Water Turned to Blood

Story: Water turned to Blood

Passage: Exodus 7:14-25

Characters:  Moses, Aaron, God, Pharaoh

Summary:  God told Moses that Pharaoh’s heart was hardened.  Moses was to take his staff and go to Pharaoh in the morning when he went to the water.  Moses was to tell Pharaoh to let the people go.  To show Pharaoh that He was God, God was going to turn all the water into blood.  Moses did what God said and the Nile was turned into blood.  It smelled and the fish died.  Even water in containers turned to blood.  The people had to dig by the Nile to find clean water.  But Pharaoh’s magicians duplicated the miracle so Pharaoh did not believe.  The water was blood for seven days.

Notes:  I find it funny that God starts by saying that Pharaoh’s heart is hard.  Of course it is!  God had just told Moses that He had made his heart hard!  Anyway, God is communicating through Moses here.  God refers to the staff being in His hand.  It is obviously actually in Moses’ hand, but this shows the close relationship between God and His prophets.  The water all turned to blood.  There are people who think this occurred naturally because when the Nile would flood, it would turn red which would kill the fish.  If this were the case, why did Pharaoh find it significant?  And how were ponds and containers of water affected?  The Egyptians could drink from the Nile which also implies this was not a normal occurrence.  The magicians repeated this sign as well!  I have a couple thoughts on this.  One, how did they find fresh water?  Also, why did they not just fix the bloody water?  It appears that Satan has the power to do signs and wonders.  This is actually consistent with the rest of scripture, however whenever we see him doing a miracle, it is always destructive and never constructive.  When the passage says Pharaoh turned and went into his house, I picture him spinning on his heels and defiantly leaving the scene.  His heart was truly hardened.  IT sounds like he did not even consider that this might have come from a God.  Meanwhile, His people had to dig to find clean water for a week.  This plague directly combated the river gods that the Egyptians had.  In a desert country like Egypt, the Nile river had spiritual significance.  God showed that He had power over the Nile.

Questions:  How much of the Nile was affected?  How did the magicians duplicate this?  What did the Israelites think of this plague?  Were they affected too?

Lessons:  God is powerful and jealous.  The Egyptians had abandoned God for their own handmade idols.  God wanted them to acknowledge Him again and He did it by displaying His power.  I am convicted about the things I put before God in my life.  God is not afraid to take drastic measures to display His glory to those who choose to ignore it.  This just reinforces the importance of a constant focus on Christ and living a life with the purpose of glorifying the only God who deserves the glory.