Exodus 7:14  And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh’s heart is hardened, he refuseth to let the people go.
15  Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river’s brink against he come; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thine hand.
16  And thou shalt say unto him, The LORD God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest not hear.
17  Thus saith the LORD, In this thou shalt know that I am the LORD: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.
18  And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall lothe to drink of the water of the river.
19  And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood, and in vessels of stone.
20  And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.
21  And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
22  And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; as the LORD had said.
23  And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he set his heart to this also.
24  And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river.
25  And seven days were fulfilled, after that the LORD had smitten the river.

Once again the LORD reminded Moses of what he was going to face. God never told Moses it would be easy to lead the nation of Israel out of Egypt. He promised Moses it would happen. However, there were some major challenges that Moses would face. These were challenges that God knew all about, but Moses needed to face in order for him to become more trusting in the LORD. Moses and the children of Israel needed to get away from short term results. God is interested in eternal matters. His salvation provides eternal life to those who turn to Him in repentance and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.
Moses had already faced rejection from Pharaoh. Turning a rod into a serpent is no small matter. Having your rod swallow up the rods of Pharaoh’s magicians is no small matter. Pharaoh saw that and he rejected Moses’ demand to let the children of Israel go.
Now the LORD was commanding Moses to go and talk to this hardened man and show him another evidence of the power and authority of the LORD. Moses was to take that same rod that was turned into a serpent and he was to meet Pharaoh at the river’s brink in the morning.
Once again Moses was to tell Pharaoh that the LORD had a specific message for him on behalf of the children of Israel. Moses was also to remind Pharaoh that his stubbornness was not a good thing.
In verse 17 Moses was told to smite the waters of the Nile with that rod and the waters would be turned to blood. In verse 18 Moses was told to warn Pharaoh that the fish in that river would die. Fish need oxygen to live. They get that oxygen from the water. However the water would be turned to blood and there would be no oxygen for the fish. The river would stink due to the dead fish in it. The people would not be able to drink that polluted water.
This was not the result of ‘mother nature’. This was the hand of God. The same God that created the water in the first place, was going to pollute that water in Egypt so that nothing could live in it. No person could drink that water.
Today, there are thousands of people who are corrupting the “Living Water”, the Lord Jesus Christ. They are making Him to stink by their heretical teaching about Him. He is the loving and holy Saviour of mankind. He is the Source of life. He is the Sustainer of life. He is the Purifying factor to life. Man cannot truly live apart from knowing the true Lord Jesus Christ. Yet most people are insisting on finding their own way and they are messing up their lives and never finding that which their soul longs for.
In our text, Moses needed to speak to Aaron and give him the command of the LORD. The LORD could have spoken directly to Aaron, but He had a plan and His plan always works. Egypt would find itself without any clean drinking water. Even the water they had stored in containers would be turned to blood.
The LORD had warned of the consequences of this plague and that is exactly what happened. However, Pharaoh was not about to surrender to the LORD. He called for his magicians and they deceived him with their enchantments. Pharaoh hardened his heart and refused to listen to the command of the LORD as given to Moses through Aaron.
In verse 23 we read that Pharaoh turned and went into his house. He had no clean water. His people had no clean water. He did not care. The people dug around looking for clean water. They could not drink the water from the river. This situation lasted for seven days!
The solution was so simple. All it required was for Pharaoh to repent and accept the LORD’s authority in his life. However, he had already decided he was not going to do that. For him to do that would mean that he would need to admit there was Someone greater than he was. He thought he enjoyed a privileged place in Egypt. He thought he could hold to that imaginary place. His world was falling apart around him, but he refused to see that. At this point his magicians were still willing to play along with him. This would change, but not for now.
It is extremely foolish to reject the mighty hand of the LORD. He is the eternal God. He is the everlasting God. He knows all things. He is all powerful. No one stands in His way and wins. Many have defied Him in the past. Many are still doing that today. The Bible shows us that no one has ever come out ahead by defying the LORD. The pride of man still keeps him from submitting to God’s authority. Every person has been just as defiant as Pharaoh, at some point in their life. We are all born as lost sinners. We sin because we are born as lost sinners.
It is important to listen to the work of the Holy Spirit, who is working in the heart of the lost to convince them of sin, of God’s righteousness, and of God’s judgment. Every person can know this in their heart. However, the pride of man causes him to drown out that fact. Thus God has chosen for those who do trust in Him, to be His mouthpiece to those He leads them to.
Moses and Aaron had an important duty to fulfil, even though God told them Pharaoh would not listen to them. Their efforts were not in vain. Every generation since that time has the opportunity to study this record and be reminded that there is no hope for man outside of knowing the true God.
This present generation needs to come to know the true God. Those who are saved have the privilege and responsibility of reminding people Who is in charge. There is no substitute for knowing the true God. Those who are saved will find many naysayers today as well. God did not tell Moses to change his message. He told him to be faithful and trust God to do His Work. The children of Israel did leave Egypt according to God’s schedule. They left Egypt in the only way they could possibly do so successfully. The majority of them did not benefit from that fact. A few did.
We can choose to be part of the few in our generation who will believe the truth. Be sure you are not missing out on God’s blessings today. Don’t focus so heavily on the present that you miss the blessings of the eternal promises of the LORD.
Pastor Bartel