Exodus7:8-24

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘When Pharaoh says to you, “Perform a wonder”, then you shall say to Aaron, “Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, and it will become a snake.”

’So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did as the Lord had commanded; Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake.¹ Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers; and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same by their secret arts.² Each one threw down his staff, and they became snakes; but Aaron’s staff swallowed up theirs.³ Still Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them,⁴ as the Lord had said.⁵

Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water; stand by at the river bank to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was turned into a snake. Say to him, “The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you to say, ‘Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the wilderness.’ But until now you have not listened. Thus says the Lord, ‘By this you shall know that I am theLord.’ See, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall be turned to blood. The fish in the river shall die, the river itself shall stink, and the Egyptians shall be unable to drink water from the Nile.”⁶ ’The Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to Aaron, “Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over its rivers, its canals, and its ponds, and all its pools of water—so that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout the whole land of Egypt,⁷ even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.”’⁸
Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded.⁹ In the sight of Pharaoh and of his officials he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the river, and all the water in the river was turned into blood, and the fish in the river died. The river stank so that the Egyptians could not drink its water, and there was blood throughout the whole land of Egypt. But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts;¹⁰ so Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.¹¹ Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. And all the Egyptians had to dig along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the river.¹²
Seven days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.

1 Not only are Moses and Aaron always obedient, but what God states will happen for them always comes to pass.

2 “Did the same by their secret arts” - does this imply trickery, true magic, or demonic activity?

3 Symbolizing God's superiority to their arts, and perhaps to their gods

4 The miracle has little effect on Pharaoh or his people

5 This and the next reference to Pharaoh's hardened heart is interesting. Is it actually Pharaoh who has hardened his own heart? Was God's previous statement merely predictive rather than descriptive?

6 The Nile, already so prominent in the story, will not be directly judged.

7 The symbolic judgment of the Nile spreads to the whole land of Egypt

8 A strikingly powerful miracle, one that would be witnessed by millions across the country and dramatically affect their lives

9 Once again perfectly obedient

10 What does it mean by “the same” here? They didn't make the already-bloody water across the land even more bloody, did they? Does this phrase imply a small-scale repetition or is it just a storytelling tool?

11 Again the hardening appears to be Pharaoh's doing without need for God's intervention.

12 The failure of Pharaoh to acknowledge and obey God has a negative effect on his people.

Take-home: God shows his superiority to Pharaoh and his magicians, then the judgment of the signs expands beyond Pharaoh's power to the Nile and the whole country of Egypt. Egypt's people suffer as a result. But despite the dramatic sign, Pharaoh's heart remains hardened. Moses and Aaron continue in perfect obedience.