First Blood: The Sign of God's Supremacy Ex. 7:14-25 This miracle was the first of the ten "plagues" God sent to Egypt, the last of which (the death of the firstborn at Passover) led to the departure of the Jews from Egypt. The longer Pharaoh resisted God, the more serious the judgments became. The first three plagues were distressful (water to blood, frogs, gnats); the second three were painful and costly (flies, death of the livestock, boils); and the last four were dangerous and destructive (hail, locusts, darkness, and the death of the firstborn). The longer sinners resist God's will and refuse to hear His Word, the 'louder" He has to speak to them through His judgments. Not only did the water of the Nile River turn into blood, but so did the other waters in the land and even the water stored in vessels of wood and stone. This was a judgment on the Nile River itself, which was treated like a god, and on Hopi, the god of the Nile, and Isis, the goddess of the Nile. The Nile River was the nation's major source of life-giving water for the people and their crops, so taking away their water supply was a devastating judgment. The people dug wells near the river in order to get pure water, but the fish in the river died and their decay produced a terrible stench. The plague and its consequences lasted a week. |
