Exodus 7 Bible Study (Moses & Pharaoh/First Plague: Water Turned to Blood) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

We're gonna read Exodus chapter seven beginning in verse one. And the Lord said to Moses, see, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. But I will harden Pharaoh's heart. And though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, Pharaoh will not listen to you.

Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my host, my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them. Moses and Aaron did so. They did just as the Lord commanded them. Now Moses was 80 years old and Aaron 83 years old when they spoke to Pharaoh.

Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, when Pharaoh says to you, prove yourselves by working a miracle, then you shall say to Aaron, take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent. So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents.

But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. Still, Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them as the Lord had said. Let's pray. Father, we chose to be here tonight, and you know the motive. But even watching that small clip, we are convicted, and we cannot help but look at our own lives and wonder if we hunger for you, if we hunger for your word, if we hunger for more.

Father, please may that be the reality of every person in this place, that we're here tonight because we want you. Lord, we long for greater revelation of the person of Jesus Christ. Lord, we realize that there is nothing, no good thing apart from the Lord. And so we come because we are thirsty. We come because we have tasted what the world has given and it has disappointed us greatly.

We come because we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, and we wanna grow up in our salvation. And so we come to drink of the spiritual milk, which is the word of God. But, Lord, we ask that we would go from milk to meat. Lord, we want to dig deeper, and so would you help us by the spirit of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of Jesus? Will the eyes of our hearts be enlightened tonight?

Father, we believe that you are real and that you reward those who diligently seek you. Would you reward every person that took that step to draw near to you tonight. And, Lord, may we leave here impacted, gripped by what we discover in this chapter. And so we yield to you and we trust in you, and we ask that our minds and our hearts would be attentive to every word that you have written down in this holy sacred book. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. You may be seated. Prior to this chapter, we it's been a while, but we discussed how Moses was commissioned by God again to go to Pharaoh because he was greatly disappointed by the response the first time. And so the Lord commissions him again and gives him further instruction. And look what he says in chapter one verse chapter seven verse one.

And the Lord said to Moses, see I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. Now we don't need to go further than that because that begs a lot of questions. What is the Lord saying here in verse one to Moses that you will be like God to Pharaoh and Aaron will be like your prophet? What what what can we take out of that verse alone? Mhmm.

Yeah. Moses is representing God. Absolutely. Yes, Sarah.

If they if Pharaoh rejects Moses, it won't be rejecting Moses, but he'll be rejecting God so he won't be his best to it.

Great point. So once again, if Moses if rather, Pharaoh rejects Moses, he's not really rejecting Moses, he's rejecting God. When you preach the gospel and somebody rejects your message and rejects you, who do they really reject? Jesus. And Jesus told us that.

What else can we say? Go back to four sixteen. This is the second time that he's saying that. Chapter four verse 16. He said here, he shall speak for you to the people, and he shall be your mouth, and you shall be as God to him.

And take in your hand this staff with which you will do the signs. I wanna flip this perspective on this verse for a moment because this perspective and this verse is crucial to understanding something about Mormonism. My brother and I bumped into a couple Mormons just before last weekend, and we were talking about taking things into context with these two gentlemen. And would you know it? They agreed with us.

And then they began to use a verse which was unfortunately out of context. I was surprised that they actually even told us about the doctrine that they believe in, that if you are a good enough Mormon, you live right in this life, you can become a god in this next life where you are married to another god and that you can populate your own planet by having celestial sex. That's a doctrine in the Mormon faith. And the text that they'll use is in John chapter 10 verse 33 when Jesus speaks to the Pharisees. After Jesus claims that he is, in fact, God, they wanted to stone him.

And in verse 33 of John chapter 10, it says the Jews answered him, it is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy because you, being a man, make yourself God. So if anybody ever wants to know where Jesus claimed to be God, here is the reaction to one of Jesus' statements that he and the Father are one and the Jews wanted to stone him because they they saw that he was claiming to be God. But look what Jesus says. Jesus answered them in verse 34, 'Is it not written in your law, I said, you are gods. Do you see that?

I said, you are gods. If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came, the scripture cannot be broken. Do you say of him whom the father consecrated and sent to the world, you are blaspheming me because I said I am the son of God? So Mormons will go to this verse and say, see? Even Jesus Himself says that you are gods.

