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Ten Plagues of Egypt
165
impatient to have them removed. The magicians had seemed to
produce frogs, but they could not remove them.
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When he saw this, Pharaoh was somewhat humbled. He sent 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.” They asked him to choose a
time when they should pray for the plague to be removed. He chose
the next day, secretly hoping that the frogs might disappear on their
own and thus save him from the bitter humiliation of submitting to
the God of Israel. The plague, however, continued until the specified
time, when across all of Egypt the frogs died. But their smelly,
decomposing bodies remained and polluted the atmosphere.
The Lord could have caused them to return to dust in a moment,
but He did not do this, so that the king and his people could not
declare it to be the result of enchantment like the work of the ma-
gicians. The frogs died and were then gathered together in piles,
evidence that this work was not accomplished by magic but was a
judgment from the God of heaven.
“When Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart.”
At the command of God, Aaron stretched out his hand with the
rod, and the dust of the earth became lice throughout all the land of
Egypt. Pharaoh called for the magicians to do the same, but they
could not, admitting that “This is the finger of God.” But the king
was still unmoved.
Another judgment followed. Flies filled the houses, so that “the
land was corrupted because of the swarms of flies.” These flies were
large and poisonous, and their bite was extremely painful. As told
ahead of time, this plague did not extend to the land of Goshen.
Pharaoh Hardens His Heart
Pharaoh now offered the Israelites permission to sacrifice in
Egypt, but they refused. “It is not right to do so,” said Moses. “If we
sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, then
will they not stone us?” The animals that the Hebrews would be
required to sacrifice were among those the Egyptians regarded as
sacred—to kill one even accidentally was a crime punishable with
death.