Exodus 8:12Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

He did not desire to exact punishment, as evidenced by His continual halting of executions, demonstrating both His strength and His compassion throughout this process. The initial, second, and third executions alone would have sufficed to obliterate them entirely due to their incurable state, yet He refrained from this outcome. Even though He perceived that they would remain unchanged despite the fifth, sixth, and ninth executions, He persisted in fulfilling His mission. Here, we must particularly admire His might, diligence, wisdom, and goodness—His might in inflicting blows, His diligence in stopping the executions, His wisdom in carrying out His work while foreseeing the future, and His compassion, notably beginning with the least of creation, the speechless animals.

Consider, for instance, the case of Moses, who extended his hands over the frogs, causing them to vanish. This action, as we understand, continues today. Those who observe this gesture of the lawgiver's hands will certainly grasp the deeper meaning behind this riddle: that through Moses, the lawgiver, they can come to know the true Lawgiver, and through the outstretched arms on the Cross — the One who offered Himself for us. Even if they previously harbored impure thoughts symbolized by the frogs, the moment they focus their gaze upon Him who sacrificed Himself, they are liberated from their sinful association, as the power of suffering is overcome and eradicated.