What to Do About Frogs (Three Frogs Part 3)

In the previous two posts (Part 1 and Part 2), we looked at the three frogs of paganism, humanism, and false religion that are in abundance in our world, our nation, our universities, our schools and churches, our media, and our home — even into our bedrooms because of TV, tablets, computers, phones, music, and more.

“Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.

“Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.”

And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon” (Revelation 16:12-16).

Throughout this past week, I spent my late evenings and my early mornings researching the far-reaching ways “frogs,” or the unclean demonic spirits that speak into the air of our world, are having an effect on us. My purpose was to eliminate them.

I’m not sure they can be eliminated. First of all, this is a plague allowed by YHVH, much like He allowed the plague of frogs in the time of the Exodus. But the purpose of every plague listed in the book of Revelation is to call His people to repentance. We need to identify the ways idolatry has infiltrated our lives, and we need to repent of those. Most of all, I think that only the cleansing of YHVH on this world, which is through His blood but not fully applied until His return, can eliminate this plague.

Today’s post is an action post. You will not be able to completely eliminate the frogs in your life and home, but you can identify the frogs so that you can repent of them, and you can set limits on the ways you allow frogs to speak into the “air” around you.

What to Do about Frogs

It is a bit ironic that I started my research on how to eliminate the frogs by reading a book called Digital Minimalism, by Cal Newport. Mr. Newport is an evolutionist and a humanist, a kind-hearted man who tries to live up to the ideals of humanism in his everyday life. If I were a humanist, I’d want to be like him.

But I’m not a humanist. Here’s how you can spot the difference: they “exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:25).

So is it hypocritical of me that I turned to a humanist’s book to get ideas on how to get rid of the frogs? Well, during the time of the plagues of Egypt, the frogs were even in Pharaoh’s palace (Exodus 8:1-15). The magicians could duplicate the miracle of frogs that Aaron did when he stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt. Pharaoh recognized that the frogs were causing people to suffer, and he asked Moses to pray for the frogs to leave. Of course, the frogs left an awful stink all over the land of Egypt after they died, and I think the same will be true for the future of this plague.

For instance: After all the research I’ve done, one problem that I believe was caused by the frog plague of Revelation 16 is the proliferation of genetically-modified foods. These foods were invented in laboratories by evolutionists who worshiped the “creature” and thought they could improve upon the creatures made by YHVH. We know about the harm GMOs have caused in our environment, but how can we get rid of them? Even if we tried, GMO pollen and seeds have now cross-bred with non-polluted seeds. It was a Pandora’s Box, and how can all the pieces ever be put back together again?

Evolutionists recognize this problem, too, and they see the other problems that have been caused by frogs. They are now writing books and hosting conferences to help us undo the effects of unbridled evil, but I personally believe we are going to need supernatural help to fully recover from the damages the frogs have caused to our planet.

And remember, the purpose of the frogs is to call the whole world to battle against YHVH. We know that Yeshua will win this battle, but Ezekiel 38 and 39, after describing this battle, explain that it will take seven months to cleanse the land from that battle. The weapons from the battle will be used as fuel for seven years. This is a big deal to clean up this mess! I personally wonder if it will take most of the 1000-year millennium to right the wrongs that have been inflicted on this world.

So what do we do in the meantime? I actually lost some sleep over this question this week. I pondered what Cal Newport shared in his book (and I’ll share some of those ideas in a moment), but I wanted to be sure to compare his thoughts to Scripture. All I have to go on is what is said in Revelation 16. Let’s look at the verse right after the frogs are mentioned:

“Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.”

While all the kings of the earth and all the world are preparing to do battle against the King of Kings, Yeshua says, “I am coming as a thief.” He tells us to watch and to keep or guard our garments.

Huh? I felt slow and dumb as I pondered these instructions.

I looked up herpetoligists, or scientists who work with frogs on a daily basis. Did they need special clothing? Nope. A quick search reveals most of them just work in t-shirts, no special equipment required. (Update: I found out this isn’t always true. Check out this link and also this one, pp. 18-19.)

I read further in the book of Revelation, and “fine garments” are mentioned in the chapter right before the battle happens. They sound like wedding garments.

Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear.”

(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)

Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” (Revelation 19:7-9).

I know that Psalm 19:7-9 describes the Torah (or law) of YHVH as being true and righteous, but how does the Torah protect us from frogs speaking unclean lies into the air? I know quite a few Christians and even those who call themselves “Torah observant” who regularly fall for the lies of the world around us. In fact, if I’m honest, I’ll tell you that I’ve fallen for them myself more times than I care to admit.

My daughter is the one who picked up on a key word that suddenly gave us ideas on how to fix the terrible frog problem.

1. We are to watch. We are to be observant of the frogs around us so that we can avoid them, knowing that they will be judged (cleaned out) when Yeshua returns.
2. We are to be dressed and guard our garments carefully so that we are not naked. Our garments are the Torah, so yes, guarding the Torah and obeying it is very important.

But there is a third step I had not noticed.

3. We are to do righteous acts. In other words, knowing about the frogs and pointing them out isn’t enough. Knowing about the Torah and what it says isn’t enough. We have to replace the frogs and our “nakedness” (Torah-lessness) with action.

