When Faithfulness Meets Stubbornness: True Trust in the Plague of Frogs

And GOD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron: Hold out your arm with the rod over the rivers, the canals, and the ponds, and bring up the frogs on the land of Egypt.” Aaron held out his arm over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. But the magicians did the same with their spells, and brought frogs upon the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Plead with GOD to remove the frogs from me and my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to GOD.” And Moses said to Pharaoh, “You may have this triumph over me: for what time shall I plead in behalf of you and your courtiers and your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses, to remain only in the Nile?” “For tomorrow,” he replied. And [Moses] said, “As you say—that you may know that there is none like the ETERNAL our God; the frogs shall retreat from you and your courtiers and your people; they shall remain only in the Nile.” Then Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh’s presence, and Moses cried out to GOD in the matter of the frogs that had been inflicted upon Pharaoh. And GOD did as Moses asked; the frogs died out in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields. And they piled them up in heaps, till the land stank. But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he became stubborn and would not heed them, as GOD had spoken. Then GOD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron: Hold out your rod and strike the dust of the earth, and it shall turn to lice throughout the land of Egypt.” And they did so. Aaron held out his arm with the rod and struck the dust of the earth, and vermin came upon human and animal; all the dust of the earth turned to lice throughout the land of Egypt. The magicians did the like with their spells to produce lice, but they could not. The vermin remained upon human and animal; and the magicians said to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God!” But Pharaoh’s heart stiffened and he would not heed them, as GOD had spoken. And GOD said to Moses, “Early in the morning present yourself to Pharaoh, as he is coming out to the water, and say to him, ‘Thus says GOD: Let My people go that they may worship Me. For if you do not let My people go, I will let loose swarms of insects against you and your courtiers and your people and your houses; the houses of the Egyptians, and the very ground they stand on, shall be filled with swarms of insects. But on that day I will set apart the region of Goshen, where My people dwell, so that no swarms of insects shall be there, that you may know that I GOD am in the midst of the land. And I will make a distinction uncertain. between My people and your people. Tomorrow this sign shall come to pass.’” And GOD did so. Heavy swarms of insects invaded Pharaoh’s palace and the houses of his courtiers; throughout the country of Egypt the land was ruined because of the swarms of insects. Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Go and sacrifice to your God within the land.” But Moses replied, “It would not be right to do this, for what we sacrifice to the ETERNAL our God is untouchable to the Egyptians. If we sacrifice that which is untouchable to the Egyptians before their very eyes, will they not stone us! So we must go a distance of three days into the wilderness and sacrifice to the ETERNAL as our God may command us.” Pharaoh said, “I will let you go to sacrifice to the ETERNAL your God in the wilderness; but do not go very far. Plead, then, for me.” And Moses said, “When I leave your presence, I will plead with GOD that the swarms of insects depart tomorrow from Pharaoh and his courtiers and his people; but let not Pharaoh again act deceitfully, not letting the people go to sacrifice to GOD.” So Moses left Pharaoh’s presence and pleaded with GOD. And GOD did as Moses asked—removing the swarms of insects from Pharaoh, from his courtiers, and from his people; not one remained. But Pharaoh became stubborn this time also, and would not let the people go.

Exodus 8 records the second and third plagues — frogs and lice — revealing both the mercy of God in answering prayer and the hardness of Pharaoh's heart. Within these verses, faith is contrasted with stubbornness: Moses pleads and God acts, while Pharaoh repents only as far as the next breath.