Most of us are familiar with the phrase “Denial is not just a river in Egypt.” It is a word play on “denial” and “the Nile”. We all encounter denial in regards to Jehovah’s presence and interaction in this world. It seems that some can find a way to reject Him no matter what signs and wonders He performs. Others, even when He gets their attention with signs and wonders, they quickly fall away again once the sign is past and they begin to rationalize away the power of God they just witnessed.
Pharaoh and his court did this over and over, thus inviting God to continue demonstrating His power to all through more miracles. First, whenever God would demonstrate a sign through Moses and Aaron, the Egyptian “magicians” would attempt to produce a fraud… a trick that mimicked in some way the real sign just demonstrated. They would try to point to something man can do similar to what God did as a way of avoiding admitting that Jehovah was God. After they were overwhelmed by God’s signs they would appear to repent. He got their attention. They were defeated in that sign, like the frogs in Exodus 8. Then Pharaoh would commit to releasing the Israelites. However, once the sign was completed and the threat to Egypt appeared over, his heart was hardened again and he would go back on his commitment.
Frogs over the Land
1Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 2“But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite your whole territory with frogs. 3“The Nile will swarm with frogs, which will come up and go 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. 4“So the frogs will come up on you and your people and all your servants.”’” 5Then the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the streams and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.’” 6So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. 7The magicians did the same with their secret arts, making frogs come up on the land of Egypt.
8Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Entreat the LORD that He remove the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the LORD.” 9Moses said to Pharaoh, “The honor is yours to tell me: when shall I entreat for you and your servants and your people, that the frogs be destroyed from you and your houses, that they may be left only in the Nile?”
10Then he said, “Tomorrow.” So he said, “May it be according to your word, that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God. 11“The frogs will depart from you and your houses and your servants and your people; they will be left only in the Nile.” 12Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the LORD concerning the frogs which He had inflicted upon Pharaoh. 13The LORD did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, the courts, and the fields. 14So they piled them in heaps, and the land became foul. 15But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to them, as the LORD had said.
Often we say to ourselves, “Pharaoh was a rare exception because God hardened his heart. That does not really happen today.” I disagree. It is all around us even today. Consider…
What are some recent examples you have encountered from people, even those identifying as Christian, in which they deny the power or presence of God based on comparing what man can do to what God did? I can think of examples in healthcare… people turn to God for help, He miraculously heals someone and those involved start convincing themselves it was not really God, but rather man’s efforts in medicine alone. (Of course God can work through doctors and medicine.)
Apply the same thought exercise to an event like major hurricanes that have led to devastation in some areas or terrorist attacks. (We can debate in any one case if major events like this are guided by God. However, the reaction we see in people is the same as if it were.) The event happens. People are in pain emotionally and physically. Some who are not close to God may turn to him in this time of suffering. What happens once the event stops and time begins to pass? Some will continue in deeper relationship with God but many will adjust back to acting as they did before… as if nothing happened. This is essentially what Pharaoh did in Exodus 8 after the frogs were contained.
Now the hard part… you may want to engage a fellow follower or disciple of Christ you trust. Look back at your life and prayerfully consider if there are moments when you too dismiss the power of God that has been demonstrated in your life. Avoid the blindness of pride in this exercise and begin with humbly admitting you are not perfect and are indeed capable of making mistakes. This opens the door to growing in wisdom and applying God’s word in your life. Are there times in your life around big events or small ones that you quickly dismiss the power of God, rationalizing it away as coincidence or activities of man alone? Look for it in your thoughts as you go forward in life. Consider writing down when you feel God is working in your life to keep a record. It is too easy to dismiss what He is doing in our lives while at the same time wondering why He is not active in our lives.
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