Does anybody know what verse Jesus is quoting from in the book of Psalms? Turn your bibles there. This is important to know. In Psalms 86 82 rather. Excuse me.

Turn to Psalms 82. It's a very short Psalm. We're just gonna read the whole thing. Context is important. Listen.

This is why cults are cults. They take verses out of context. They use scripture, and they use it out of its appropriate boundary for the sake of their beliefs and their doctrines. And so you and I need to know the word of God in its context. Look at what Psalms 82, where Jesus quoted from when he spoke to the Pharisees.

God has taken, verse one, his place in the divine counsel. In the midst of the gods, he holds judgment. How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Look at verse three. Give justice to the weak and to the fatherless.

Maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy, deliver them from the hand of the wicked. They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness, all the foundations of the earth are shaken. Here it is. Verse six.

I said, you are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you. Nevertheless, like men you shall die and fall like any prince. Verse eight, arise, O God, judge the earth, for you shall inherit all the nations. Can anybody explain what that psalm is talking about? Look at the surrounding verses.

Look especially at verse three, four, five before verse six. Anybody take a guess? Yeah. Isaac.

So on the book of Genesis, So in the book of Genesis, god has the name Elohim Yes. Which means gods, which is not separate gods, but, you know, god and one and three person. But it also means, like, judge. Right? So I think in this context, it's calling them, like, like, they're judges.

Yeah. Precisely. You nailed it. This psalm is God condemning the magistrates, the judges, the rulers in authority that were practicing the role with injustice. They were not doing what they were called to do faithfully.

And so God is the psalm, it's condemning these people that were in leadership positions. And this song uses the term gods, little g, as a title to these people that were in those positions of authority because in a sense they did represent God. And so what it is really, it's really just a position in which you have authority over other humans in which you can legislate laws and rules. And essentially, if you are in that position, you are a representative of God. So we go back now to Exodus seven:one and there's a perfect example of that.

God is saying this to Moses. He's saying that you will be as God. You will have my authority and my power. You're gonna be my representative to the Egyptians. And Aaron will be like your prophet.

Why would Aaron be like the prophet? Moses didn't want to speak. So what does a prophet do? He speaks on behalf of God. And so we need to understand here that that verse in John ten thirty three is not about us becoming gods in the next life.

And people take that verse and try to claim that. You go back to Psalms 82. It's a title that's used for people that were in positions of authority as representatives of God. And if you need proof of that, you go to Exodus seven:one and you go to Exodus four sixteen. See, Moses was directly given that title by God himself because he was going to be given that position of exercising great power and authority and influence as a direct representation of God himself.

Does that make sense? Do we understand that? Okay. That's important, especially if you have a Mormon friend or somebody that you know and they bring this up. You got to know how to say, no, no, no.

It's not true. That's out of context. That's not what God meant in Psalms 82. Okay? So now we move on.

We see here. He tells him, you're going to speak all that I command you. And now we go to verse four. Pharaoh will not listen to you. So he's just reminding him over and over again, he's not going to listen to you.

Isn't it great that the word of God tells us ahead of time concerning us in the new covenant as Christians declaring the message of God that there will be some people that will reject it? There are some people that are not gonna want to listen and they're gonna turn around, they're gonna hate you, and they're gonna they're gonna revile you for my name's sake. God gives us a heads up. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.

These are powerful verses. What's the Lord saying here? Why is God going to deliver the people of Israel by great acts of judgments? And God can do anything. God can pull them out in a moment.

God could have struck pharaoh right there, killed them, and brought the people out in a second. Why through great acts of judgment was God going to bring deliverance to the people of Israel? Eddie?

Just to show the people that he is truly God.

Yes. That is one point. Because he is truly God.

Specifically to show the Egyptians.

Specifically to show the Egyptians that he is God?

Yeah. With each of the well, with what Adi and Gil said, with each of the plagues he's targeting, each of the gods of Egypt showing them that I have power over you and them.

So with each plague, there's gonna be a direct assault to one of those deities that represent those elements such as the Nile and different things.

To show us power over evil?

To show us power over evil. Yes. We're all on the same line here.

To be a testimony to all the nations down the line, of power of God?

