The Folly of Tomorrow's Repentance Text: Exodus 8:1-15
Introduction: The Croaking Deities
We come now to the second of the great plagues that God brought upon the land of Egypt. The first plague, turning the Nile to blood, was a direct assault on the lifeblood of Egypt and its chief deities. Pharaoh's heart was not moved; it was hardened. And so God, in His relentless mercy and judgment, escalates the conflict. We must understand that these plagues are not random acts of divine temper. They are a systematic, theological dismantling of the entire Egyptian worldview. They are a series of divine invasions, each one calculated to mock and demolish a specific set of Egyptian gods, demonstrating that Yahweh alone is God.
This second plague, the plague of frogs, might seem almost comical to us. We think of frogs as slimy and annoying, but not particularly terrifying. But this is to misunderstand the nature of the attack. God is not just making things unpleasant for Pharaoh; He is waging war with cosmic intelligence. He is ridiculing the gods of Egypt. The goddess Heqet was the frog-headed goddess of fertility, water, and renewal. She was thought to assist in childbirth. The frog was a sacred symbol of life to the Egyptians. So what does the God of the Hebrews do? He takes their sacred symbol of life and turns it into an instrument of torment and death. He says, in effect, "You worship the frog goddess for fertility? I will give you such fertility that you will choke on it. I will make you loathe the very thing you worship."
This account is far more than a historical curiosity. It is a profound lesson on the nature of idolatry, the limits of demonic power, and the anatomy of a hardened heart. In Pharaoh's response to this amphibious assault, we see a mirror of our own foolish bargains with sin. We see the folly of a repentance that desires relief from consequences but not a change of master. And we see the profound danger of telling God, "I will obey you... tomorrow."
The Text
Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Come to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “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. And the Nile will swarm with frogs, and they will go up and come 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 on your people and on all your servants.” ’ ” Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the streams and over the pools, and cause the frogs to 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. And the magicians did the same with their secret arts; they caused the frogs to come up on the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Entreat Yahweh that He may cause the frogs to depart from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to Yahweh.” And Moses said to Pharaoh, “May the honor be yours to tell me: when shall I entreat for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses, that they may remain only in the Nile?” Then he said, “Tomorrow.” So he said, “May it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like Yahweh our God. And the frogs will depart from you and your houses and your servants and your people; they will remain only in the Nile.” Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried out to Yahweh concerning the frogs which He had set upon Pharaoh. So Yahweh did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, the courts, and the fields. So they piled them in heaps, and the land became foul. Then Pharaoh saw that there was relief, and he hardened his heart with firmness and did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.
(Exodus 8:1-15 LSB)
The Divine Threat and Invasion (vv. 1-6)
God begins by restating the central demand of this entire conflict.
"Thus says Yahweh, 'Let My people go, that they may serve Me.'" (Exodus 8:1)
This is the issue, plain and simple. It is a question of worship. Who is the true God, and who is to be served? Pharaoh has set himself up as a god on earth, and he demands the service of Israel. Yahweh says that Israel is His firstborn son, and He demands their service. This is not a negotiation between equals. This is a command from the sovereign Lord of the universe to a petty, tinpot dictator on the Nile. The choice is not between freedom and slavery, but rather between serving Yahweh, which is true freedom, and serving Pharaoh, which is true slavery.
The threat is specific and invasive. The frogs will come from the Nile, the very place their frog-goddess was supposed to rule, and they will permeate every aspect of Egyptian life. They will be in the bedrooms, on the beds, in the ovens, and in the kneading bowls. This is a picture of total defilement. God's judgment, when it comes, is not cordoned off. It touches the most intimate places, the place of rest and marriage, and the most essential places, the place of daily bread and sustenance. There is no sanctuary from the judgment of God. When a culture rebels against God, it should not be surprised when every area of its life becomes slimy, foul, and filled with a constant, maddening croaking.
Aaron stretches out his staff, and the judgment comes. The power flows from Yahweh, is communicated through Moses the prophet, and is executed by Aaron the priest. This is divine order. And the result is overwhelming. The land is not just dotted with frogs; it is covered by them. The symbol of life has become a suffocating blanket of revulsion.
The Impotence of Evil (v. 7)
The court magicians then make their move, and it is a telling one.
"And the magicians did the same with their secret arts; they caused the frogs to come up on the land of Egypt." (Exodus 8:7 LSB)
Here we see the nature of demonic power. It is real, but it is parasitic and ultimately impotent. They can imitate the works of God, but only in a destructive way. Pharaoh's problem is an excess of frogs. His kingdom is choking on frogs. And what is the solution his wise men offer? "We can make more frogs!" This is satanic folly in its purest form. They can add to the misery, they can contribute to the plague, but they have absolutely no power to stop it. They cannot get rid of a single frog.
This is a permanent lesson. The world's wisdom, when confronted with the judgment of God, can only multiply the problem. When confronted with the curse of sin, the world offers solutions that only deepen the addiction, complicate the misery, and add to the chaos. They have no power for deliverance. They can summon more frogs, but they cannot bring relief. Only the God who sends the judgment can remove it.
