Exodus 8: 1-15: “And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs: And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs: And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants. And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt. And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Intreat the LORD, that he may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the LORD. And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only? And he said, To morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word: that thou mayest know that there is none like unto the LORD our God. And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; they shall remain in the river only. And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh: and Moses cried unto the LORD because of the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh. And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the villages, and out of the fields. And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank. But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.”
The Egyptians had a frog goddess called Heqet who was associated with fertility and resurrection. The frogs came out of the Nile especially in the wet season which is associated with the coming of new life. In this case, however, Moses told Pharaoh that there would be a large plague of frogs and it would be impossible to escape from these frogs. The magicians were able to persuade Pharaoh that they had produced frogs as well, although it would be very hard to distinguish between the frogs produced by the magicians and the frogs produced by the Lord. Their action was pretty useless because they Egyptians didn’t want more frogs, they wanted less frogs. When Pharaoh promised Moses that he would let the people go and sacrifice the Lord allowed all the frogs to die. They didn’t just disappear so that the people would have a reminder of the Lord’s power and that He could make their god of life and resurrection into death.
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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