To be a testimony to the nations down the line. Do we see that later on in the book of first Samuel chapter six? What happens? They take the Ark of the Covenant. We talked about this verse.

Remember? And then all these things start to break out because God was, you know, God doesn't need our help right? So he goes out and he starts fighting against the enemy and they they say in verse six, Let's not be like the Egyptians. Let's not fall into that same trap. Let's get rid of this thing as soon as we can.

Yes. And would it be a testimony to a specific people as well like Israel themselves? Absolutely. That they would remember the great acts of God. Anything else?

I think going off of that, it also reminds me of the prophet Joshua. And as Israelites came against all these other issues when they came into the land, it says that, like, the herd of Arabians in Egypt,

Yeah. So Rahab, when she heard about what God had done, all the people's hearts melted within themselves, and Rahab gave herself over to the covenant people of God. Go back to Exodus five verse one and two. Exodus five one and two. Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.' But Pharaoh said, pay attention, 'Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go?

I do not know the Lord, and moreover I will not let Israel go. Okay, you don't know the Lord, and you don't want to serve the Lord, so what does he say here in verse five? The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, in seven verse five. So you don't know the Lord. I'm gonna give you a 10 part curriculum to find out who the true and living God is.

And so we see here that God is about to bring these great acts of judgment to make it very clear who he is. But it is through these acts of judgment that we learn specific things about God. So we know that he's doing it to show that he is God, but what about God through these acts of judgment do we learn? Somebody who's already said it so we can say it again. Number one, that he is above all other gods.

Through these acts of judgment, through these 10 specific plagues, the people of Egypt would know that God, this God, is above every other God. So we're gonna go through some Bible right now to see that. Look at Exodus twelve twelve. Turn your Bibles to Exodus twelve twelve. Look what the Lord says.

For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and on who? All the gods of Egypt. I will execute judgments. I am the Lord. So it would be a direct assault to the gods of Egypt that they worshipped and so some believe that every single plague was targeted towards a specific deity in Egypt.

That could be possibly true, there's no hardcore evidence though this verse kind of gives us an insight on that. So each element was towards a God that was control of the water or control of the agriculture or control of life or the light. So we go now to Exodus 18. Flip your pages to Exodus 18 verse 10. This is Moses' father-in-law later on in the wilderness and Moses begins to explain all the things that God had done through the people of Israel and for the people of Israel.

And look what Jethro says. Jethro said blessed be the Lord. He's a pagan priest, remember? Was Jethro not a pagan priest? Priest of Midian.

He says, blessed be the Lord who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods. So through these plagues, the Egyptians, the people, even down the line different nations would know that this is the true and living God, God above all other gods. So So he's about to prove that. He's gonna show it in a very detailed manner.

But what else does it prove about the Lord? What does it say of his character? 10 plagues.

He's merciful. He doesn't do it just once and wipe them all out.

Great answer. That's exactly what the answer is. Did you guys catch that? He's merciful. He could have done it in one moment.

In fact, he actually says it in Exodus nine. Turn your Bibles to Exodus nine. Look what the Lord says in Exodus nine twenty. Now therefore send, get your livestock and all that you have in the field into safer shelter. This is the seventh plague that he's about to perform.

And we're gonna wait till we get to the seventh plague because for some reason on the seventh plague there's this great explanation and there's this detailed warning and we won't jump into that right away. But look what he says, Now therefore send, get your livestock. He's speaking to them. He says, listen, it's gonna get really ugly here. Get your livestock, all that you have in the field into safe shelter for every man and beast that is in the field and is not brought home will die when the hail falls on them.

Stop. So he's saying we're gonna get into it, I don't know when, but we're gonna get into it with this specific plague. There's this mercy. Put them away. I mean the hail is coming but you can have a chance to put your livestock away.

You can have a chance to put your men and women in shelter. Look what it says right after. Then whoever feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh hurried his slaves and his livestock into the houses. So there are actual servants of Moses that responded to this and says, you know, we learned from the first six ones and we're gonna put our livestock away. But would you know it?

Look how deceitfully wicked and hardened the heart of man is in the next part in verse 21. But whoever did not pay attention to the word of the Lord left his slaves and his livestock in the field. I'm totally convinced my friend if you're not a believer in Christ here you can hear all the warnings you want and you will still harden your heart because you just love your sin, don't you? Hold on to it long enough and watch what it'll do to your life. But we see here that through these 10 plagues, God is merciful.

