]
But the real test comes once life is back to normal. Does your heart stay soft? Do you stay humble? Do you keep living with that awareness/acknowledgement of who God is?
Or do you look back at your life, and tell yourself that it hadn't actually been that bad? You were going to come out of that situation just fine. Maybe God didn't actually help you very much. And who is really scared of a few frogs?
In the early 1900's, a man named John G. Lake ran what he called "healing rooms" in Spokane, Washington. People would come there from across the country to be healed by God, through the laying on of hands in Jesus' name.
Most of the people who traveled to Spokane had already exhausted every medical option. They'd seen multiple doctors, been given multiple treatments, and were still suffering. And, now, they were broke, and many of them were told they were hopeless. It was time for them to write their wills, and get their affairs in order.
Lake called these people "Last Resorters."
And that's always stuck with me. "Last Resorters." Lots of people will go anywhere else, to anyone else, before God. For many people, it's only when they are completely desperate, that they will cry out to God. [You hope the magicians can take care of the frogs, but they only make it worse.]
But is that us, as well?
When we read about Pharaoh and the frogs, do we see ourselves?
Our natural, fleshly tendency is to not turn to God, and cry out to Him, until He is the only one left.
Our natural, fleshly tendency, after God helps us, is to not give him the glory for his help. We assume He didn't do it. We come up with another explanation. Or it doesn't really register what happened.
And our natural, fleshly tendency, after God helps us, is for us to go back to living the same way we were before.
We don't learn. We don't remember. And we end up not benefiting spiritually from our hardships.
At the end of the day, a month or two later, we find ourselves with a hard heart toward God. We're still "Last Resorters." We still don't realize that God is trustworthy-- that God will say "yes," if we truly trust in Him. And we still don't actively rely on Him, in everyday life.
Let's turn to James 1:2-4:
(2) All joy consider it, my brothers, whenever various testings/trials you encounter,
knowing that the testing/refining of your faith(fulness) produces endurance.
Now, endurance, its perfect/fully developed effect, must have,
in order that you shall be perfect/fully developed and complete, in nothing lacking.
James here isn't answering the question of where testings and trials come from. He's not saying that everything bad that happens to you in life is a plague from God. He's not saying that suffering is God's will for you, and you should just quietly accept it. If you believe those things, feel free to throw them away.
What James is saying, is that there is a way to benefit from hard times. Difficulties can refine your faith, and create endurance in you.
Now, this is not automatic. You can suffer, without benefiting at all. Most of the things I've suffered in life, were no benefit to me.
Trials increase your faith, when they drive you to God. If you find yourself on your knees, crying out to God, then you've gained. If you resolve in that moment to trust God, then you've gained. And when you come through the other side, knowing that God proved faithful, and you change how you live toward God, then you've gained.
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On "testing," I found this verse, when I was looking at the lexicons, which I needed:
"For silver there is testing, and for gold there is burning.
Now, a man is tested through the mouth of the one praising him." (Prov. 27:20 LXX).
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When my brother was a teenager, he used to test the strength of ticks by putting them in a table vice grip, and slowly increasing the pressure. How much pressure can a tick's exoskeleton withstand, before it pops? It's an interesting question for a male teenager. It's maybe still an interesting question, if you're an engineer.
When we find ourselves being squeezed, we tend to just hunker down, and try to endure it. We try not to pop. Again, this is not how suffering, and trials, are supposed to work. If you want to benefit from trials-- and if you want relief-- cry out to God.
So when we turn back to our passage, what do we see? We've talked about three things so far:
(1) We see a stubborn man, who is starting to show cracks in his armor. Yahweh has already squeezed Pharaoh harder, than Pharaoh can withstand.
(2) We see a stubborn man, who comes to God as a "Last Resorter," but who intentionally strengthens his resolve as soon as God gives him relief.
(3) We see an absolutely perfect picture of how relationships with God should work. Moses shows incredible faith, and cries out to God. And God shows incredible faithfulness, and loyalty, and He answers.
The one other thing I think we should see here, is (4) God's plan unfolding.
God, at this point, has done nothing to strengthen Pharaoh's resolve. Up until now, Pharaoh's strong resolve ("hard heart") is all on Pharaoh.
But God has used Pharaoh's stubbornness as a way to bring glory to himself, and as a way to reveal himself to Egypt, and to Israel.
And Pharaoh's continued stubbornness, is going to give God more opportunities to show his power. It gives God the chance to send another plague... next week.
Translation:
(25) and seven days were completed after Yahweh struck the Nile,
(26) and Yahweh said to Moses,
"Go to Pharaoh,
and say to him,
"Thus has said Yahweh:
Release my people, that they may serve me,
(27) and if, refusing, you [are] to release, LOOK! I am striking all your territory with frogs!,
(28) and the Nile will swarm with frogs,
and they will come up,
and they will enter into your house and into the inner room of your bedroom, and upon your bed and in the house of your servants and among your people and in your ovens and in your kneading bowls,
(29) and against you and against your people and against all your servants they will come up-- frogs!",
(8:1) and Yahweh said to Moses,
"Say to Aaron,
'Stretch out your hand with your staff upon the rivers, upon the branches of the Nile, and upon the pools, and bring up the frogs upon the land of Egypt,"
(2) and Aaron stretched out his hand upon the waters of Egypt,
and the frogs came up,
and they covered the land of Egypt,
(3) and the magicians did thus/the same thing with their sorceries,
and they brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt,
(4) and Pharaoh called to Moses and to Aaron,
and he said,
"Plead to Yahweh, that he would take away the frogs from me and from my people,
and I will release the people, that they may sacrifice to Yahweh,"
(5) and Moses said to Pharaoh,
"Kindly tell me when I should plead for you and for your servants and for your people, to cut off the frogs from you and from your houses?
Only in the Nile they will remain,"
(6) and he said,
"Tomorrow,"
and he (Moses) said,
In accordance with your word, in order that you shall know that there is no one like Yahweh our God/Elohim," (7) the frogs will leave from you and from your houses and from your servants and from your people.
Only in the Nile they will remain,"
(8) and Moses went out, with Aaron, from with Pharaoh,
and he cried out to Yahweh concerning the matter of the frogs that he had agreed to with Pharaoh,
(9) and Yahweh acted in accordance with the word of Moses,
and the frogs died from their houses, from the villages, and from the fields,
(10) and they gathered them in heaps upon heaps,
and the land stank,
(11) and Pharaoh saw that there was relief,
and he made his heart/resolve heavy,
and he didn't listen to them,
just as Yahweh had spoken.