So let’s talk about these three steps, and let’s compare my hypothesis with other Scripture.

1. Watch

You need to clean the frogs out of your home and life, and that includes your books and devices such as computers, phones, and televisions. Every time you see a frog, you need to squish it and throw it out the back door, all the while realizing that it’s a sign of Yeshua’s soon return. He is coming VERY soon, and most of the world is too busy being entertained by the frogs to notice.

Here are some specific ways to squish the frogs and throw them out:

• Be especially careful with your children. Education is extremely important to each of the frogs, so the unclean spirits target their words to children, especially through public education. But don’t be too smug if you are a homeschooler! In the 25 years I have been following the homeschooling movement, I have seen a huge increase of these beliefs infiltrating even so-called Christian curriculum. So go through your curriculum, and do not use curriculum that is anti-God. (See my book, Biblical Home Education, for more ideas.)
• Get rid of frogs on your bookshelves. If you choose to keep a frog-filled book, put it in a safe place where your children won’t read it without your being present to discuss the book and point out how it is unbiblical.
• Get rid of frogs in your entertainment. If you choose to keep a movie that has frogs, again, only watch it when you can occasionally pause and point out the frogs and discuss them. If you don’t have time to that, don’t let it be watched.
• Be wary of advertisements. This applies in the kitchen, during TV commercial breaks, at the beginning of YouTube videos, ads on the sidebars of websites and embedded in social media, on billboards as you drive, and everywhere else. Remember, the frogs are everywhere, even in your bedroom. You won’t be able to escape them. Learn to have discussions about frogs “when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”
• Notice the addictive nature of frogs, especially in technology. Addiction comes through technology because the likes and comments and red notification circles on your phone give positive reinforcement, and your desire to please your friends drives you to come up with ways to “meet them online” for approval.

Cal Newport points out that in a battle of chess, players can learn to observe their opponent’s mental state, body language, and recent plays to make educated guesses about what they will do next. They can then make subtle movements and phrases to prime their opponent’s thoughts on their next play.

The Enemy (the unclean spirits speaking lies into the air) doesn’t play fair. He is calling you to do battle against the Most High. But his calls are made subtly. He isn’t going to say, “Hey, you, come believe my fake news!” Instead, through media, he has learned to observe your mental state and your body language (probably posted on your Facebook wall, right?), and he can make educated guesses about what you’re going to do next. He makes subtle suggestions and says phrases to prime you to act in a certain way.

It looks like magic, but the Enemy does not have magic power. He is a subtle trickster. You can see something like that in action here in this video:

In Attention Merchants, by Tim Wu, he shares how readers and social media consumers are the product. Advertisers are the customers, and they purchase the “eyeball minutes” of customers. They purchase your eyeballs, and every minute you watch or read, they pay. Why? Because they will win big.

You need to pay attention to what you hear, see, watch, read, listen to, and interact with. Yes, this is non-stop.

You need to view the frogs in our world “as free services that you carefully sift through and use in a manner that optimizes the value you receive.” In other words, mixed with all the lies, you will find some value in what the frogs tell you. (Just a little lie mixed in here and there… just a tiny drop of poison in a gallon of juice you drink….)

Cal Newport warns us to recognize the sheer volume of resources these companies can deploy to push you away from your targeted use. He calls it a “David and Goliath Battle,” and that is so appropriate! “Institutions that are both impossibly rich and intent on using this wealth to stop you from winning,” he says. We must make a “bold act of resistance!”

His idea is to combine high-tech tools with disciplined operating procedures, like these:

• Do not sign into social media without a specific purpose in mind.
• Disable notifications on your devices.
• Strongly support the things you value; happily miss out on everything else.
• Ask yourself, “Is this the best way?” Then before you use technology, set “operating procedures” (also known as rules for when and how you will use each one. Yes, write them down! Possibly have a family meeting about your rules, explaining why you are trying to protect everyone from frogs. Enforce those rules for yourself first.
• Reduce email newsletter subscriptions, unfollow friends on Facebook, and set your newsfeed to “see first” for good things in your feed, “unfollowing” everything else.
• Configure your phone to send special alerts for only a few special texts; suppress all other notifications.
• Set up a schedule to check texts on your phone. Choose times to intentionally check Facebook, Instagram, MeWe, Pinterest, and Twitter. He suggests twice a week, for 20-30 minutes each time. For me, I hire staff to maintain my website and business pages. I post personal images on Instagram, to an account where I only follow a handful of people. All other posts are seen only when I visit Facebook during intentional times, and I intend to shorten this time even more so, as Mr. Newport mentioned.
• Buy a watch to use to check the time. This will keep you from looking at your smartphone just to see what time it is!
• Keep your phone in “do not disturb” mode.
• Delete social media from your phone altogether to prevent “slot-machine swiping and scrolling” and avoid alarm-red notification badges. I can’t stop thinking about what Cal Newport terms “slot-machine” behavior on my phone. When I’m bored, it’s as if I invite the frogs to surprise me with some new, mindless entertainment!
• Keep your Facebook friends below the Dunbar Number of 150, which is the number of people a human can successfully keep track of in social circles.
• Don’t follow the news. If you must, try out websites like Allsides.com, and then intentionally isolate your news consumption to set times during the week. Cal Newport suggests making a once-a-week ritual of catching up with the news by choosing a location that will support you in giving your full attention to reading, such as a local coffee shop. Read the news until your 30-minute timer goes off, then stop!
• Use apps such as Instapaper.com to strip articles of ads and click bait. Read them only once a week, at a time you intentionally set.
• Leave your phone at home or in your purse.
• Teach your children to use a paper map to drive, so that they are not tempted to use their smartphones while driving.
• Don’t think you’re on your phone much? Use the Moment app to track how much you use your device and for what purposes. Gives suggestions on ways to use it less and be more intentional about being present with the people and tasks in your real world.
• Keep in touch with special friends and family with old-school methods like mailing cards and letters. A fun app that combines the best of technology and snail-mail is TouchNote, which lets you snap pictures on your phone and mail them on a postcard.