He is holy. He is good. In the midst of his judgments, he even relents and gives opportunity for people to not experience judgment. So he's about to prove through these 10 plagues, number one, he is the God above all gods. Line them all up and watch what I'll do.

And not only that, in the midst of this extensive curriculum so to speak, he extends mercy. He says, You don't have to experience this. You really don't. And the people still in the midst of all of that harden their hearts. Harden their hearts.

Is there anything else anybody wants to say

concerning those things?

Yes. When you see the plagues they progressively get worse and worse. In fact some would categorize these plagues in sets of three. So you have the first set, the first three plagues right? We see the blood, we see the flies, we see the frogs.

Then you turn over to the second set, then we turn over to the last three, and then finally it climaxes in the last one which is what? The death of the firstborn. So it's almost like through these sets of three it gets even more intense. He's literally intensifying it for them to really get it yet still they resist, they harden, they resist, they harden. Anything else about these verses?

So we now know why these plagues happen. If anybody asks, Why did God allow 10 plagues to happen in Egypt? You'll know how to answer. One, because he's about to prove that he's the God above all gods. And two, instead of doing it in a moment, instead of doing it right away, he gives them a chance.

He gives them a chance to repent. And some people had the common sense and the understanding up to this point that, you know, maybe we should respond to this mercy. Verse six, Moses and Aaron did so. They did just as the Lord commanded them. Verse seven.

Then it just gives us this random insight. Now Moses was 80 years old and Aaron 83 years old when they spoke to Pharaoh. Let's talk about this verse. What does this have to do with anything? Why is the author, the Holy Spirit telling us the age of Moses and his brother in this discourse?

Well, two things. I think because to us, this is really old, and I feel like God can use you in any age.

God can use you in any age?

And then another thing is is saying it's showing that Aaron is older than Moses, but Moses had God was using him in a different way that he was a heads up as well.

There's two lessons. There's something to learn from Moses and there's something to learn from Aaron in this verse. What can we learn about Moses, the fact that he was 80 years old? Yes.

By this time, he forgot all the education he had in Egypt.

Okay. So he probably forgot a lot. Can you pull up Acts seven, actually, 23 to 25? Acts seven twenty three to 25. Maybe we need to be reminded of this.

He was 80 years old, the Bible is telling us at 80 years old, he began. But it tells us something different here in verse 23 of Acts chapter seven. And when he was full 40 years old, it came into whose heart? Moses heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. Next verse, and seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him and avenged him that was oppressed and stroked the Egyptian for he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them but they understood not.

Moses had a desire to serve God in a mighty way at the age of what? 40. But that desire did not become a reality until 80. That's what the Bible wants to tell us because between 40 and 80 God was preparing Moses and we know that we've talked about that. And we we know this.

God prepares us, take the time, but we despise the process. And so if you if you really want God to use you, if you have something in your heart, if you feel like there's something that God put in you even at this age, and I hope to God that you do have a vision, that you do have a purpose outside of your job or your school. I really hope that you have some eternal assignment on your life. If you do, know this, that that desire may not become a reality until down the road. Not because God wants to prolong it because he knows when to bring it up in the right time.

He knows when to bring it to fruition. He knows when you're ready to walk in it. He knows. So 40, he had it. He tried to walk in it prematurely.

And then we see in this verse, he was 80. Like the Bible just wants to tell us it took forty years to prepare this man so he can walk in the fulfillment of the call that he had forty years ago. Imagine burning with something in your heart for forty years. Having a desire in your heart for forty years and you don't see it come to pass until you're 80. You cling to that verse if you have something burning in your heart for God and you remind yourself.

You put you put Acts 20 three-twenty five right beside this verse and you visit it and you say, Lord, help me trust the process. Help me trust that you see what's in my heart but you know better. And you know what I need in order to walk in it effectively for your glory. So we know that about Moses. What do we learn about Aaron?

Who's older? Who has the position of authority? So what does this say about Aaron?

Shows us humility.

