Today’s reading records the first of the great plagues that God performed upon Egypt, displaying His mighty hand and outstretched arm of salvation for His people. While this may (or may not) be a very familiar passage and we might be tempted to simply slide by this first plague, there are profound issues that should be looked at here.
This is no moment of happenstance. God’s timing here is intentional. Pharaoh, along with the Egyptians, worshipped the Nile as a god. In it dwelt Hapi, the god of life and sustenance, according the Egyptian religion. God is judging the gods of the Egyptians, and thereby also judging the Egyptians. This would be a competition of the gods, so to speak: the God of Israel, YHWH, standing against the pantheon of Egypt. YHWH declares to Pharaoh through His servants Moses and Aaron, “Let My people go so that they might worship Me.” And Pharaoh, the servant of the Egyptian gods, and considered a god himself, responds, “No.” YHWH rolls up His sleeves to show that He is the God above all gods.
The Nile, the place the Egyptians forced the Israelites to cast their baby boys, was the LORD’s first victim. As Pharaoh went out, likely to do his daily religious observances, Moses and Aaron met him and declared God’s consequence. Aaron struck the river and the water, “turned to blood.” We understand this to mean that the water turned red – likely with some kind of red algae – as even Egyptian historians had recorded happening. (This is in keeping with Joel 2:31 which says that the moon will turn to blood.) This is why by digging along the Nile people could get clean water to drink. It also explains how the magicians could copy this miracle– they probably sprinkled red powder into water. However, it was not merely the Nile that turned red as blood – all the water of Egypt turned! Their magic could not compare to God’s power as all the water in jars and troughs throughout the land were also turned, displaying God’s power over all things. (Much as their snake charming could not compare to the real transformation of Aaron’s staff into a serpent and Aaron’s staff swallowed up the magicians’ snakes.)
When facing accounts of God’s judgment, there is always a temptation for us to cheer God and say, “Go get ‘em, God! Get those evil nasty Egyptians! Go get those terrible people who are hurting Your children.” However, we miss the most important part of these lessons if we keep these events of God’s salvation at arm’s length, never applying them to ourselves. We should be disturbed when we read v. 3, where God says, “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart . . . .” We should be in awe when we see the punishment upon the Egyptians. There should be recognition that in our sin, these are the things that we deserve. This is the consequence of rejecting God’s commands and compassion.
Yet we should also be awed by God’s love here. He is saving His people, and through faith in Jesus we are now the children of God. The punishment and power of God to judge sin was poured out on Jesus for us. God judged him for our sin and He received our death. Now we who were dead in trespasses and sins can live through Jesus’ death and resurrection. We have a new life. We have been saved by Jesus’ mighty outstretched arms on the cross, and in his empty tomb we have life.
Father in Heaven, when I read of your judgments I am in awe. Help me to take my sin seriously! Please comfort me in Jesus’ cross that I may know Your love and forgiveness, and help me to cling to His sacrifice as my only hope. In His name I pray. Amen.
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