Episode 357 - "Water to Blood" Exodus 7:14-25
Ex. 7:14 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent. 16 And you shall say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness.” But so far, you have not obeyed. 17 Thus says the LORD, “By this you shall know that I am the LORD: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood. 18 The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.” 19 And the LORD said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”
Ex. 7:20 Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood. 21 And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. 22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said. 23 Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. 24 And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile.
Ex. 7:25 Seven full days passed after the LORD had struck the Nile.
When the LORD previously told Moses and Aaron to go to Pharaoh and tell him that the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, was instructing him through Moses and Aaron to let the Hebrews go, the LORD told him that Pharaoh would ask for a miracle to prove their authority. The LORD told Moses and Aaron that Pharaoh would consistently refuse to let them go. In Exodus 7:4-5 the LORD told Moses and Aaron that at a certain point he would stretch out his hand and bring great acts of judgment upon Egypt. The “hand of God” is a significant theme in Exodus. Keep an eye for occurrences of this imagery.
The purpose of the LORD’s instructions to Moses and Aaron is twofold. First, it meant the LORD would finally bring the Israelites out of Egypt. Second, the LORD explained that at that time, the Egyptians would know “that I am the LORD.” One important principle revealed throughout Scripture is that the LORD makes himself known. The problem is that people refuse to acknowledge the LORD’s self-revelation.
Pharaoh refused to obey the LORD’s command after Aaron obeyed the LORD and performed the miracle demanded by Pharaoh. Now, the LORD would bring on the acts of judgment.
The LORD had Moses and Aaron return to Pharaoh and pronounce the first judgment the LORD would bring upon Egypt. The water would be turned to blood. It’s significant that the LORD told Moses and Aaron to go to Pharaoh in the morning when he would be near the Nile River. Why is this important? The Egyptians worshipped the Nile as a god. The Nile brought nutrients for their crops and sustained them. The LORD is making a point that he is a greater God than the gods of the Egyptians.
Did you notice that the LORD told Aaron to stretch his hand over the water? It would seem that the LORD is using Moses and Aaron as agents, physical representatives of what God is doing. God is the one working the miracle. Moses and Aaron could never have done this on their own. This is another important truth we must learn as followers of the LORD. We have no power within ourselves to do anything significant or efficacious for the LORD. Why should be bother then? Simply, because the LORD chooses to use people to be agents for his work. The wonderful thing about this is that we don’t fail if the outcome isn’t what we would like to see. We fail if we refuse to obey the LORD’s instructions.
Pharaoh’s magicians worked a similar “miracle” by their dark arts. Pharaoh hardened his heart and did not respond to the LORD’s command. Moses and Aaron didn’t fail. They succeeded by obeying the LORD’s instructions to them.