So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land. Frogs do not merely appear in Egypt — they cover it. The verb used suggests totality, a blanketing. The same God who in Genesis 1:28 commanded creation to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth now commands frogs to fill Egypt. The multiplication language is the same as Israel's multiplication in Exodus 1:7 — what God blessed Israel with He now sends against Egypt as judgment. Psalm 78:45 recalls this plague as one of God's acts in history: He sent swarms of flies that devoured them, and frogs that devastated them. The memory of the frogs is preserved in Israel's liturgy as evidence of a God who acts decisively on behalf of His people. What covered Egypt announced who covered Israel.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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