Animals

Animals

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh once again and tell him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so they can worship me. If you refuse, then listen carefully to this: I will send vast hordes of frogs across your entire land from one border to the other. The Nile River will swarm with them. They will come up out of the river and into your houses, even into your bedrooms and onto your beds! Every home in Egypt will be filled with them. They will fill even your ovens and your kneading bowls. You and your people will be overwhelmed by frogs!’ ”

Exodus 8:1-4

When I was in fifth grade, I was required to write a report on an animal of my choice. I settled on the frog. That report sparked such an interest in frogs that I began a collection. By the time I went off to college, I had more than seventy-five frogs in the form of stuffed animals, salt shakers, glass figurines, and so on.

In the Bible, God sometimes used animals to carry out his missions—frogs included. Because Pharaoh wouldn’t listen to God’s instructions to let his people go, God sent ten plagues on the Egyptians—the second of which was frogs. Although more than twenty-five hundred species of frogs and toads exist, Bible scholars presume that the frogs described in Exodus 8 were probably marsh frogs of the Rana ridibunda species. These particular frogs are described as noisy and gregarious, growing about six inches long. They prey on small birds and mammals, and they breed (rapidly) in the spring, which is about the time of year that the plagues began.

To ancient Egyptians, frogs were symbols of the goddess of life and birth. God, however, used the plague of frogs—and the eventual stinking heaps of dead frogs—to demonstrate his power. “When I show the Egyptians my power and force them to let the Israelites go, they will realize that I am the Lord” (Exodus 7:5).

My frog collection of years ago is long gone, but I’m still fascinated that God chose frogs to accomplish his purposes.

Father,

Thank you for your awesome power that is evident in the way you use animals for your purposes. Thank you that we can share that awe with our children. Amen.