Exodus 7:14-25
The First Plague: Waters Become Blood
14 So the LORD said to Moses: “Pharaoh’s heart is hard; he refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning, when he goes out to the water, and you shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him; and the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand. 16 And you shall say to him, The LORD God of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness”; but indeed, until now you would not hear! 17 Thus says the LORD: “By this you shall know that I am the LORD. Behold, I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand, and they shall be turned to blood. 18 And the fish that are in the river shall die, the river shall stink, and the Egyptians will loathe to drink the water of the river.”’”
19 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they may become blood. And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in buckets of wood and pitchers of stone.’” 20 And Moses and Aaron did so, just as the LORD commanded. So he lifted up the rod and struck 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. 21 The fish that were in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river. So there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
22 Then the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments; and Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the LORD had said. 23 And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. Neither was his heart moved by this. 24 So all the Egyptians dug all around the river for water to drink, because they could not drink the water of the river. 25 And seven days passed after the LORD had struck the river.
The first plague of judgment on Egypt due to the Pharaoh hardening his heart against God was the turning of the Nile’s water to blood. The king was resolute in refusing to let God’s people go to serve and worship Him outside the country in the wilderness and so the LORD sent Moses to take his rod that doubled as a serpent to strike the water. Since the Pharaoh refused to hear and obey God’s word through Moses and Aaron, the waters of the life-giving Nile were rendered unfit for human consumption by being changed into blood. This was no mere coloring of the water; the fish died and it stank horribly so nobody could even attempt to drink from the river. Not only was the water of the Nile affected, but all bodies of water and running streams in the area were contaminated as well. Nothing was palatable or potable. Even the buckets full of water were so transformed into blood. The message was complete enough to get everyone’s attention throughout the entire land of Egypt. When the magicians of Pharaoh were able to recreate a similar effect, the Pharaoh dismissed the plague as a trick and hardened his heart even more in disobedience and disbelief against the LORD God and ignored the plea commanding him to release the people of God from their bondage to worship Him. He just left Moses and Aaron and went home unmoved by the mighty hand of God only just beginning to move against him. It took an entire week of digging for drinkable water away from the river before the plate was lifted. This river of blood was the first of the escalating warnings through Moses to demonstrate the righteous judgment of God on the nation enslaving His people and causing their suffering. The Pharaoh was judged (Romans 9:17) to demonstrate the righteousness of God and His power so that all who observed these things or would later read of them would worship the LORD. We find this same judgment will come in the final day when the saints of God, His people in Christ, are avenged (Luke 18:7, Revelation 6:10) and released from the presence of sin forever to go to worship before His face (Revelation 22:4-5) forever! We should remember this river of unpalatable blood and instead drink of the lifeblood of our Savior, the Lamb of God slain (Isaiah 53:7, John 1:29, 1 Peter 1:19, Revelation 5:6) for our deliverance from suffering under the bondage of sin.
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