The honor is yours to tell me: when shall the frogs be destroyed

Exodus 8:1-15 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Frogs over the Land

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me. ² But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite your whole territory with frogs. ³ The Nile will swarm with frogs, which will come up and go into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants and on your people, and into your ovens and into your kneading bowls. ⁴ So the frogs will come up on you and your people and all your servants.”’” ⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the streams and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.’” ⁶ So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. ⁷ The magicians did the same with their secret arts, making frogs come up on the land of Egypt.

⁸ Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Entreat the Lord that He remove the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the Lord.” ⁹ Moses said to Pharaoh, “The honor is yours to tell me: when shall I entreat for you and your servants and your people, that the frogs be destroyed from you and your houses, that they may be left only in the Nile?”

¹⁰ Then he said, “Tomorrow.” So he said, “May it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God. ¹¹ The frogs will depart from you and your houses and your servants and your people; they will be left only in the Nile.” ¹² Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the Lord concerning the frogs which He had inflicted upon Pharaoh. ¹³ The Lord did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, the courts, and the fields. ¹⁴ So they piled them in heaps, and the land became foul. ¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

In today’s text it says:  Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me. But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite your whole territory with frogs. The Nile will swarm with frogs, which will come up and go into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants and on your people, and into your ovens and into your kneading bowls. So the frogs will come up on you and your people and all your servants.”’” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the streams and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.’” So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt...  Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Entreat the Lord that He remove the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the Lord.” Moses said to Pharaoh, “The honor is yours to tell me: when shall I entreat for you and your servants and your people, that the frogs be destroyed from you and your houses, that they may be left only in the Nile?”  Then he said, “Tomorrow.”   Can you imagine that someone who was dealing with a plague that was affecting every area of their lives would put off even for one day the remedy of their tribulation? Why would Pharaoh say tomorrow, rather than now? But how often do we, like Pharaoh, put off changing the things we need to change? How often do we say tomorrow I’ll do better, when all we need to do is say yes to God today?  

In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus says:   “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”  Yet we follow our own path and we work in our own strength and we wonder why we are weak and weary. In Acts 26:14, Paul telling of his encounter with Jesus said: When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew dialect, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’  It is hard to strive against God’s will. We find peace and rest working and walking with Him.   Often you will hear people saying that God is stretching them. I don’t believe God wants to stretch us. Think of a bungee cord, the reason it stretches and becomes tight is that it is anchored on one end.  The tension that is caused by stretching is resistance.  God doesn’t want to stretch us. He doesn’t want us to resist Him. We need to let go of what we are holding on to. God wants to move us, to have us let go of what is holding us back. In Genesis 12:1-4 it says:  Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him.  What if Abram thought it was a stretch to obey God? What if he said tomorrow? In Matthew 4:18-20 it says:  Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.   What if the disciples thought it was a stretch to follow Jesus? What if they said tomorrow?  These people weren’t stretched because they did not hold on. They were called and they left to follow God. Rather than being stretched, they grew into what God intended. If we are being stretched by God it is because we are resisting Him; we are holding on to something we need to let go of and move away from. We need to let go and grow. If we are stretched there is a limit to what we can do; how far we can go; how big we can grow before we break. That limit is our own strength. If we let go and follow God’s will and His plan, there is nothing that we can’t do.

God says “go.” Jesus says “follow Me.”  In Revelation 3:20 the Lord says:  Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.   Don’t wait for tomorrow. Today is the day to say yes Lord.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, forgive me when I have resisted You; when I have held on and held back. Forgive me when I have said tomorrow. I choose to go where You send me, to follow where You lead me and to open and let You in to every area of my life today.  Amen.