The Foxhole Bargain (vv. 8-11)
The overwhelming nature of the plague finally brings Pharaoh to a point of negotiation. He is in pain, and he wants it to stop.
"Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, 'Entreat Yahweh that He may cause the frogs to depart from me and from my people; and I will let the people go...'" (Exodus 8:8 LSB)
Notice what he does. He acknowledges the source of the plague, Yahweh. He asks for intercession. And he makes a promise. This looks like repentance, but it is the kind of repentance born of desperation, not conviction. He doesn't confess his sin of pride and rebellion; he simply wants the annoying consequence removed. He is not surrendering to Yahweh as Lord; he is trying to use Yahweh as a cosmic pest control service.
Moses's response is a masterstroke of spiritual diagnosis. He says, "You name the time. When should I pray for the frogs to be gone?" He is setting a trap to expose the state of Pharaoh's heart. He is ensuring that when the frogs do disappear, there can be no doubt that it was Yahweh who did it, on a precise schedule.
And Pharaoh walks right into it. "Tomorrow." This is one of the most revealing words in all of Scripture. Why on earth would he say tomorrow? Why would any sane person choose to spend one more night with frogs in their bed, in their hair, in their food? The answer is simple: he still loves his sin more than he hates the frogs. He wants relief, but he is not yet willing to surrender his will. He wants to see if he can get what he wants without giving up what God demands. That one more night with the frogs is the price he is willing to pay to keep his options open, to retain the illusion of control. He wants to put off the moment of ultimate submission for as long as possible. This is the heart of all procrastination in the Christian life. "I'll deal with that lust... tomorrow." "I'll forgive that person... tomorrow." It is a confession that we still love our autonomy more than we love obedience.
Mercy, Stench, and a Hardened Heart (vv. 12-15)
God, in His sovereignty, agrees to Pharaoh's foolish terms.
"So Yahweh did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died... So they piled them in heaps, and the land became foul." (Exodus 8:13-14 LSB)
The frogs die precisely on schedule. God demonstrates His absolute control over life and death. But notice, the deliverance is not clean. The plague of noise is replaced by a plague of stench. The dead frogs are piled in heaps, and the whole land stinks. This is a picture of the aftermath of sin. Even when God in His mercy removes the active judgment, the consequences remain. The sin leaves behind a foul and corrupting odor. Forgiveness does not always mean the immediate removal of all consequences.
And now we come to the predictable, tragic conclusion.
"Then Pharaoh saw that there was relief, and he hardened his heart with firmness and did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken." (Exodus 8:15 LSB)
The moment the pressure was off, the bargain was off. The "repentance" vanished with the frogs. The relief, which should have led him to gratitude and submission, became the very thing that enabled his rebellion. He mistook God's mercy for weakness. He interpreted the reprieve as permission to continue in his pride. This is the essence of a hardened heart. It is a heart that takes the kindness and patience of God and metabolizes it into fuel for more rebellion. As Paul says in Romans, some, by their hard and impenitent heart, despise the riches of God's kindness and forbearance, storing up wrath for themselves on the day of wrath.
And it all happened just "as Yahweh had spoken." God was not taken by surprise. He is sovereign even over the sinful rebellion of men. He used Pharaoh's hard heart to set the stage for even greater displays of His own power and glory, for the salvation of His people.
Conclusion: Don't Wait for Tomorrow
The story of Pharaoh and the frogs is our story. We live in a world that is choking on its own idols. Our culture worships at the altar of personal autonomy, sexual freedom, and material prosperity, and God has given us over to a plague. Everything is becoming slimy and foul. And like Pharaoh, our first instinct is to call on our own magicians, our secular experts, who can only make the problem worse.
When the consequences of our sin become unbearable, we, like Pharaoh, may cry out to God. But what kind of cry is it? Is it a cry for relief from the consequences, or a cry for deliverance from the sin itself? Do we want God to get the frogs out of our bedroom so we can go back to our comfortable rebellion, or do we want to surrender the bedroom, and the whole house, to His Lordship?
The gospel call is not an invitation to negotiate terms. It is a summons to unconditional surrender. And the time for that surrender is not tomorrow. The Bible is insistent on this point. "Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2). "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts" (Hebrews 3:15).
Pharaoh wanted one more night with his frogs because he loved his throne more than he feared Yahweh. What are the frogs that you are tolerating until tomorrow? What sin, what rebellion, what unforgiveness are you allowing to stay just one more night? The mercy of God in Christ is not a reprieve that allows us to continue in our sin. It is the power that delivers us from it. Jesus did not die on the cross to get the frogs out of our house for a little while. He died to cleanse the house, to kill the sin, and to move in Himself as the rightful Lord. Do not take His patience for granted. Do not see His relief and harden your heart. Today is the day of salvation. Surrender today. Do not wait for tomorrow.