FBC Daily Devotional – Feb. 26, 2021

The Plagues of Frogs and Pharaoh’s Hardened Heart

Well, here we are Friday already end of another work week and looking forward to the weekend. Sunday the Lord's Day gonna be a good day as we gather as God's people worship together if you can make that.

If you can't make it, well, we do live stream and you can catch us online at the website on YouTube Facebook live. And you know watch there if you can. But we will be meeting in person have Sunday school at 9 30 and then the morning service at 10 30.

And if you can make it would be glad to have you do so well. What does it take to really get your attention? I mean really. Grab you by the collar shake you look you in the face and then you've got your he's got your attention.

What does it take? What's it take? Well, it seems like maybe a house full of frogs or frogs. Everywhere everywhere would do the trick. Don't you think here? We are we're reading in the book of Exodus and we've come to the second plague and as you read in chapters 7 8 and 9 you're gonna read about the plagues of frogs and gnats and the flies and Boils and livestock dying and and terrible hailstorms and so forth.

I'm gonna read about this stuff. What's it take what's gonna take to really get Pharaoh's attention? What would it take to really get your attention? It seems like a house full of frogs would work and in our reading.

It seems like it actually did because we read in verse 8 after you know, the frogs are everywhere. I mean, this really sounds nasty, doesn't it? I mean Can you imagine you know, yeah, you open your oven and there's frogs and you you pull back the sheets and there's frogs.

You get out of bed in the morning, and you know, it's stepping on frog. I mean, it's just nasty just nasty. So you it seems like this Frogs everywhere has gotten Pharaoh's attention. We read in verse 8 that then then with our frogs everywhere Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said plead with the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people and I will Let the people go.

I will let the people go. Please you know, I'll let him go and serve the Lord. Just get rid of these frogs. Ah. You know if you're Moses you're thinking hmm. It worked it worked, you know the the turn in the water the blood didn't do anything, but man the frogs worked.

Temporary Respite and the Return of Hardness

Well, that's the way it would seem but alas. No, as soon as the as soon as the frogs died off and you know, there were not any more frogs jumping around anymore. Pharaoh hardens his heart. Well, the Lord said he was gonna harden his heart, but Pharaoh hardens his heart so the frogs just momentarily got his attention by the way, I'm gonna come back to that in a minute, but by the way, do you notice in some of these plagues how The pagan magicians are able to replicate the plague, you know Moses and Aaron they turned water to blood.

Well, the magicians did the same thing too and here in the second plague Frogs came up on the land and the magicians were able to make frogs come up on the land, too you wonder. How they were able to do that, you know with was there as a demonic power would they?

Well, I don't think so. I think it I think it's very simple that the Lord said, okay. That's what you want. I'll let you do it too. And so he uses even these pagan magicians to further The crisis to further the plague.

Well, how helpful is that if you can do something about it? Why don't you get rid of them that that they cannot do they can add to the problem? But they can do absolutely nothing to solve it. Pharaoh knows he needs to call Moses and Aaron to get the plagues to stop.

There's another interesting question. When he did call Moses and Aaron he said hey, please plead with the Lord to to get rid of these frogs. Moses said okay. I'll do that. When do you want me to do it?

Pharaoh said tomorrow tomorrow. Why tomorrow? Why not like right now? Could you imagine his wife? Well, he went he went home and his frogs are jumping around and he goes home to dinner and a frog jumps on the table.

And jumps in the food and and he recounts what happened that day. She says, how'd your day going? He says, oh I went we went miserably all these stupid frogs everywhere. But at least I got Moses and Aaron to come in and their promise to get rid of these frogs.

Well, when's that gonna happen? I told him to do it tomorrow. She's like You procrastinate everything don't you what are you doing tomorrow? Why don't you why don't you tell him now get rid of him now?

I Never did get a good answer to that to that question why? Anyhow, how often how often is the outcome of chapter 8 verse 15 when he saw that the frogs were gone? Verse 15 tells us he Hardened his heart and wouldn't listen.

False Repentance Under Crisis

So respite comes and he hardens his heart. You know that happens often that's gonna happen again in these plagues where. You know in the state of misery, they're so miserable. And this happens in this happens in lives today, too.

Maybe. Maybe it's happened to you. Where the Lord has made you so miserable so miserable that you actually Bow the knee you acknowledge your sin. You seem to be repentant and humbled. This is what Pharaoh did in chapter 9 we read of that in verse 27.

Exodus 9 verse 27 Pharaoh says to Moses and Aaron and he says to them this time I've sinned. This time I've sinned that hail comes and destroys crops and people and everything says this time I've sinned the Lord is in the right and I and my people are in the wrong.

Truly repentant truly humbled truly brought to his knees truly becomes a believer, right? No. Nope. When the crisis is over the true heart is once again revealed verse 34 when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased he sinned yet again and hardened his heart.

That happens too often we get in a crisis and in the crisis we seem to get really spiritual. We go before the Lord we pray we beg of him to intervene. We promise who I'm not gonna do thus and so anymore.

I'm not gonna be like this. I'm not gonna say these things. I'm gonna go to church more faithfully and we make all these things and Then the crisis passes and then we're right back to where we were. Right right back where we were just like Pharaoh.

Learning from Pharaoh’s Failure

Let's not be like that. Let's not be like that. If the Lord uses some crisis to bring us to our knees. Let us be able to say with David. It was good for me that I've been afflicted. I learned to fear you I learned to trust you.

May we come to that point? So father I pray help us to learn help us to learn from the the failure the failure of Pharaoh and instead of Instead of being superficial in our quote-unquote repentance. May it be real.

May you really work in the circumstances of life? To change us and to mold us and to shape us to be more like Christ this we pray in Jesus name. Amen. All right. We'll have a good rest of your Friday and a wonderful weekend and I trust the Lord's Day.

Will be a great blessing to you. Good day. God bless.