Exodus 7

Exodus 7:1

7:1-5 At the close of chapter 6, Moses wondered why the mighty Pharaoh would listen to such a poor speaker as he. The Lord’s answer was that Moses stood before Pharaoh as a representative of God. Moses would speak to Aaron, and Aaron would convey the message to Pharaoh. Pharaoh would not heed, but God would deliver His people anyway! 7:6 Moses and Aaron were eighty and eighty-three years old respectively when their great ministry of deliverance began. Even in what today would be called “old age,” God can use men and women for His glory.

Exodus 7:7

B. The Second Confrontation (7:7-13)Pharaoh was forewarned of coming trouble. When Aaron cast down his rod and it became a serpent, Pharaoh’s magicians and sorcerers were able to duplicate the miracle through demonic powers. We learn from 2Ti_3:8 that the magicians of Egypt were Jannes and Jambres. They resisted Moses by imitating him and Aaron, but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, not arbitrarily, but in response to his stubbornness. It was now time for the first plague.

Exodus 7:14

V. THE FIRST NINE PLAGUES (7:1410:29)A. The First PlagueThe Nile Turned to Blood (7:14-25)7:14-18 The LORD told Moses to have a personal confrontation with Pharaoh down by the riverside when his majesty went out to the water. (He was probably bathing in the “sacred” Nile.) Moses was to warn the king that the fish would die, the river would stink and become loathsome to the Egyptians after it was turned to blood by the rod in Moses’ hand. 7:19-25 Moses and Aaron did as God commanded. They stretched out the rod over the waters of Egypt. The waters of the Nile and of the land of Egypt were turned to blood, the fish . . . died, and the river stank. The magicians duplicated this miracle with water found elsewhere than in the Nile. This probably encouraged Pharaoh to resist Moses’ demands to let the people go. During the seven days when the Nile was polluted, the people obtained water by digging wells.