The Frog Surprise and Having an Egyptian Heart

Sam and I were sitting at the kitchen table, eating dinner. I wanted Sam to eat the last of the squash, but he thought I should have it. When I pushed back my chair to get it from the counter, something about the dogs' water bowl caught my eye. 

The water wasn't just low. The bowl wasn't just dirty. There was something alive in the bowl!

I shrieked and jumped up so fast, I had to grab my chair to keep it from falling over.  

Sam nearly dropped his spoon. "What's wrong with you?" 

"What is in that water bowl?"

"What are you talking about?" Sam laughed. He'd seen me shriek and jump before. "You got a snake over there?"

"No, I don't have a snake. I think it's a frog." I grabbed my long purple rubber gloves, garbed up, and went to investigate. There was, indeed, a big frog in the water bowl. I grabbed the frog and tossed it out the back door. It might not have been with all the gentleness of Jesus, but (in my defense) I was terribly excited.

After I scrubbed and sanitized the water bowl and scrubbed and sanitized my gloves and hands, I sat back down. Sam was still laughing about the possibility of a snake in the house. 

"I'm not worried about snakes, Sam. Tell me how that frog got in my house."

"Well, it went like this. That frog smashed its body down real small, till it was nearly flat, then it scooted under your door and climbed inside."

"Sam, you don't believe that, do you?"

"Yeah, I do. But I'm wondering how did that frog know where the water bowl was?"

Then, it hit me. Mamie did it. She loves to put things in the water bowl. Sometimes she'll move the food from the food bowl into the water bowl and stop it up. 

It's a short leap to assume that Mamie, who loves to chase frogs, had actually caught one, brought it inside, and put it in her favorite storage spot.

I leaned back in my chair, my heart still pounding. "I feel like an Egyptian."

"How's that?"

"You know, Sam, the Egyptians had all those plagues."

"We could ask the Egyptians how the frogs got inside."

Our conversation wandered all over the Egyptians and the frogs and the snakes, but I couldn't get the idea of feeling like an Egyptian out of my mind. I started wondering...

Those Egyptian ladies were just doing whatever Egyptian ladies did when God began to release the Hebrews. The business with Moses and the Pharaoh probably seemed like nothing more than a little political unrest.

Until the water turned to blood. 

That would've been enough for me. I'd have marched in the street to get rid of the Hebrews, but the Egyptian ladies must've been made of sterner stuff. 

Then, the frogs came. 

"The Nile shall swarm with frogs that shall come up into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls. The frog shall come up on you and on your people and on all your servants." Exodus 8:3-4 esv

If I had to deal with that many frogs, I don't know what I'd have done, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have been sit idly by while frogs jumped over me.

It surprises me that the Egyptian women didn't create an uproar, especially when one plague followed another. I couldn't figure it out, until I remembered that God hardened Pharaoh's heart, and that's why he waited so long to let them go.

I don't know if God hardened the hearts of the Egyptians or if they were already hard when Moses got there, but there's one thing I do know. I don't want the heart of an Egyptian. 

I don't want the kind of heart that is so defiant in the face of plagues that I lose my precious first-born because of it.

I don't want a heart so hard that I shake my fist in the face of God and say, "Bring it on," as he rains down blood and frogs and hail and even worse.

I want a tender, gentle heart that loves and obeys and submits to whatever God wants.

Isn't that the kind of heart you want, too?

There's good news. We don't need frogs in the bread bowl to change us. Today, let's ask God to show us our hearts the way He sees them, even if what He sees is an "Egyptian heart". Let's choose a tender, clean heart, and make whatever changes are required to have the heart God desires.   

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me."  Psalm 51:10 esv
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In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: The Granola That Changed My Day 

Here's the link to the updated prayer list: Prayer List
#cleanheart #frogs #plagues #disciple

Choosing Molech and Sacrificing Children

A passage in Deuteronomy 18 caught my eye today. Following its trail led me to an unexpected lesson. 

Deuteronomy 18:9-14 prohibits the practice of witchcraft and idolatry. It specifically prohibits the practice of "making his son or daughter pass through the fire." Every time I read that, I think, "What parent would put their children in the fire?" 

Historically, many parents have done that very terrible thing, and they have done it for a kind of personal gain. Molech was an Ammonite god to whom child sacrifices were made. Some sources say the large idol was built with outstretched arms. A fire was kindled inside the idol so that the arms became red hot. The child was placed into the heated arms of the idol as a living sacrifice to the god of fire. When the child was sacrificed, the parents believed they would receive some sort of "blessing" in return.

The idea that doing evil will somehow result in good is utter foolishness.

"Whoever does this is detestable to God... because of these detestable things the Lord your God will drive them out before you..." Deuteronomy 18:12 nasb

Several verses were dedicated to the banning of child sacrifice and I wondered about how much Moses had written. Was this a problem for people in the desert? Weren't they far from Molech and people who worshipped Molech? 

Amos 5 gives us the answer. Yes. It was a problem. No. The children of Israel were not far from the worship of Molech at all, because they carried the idols with them on their journey from slavery. 

Even after the miraculous deliverance from Egypt, even during the years of miraculous provision in the wilderness, the people kept their idols close at hand and worshipped them. It may not have been public worship, but scripture makes it clear that they sacrificed to the idols.

"Did you present Me with sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel? You also carried along Sikkuth (Moloch) and Kiyyun, your images, the star of your gods which you made for yourselves. Therefore, I will make you go into exile beyond Damascus," says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts." Amos 5:25-27 nasb

God warned the people not to associate with those who worshipped these pagan gods, yet they would not obey. They would not remove these tools of idolatry from their midst. Eventually, their foolish rebellion led them to sacrifice their own children.

Lest you think this was the foolishness of slaves, it was not. King Solomon became involved in the worship of Moloch (also spelled Molek) after he married foreign wives who drew his heart away from God. Both King Manassah (2 Kings 21:6) and King Ahaz (2 Chronicles 28:1-4) sacrificed their own sons to Moloch. 

Jeremiah tells us that this sacrifice of children was one of the reasons for the captivity in Babylon.

The enemy of our souls comes to steal, kill, and destroy. When we snuggle with the things of darkness, when we cling to bits of the world, our choices will extract a steep price and we should not be surprised.

God did not warn His people against worshipping evil because He was harsh or unkind. His warning was designed to protect us and our children from the toll that must be paid to the evil one when we bow down to him.

We have a choice. Will we cling to God alone or try to divide our heart between the worship of God yet still hold to a bit of darkness? The children of Israel found that a divided heart would cost them a terrible price in the end. It always does.

We live in a dark and desperate world. There is much evil here, but the people of God must turn from the darkness and embrace His light. We are the light of the world, but choosing darkness will make our light indistinguishable to people in need of Christ. 

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; 

I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." 

John 10:10 nasb

Our choices affect our children for generations to come. If we believe what we say we believe, let us shed our hidden idolatry and allow God to purify our hearts. 

Is there anything of the world in us? Let us join with David, who prayed, "Create in me a clean heart, O, God, and renew a right spirit within me." (Psalm 51:10)

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Be sure to check the updated Prayer List 

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In case you missed one of the past week's posts, here are the links:   God Uses Everything, Even Manwich, The Angel-Talk: Fear Not, How Will We Respond to God: Fear or Faith?, The Infinite Pi and the One Who Created It, What God Requires, Casting Stones, Forgiving, and Forgetting, and Being Altogether Joyful

 #molech #childsacrifice #faithlife #linesfromleanna #leannahollis