Exodus 7: 14-25: “And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh’s heart is hardened, he refuseth to let the people go. Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river’s brink against he come; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thine hand. And thou shalt say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear. Thus saith the LORD, In this thou shalt know that I am the LORD: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall lothe to drink of the water of the river. And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone. And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; as the LORD had said. And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he set his heart to this also. And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river. And seven days were fulfilled, after that the LORD had smitten the river.”
The Egyptians believed that the river was the source of life and, in a geographical sense, it was. Egypt is in a desert and the only reason people can live there is because the river rises in the highlands south of Egypt and brings the life giving water to the desert. Year by year the river floods and also brings fresh and rich soil to the land so that their crops can grow, the people and stock can eat and Egypt can live. On the other hand, they believed that the river was the true source of their spiritual life but the Lord showed them that this wasn’t true. Hapi was the ancient god of the Nile and he was believed to bring life and fertility. The Bible teaches that there is life in the blood (See Gen 9: 4, “But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.”). One thing is certain, blood on the ground represents death for when blood has been poured out onto the ground the life that was sustained by that blood is lost. The Lord showed Egypt that He alone is the source of life and without Him they can only expect death. The Egyptians magicians must have been extremely gifted at manufacturing lies because they were able to persuade Pharaoh that they could make water turn into blood as well. Even though the river turned into blood, the Lord was gracious and didn’t turn the underlying water table into blood so the Egyptians were able to get water and survive in the desert. This shows the Lord’s true integrity as He was showing the Egyptians that He is the Lord and not destroying them.
(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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