Shows us humility, does it not? It doesn't just tell us that he's older and that Moses was the one who had the ability to do these signs and wonders, so to speak, or he had the title as God. Look at verse nine. Look at verse nine, the end of verse or the middle of verse nine. When Pharaoh says to you, prove yourselves by working a miracle, then you shall say to Aaron then you shall say to Aaron, older siblings, do you like being told by your younger siblings what to do?

Think about it. The Bible is telling us something here. Aaron is older than Moses, but who's calling the shots? Moses! And so how is Aaron gonna respond to that?

Well, for a long time he responds with great humility. Let no one despise you because of your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity. You young people have the ability at this age to set the believers an example. So don't let anybody despise you because of your youth. And maybe this is we're on the opposite end of this, but think about the humility that it takes to be able to take orders from somebody that's younger, from somebody that's probably not as gifted.

I mean, Aaron could speak. Moses didn't have the ability to speak as well. But he recognized what was on Moses's life, and he recognized the grace that he has been given, and he's operating in that arena, in that lane, and he's not allowing anything to get in that place until numbers chapter 12. Turn your Bibles to numbers chapter 12 and see what happens. Numbers chapter 12 verse one.

And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married, for he had married an Ethiopian woman. And they said, has the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Has he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it. So what happens?

What happens down the road?

Jealousy.

Jealousy. Who's the youngest out of these two? Out of three rather? Moses. And so they see this elevation given to Moses.

They see this promotion given to Moses. They see what Moses has been given by God and they say, But has God only spoken through I mean we can have that position. We have the ability to get into that place. And jealousy unfortunately crept in. Unity is necessary for effective kingdom work.

Humility is necessary for unity. Because right after this, unfortunately, because of their gossip, the camp would not move for seven days. You want to see a group not move forward? Just talk badly about one another and see how nothing will progress. Would you believe it?

That gossip is one of the number one things that bring division to churches? Because the tongue is wicked. The tongue causes forest fires. The tongue is poisonous. It's deadly.

Who can tame it? No man can tame the tongue. That's why you need the Holy Spirit. Aaron, unfortunately, did not guard his heart and allow jealousy to creep him. But up at this point, it is shown that that he's 83, he's older, has a little bit more experience, but he trusts what God has put on Moses' life and he honored that.

I'll be the prophet. I'll be the spokesperson because there's one thing in my mind right now and it's above what I desire. That's God being glorified. So Moses, God has given you that grace. I'm willing to serve you with the grace that he's given me.

May we be the same way. What else does it say here? Verse 10, So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. Let's talk about this for a moment.

What happens here? They do what the Lord says, cast down the staff. It becomes a serpent. But then pharaoh summons his magicians, and they do the very same thing. How do we explain that?

Powers of evil?

Powers of evil? There's really it's down to two possibilities. Either this is the power of darkness or what's the second option?

God giving them the opportunity to see that even though they might be able to do something similar, it's only a cheap replica.

It's a counterfeit? So if it's not done by the power of evil, then what else could it be? It happened. Look at the wording very carefully. What what are these guys?

Sorcerers, magicians, and they did this how? By their enchantments or secret arts. So it comes down to two possibilities. One, it's either by satanic power. Two, it's just a good old magic trick.

So let's look at these two options. We look here at verse 11. They did it by their secret arts. Now look at Exodus seven twenty two when the first plague happens. What does it say?

But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their what? Secret arts. You go to the second plague in Exodus eight:seven. What does it say? Exodus eight:seven.

They did the same by their secret arts and made frogs come out of the land of Egypt. Now you come to the third plague and what happens? In verse 18 of eight eighteen. The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not, so there were gnats on the man and beast. Then the magicians said to pharaoh, this is the finger of God.

So excuse me. Earlier I said that one of the first three plagues was frogs. It's not frogs. It was gnats. So it came to the third plague and they could not repeat it and they said, this is God.

This is God. This this we can't produce this. So one argument says, listen, it's just a good old magic trick. If you've ever seen magic, it's pretty impressive, but it's fake. And they just had the ability to do illusions and different things where they put red dye in water and they said, oh look it turned into blood, whether they just knew how to train frogs.

Whatever. They, it was just a trick. And when it came down to it, they could not imitate what God could do. It just came to a limit where they could not even produce those no matter how skilled they were because God is doing it through supernatural power not through illusions and just, oh tricks and rabbit in the hat. Or it could be satanic power.

