Exodus 7

The Explanation

Moses is eighty years old. His brother Aaron is eighty-three. They are not young men anymore, but God has a big job for them. God says to Moses something strange: "I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet." What does that mean? Simply this: when Moses speaks, Pharaoh must listen as if God himself is speaking. Aaron will be the mouthpiece, the one who says the words out loud, because Moses does not feel like a good speaker.

Then God warns them beforehand: Pharaoh will not listen. Pharaoh's heart will become hard, like a rock that will not bend. But that is not the end of the story. God will do great signs so that everyone, Egyptians and Israelites alike, will know: Yahweh is the true God.

Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh. Pharaoh asks for a miracle. Aaron throws his staff on the floor, and the wood becomes a hissing snake. Pharaoh calls his own magicians. They also throw down their staffs, and those also become snakes. It looks like a tie. But then something happens that the magicians did not expect: Aaron's snake eats up all the other snakes. Gone. Pharaoh sees it with his own eyes, and still his heart stays hard.

The next morning God sends Moses to the Nile. Pharaoh always goes there in the morning, probably to worship the river, because the Egyptians thought the Nile was a god. Moses has to say: "Let my people go." Then Aaron stretches out the staff over the water. The whole Nile turns into blood. The fish die. The water stinks. All the water in Egypt, even in wooden and stone jars in the kitchens, becomes blood.

The magicians copy the trick again, so Pharaoh shrugs his shoulders. He goes home and does not even think about it, the Bible says. Meanwhile the Egyptians are digging in the ground beside the river, looking for clean water. For seven days it stays like that.

What Does This Mean?

The Egyptians had many gods. The Nile was one of the most important, because without the Nile there was no food, no drink, no life. And now Yahweh, the God of a group of slaves, touches that river and turns it into stinking blood. It is as if God is saying: your greatest god cannot even keep himself clean.

But there is also something difficult here. The text says God himself will harden Pharaoh's heart. That is not a nice sentence. It sounds unfair. Yet if you read carefully, you also see that Pharaoh keeps choosing this himself. He sees the snake being eaten. He sees the river turn red. And he walks into his house and does not take it to heart. God gives him room to keep refusing, and Pharaoh uses every inch of that room. This is one of those places where the Bible leaves a real question open. I do not have a tidy answer for you either.

The Common Thread

God had promised Abraham long ago that his family would become a great people, and that he would rescue them out of slavery. Everything in this chapter is God keeping that promise. He does not forget his people, even after four hundred years.

Later, Jesus also comes to a world that does not want to listen. He also does signs. And Jesus, too, meets hearts that stay hard. But Jesus goes further than Moses ever could: he does not turn water into blood, he gives his own blood so that people can go free. The exodus out of Egypt is like a first sketch of the bigger rescue Jesus brings.

For You

Sometimes you tell someone the truth and they just do not want to hear it. That is not always your fault. Moses obeyed even though God had warned him beforehand that Pharaoh would refuse. Obeying God is not the same as always getting the result you hoped for. You can trust that God sees, even when nothing seems to move.

Talk About It

Why do you think God warned Moses beforehand that Pharaoh would not listen?

Have you ever had to say something true that another person did not want to hear? What did you do?

Praying Together

Lord God, you are stronger than every river and every king. Thank you that you keep your promises, even when it takes a long time. Help me to trust you when things do not go the way I hoped. And soften my heart, so I keep listening to you. Amen.