Daily Scripture Reading Exodus 7:14 - 8:7
Humans naturally do not want to obey God. Therefore, many people pretend God does not exist, even when they are face to face with evidence and proof that there has to be a God. Today’s passage illustrates the extent to which people can deceive themselves into thinking God does not exist.
When Moses and Aaron delivered Yahweh’s message and told Pharaoh to release the Israelites, Pharaoh refused to acknowledge Yahweh. Aaron turned his staff into a serpent, but the magicians of Egypt were able to create the illusion that they turned their staffs into serpents, also. Thus, Pharaoh still refused to release Israel.
Ex. 7:14 ¶ Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hard with firmness; he refuses to let the people go.
Ex. 7:15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he is going out to the water, and station yourself to meet him on the bank of the Nile; and you shall take in your hand the staff that was turned into a serpent.
Ex. 7:16 And you shall say to him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness. But behold, you have not listened until now.”
Ex. 7:17 Thus says Yahweh, “By this you shall know that I am Yahweh: behold, I am about to strike the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and it will be turned to blood.
Take note of the phrase “by this you shall know that I am Yahweh”. Yahweh did all this to prove His existence and power.
Ex. 7:18 And the fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will become foul, and the Egyptians will be weary of drinking water from the Nile.”’”
Ex. 7:19 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools and over all their reservoirs of water, that they may become blood; and there will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”
Ex. 7:20 ¶ So Moses and Aaron did thus, as Yahweh had commanded. And he raised up the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood.
Ex. 7:21 And the fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile became foul, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. And the blood was through all the land of Egypt.
Look at the word “foul”. That word has to be an understatement. The Nile and all Egypt would have been absolutely gross.
Ex. 7:22 Yet the magicians of Egypt did the same with their secret arts; and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened with strength, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.
Note the terms that are present in this verse, and those that are not present. The verse mentions magicians, but it does not mention wise men or sorcerers. This leads me to believe the magicians were not using black magic or the spirit world to do this. Instead, they were using illusions or sleight of hand to make it appear they were turning water into blood.
Perhaps they started with real water and managed to substitute real blood at some point. Maybe they started with water and covertly added something that turned the water red and made it look like blood.
We often read this passage and think Pharaoh called in the magicians and they immediately imitated Moses and Aaron. However, the Bible does not tell us how much time elapsed. It is possible the magicians did their trick many hours after Moses and Aaron had turned the water into blood. In other words, the magicians acted after they had time to think of a way to create the illusion that they were turning water into blood.
Ex. 7:23 Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not set his heart even on this.
Yahweh was bringing the plagues to prove He is Yahweh, but the magicians were able to perform enough illusion that Pharaoh could convince himself that the God of Moses and Aaron was not as powerful as he actually was.
This is something humans from all generations tend to do. Humans naturally do not want to obey God. We want to live how we want to live. Therefore, many people pretend God does not exist. Even when they are face to face with evidence and proof that there has to be a God, they grab hold of the flimsiest reason to convince themselves God does not actually exist.
The Apostle Paul wrote about this in the first chapter of Romans when he said the existence of God is evident to all, but men suppress the truth. The magicians gave Pharaoh just enough illusion so that he could pretend that Yahweh did not exist.
Ex. 7:24 So all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink of the water of the Nile.
Ex. 7:25 And seven full days passed after Yahweh had struck the Nile.
I assume eventually all the blood flowed downstream and the Nile returned to being water, but the Bible does not confirm that nor suggest how long that process may have taken. Since Pharaoh wanted to prove that the God of Moses and Aaron was not all-powerful, he should have asked his magicians to turn the blood back into water.
Ex. 8:1 ¶ Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Come to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.
Ex. 8:2 But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite your whole territory with frogs.
Ex. 8:3 And the Nile will swarm with frogs, and they will go up and come into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and on your people and into your ovens and into your kneading bowls.
Ex. 8:4 So the frogs will come up on you and on your people and on all your servants.”’”
Ex. 8:5 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the streams and over the pools, and cause the frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.’”
Ex. 8:6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.
Ex. 8:7 And the magicians did the same with their secret arts; they caused the frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.
Once again the magicians were able to create the illusion that they also had the ability to command frogs.
Yahweh gave Moses and Aaron the ability to perform miracles so that Yahweh could prove He is Yahweh. The magicians of Egypt were able to create the illusion that they could do the same thing Moses and Aaron were doing. That allowed Pharaoh to deceive himself into thinking Moses and Aaron were only creating illusions.
Humans naturally do not want to obey God. We want to live how we want to live. Therefore, many people pretend God does not exist. Even when they are face to face with evidence and proof that there has to be a God, they grab hold of the flimsiest reason to convince themselves God does not actually exist.
The Apostle Paul wrote about this in the first chapter of Romans when he said the existence of God is evident to all, but men suppress the truth. Many people today are suppressing the truth just as Pharaoh suppressed the truth.
Who do you know who is suppressing the truth about our Creator?
To what extent are you suppressing the truth about God?
How can you evangelize a person who is suppressing the truth?
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”