Sermon Notes: Exodus 8:1-15 – Second Sign: Frogs

Exodus 8:1-15 Second Sign: Frogs

Today’s goal: Worship the Lord Jesus not because of “good vibes” but because of wonder and amazement at how holy and righteous and just he is. 

Our study in Exodus is a study about the nature and character of God, and that inevitably leads us to see and enjoy the good news of Jesus and his kingdom as well as loads of applications the Holy Spirit will make to us and for us. 

Remember, Exodus… “is about the mercy, justice, holiness, and glory of the almighty God, who rules history by his sovereign power and who saves the people of his covenant. When the Biblical writers recall the exodus, they rarely mention Moses at all; instead they speak of the wonders of God. This gives us a hint that the proper way to study Exodus is to pay constant attention to what the book is showing and telling about the character of God. Exodus is an exercise in theology, which is simply the study of God.” – Philip Graham Ryken and R. Kent Hughes, Exodus: Saved for God’s Glory (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2005), 23.

We encounter the Triune God of the Bible in his holiness and he is the hero and center point of the narrative. 

It takes some intentional work to acclimate to the Lord’s perfect holiness as we look at him with fallen eyes that are being renewed day by day by the Word and the Spirit. As we see more of him we have to learn to crush false ideas we have created or accepted about him. 

Let’s read Exodus 8:1-15.

Note the volume and scope of de-creation with the Lord’s striking Egypt with frogs. V. 6-7, 13

1. The frogs cover the land including homes. 
2. Why does that matter?
   1. The Lord displayed his power over creation by erasing the boundaries he established in creation between the creatures for the water and human habitat.
      1. In de-creating, the Lord is striking Egypt in a way that only he can and thus exposing the “gods” of Egypt, including Pharaoh, as creatures and not Creator.
         1. In exposing these demonic and dark forces he is exalting himself as holy, completely unique, and standing alone as the Sovereign of creation.
3. Therefore, the magicians of Egypt have no power to reverse the sign, so all they can do is go along with it and replicate it.
   1. Do pay attention to the fact that these people do tap into available power and do so in ways that oppose the Lord.
      1. NOTE: Be careful as you engage your world, and pay attention to the fact that what used to be considered fringe to naturalism is becoming mainstream because it is real.
         1. More people are investigating mysterious things and many don’t consider that much of the source of these things is often demonic schemes to offer alternative gospels to humans seeking a saving from their self-created hells. 
   2. Once again, we see the Lord as powerful over the dark forces in his judgment.
      1. NOTE: The Lord is kind to expose the magicians, Pharaoh, and their “gods” so that they might repent.
         1. This kind patience has an end, and we’ll open that theological box today. 

The striking with frogs is so severe that initially, Pharaoh is willing to let the people go. V. 8

1. The scope and severity of the striking are severe enough that, unlike the Nile being turned to blood, Pharaoh is willing to let the people go.
   1. Pharaoh wants to make a deal: Get rid of the frogs, and the people can go worship.
      1. Of course, we know how this will work out.
         1. Pharaoh is willing to do anything until the pain goes away, then he goes back on his word.
            1. NOTE: It’s like that when we get sick or when hard things happen to us. We are willing to make any vow to the Lord when sickness comes or life gets sideways.
               1. Then when relief comes, we are quick to go back on our vows. 
   2. Pharaoh believed he could bargain with YHWH, and yet the Lord knew Pharaoh’s heart and that he wouldn’t let his people go.
      1. The Lord is gracious to allow Moses to intercede for Pharaoh for some relief.

