Exodus 7 (A Plague of Blood) 14 Then the LORD said to Moses ... “announce to [Pharaoh], ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you, “Let my people go, so they can worship me in the wilderness.” Until now, you have refused to listen to him. 17 So this is what the LORD says: “I will show you that I am the LORD.” ... 20 ... As Pharaoh and all of his officials watched, Aaron raised his staff and struck the water of the Nile. Suddenly, the whole river turned to blood! 21 The fish in the river died, and the water became so foul that the Egyptians couldn’t drink it... Pharaoh’s heart remained hard. He refused to listen ...
This is a long and complex passage. You will probably have unanswered
questions after I’m done talking. That’s OK. There is no way I can
talk about everything here, so I want to make some observations that can
help us understand this strange text and apply it in our lives today.
Ten observations about the ten plagues.
1. Yahweh is God of all the earth. In the English text, any time
you see the word LORD in all capital letters, that is a textual symbol
that the Hebrew word used is YHWH (or Yahweh). Yahweh is the special
Hebrew name for God. The background for the plague story is a battle of
Egypt’s gods and Yahweh Israel’s God. Moses comes to Pharaoh
and says, “This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: Let my people
go ...” But Pharaoh responds, “And who is the LORD? ... I don’t know
him, and I won’t let Israel go.” (5:1-2). This is the essential
conflict of the plagues. Yahweh is making himself known to Pharaoh, and
Pharaoh is learning to submit to the God of all the earth.
2. Yahweh wants all people to worship him. Before the plague of the flies, God says, he is sending this plague so that “you will know that I am the LORD and that I am present even in the heart of your land” (8:22). Before the plague of the hail, God said, “By now I could have lifted my hand and struck you and your people with a plague to wipe you off the face of the earth. But I have spared you for a purpose—to show you my power and to spread my fame throughout the earth...” (9:15-16). God wants all people everywhere to worship him. This was a radical concept. Back then, each tribe or nation worshiped their own collection of gods. The gods were regionally or topically based - the god of this area or this issue. No god asked for everyone’s exclusive worship - only some worship from some people. Yahweh’s claim that he is the One True God of All the Earth was - and is - radical.
Exodus 7 (A Plague of Blood)
