Esodo 8:32 Commento

Three more of the plagues of Egypt are related in this chapter, I. That of the frogs, which is, 1. Threatened (Exo 8:1-4). 2. Inflicted (Exo 8:5, Exo 8:6). 3. Mimicked by the magicians (Exo 8:7). 4. Removed, at the humble request of Pharaoh (Exo 8:8-14), who yet hardens his heart, and, notwithstanding his promise while the plague was upon him (Exo 8:8), refuses to let Israel go (Exo 8:15). II. The plague of lice (Exo 8:16, Exo 8:17), by which, 1. The magicians were baffled (Exo 8:18, Exo 8:19), and yet, 2. Pharaoh was hardened (Exo 8:19). III. That of flies. 1. Pharaoh is warned of it before (Exo 8:20, Exo 8:21), and told that the land of Goshen should be exempt from this plague (Exo 8:22, Exo 8:23). 2. The plague is brought (Exo 8:24). 3. Pharaoh treats with Moses about the release of Israel, and humbles himself (Exo 8:25-29). 4. The plague is thereupon removed (Exo 8:31), and Pharaoh's heart hardened (Exo 8:32).

INTRODUCTION TO EXODUS 8 In this chapter Pharaoh is threatened with the plague of frogs, in case he refused to let Israel go, which accordingly was brought upon him, Exo 8:1 and though the magicians did something similar to it, yet these were so troublesome to Pharaoh, that he promised to let the people go, and sacrifice to God, if they removed; and a time being fixed for the removal of them, it was accordingly done at the entreaty of Moses and Aaron, Exo 8:7 but there being a respite, Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and the plague of lice is ordered, and which was executed; and though this the magicians essayed to do, and could not, but owned it to be the finger of God, yet Pharaoh's heart was hardened, Exo 8:15 wherefore he is threatened with a swarm of flies, which should not infest Goshen, only the places where the Egyptians dwelt, and it was so, Exo 8:20 upon which Pharaoh called for Moses, and declared himself willing the people would sacrifice in the land; but this not being satisfactory, he agreed they should go into the wilderness, but not so far; and on the account of the entreaty of Moses, the plague was removed; but still Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not let the people go, Exo 8:25.

The plague of frogs threatened, Exo 8:1, Exo 8:2. The extent of this plague, Exo 8:3, Exo 8:4. Aaron commanded to stretch out his hand, with the rod, over the river and waters of Egypt, in consequence of which the frogs came, Exo 8:5, Exo 8:6. The magicians imitate this miracle, Exo 8:7. Pharaoh entreats Moses to remove the frogs, and promises to let the people go, Exo 8:8. Moses promises that they shall be removed from every part of Egypt, the river excepted, Exo 8:9-11. Moses prays to God, and the frogs die throughout the land of Egypt, Exo 8:12-14. Pharaoh, finding himself respited, hardens his heart, Exo 8:15. The plague of lice on man and beast, Exo 8:16, Exo 8:17. The magicians attempt to imitate this miracle, but in vain, Exo 8:18. They confess it to be the finger of God, and yet Pharaoh continues obstinate, Exo 8:19. Moses is sent again to him to command him to let the people go, and in case of disobedience he is threatened with swarms of flies, Exo 8:20, Exo 8:21. A promise made that the land of Goshen, where the Israelites dwelt, should be exempted front this plague, Exo 8:22, Exo 8:23. The flies are sent, Exo 8:24. Pharaoh sends for Moses and Aaron, and offers to permit them to sacrifice in the land, Exo 8:25. They refuse, and desire to go three days' journey into the wilderness, Exo 8:26, Exo 8:27. Pharaoh consents to let them go a little way, provided they would entreat the Lord to remove the flies, Exo 8:28. Moses consents, prays to God, and the flies are removed, Exo 8:29-31. After which Pharaoh yet hardened his heart, and refused to let the people go, Exo 8:32.

Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also - See Exo 8:15. This hardening was the mere effect of his self-determining obstinacy. He preferred his gain to the will and command of Jehovah, and God made his obstinacy the means of showing forth his own power and providence in a supereminent degree. 1. As every false religion proves there is a true one, as a copy, however marred or imperfect, shows there was an original from which it was taken, so false miracles prove that there were genuine miracles, and that God chooses at particular times, for the most important purposes, to invert the established order of nature, and thus prove his omnipotence and universal agency. That the miracles wrought at this time were real we have the fullest proof. The waters, for instance, were not turned into blood in appearance merely, but were really thus changed. Hence the people could not drink of them; and as blood in a very short time, when exposed to the air, becomes putrid, so did the bloody waters; therefore all the fish that were in the river died. 2. No human power or ingenuity could produce such frogs as annoyed the land of Egypt. This also was a real, not an imaginary, plague. Innumerable multitudes of these animals were produced for the purpose; and the heaps of their dead carcasses, which putrefied and infected the land, at once demonstrated the reality of the miracle. 3. The lice both on man and beast through the whole land, and the innumerable swarms of flies, gave such proofs of their reality as to put the truth of these miracles out of question for ever. It was necessary that this point should be fully proved, that both the Egyptians and Israelites might see the finger of God in these awful works. 4. To superficial observers only do "Moses and the magicians appear to be nearly matched." The power of God was shown in producing and removing the plagues. In certain cases the magicians imitated the production of a plague, but they had no power to remove any. They could not seem to remove the bloody color, nor the putrescency from the waters through which the fish were destroyed, though they could imitate the color itself; they could not remove the frogs, the lice, or swarms of flies, though they could imitate the former and latter; they could by dexterity of hand or diabolic influence produce serpents, but they could not bring one forward that could swallow up the rod of Aaron. In every respect they fall infinitely short of the power and wonderful energy evidenced in the miracles of Moses and Aaron. The opposition therefore of those men served only as a foil to set off the excellence of that power by which these messengers of God acted. 5. The courage, constancy, and faith of Moses are worthy of the most serious consideration. Had he not been fully satisfied of the truth and certainty of his Divine mission, he could not have encountered such a host of difficulties; had he not been certain of the issue, he could not have preserved amidst so many discouraging circumstances; and had he not had a deep acquaintance with God, his faith in every trial must have necessarily failed. So strong was this grace in him that he could even pledge his Maker to the performance of works concerning which he had not as yet consulted him! He therefore let Pharaoh fix the very time on which he would wish to have the plague removed; and when this was done, he went to God by faith and prayer to obtain this new miracle; and God in the most exact and circumstantial manner fulfilled the word of his servant. 6. From all this let us learn that there is a God who worketh in the earth; that universal nature is under his control; that he can alter, suspend, counteract, or invert its general laws whensoever he pleases; and that he can save or destroy by the most feeble and most contemptible instruments. We should therefore deeply reverence his eternal power and Godhead, and look with respect on every creature he has made, as the meanest of them may in his hand, become the instrument of our salvation or our ruin. 7. Let us not imagine that God has so bound himself to work by general laws, that those destructions cannot take place which designate a particular providence. Pharaoh and the Egyptians are confounded, afflicted, routed, and ruined, while the land of Goshen and the Israelites are free from every plague! No blood appears in their streams; no frogs, lice, nor flies, in all their borders! They trusted in the true God, and could not be confounded. Reader, how secure mayest thou rest if thou hast this God for thy friend! He was the Protector and Friend of the Israelites through the blood of that covenant which is the very charter of thy salvation: trust in and pray to him as Moses did, and then Satan and his angels shall be bruised under thy feet, and thou shalt not only be preserved from every plague, but be crowned with his loving kindness and tender mercy. He is the same to-day that he was yesterday, and shall continue the same for ever. Hallelujah, the Lord God omnipotent reigneth!

PLAGUE OF FROGS. (Exo 8:1-15) the Lord spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh--The duration of the first plague for a whole week must have satisfied all that it was produced not by any accidental causes, but by the agency of omnipotent power. As a judgment of God, however, it produced no good effect, and Moses was commanded to wait on the king and threaten him, in the event of his continued obstinacy, with the infliction of a new and different plague. As Pharaoh's answer is not given, it may be inferred to have been unfavorable, for the rod was again raised.

The plague of Frogs, or the second plague, also proceeded from the Nile, and had its natural origin in the putridity of the slimy Nile water, whereby the marsh waters especially became filled with thousands of frogs. צפרדּע is the small Nile frog, the Dofda of the Egyptians, called rana Mosaica or Nilotica by Seetzen, which appears in large numbers as soon as the waters recede. These frogs (הצּפרדּע in Exo 8:6, used collectively) became a penal miracle from the fact that they came out of the water in unparalleled numbers, in consequence of the stretching out of Aaron's staff over the waters of the Nile, as had been foretold to the king, and that they not only penetrated into the houses and inner rooms ("bed-chamber"), and crept into the domestic utensils, the beds (מטּה), the ovens, and the kneading-troughs (not the "dough" as Luther renders it), but even got upon the men themselves.