After God sent Moses to Egypt to free the Israelites from bondage, ten plagues were visited upon the Egyptians because Pharaoh wouldn’t let the people leave to worship God. The second plague was the plague of frogs. This plague was so bad that frogs were everywhere. Since Pharaoh knew that God brought the curse on the people, he sought Moses, God’s representative, to help him get rid of the frogs.

Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the Lord.”

Moses said to Pharaoh, “I leave to you the honor of setting the time for me to pray for you and your officials and your people that you and your houses may be rid of the frogs, except for those that remain in the Nile.”

“Tomorrow,” Pharaoh said.

Moses replied, “It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the Lord our God.

Exodus 8:8-10 (NIV)

It was left up to Pharaoh to determine when the frogs would leave, which is why Pharaoh said, “Get rid of them right now!” Right? No, when did Pharaoh say he wanted the frogs gone? The plague of frogs disrupting everyone and everything. Tomorrow. That’s right. Not right now or even ten minutes from right now. Not even tonight before his anniversary dinner with his wife. No, Pharaoh thought it best to wait until tomorrow to get rid of the frogs.

Why didn’t Pharaoh ask to be rid of the frogs immediately? Why? I have two reasons.

  1. Sin makes you stupid.
  2. Pride wants to be in control.

We are given this insight from Ecclesiastes.

Even as fools walk along the road, they lack sense and show everyone how stupid they are.

Ecclesiastes 10:3 (NIV)

The Bible is just full of verses about fools. While we recognize that foolish people do stupid things, the Bible adds an element to foolishness. That element is the lack of moral understanding. However, we don’t need to read verses about fools in the Bible to bear witness to the fact that sin makes you stupid. Look at King David. David had everything a man could want. He was blessed by God and respected by the people. Yet, one day when he sees Bathsheba bathing, he calls her up to him and commits adultery. Then, once she’s gotten pregnant, he unsuccessfully tries to pin the pregnancy on her loyal husband, Uriah. When that doesn’t work, he has Uriah murdered.

Because of David’s stupidity, a curse is pronounced on him and his house.

Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.

2 Samuel 2:10 (NIV)

When it comes to pride and stupidity, the two walk hand-in-hand. Look at King Saul. Saul is given precise instructions by Samuel before going to Gilgal.

“Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do” (emphasis added).

1 Samuel 10:8 (NIV)

What does Saul do?

He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter. So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering.

1 Samuel 13:9-10 (NIV)

Saul might have waited until the seventh day, but he didn’t wait for Samuel. Instead, Saul made the offerings himself. How does Samuel respond?

“You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”

1 Samuel 13:13-14 (NIV)

Saul’s dynasty was destroyed before it even began. All because he acted pridefully and foolishly did something he wasn’t supposed to do.

As for Pharaoh and the frogs, Pharaoh was king over all of Egypt. Some even regarded Pharaohs as immortal beings. Not too dissimilar from the idea of divine right, where it’s believed a monarch receives the right to rule directly by God and not the people. Thus, if anyone was going to say when the frogs would stop bothering them, it would be Pharaoh. Even if they had to endure the frogs another day.

However, if we’re honest with ourselves, we already know that sin makes us stupid. We will sinfully do this or that thing with a moment’s amount of pleasure because it’s pleasurable. However, we disregard the impact of that sin. The immediate adverse effects as well as the eternal implications.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23 (NIV)

Furthermore, we also know how pride wants to rule over us if we allow it.

While we might laugh and shake our heads at Pharaoh’s choice to live with the frogs another day, we shouldn’t be so quick to throw stones since I’m confident we’ve done some equally foolish things. I know there have been times when I’ve chosen to live with the frogs in my life instead of getting rid of them right away. What frogs are you living with?

Do you know God? God knows you, and he loves you. He sees you as significant because you are. No one is insignificant to Him. He’s with you today, and he wants you to know him. Jesus died for your sins and mine so we could be free of guilt, freed from death, and live eternally with him. Eternal salvation is just a prayer away.

Pray this prayer with me to accept the gift of salvation:

Lord Jesus, forgive me for all my sins. I repent from my ways. Wash me in your blood and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. I believe that you died on the cross, were buried, and on the third day, God the Father raised you from the dead. Right now, Lord Jesus, I open the door to my heart and receive you into my heart as my Lord and personal Savior. Amen.

If you prayed that prayer, then congratulations! You are on the first step of a brand new life. Allow me to be the first to welcome you to my family, the family of God. There are abundant resources available online for new Christians. You can visit here for more information on what to do next. You can also leave me a comment, and I’ll do my best to help you on the next step of this incredible journey.

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