If it's satanic power, do we have verses to back that up? Two Thessalonians two:nine. What does it say about the one that comes at the end? The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders. And Jesus warned what?

In Matthew twenty four twenty four? That there will be many what? False prophets and many Christs, false Christs, will arise and perform great signs and wonders so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. So in the end times, guess what's gonna happen? There's gonna be false prophets, there's gonna be false Christs, and they're gonna perform false signs and wonders.

So if you're a signs and wonders person, if you love to see miracles, and if your faith is dependent upon that alone, that's dangerous. It goes even beyond signs and wonders. It's the message. It's not the signs and wonders. So there's gonna be false prophets and false Christs that will so perform this show, and so woo you.

This is what's gonna happen in the end times. So captivate you, and literally veil the message that you are willing to swallow the false message because you were so persuaded by the show and by the things that happen on stage, you know, the things that happen in person, whatever it is. And so there is a time coming and there is a time today where people bleed people for money, bleed people for their resources. And it'll be coming down to a point where people will plead allegiance to a false Christ because he can do all this stuff. So there is a sense in which there are false signs and wonders that can be performed by demonic forces.

To what extent? Not on the same par as God, that's for sure. Not on the same par as God. This is not a dualistic thing where God and Satan are on the same level and they have the same level of power. Why?

Because what happens? Aaron's rod swallows up their snakes. It's like, okay, you performed it. Watch this. Greater is he that doesn't mean he's in the world.

So we have to understand that the devil, no matter what he can produce, no matter what power he might boast of, compares nothing to what God is able to do. So we see here that Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs, and it came to a point in which they could not mimic the miracle. And so let me say this even now, there might be many religions that have the same ideas, same principles, even might have the same commands, but there comes to a point no matter how similar different faiths might be, no matter how similar different commands might be, there is one point, there is one element that distincts us between every other, and that is Jesus Christ. Not just Jesus Christ. Be careful because there are many people that claim Jesus Christ.

The Bible doesn't say that there are enemies of Jesus Christ. It says that there are enemies of the cross of Christ. When it comes down to the cross and justification by faith alone, through grace alone, this is where we stand unique. This is where we stand distinct and separated from every other religion. We are the ones that depend upon Jesus' righteousness alone to have eternal life.

And so I would like to parallel that with the plagues. That it comes to a certain point in which though there may be many similarities and people will claim that you're no different than any other religion. Oh no, we are different. In fact, we have this one difference. Christ and Christ alone.

His blood and his blood alone grants me eternal life. Nothing else. Unlike your religion where you have to depend upon even faith with works. It's faith and faith alone. Anything else we can say?

So now we see that this is not the first plague. The first plague is coming up. So we read on in verse 14. 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 of the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him and take in your hand the staff that turn into a serpent. And you shall say to him, the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness. But so far you have not obeyed. Thus says the Lord, by this you shall know that I am the Lord.

Behold, with the staff in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it'll turn into blood. The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile. And the Lord said to Moses, say to Aaron, take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood. And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in the vessels of wood and the vessels of stone. First sign, first plague, first thing to be done, you're gonna turn the Nile into blood.

So much significance in that alone. We talked a little bit about it a few weeks ago. So what would it do? What would the blood do? It would cut off what?

Water. They drank from the Nile. Not only that, the fish would die, so food. There'd be this odor. But what kind of message is coming out from this blood being in the Nile?

Some of us already know. Yes.

Can you eat the baby's over?

Yes. Do you guys remember what happened in Exodus one twenty two? Go to the first chapter. Verse 22. Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, every son that is born of the Hebrews, you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.

Throw all the male babies into the Nile River. What's the first plague? Here's some blood out of the Nile River. Because Pharaoh, you try to bury it, but I saw it all. You try to hide it, but you can't hide it from me.

What a terrifying reality. I wanna read Psalms one zero six verse 37. This is later on the Israelites that went to the point of worshiping false gods to the point where they, what, sacrificed their sons and daughters to false gods. But you know what Psalms 106 says in verse 37? They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.

To demons. But look what the next verse says. They poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood. Do you think America is polluted with blood? And God sees it.

