The Croaking for Change

Exodus 7:25-8:15

Exodus 7:25–8:15 NKJV

25 And seven days passed after the Lord had struck the river. 1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 2 But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all your territory with frogs. 3 So the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into your house, into your bedroom, on your bed, into the houses of your servants, on your people, into your ovens, and into your kneading bowls. 4 And the frogs shall come up on you, on your people, and on all your servants.” ’ ” 5 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.’ ” 6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. 7 And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs on the land of Egypt. 8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Entreat 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 sacrifice to the Lord.” 9 And Moses said to Pharaoh, “Accept the honor of saying when I shall intercede for you, for your servants, and for your people, to destroy the frogs from you and your houses, that they may remain in the river only.” 10 So he said, “Tomorrow.” And he said, “Let it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God. 11 And the frogs shall depart from you, from your houses, from your servants, and from your people. They shall remain in the river only.” 12 Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh. And Moses cried out to the Lord concerning the frogs which He had brought against Pharaoh. 13 So the Lord did according to the word of Moses. And the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courtyards, and out of the fields. 14 They gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not heed them, as the Lord had said.

Prayer

Message

There are times that it is good to let things percolate. There are periods in our lives that matters need to simmer. Pharoah and the people of Egypt had time to percolate over what was happening with the visits of Moses and Aaron and the plague that they called down from God on the people of Egypt.

No water for seven days was good reason to percolate over matters, to study the situation and determine what in the world was going on.

You will remember that last time we studied the Exodus that God plagued Egypt by striking the Nile river and the river turned to blood. Every stream, pond, tributary, or vessel sitting around that held water turned into blood.

We tend to think that times of percolation or simmering times are unproductive times, but there are many moving parts that God is working and orchestrating during periods periods of contemplation. We will grasp that today in our studies.

Exodus 7:25 “25 And seven days passed after the Lord had struck the river.”

We’ve discussed seven many times, but we know seven to be a perfect number. Seven represents the period that God created the earth, six days He labored and on the seventh day we know that He declared the Sabbath and rested.

Seven days teaches us that there perfect seasons of contemplation to assess what is happening about us. What is God teaching me? What am I learning during this season? How is God working in the opposing parties of life? How is God working in my life? What is the big picture that God is working to accomplish?

Oh dearly beloved, if we could cultivate patience and allow God to work His will in our lives.

-Getting our health in order. We want it yesterday. If it happened so quickly we would not appreciate it, we would not cherish it, we would not work hard to keep it.

-Education. We think that when we get out of college that there is a $100,000 job waiting on us. It does not work that way with rare exception.

-Homes-we want our parents home or better first home out of the shoot.

The Lord carries us through times of percolating. And for all my coffee friends here this morning.

The old percolated coffee pot vs. the Mr. Coffee vs. the Keuric or instant coffee, there is no comparison.

“Anticipation, anticipation, its making me wait-it’s slow good.”-Heinz Ketchup.

The people had much to think about. Pharoah had much to think about. Subordinates to Pharoah saw the uncertainty and the timidity building in Pharoah as the God of Israel began to deal him and the Egyptians havoc. I call it the “ya-ya.” Ya-ya began to go out from Pharaoh's palace from the palace servants of what was happening and the people of Egypt became insecure.

I can assure you that Moses, Aaron and the Israelites were all in awe of what God was doing and I imagine a reverential fear came over the people.

One day you are sitting in the arid climate of Egypt, the refreshment, the sustenance, the beauty, the travel of the Nile is at your beckoned call and then within moments, every drop of water in Egypt, every inch of that river, the tributaries, the creeks, the pooling places, and all the vessels that had standing water had turned to blood. Not a drop of fresh water was available.

This morning maybe you find yourself in a percolating, idle time. When things appear stale, fruitless, idle, a period of slack productivity, it may be that God is preparing you for something greater. The Egyptians longed for a glass of water. Maybe you are searching today for the living water of the Lord to offer His direction for your life.

Oh dearly beloved, God has freeze frame moments, periods in our lives that can be eye awakening and they arrest our attention. Egypt was in such a time as this.

2 Peter 3:9 “9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

Be clear here. The Lord is patient with us. God was patient with Moses in his insecurities, but the Lord kept pressing on. God started with patience with Pharaoh, but we see today the Lord steps it up a notch and presses on to accomplish His will.

The Curse of False Guidance VV. 1-7

We know that God was at work to save His people Israel. He was not taking no for an answer. Today, God has called the church to reach the lost for Jesus. His mission has never changed. God is immutable, meaning that He does not change. And the Lord was not changing His objective to cause Pharaoh to let His people go. What is so interesting in the story of the Exodus is that we learn that God had multiple objectives He was accomplishing. God works corporately and He works individually.

We see three matters that vary from the first plague of the water turning to blood and today’s study, the second plague, the plague of the frogs. We see God’s words more pointed and direct. We do not hear the request to go worship in the desert. We do not hear the word “please” as in Chapter 5. We hear the words, “let my people go.” Listen dearly beloved, God can turn up the heat on us and be more direct in His actions with us when we do not submit to His will.

