The Frog.
ONCE upon a time an old mother frog laid a large number of eggs, upon a stick, in the corner of a pond. They looked like little white beads as they hung on to the stick, but they did not remain like that very long. Although old Mrs. Frog did not come near to them again, she had, with that wonderful instinct which God has given to all His creatures, put the eggs in a place where they could easily hatch, and where the little ones could be at once provided with food. And so I suppose lots of little frogs came hopping along out of those eggs? Oh! no, you must not go so fast. No frogs appeared, but queer little creatures with large heads, and no legs, and each one furnished with a tail; very unlike our hopping, jumping frog they were. They also lived entirely in the water, eating what they could find there. But by degrees they grew bigger, and by and bye two legs appeared in front, and then two behind, the tadpole was fast changing into a frog; lastly his tail dropped off, and as a fully developed frog, he could leave the water, which had been his home for so long, and find himself quite as well able to exist upon land. There is a big word which is used for creatures which live upon land as well as in water; they are called, “Amphibious animals.”
Frogs are not the only creatures which have to go through several stages in their lives. The beautiful butterflies we see flying. around in the sunshine, came out of the eggs, as little crawling caterpillars. They eat and eat at the leaves where they had been placed, never going very far from the same spot. There worms grow very fast, and soon become too big for their skin, which does not grow, but when this happens, they simply slide out of the tight outer garment, and inside is a new one already. Is not that an easy way to get new clothes? Well, when the skin has been changed five or six times, the worm is full grown, and now it sets to work to spin a little cradle, or as it is called, “cocoon,” for itself, and here it lies, to our eyes dead, for a long time. But at the very right moment, out comes a beautiful butterfly, wings and all, quite perfect. Does not this speak to us of the resurrection? We are down here now like the caterpillar, weak creatures, unable to mount above the earth, and by and bye we shall lie like the chrysalis, in our graves, still and quiet, waiting for God’s time. Men may have forgotten us, but God never forgets one, and some day, we do not know how soon, there will be a great shout, the voice of the Archangel, and the trumpet of God, and then in an instant the graves will open. They may be in crowded cemeteries, or in lonely forests, it will make no difference; and out of the grave will come, not the poor, sick, weary body that went into it, but a beautiful body, far more beautiful than anything we can imagine, for it will be like the Lord Jesus, “We know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” 1 John 3:22Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2).
But will all the graves open at that shout? Alas, no; many will remain closed, for in them lie the bodies of those who never listened to the voice of the Son of God, when they were alive, and this is not the time to raise them from the grave. A thousand, years must pass away before they are called from their graves and then they will not be changed into the wonderful likeness of the Lord Jesus and go to live with Him forever, but they will be raised, that they may stand before a great white throne, there to be judged for their deeds upon earth, “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Rev. 20:1515And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15).
But we must go back to the frog, and see whether he is mentioned in the Scripture. I daresay you all remember one place. God had told Pharaoh, king of Egypt to let His people Israel go, for they were as bondmen to that wicked king. But Pharaoh only replied, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice!” He had to be taught who the Lord was, by ten terrible plagues. The first was that their river, the large and beautiful river, Nile, should have its water turned into blood. The Egyptians worshipped their river, and this made the plague more terrible in their eyes. The second plague had also to do with their sacred river. “The river shall bring forth frogs,” said Moses. Now frogs are very abundant in this country, as also in Canaan. Sometimes you can hardly see the water in a pond for frogs. The Lord commanded the frogs, and out they came from the river, from the streams, from the ponds. And where did they go? first, into the houses—all the houses, from the king’s palace to the poorest hut. Then they went further; when people went to their beds, the frogs were there; when the women came to bake their bread, the frogs hopped in hundreds over their flour, into their kneading troughs, even into their ovens. The Egyptians were very particular about unclean things, but now everything was defiled. And even when, at the word of the Lord, they died, it was in the places where they had lived, and the people gathered them in heaps, and the land stank. Ex. 8:1414And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank. (Exodus 8:14). The common frog in Egypt is the green frog, so most likely these frogs were of that species. This plague is referred to in the Psalms, “Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings.” Ps. 105:30.
Jesus can all our sins forgive,
And wash away their stain;
And fit our souls with Him to live,
And in His kingdom reign.
To Him let little children come,
For He hath said they may;
His bosom then shall be their home,
Their tears He’ll wipe away.
For all who early seek His face.
Shall surely taste His love;
Jesus will guide them through His grace
To dwell with Him above.
ML 11/21/1909