The Bloody Nile

The Bloody Nile Exodus 7:14-25 Review • In Exodus 7, God commands Pharaoh to let His people worship Him. • Pharaoh refuses but witnesses the first great sign of God’s power – The Consuming Serpent. • So far, the commands have been private and limited, but that is about to change. • Let’s start with facts and then proceed to theology. Facts: Water to Blood? • What Moses does is clearly miraculous and supernatural, but what does Moses mean by “turned into blood”? • Two Choices – (1) the water turned into actual blood (2) the water turned into a blood-colored substance • The most natural reading of 7:21 is that of literal blood (and this is a big reason that might outweigh the rest) • In favor of option #2, we have Joel 2:31, natural phenomena (though on a much smaller scale), and intext descriptions of consequences more consistent with the second interpretation. Theology: First Step of Sovereignty • Notice the comprehensive nature of the plague – “all the water,” “all the land of Egypt,” “all the Egyptians.” • This first event foreshadows what is to come – shedding of blood, use of water in deliverance, Pharaoh’s army at the bottom of the sea. • Consider the catastrophic nature of this event in all areas of life – agriculture, medicine, travel, food, service, cleanliness, etc. • First public events Theology: Statement of Power • “By this you shall know that I am the LORD” (7:17) • God is assaulting Egypt’s Pantheon of gods: see “Hymn to the Nile,” written about 700 years prior to these events. • Statement of retributive justice: 1. The same Nile that received Hebrew infant boys turns red with the blood of innocents 2. Moses and the word “Strike”: see 8:16, 12:12-13; 12:23 Theology: Plea for Obedience • Pharaoh’s Stubbornness: “heart is hard,” “he refuses,” “you have not obeyed,” “Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened,” and “did not take even this to heart” • God’s plea for obedience: “God sent me to you” – Pharaoh was graced with speech specifically to him. • See Revelation 9:20-21, “The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”