The Nile Turns to Blood

 

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent. And you shall say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness.” But so far, you have not obeyed. Thus says the LORD, “By this you shall know that I am the LORD: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood.” (Exodus 7:14-17 ESV).

 

When Moses and Pharaoh face off, the biblical text makes clear that this is not merely a battle of wills between human leaders. Rather, the God of Israel is making war against the gods of Egypt. The Nile River was the very heart of the Egyptian empire. Egypt depended on the Nile for crops, transport, and trade, making it powerful in its prosperity, politics, and religion. So when God goes to war against the Egyptian gods, a number of the plagues strike at Egypt’s very heart. For example, the first plague turns the waters of the Nile into blood. So, there is no water for drinking or fishing or crops, making life very difficult for the Egyptians.

 

Of course, this plague had deep spiritual significance too. It meant that Egypt’s gods of the Nile (Sobek, Hapi, and Knuum) and its great fertility god (Osiris) had no power over the one true God. Osiris was also the supposed divine ancestor of the pharaohs who guided them into the afterlife.

 

The true Lord and Creator of the heavens and the earth showed that Egypt’s gods were all false. Egypt and its king were powerless to stand in the way of God rescuing his people.

 

Just so, we may also know that when the time comes for our ultimate redemption, nothing will be able to separate us from the loving ands of our God (cf. Romans 8:31-37).