There is nothing wrong with technology. It has many amazing uses. The key is to be “in the world but not of it.”

2. Guard Your Garments

This means that you need to purposely clothe yourself in Torah. For all the frogs that were speaking into your life, you need to purposely choose to let the Torah speak to you instead. This means that you need to do what it says, not just study it. (And yes, I do mean specifically the commands of God given in the first five books of the Bible, always understanding them and practicing the heart of them as Yeshua taught.)

Make daily solitude a priority. Yeshua did this! No matter how busy He was, He took the time to pray in solitude, away from His disciples and the crowds.

Cal Newport says solitude is “a state in which your mind is free from input from other minds,” but this does not match what Scripture says. We need to seek input from the mind of God!

“Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

But his delight is in the Torah of YHVH,
And in His Torah he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree
Planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither;
And whatever he does shall prosper.

The ungodly are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For YHVH knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the ungodly shall perish” (Psalm 1).

As I said before, you need to be intentional about what you hear, see, watch, read, listen to, and interact with. You need to intentionally hear, see, watch, read, listen to, and interact with The Word of God.

If you are not in the habit of daily Bible reading, you need to set a concrete time for it in your schedule. As author Heidi Grant Halvorson says in Nine Things Successful People Do Differently, practice “if-then planning,” which is “…deciding in advance when and where you will take specific actions to reach your goal (e.g., “If it is 7 a.m., then I will read my Bible”).

Fill your times of solitude with the Bible, godly books, sermons, and biblical music. Be careful of frogs, though, even at these times! The Bible is the only thing that is pure, so always keep your eyes out.

You must be disciplined about this! This is war! Your Enemy is walking about, seeking whom he may devour. You must watch and guard! Setting alarms as reminders on your phones and be extremely consistent in reading your Bible is not extreme. It’s the only way to know what God commands and be sure you actually do His commands. It is the only way to stop listening to the frogs and start listening only to the Spirit of God.

3. Do Righteous Acts

The final piece my daughter pointed out is that we must stay so busy doing righteous actions that we have no time to participate in frog activities any more. Spending too much time on your phone? Unless you fill up your time with righteous activity, those Facebook frogs will entice you right back.

We are not to be idle! Laziness feeds right into the enemy’s plan!

Let’s look at some verses that talk about how active we are to be:

“But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night…

“But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Master Yeshua the Messiah, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.

“Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.

“And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves.

“Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Master Yeshua the Messiah” (1 Thessalonians 5:1-2, 4-22).

So my daughter was right! Action, labor, work… these are the ways to be “preserved blameless” when Yeshua returns.

It’s either “get busy” or “get tricked.”

We need to replace all the time that we used to spend on media with work for the Master.

“They learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not. Therefore I desire that the younger widows marry, bear children, manage the house, give no opportunity to the adversary to speak reproachfully. For some have already turned aside after Satan” (1 Timothy 5:13-15).

“But we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which he received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow us, for we were not disorderly among you; nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, not because we do not have authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us.

“For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat. For we hear that there are some who walk among you in a disorderly manner, not working at all, but are busybodies. Now those who are such we command and exhort through our Lord Jesus Christ that they work in quietness and eat their own bread.

“But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary in doing good. And if anyone does not obey our word in this epistle, note that person and do not keep company with him, that he may be ashamed” (2 Thessalonians 3:6-14).

Fill your time with other things, intentionally. Visit family, call a friend and talk deeply, visit the sick, patronize local shops, minister to local children.

Cal Newport suggests learning to make things with your hands. Learn to cook and bake. Learn to garden. Learn to homeschool with excellence. Learn to make gifts. Learn to make money. Choose activities that require strenuous mental and/or physical activity, and create something that improves the world God made. “Prioritize demanding activity over passive consumption,” he wisely says.

The frogs won’t be with us forever, so next week we’ll look at what their end will be. I urge you in the meantime to take a hard look at your time (hopefully on old-fashioned paper with an old-fashioned pen) and ruthlessly rid your time of frogs, replacing them with time in the Word of God and time to serve others with your hands.

I’d love to hear your ideas and comments below.

P.S. Continue to Part 4…

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture in this blog post taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.