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 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.
Here's the link to the commentary.That they may become blood: This is the first of the plagues. There are nine in total (the tenth is the slaying of the firstborn, which is in a class by itself), and they are grouped together in threes. In this structure of threes, the first two plagues only come after warning and a call to repentance; the third plague in each set comes without warning.
So there was blood throughout the land of Egypt: Specifically, this first plague was directed against the numerous Egyptian river deities. The Nile itself was virtually worshipped as a god by the Egyptians, and the LORD God shows that He has complete power over the Nile, not some river god.
What a controversy! While I was going to write about how the magicians could find clear water, I realized they had to dig the water up. It says in verse 24 that they dug along the Nile to get drinking water. I googled the question "how did the magicians turn the water red" and Got Questions gave a simple reply. According to the commentary, the court magicians must have used dye to turn the water red.
As a result of this "miracle show" the Egyptians had to dig all new wells. I wonder, how far did the bloody water extend. Was the bloody water only around Pharaoh's town or was it all over Egypt? Verse 17 says it was all over Egypt... even in wooden vases. Everyone everywhere in Egypt had to sink a new well to find potable water.
Some commentaries say Satan gave the magicians a miraculous chant that would turn water into something like the blood God produced. OK then... problem solved. But how did Satan know to make up the miraculous chant? Did Satan know what God was going to do? I think the commentary gives Satan way too much credit. He's just not that smart, IMHO.
I could accept the "Red Algae" explanation. Could "Red Algae" in fact turn surface water red and thick like blood? I binged it... and here's what I could....
"When the environmental conditions like temperature, nutrient levels, and wind are right, the algae population explodes and huge blooms form releasing massive amounts of brevotoxin into the ocean."
So... Who controls temperature, nutrient levels, and wind? God!
God knew when He wanted the environmental conditions to be perfect. He knows the future because not only does God control temperature and wind, He controls time as well. God created temperature, wind, and water. He knew how to make them work.
The magicians... well, they were just taking advantage of the perfect conditions God provided. IMHO... that is.
As soon as the algae plants hit the right environmental conditions, anyone could plant a bloom. God made the conditions perfect.
Satan can't take the credit for a perfect environment. Satan just isn't that talented.
Plague 1 - Water turned to blood.