Why didn’t Pharaoh request the frogs be taken away the same day when Moses offered to intercede for him? V. 9-10

1. Ezra 10:1; Nehemiah 1:4, 9:3; Luke 2:37; 6:12;
   1. There are some spiritual realities woven into creation and the souls of mankind.
      1. This is called general revelation. 
      2. One truth we can discern from the Scriptures I’ve listed for you above is many people, including those who did not follow YHWH, understood interceding before the Lord on behalf of others was not a “microwave” prayer.
         1. The religious unbelieving know this because the dark forces they worship can only imitate what they know, and they require in dark and evil ways devotion to themselves that is a rip off of what sons and daughters of the Lord joyfully give to the Lord because that is how he wired his universe to work. 
         2. They understood intercession was work.
            1. This is what the prophets of Baal take call day to call on him in their context with Elijah. 
         3. For Moses, intercession is a labor of love for the Lord and mankind that often came with fasting and postures of humbling oneself before the Lord that took time as well as emotional and physical effort.
      3. I believe Pharaoh understood that it would take Moses some time, and he didn’t presume to ask for it immediately.
         1. That is amazing and convicting.
            1. Amazing regarding the insight into how false religions function in a dark inversion of reality. 
            2. Convicting in that at least he has a more robust understanding of prayer and devotion than I do. 
            3. Again, if this is true, and most scholars believe this is the case, it’s personally convicting that Pharaoh in his hardened and unbelieving state has a greater grasp on prayer than I do. 
      4. Moses must have understood this as well. 
      5. Moses didn’t argue with Pharaoh or try to convince him of an expedited timeline because he was just wrong about how prayer worked. 
      6. They were all suffering from the bloody Nile 7 days earlier, and frogs in every nook and cranny of their existence.
         1. Moses does not correct or expedite. 
         2. Moses hears and gets after praying. 

Moses ties the relief from the frogs through intercessory prayer to the goal of people knowing that the Lord is holy (there is no one like YHWH). V. 10

1. “Be it as you say, SO THAT you may know that there is no one like YHWH our God.”
2. Pharaoh wanted Moses to ask YHWH to get rid of the frogs, and that was all he was interested in.
   1. At least now Pharaoh can acknowledge that he knows who the Lord is and that the Lord is powerful because he’s asking Moses to go talk to the Lord for him. 
   2. Moses will ask the Lord to relieve them of the frogs, and his ultimate goal is they would see YHWH as holy.
      1. We have to grasp this. 
      2. We must begin to see that people’s ultimate need is to see the glory of the Lord in his holiness, then they will understand love and a thousand other things correctly.
3. This also gives us some insight into intercessory prayer.
   1. Intercessory prayer is the work of laboring before the Lord on behalf of others. 
   2. The goal of this kind of prayer is that the person being brought before the Lord would know that the Lord is holy.
      1. Why?
         1. Man has believed lies about the Lord from Genesis 3 on. 
         2. To have the Lord reveal himself to people as holy is the place salvation begins.
            1. Until one understands that their idols of self or whatever/whoever is NOT THE CREATOR God, they won’t repent of following those “gods” and thus be saved. 
            2. In this case, Moses is asking that Pharaoh see YHWH as the HOLY/UNIQUE God. 
         3. This does not limit intercession to the work of salvation.
            1. We can intercede for people and nations and institutions etc. for any number of reasons. 
         4. It does, however, help us understand that even when we are interceding for someone who follows Jesus, we should ask that they grow in their understanding of and experience of the Lord as holy.
            1. “In this transformation, show yourself to be holy.”

Moses intercedes by “crying” to the Lord. V. 12

1. The language indicates that Moses was invested in every way to intercede before the Lord for Pharaoh and the Egyptians.
   1. Moses’ offer to pray was no passive promise that Moses might get distracted from due to something coming up. 
   2. The language implies that Moses went before the Lord with his whole being: body, mind, and soul fully engaged and he got after the request. 

The Lord answered the prayer of Moses. V. 13

1. The Lord did according to what Moses asked.
   1. Let that sink in.
      1. James 5:13-18 (ESV) 13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.
   2. The Lord answered Moses’ prayer about the frogs because Moses asked.
      1. The breastplate of righteousness along with legit Bible-soaked prayer gets work done in the kingdom of God.
         1. Prayer / fasting / silence / solitude / waiting in faith /
   3. How will Pharaoh respond?
      1. Pharaoh hardened his heart toward YHWH and refused to let the people go like he promised he would back in verse 8 if the Lord would get rid of the frogs.
         1. Why? Why would Pharaoh not respond to the relief the Lord gave him?

