seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Exodus 7:14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the river. Confront him on the bank of the Nile, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. 16 Then say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened. 17 This is what the Lord says: By this you will know that I am the Lord: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. 18 The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.’”
19 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs—and they will turn to blood.’ Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels[a] of wood and stone.”
20 Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood. 21 The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt.
22 But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said. 23 Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart. 24 And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking water, because they could not drink the water of the river.
19 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs—and they will turn to blood.’ Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels[a] of wood and stone.”
20 Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood. 21 The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt.
22 But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said. 23 Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart. 24 And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking water, because they could not drink the water of the river.
a. Exodus 7:19 Or even on their idols
I know it's a lot of verses for one morning. I couldn't chop up the first plague.
I noticed that the foot note says verse 19 brings up "their idols". According to one of the commentaries, the Egyptians use to make idols and pour water into them. That water was from the Nile and even though a little god [idol] was supposed to be protecting it, it was no match for God.
Then comes those pesky magicians again. Now, if they were so fantastic, why didn't they correct the situation? Why didn't they change the water back to it's clear state? Where did they get clean water to do their magic on?
This comes from blueletterbible.org.
The plagues God brought against Egypt had a definite strategy and purpose. Each of them confronts and attacks a prized Egyptian deity. Not only did they bring punishment against Egypt, the plagues also answered Pharaoh's original question: Who is the LORD, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? (Exodus 5:2) The plagues show the LORD God to be greater than any of the deities of Egypt.
The Egyptian god Khnum was said to be the guardian of the Nile, and this showed he was unable to protected his territory. The god Hapi was said to be the spirit of the Nile, and was dealt a defeat. The great god Osiris was thought to have the Nile as his bloodstream - now, he is truly bleeding!
In fact, the Nile itself was worshipped as a god, and we have papyri recording hymns sung in praise of the river.
In fact, the Nile itself was worshipped as a god, and we have papyri recording hymns sung in praise of the river.
How could the magicians of Egypt find fresh water to make as blood, if all the water had been turned to blood? Seemingly, all the waters directly associated with the Nile had been turned to blood (including its pools and tributaries, and water in vessels drawn from the Nile). Yet water obtained by wells was not plagued: So all the Egyptians dug all around the river for water to drink, because they could not drink the water of the river. The magicians turned fresh well water into blood.
Now the Egyptians had their work cut out for them. They had to dig wells along the river. That way the water from the Nile would be filtered and clean. I bet they made the Hebrews dig the wells too. That was on top of finding straw and making bricks and hauling bricks.
Oh and I have heard that the notion that the water turning to blood might have been a natural event. The same commentary debunks that as well.
Many say the plagues each have a naturalistic explanation. In the case of this first plague, some point out that when the Nile reaches an extremely high flood stage, it collects finely powdered red earth, and this red earth carries organisms that color the water and kill fish. But if this were the cause, how possibly could Pharaoh be impressed?
God may or may not have used natural mechanisms to accomplish these plagues; even if He did, the timing and character of the plagues come from God's hand alone.
Red Tides take time to develop and don't forget, the water in the vessels turned to blood as well. That's what the commentary is getting at.
