Once Pharaoh had had enough of the frogs hopping all over their food and furniture, he called in Moses to have him remove the plague from their midst.
That by itself is noteworthy. As you can see in Exodus 8:7, the Egyptian magicians were able to “duplicate” this miracle by bringing frogs of their own to the land. Whether they were the same quantity and just as bothersome is not explicitly stated, but the ability was there, nonetheless.
But the fact that Pharaoh asked Moses and Aaron to remove the frogs shows a stark difference between the two groups: The soothsayers were not able to remove the frogs, but Moses could. If the magicians were able to remove them, Pharaoh wouldn’t have had to beg Moses and Aaron to intervene.
In response, Moses gives Pharaoh the option of deciding the time when the frogs will go away. “The honor is yours to tell me,” he says to Pharaoh. Whenever Pharaoh wants the frogs to leave, Moses will make them leave. (Surprisingly, he picks “tomorrow.” Personally, I would have chosen “in the next five minutes”).
The fact that Moses lets Pharaoh decide the timing accomplishes two things. First, it shows deference to the ruler of the land—an honor that he didn’t necessarily deserve based on his behavior, but one he was entitled to per his position.
Second, it shreds the last remaining appearances of Moses’ miracles being a “trick.”
As any good magician will tell you, the way to fool the audience is by giving them the illusion of control, while maintaining the real power for yourself. The more they think they can create chaos, the more likely they are to believe the trick is authentic.
When Moses tells Pharaoh to “decide the time,” he’s giving Pharaoh full operational control, not just the illusion. Pharaoh could have chosen the next day, the next month, or even the next year. By Moses’ own admission, the frogs would have had to stay for exactly that length of time, or else Moses doesn’t have any control at all.
This is why other miracles in the book of Exodus are actually miracles, and not just Moses’ excellent understanding of nature.
The “Red Nile” phenomenon that can make the Nile look like blood, for instance, only happens every so often. If Moses knew when it was to occur, he could’ve positioned himself appropriately to make it look like he controlled the Nile, when in reality, he just had really good timing. The same goes for any of the other miracles and plagues.
Moses’ response to Pharaoh’s plea for help is shrewd, in that he maintains friendly and respectful relations with Pharaoh while further amplifying and contrasting the ability of God versus Pharaoh’s own magicians.
This should have been a fantastic opportunity for Pharaoh to acknowledge the power of God and respond appropriately. Instead, as we’ll see, the tension between Pharaoh and God is only starting to heat up.
