Tyndale Open Study Notes

Verse 1

7:1-7 In this final scene in the offer of rescue, the Lord once again answered Moses’ fears of not being able to speak eloquently. He would allow Moses to speak through Aaron (see 4:16), but Pharaoh will refuse to listen regardless. God’s power, not Moses’ eloquence, was the important factor. Moses and Aaron then took the step of faith and did what God had commanded. The first crisis (see study note on 5:22-23) had passed.

Verse 3

7:3 The Lord would use miraculous signs and wonders to convince Pharaoh, just as he had promised to use signs to convince the Israelites that they should follow Moses (3:12; 4:5, 8, 9).

Verse 5

7:5 my powerful hand: A further revelation of God would take place in the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, revealing God’s incomparable power.

Verse 7

7:7 Although eighty seems old to us, the typical age of Moses and Aaron’s ancestors at death had been between 130 and 140 years (see 6:16, 18, 20).

Verse 8

7:8–12:30 This section divides the events of rescue into two parts: the plagues (7:8–11:10) and the Passover (12:1-30). God demonstrated that he is the Lord of life and death and nothing has any power against him (see Isa 43:13). The God of the patriarchs is also the God of the universe.

7:8–11:10 In the plagues, God showed that all the Egyptians’ so-called gods, supposed to be sources of life, were really sources of death apart from the life-giving power of the Lord (see 12:12; 18:11).

Verse 9

7:9 Serpent (Hebrew tannin) is a different word than the word translated “snake” in 4:3. Tannin often refers to a sea monster. Egypt is often portrayed as an ultimately impotent sea monster (Isa 30:7; Ezek 29:3). The image of a cobra’s head was on the pharaoh’s headdress.

Verse 11

7:11 these Egyptian magicians did the same thing (see also 7:22; 8:7): While demonic power might have been involved, it is also possible that some sleight of hand was being practiced. When they could not reproduce the plague of gnats, they declared that it was “the finger of God” (8:19), indicating that their own actions were not a manifestation of divine power. While the Egyptian magicians are not identified by name, tradition gives their names as Jannes and Jambres (see 2 Tim 3:8).

Verse 14

7:14-25 The first plague was the plague on the Nile, when the whole river turned to blood (7:20). The Egyptians correctly understood that without the Nile there would be no life in Egypt. They worshiped the Nile as the Mother of Egypt, but God showed that life is his to give or withhold.

7:14 See “Hardened Hearts” Theme Note.

Verse 22

7:22 The Egyptian priests did not do anything as extensive as Moses and Aaron had done, but Pharaoh did not want to believe, so it took only the smallest thing to justify his unbelief.