“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go back to Pharaoh and announce to him, ‘This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so they can worship me. If you refuse to let them go, I will send a plague of frogs across your entire land. The Nile River will swarm with frogs. They will come up out of the river and into your palace, even into your bedroom and onto your bed! They will enter the houses of your officials and your people. They will even jump into your ovens and your kneading bowls. Frogs will jump on you, your people, and all your officials.’” Exodus 8:1-4 NLT
Really? For most of my life as a follower of Jesus, I thought the plagues on Egypt were just strange and creepy. Just annoying enough to make people’s skin crawl and get nauseous just thinking about. Some people hate frogs and are terrified by them. I was forever years old when I heard that each plague was attached to the gods of Pharaoh – and all of Egypt WORSHIPPED them! They worshipped a frog god? Yep, it’s true.
The plagues were judgment on Egypt’s religious system, not random disasters. And, “Pharaoh is part of that picture too, because Egyptian kingship was religious, not just political. Pharaoh was regarded as a divine ruler and mediator of cosmic order, so the plagues also function as a humiliation of Pharaoh’s claimed sacred authority.” Some of the gods are speculative, but a few are historically documented!
Heqet – the frog god is one that is well known. She was an ancient Egyptian goddess, usually shown as a frog or as a woman with a frog’s head. Her main spheres of influence were fertility, birth, regeneration, and rebirth. She was deeply connected to childbirth and became especially associated with the final stages of labor. She was given the title “She who hastens the birth.” Frog amulets linked to Heqet were used by women in connection with childbirth. Sounds like a sci-fi right? Yet she was serious in the Egyptian culture, because she “controlled” the future generations of true Egyptians. Her favor meant increase, and conversely, her anger meant death. So for God to send a plague of frogs, meant that it was a clear sign to Pharaoh and the people that it was a source of judgment instead of blessing. And, more importantly, that God was over the gods of Egypt.
The Bible does not mention the god, Heqet, which I understand. Giving these hybrid or half-breed spirit beings any acknowledgment would be giving them recognition. History gives us these beings identity and role. We now know it was clearly to distort God’s truth and lead humans away from Him. These beings can’t create, only deceive. God mocks them by creating plagues showing the ridiculousness of trusting false gods.
I used to think these gods were just fakes, figments of our imagination and false projections of an actual being. Now, I’ve come to understand, they were and still are active spirit beings who’s sole purpose is to join with Satan in deceiving and creating havoc in human lives, keeping them from seeing and experiencing the one true God who has a plan and purpose for redemption and reconciliation to Himself.
These gods are very real and powerful, but many people dismiss them because they don’t understand how and why they exist. I don’t know if the “frog” god is still active like she was back in Ancient Egyptian days, but I can tell you similar gods exist around the world today, even in the “disbelieving” USA.
Pharaoh recognized the difference between his gods and the one true God, yet he still refused to submit. The Bible says that this act of arrogant defiance hardened Pharaoh’s heart and it cost him the life of his own son as well as every Egyptian firstborn in the nation. Only the Jewish people, with the blood-sign on their doorposts would be protected or “passed over” the Angel of Death. This was the meaning of Passover. We still have a “Passover” in place today, it’s Jesus blood covering over our sins, meaning the final death will pass us over when we die.
Prayer
Dad,
I am so very thankful for your love, protection and provision. Even when I was duped into believing the subtle lies coming at me as a young teen, you broke through and made yourself known to me. I am forgiven and redeemed because of the price Jesus paid for me on the cross.