The Lord was determined to get Israel out but He was determined to get Egypt to look up. He was determined to reveal to the people of Egypt who God is.

May I submit to you that when matters about you become chaotic, practice looking up before you look outward in taking any other actions.

Note an important second matter in this announcement of the second plague. Moses was directly confronting Pharaoh. By the fact that God did not clearly state to use Aaron to convey the message, I want to believe that Moses sensed his confidence and his ability to orate growing. Moses was gaining a boldness in the Lord. Do you understand that the situational circumstances of life brings about our growth in the Lord?

Our greatest maturation cycles are not when things are on cruise control but when we are on our knees. Here we have a case of Moses traveling uncharted waters and the day in day out circumstances that the Lord was placing him in were life lessons, growing times for Moses.

Yahweh grew in the eyes of Moses and Moses grew in His service to Yahweh.

Take a moment to consider that if you feel as if you are in one of those percolating periods of life that God might be cultivating you, maturing you, getting you ready for something greater.

Thirdly, and lastly, we see that plague one was an attack against nature. God attacked the river gods of the Nile and prevailed.

In the second plague God manipulated the animal kingdom. God had a mission in mind in sending such a silly choice of plagues. The people of Egypt followed gods of false guidance.

The Egyptians worshipped Heqet, the frog goddess. She had a head of a frog. Due to the fact Heqet was a goddess, when all of these frogs ended up literally everywhere, they could not kill the frog. Imagine this: Pharoah is taking a tub bath in the palace and all of these frogs are in the tub with him. All he could do. “Pass me the soap.” They were everywhere. Scripture teaches they in their beds, on their person, in the kitchen, in the bowls, I mean everywhere and they could not touch the frog due to their pagan convictions. I can only imagine how jumpy some of you would be if a frog was on your person. Think about it. Everywhere. You are asleep on the pillow and the frog is staring you in the face.

Exodus—Saved for God's Glory The Frog-Goddess

In the Egyptian pantheon, the frog-goddess Heqet was the spouse of the creator-god Khnum. The Egyptians believed that Khnum fashioned human bodies on his potter’s wheel, and then Heqet breathed into them the breath of life. She was the agent of life-giving power and also the symbol of fertility.

Heqet’s chief responsibility was in the area of child birth. Since Heqet was the spirit who breathed life into the body, women depended upon her in the bearing of children, especially when it came to the pangs of labor. Furthermore, we might surmise that this plague was an attack against the sin of infanticide against Egypt for killing Israel’s baby boys. ( Ex. 1:15, 16) In fact, you remember that Moses was released in a basket on the Nile to escape the infanticide happening at his birth.

Oh dearly beloved, why is the study of this history of the Egyptian god and their pagan beliefs applicable today? Today, sadly we serve the same idols. Why would Egypt worship such an idol in the first place? Besides controlling the crocodile population (being the other responsibility of Heqet), they wanted to control childbirth.

We must not forget that we live in a time of modern medicine. Hospitals assist to increase the chance of a healthy baby and a healthy mother. But for the world at large, childbirth can be potentially dangerous for the baby and the mother. Childbirth without modern medicine is a life threatening situation. So, the Egyptian mom in labor would cry out to God for her baby and for herself to see her through.

Childbirth is a spiritual matter. We know that for the stories of the women of the bible based upon the importance of being a mom. We read stories of Rachel and Hanna and Sarah and the desire to bear a child. Single women long for a baby. Married women that can not have a child long for children. Women that miscarriage or lose their child after birth is such a tragic saddening event. All of these matters sadden me but the reality is they sadden women that are affected everyday. We know that tragically all of these sad circumstances are the cause of humanity’s fallen man.

Genesis 3:16 “16 To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.””

As a granddad today watching my daughter’s journey, pastoring these many years ministering to moms and ladies that are desirous of children; I have an ever greater understanding of the magnitude of that text. I thought the text early on only mean’t the physical act of birthing a child, but our children or the lack thereof, the longing for, the loss all creates great anguish.

Some couples make a sacrifice to the goddess of Heqet by performing abortions. They learn how the fetus is developing and they choose abortion. Others use birth control questioning God’s ability to provide for their needs. It’s my understanding that certain couples will use human genome to guarantee certain attributes or abilities. Fertility treatments and the list goes on.

Let me say that of these items mentioned, that everything mentioned is necessarily unbiblical in nature. There are timing factors to be considered in childbirth as well. Adoption is yet another beautiful option of taking in God’s lost children if you will. What I am saying is that it should not be the first option to rely on an adoption agency or a fertility clinic as the primary option. Oh dearly beloved, what I am saying is that God is the giver of life. He is our first option to pursue fervently as it relates to our families and our desire for children.

Lastly, the reason not to worship Heqet as a modern idol is to realize that Heqet does not have the ability to soothe your soul. Only the true and living God is able to bring healing to the deepest hurts that some of you women right here in our congregation experience. Oh dearly beloved, God is faithful.