A Harsh Gospel Facet: The word of the Lord proves true for his holy name’s sake, for judgment, and salvation. V. 1-5, 15

1. The Lord threatens the next sign by declaring the nature of the sign and that it is going to happen with no offer of bypassing it if Pharaoh will just do what the Lord says.
   1. Pharaoh has already refused to let the people go, so there are no “if / then” offers on signs 1, 2, or 3.
      1. So, let’s address why that is. 
   2. The Lord doesn’t offer to relent if Pharaoh would comply. He does not wait for Pharaoh’s response. 
   3. The Lord just sends Moses and Aaron to bring the hammer. V. 1-5
      1. Why?
2. YHWH knows Pharaoh’s hardened response already, and the threat of frogs with no offer of an optional response to avoid it is part of the judgment itself. 
3. The Lord said already Pharaoh would not set them free unless compelled with a mighty hand of judgment in the killing of the first born (4:23), and that severity has not been reached yet, therefore, his word proves true that Pharaoh will not budge.
   1. YHWH is working a plan of justice for a man who believes he’s a “god” and a people and nation that have not repented of worshiping Pharaoh and will not repent. 
   2. Genesis 15:13-16 reminds us that the Lord is going to allow Egypt to do this (false worship and enslaving Israel) for 400 years, and those who enslave them will be judged before the Lord brings Israel back to the Land he promised to give them. 
   3. This time of captivity in Egypt was to fill up the Egyptians’ sin to its full measure leading to the gospel event of the Passover for the whole of creation to witness while patiently allowing the Amorites’s sin to fill up to its full measure before the Lord launched the conquest of Canaan to free the land from the descendants of the Genesis 6:1-4 rebellion.
      1. We learn from this that the Lord has a measure of rebellion he will be patient with until it reaches its full measure, and then he will see that the rebellion is crushed and his name is exalted. 
      2. The Lord does this to exalt his name as holy in justice AND the saving of others who will bother to look at him and what he has done and consider their ways and repent.  
   4. Is that true?
4. Paul is preaching from the entirety of the story of the signs and wonders performed on Pharaoh in Romans 9:1-29 and quotes Exodus 9:16 explicitly as he addresses the harshness of God’s judgment on Pharaoh in which he doesn’t offer an opt-out option because he’s going to crush Pharaoh in the Passover and so prove his word to be true.
   1. He knows that his Roman audience’s sensibilities (and ours) likely see such things as Exodus 8:1-5, and perhaps recoil at the Lord for what we perceive as harshness by not giving Pharaoh a chance to comply before he hammered them with the frogs.
      1. Paul reminds us that the Lord has raised Pharaoh up for a purpose:
         1. Pharaoh exists to fill up the final measure of Egyptian sin so that in just judgment the Lord displays his power and holiness SO THAT his name will be proclaimed in the earth FOR others to hear and see and repent and find mercy in turning the Lord.
            1. Pharaoh and Egypt’s time had run out. The Lord’s patience was at its end, and the Lord was going to use all the signs and wonders as a warning of grace to save others who would not harden themselves to the good news. 
   2. Is this true? Does his judgment on unrepentant sinners result in mercy for others?
5. Fast forward as the people of the Lord enter the promised land led by Joshua after Moses’ death. They discover the fruit of the Lord’s just judgment on Pharaoh and Egypt for their sins in a repenting prostitute named Rahab in the city of Jericho. See Joshua 2:1-10.
   1. The Lord has accomplished what he said he would accomplish in Pharaoh in Exodus 9:16 at this moment in the life of a converted prostitute and her family. 
   2. How?
      1. Jericho had heard of the Lord and what he did, and they are afraid, and Rahab wants to be rescued, get on the right side, and follow the Lord. 
      2. So Rahab cooperates as a spy, and she and her family receive mercy.
   3. Rahab will find herself “grafted into” Israel as a Gentile and married to Salmon of the tribe of Judah.
      1. Rahab and Salmon will have Boaz. 
      2. Boaz will marry Ruth and father Obed. 
      3. Obed will father Jesse. 
      4. Jesse will father David. 
      5. David will father sons who will have sons who will be the earthly father of Jesus, the Messiah. (See Matthew 1)
      6. The death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus will result in your salvation and mine.
         1. Through the judgment on Egypt, Rahab finds herself in the family line of Jesus, the Messiah.
            1. All because the Lord saw that his word was fulfilled in allowing Egypt and Pharaoh to fill up the full measure of their sin, crushing them justly, and putting on display for us an example that we might turn to the Lord rather than resist him. 
   4. Paul will go on in Romans 10 and 11 to tell us how the Lord’s severity and kindness will work their way out to making sure this good news of the Lord will result in the Gentile nations hearing of the Lord and having the opportunity to respond in faith.
      1. The Lord justly strikes Pharaoh to kindly save a people who will come to him in faith. 
6. This just pattern of the gospel is repeated as Jesus, counted as guilty as Pharaoh because of your sin and mine, takes the severe and just punishment for sin with no option for escape (let this cup pass from me).
   1. Jesus suffers just punishment for sin that was filled up to full so that you and I can respond to the justice we deserve by believing in Jesus and receiving the very same kindness of the Lord that was poured out on Rahab and her family so that we too can be grafted into Israel and become the family of God.
      1. See the holy severity and kindness of the Lord in how he deals with sin to show mercy. 
   2. What are we to do with this?
7. We do what Paul did with it after a couple of chapters of reflecting on this theological wonder.
   1. We keep on believing, offer that opportunity to believe to others, and we worship. 
   2. Romans 11:33-36 (ESV) 33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! 34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Closing Applications:

1. Learn prayer by reading your Bible, imitate the examples of prayer in the Bible, and do exactly what it says about prayer.
   1. Don’t look for a book on prayer written by someone first.
      1. Take the book breathed out by the Spirit of God himself, read it, do what it says about prayer, and expect all that he says you should expect from the Lord through the means of prayer. 
   2. If we won’t read the Bible or find excuses to not read it and learn prayer we should not expect anything to change.
      1. If we do get after prayer the way the Bible teaches, we will see movement from the Lord the likes of which we can’t imagine.
   3. The Lord delights in giving us the good of his kingdom through the means of prayer.
      1. The Lord hard-wired his universe to work on prayer. 
2. Marvel at the severity and kindness of the Lord.
   1. Marveling at the severity and kindness of the Lord is the outskirts of what it means to “fear the Lord”, and that is the beginning of wisdom.
   2. Believe that if God does not execute justice for sin and sin’s evil fruit he is a God who does not love anything or anyone.
      1. The fact that God’s patience has an end means he loves.
         1. Love’s correct response to being spurned is just anger. Love means one has the capacity for anger and a reserve of patience.
            1. The Lord’s patience that runs out means he loves. 
      2. The question before each of us is whether we will receive the covering of his love or love our sin and invite his justice. 
   3. Don’t attempt to fashion the Lord in a preferable image. 
   4. Don’t attempt to make him more or less than how he presents himself in his Word.
      1. Don’t try to tame the Lord by highlighting only the saving side of justice. 
      2. Don’t try to make the Lord more “harsh” by highlighting just one side of salvation. 
      3. Glory in him as he is. Let the cross stand, and let every shadow of the cross in the Bible from Genesis to the cross stand as it is. 
      4. If you don’t know him, believe and you will be saved. 
      5. If you do know him, take a deeper look at the glory of the Lord and be overtaken in wonder at him and worship.