The Confession of Fallowed Understanding VV. 8-10, 13-14

Exodus 8:8–10 NKJV

8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Entreat 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 sacrifice to the Lord.” 9 And Moses said to Pharaoh, “Accept the honor of saying when I shall intercede for you, for your servants, and for your people, to destroy the frogs from you and your houses, that they may remain in the river only.” 10 So he said, “Tomorrow.” And he said, “Let it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God.

Let’s recap a moment:

First encounter: Who is God

Exodus 5:1–4 “1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ” 2 And Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.” 3 So they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go three days’ journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” 4 Then the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people from their work? Get back to your labor.””

Second encounter:

Not moved

Exodus 7:22–23 “22 Then the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments; and Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said. 23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. Neither was his heart moved by this.”

Third encounter:

Exodus 8:8 “8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “Entreat 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 sacrifice to the Lord.””

Pharoah accomplished a wash out. Do you know what I mean when I say a “washout?”

Pharaoh gained great strides in knowing who God was and what God could do. Oh dearly beloved that should give us hope. When you minister to someone else realize that each time we plant the seed of Jesus that the Holy Spirit is germinating the seed, watering, fertilizing, and He is causing the growth we spoke about last week to take place.

“I planted, Apollos watered, God gave the increase.”

Remember those 7 days, that perfect period of percolation. God is at work. We assume that Pharaoh never accepted the God of the Israelites but I imagine some of those Egyptians did.

Where did Pharaoh fail the most in his actions? Firstly, He did not pray himself, but asked Moses to ask His God to remove the frogs. Pharaoh should have asked God to remove His sin.

Oh dearly beloved, do we deal with matters everyday due to the sin of fallen man. yes we do, but there are times we are having havoc because of the sin that so easily ensnares us. Pray that the Lord would cleanse you from your sin firstly before you ask Him to cleanse you of your circumstances.

I do not know which sin was worse. When Moses asked Pharaoh when He wanted God to act on his request, He said “tomorrow.”

In either case, I do not know why Pharaoh said tomorrow. He may have said tomorrow because He placed limits on God’s ability to bring about the change expediently.

Proverbs 27:1 “1 Do not boast about tomorrow, For you do not know what a day may bring forth.”

Isaiah 22:13 “13 But instead, joy and gladness, Slaying oxen and killing sheep, Eating meat and drinking wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!””

Putting Off

I fear that Pharaoh was like too many of us that think our problems, our sin problems will go away on its own. If I do not confront it, if I do not acknowledge it, If I turn my head to it, maybe it will go away.

James 4:13–14 “13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

Listen to me dear brother or sister. God may have you in a season this morning. You know things are not right around you. You may know that your life is not pleasing in His sight. Firstly, God has the ability and the desire to change your life in an instant and secondly, tomorrow may never come. Surrender today to the change He calls in you.

Furthermore, Pharoah He lied to God. He did not let the people go.

“God, if you will get me out of this mess I’m in, I promise I will serve you?” Anyone ever made that statement? Lord, if you will get me out of this financial calamity, I promise I will tithe.” “Lord, if you will help me get control of my child, I promise I will have them in church.”

The Lord would manage our families and our finances better if we turned those areas over to the Lord. Amen?

And lastly as we discussed last week. Your problems will not go away, they will only fester.

Did God take away the frogs. He placed them in the order of life in the river that they were supposed to inhabit. But notice all of the collateral damage from Egypt and Pharaoh’s sins. Read with me.

Exodus 8:13–14 “13 So the Lord did according to the word of Moses. And the frogs died out of the houses, out of the courtyards, and out of the fields. 14 They gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank.

Everyday you wait on surrendering to the Lord, I mean really surrendering to His will for your life, the piles of stink of sin build in your life. The after affects of sin do not go away. Heaps of results of sin linger until you ask Him to offer up new life found in Jesus.

The Cry of Faith in God V. 12

How do you respond if you want a change? Maybe you have been percolating here this morning as the Lord has spoken to your heart. Where do you begin? Begin as Moses and cry out to the Lord.

Exodus 8:12 “12 Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh. And Moses cried out to the Lord concerning the frogs which He had brought against Pharaoh.”

Romans 10:13 “13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.””

Where to begin? Cry out to Jesus.

Lyrics Cry out to Jesus

To everyone who's lost someone they love Long before it was their time You feel like the days you had were not enough When you said goodbye

And to all of the people with burdens and pains Keeping you back from your life You believe that there's nothing and there is no one Who can make it right

There is hope for the helpless Rest for the weary And love for the broken heart And there is grace and forgiveness Mercy and healing He'll meet you wherever you are Cry out to Jesus Cry out to Jesus

For the marriage that's struggling just to hang on They've lost all of their faith in love And they've done all they can to make it right again, still it's not enough

For the ones who can't break the addictions and chains You try to give up but you come back again Just remember that you're not alone in your shame And your suffering

There is hope for the helpless Rest for the weary And love for the broken heart And there is grace and forgiveness Mercy and healing He'll meet you wherever you are Cry out to Jesus

Oh dear brother and sister today, cry out to Jesus. Let us pray.