A land can be polluted with innocent blood, and we can hide it all we want, but God sees it, and God will expose it, and God will hold those who are accountable accountable to it. Imagine the first plague. What kind of memory might have come to those Egyptians that threw those babies when that water turned red? When the land is polluted with innocent blood, you better be careful what's gonna happen to that nation. That's not my opinion.

That's the Bible. It says here you'll turn to blood. But not just in the Nile. Look what it says here. At the last part of verse 19, and there shall be blood throughout all the land even in the vessels of wood and the vessels of stone.

So it would not just be in the river. It would not just be in the main source. It would be in the vessels of wood and the vessels of stone and the homes of people. Does that remind you of anything? Go to John chapter two.

I know we're covering a lot of scripture, but it's good. John chapter two. Verse six. Jesus in Cana at a wedding. And it says in verse six, now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding 20 or 30 gallons.

Jesus said to the servants, fill the jars with water, and they filled them up to the brim. But what happened to that water? He turned it into what? Wine. Wine.

Moses in Exodus chapter seven performs his first plague by turning water into what? Blood. Jesus, his first miracle turns water into wine. Moses represents the old covenant. The old covenant produces death.

Jesus introduced the new covenant. The new covenant brings life. Wine represents life in some sense. Wine represents rejoicing. Wine represents joy.

In the old covenant, under the law, there's death. In the new covenant, there's life. That wine went into the people. It was a symbol of how his blood comes into us and washes us. It's it's not an outward cleansing.

It's an inward cleansing. And that's why in second Corinthians three six, it says that the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. That chapter talks about how Paul is a minister of the new covenant and how under the old covenant, it produced death. Why? Because you and I cannot keep the laws.

We cannot keep the commandments. So in the end, we die. But under the new covenant, we receive the spirit and the laws written on our hearts, and we receive life and the power to walk in those commands. And so we see this beautiful parallel that under Moses and the covenant that he introduced through his life, the old covenant, blood. Jesus, new covenant, first miracle, life.

Life. And so he says to them, turn it into blood. Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded, verse 20. Notice three times in this chapter, verse six, verse 10, and verse 20, it says Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. They obeyed.

They obeyed. They obeyed. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and the water in the Nile turned into blood. Fish died. It stank.

The Egyptians could not drink the water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt, but the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh's heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them as the Lord had said. Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not even take this to heart. And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile.

Seven full days passed, and the Lord had struck the Nile Since the Lord struck the Nile. What can we say about these verses as we conclude? Yes.

I got this from a commentary. What? He was saying how, like, the plagues, there's like gonna be seven plagues in Revelations and the people's heart, like, in the future, they're gonna be hardened and same as, like, the people then. And it was saying how, like, it guides our understanding in, like, revelations that compare it with the book of Exodus.

The Exodus so the book of Exodus kinda prepares us for the book of Revelation in which God is going to send many things on the earth and how people will still resist. Absolutely. If you guys think that this is ridiculous if you're looking at the reaction of these people and you're saying how can it be? Listen, it's coming. The day is coming.

Signs and wonders, catastrophes, hurricanes, all these different things, and people will still not get it. They will still not submit. They will still not give their lives to the Lord. It's incredible. Yes?

Yeah. That's right. Well they're trying to really prove to Pharaoh that this is nothing but the same old god that they're our gods can do the same thing. Look at this. This is nothing.

And Pharaoh is not impressed.

They're trying to live off their own strength because the Egyptians are digging, dug along the Nile for water to drink, so they don't care about what God did. They'll just find a way to live off themselves ever.

That just shows the rebellion and the stubbornness of man all all over again. Think about it. Here comes a disaster and you would think, wow, God literally turned every source of water into blood. Maybe we should submit to him, maybe we should inquire of him, maybe we should ask Moses some questions. No, you know what, I'm gonna dig alongside of the Nile and get water for myself.

That is exactly how rebellious our hearts are. I can tell you conversation after conversation after conversation I've had with young people that have come near to a death experience and they've said, you know, maybe God is really getting in my and they still go on their way. Catastrophe, death, near death experience, disease, all these things can happen, and still people will resist and continue in their sin. It's amazing how this happens. And this is exactly what it's Instead of submitting they go, Let's just dig alongside of that.

We're gonna find a different solution. That's how rebellious we are. That's how wicked we are sons and daughters of Adam. We just don't wanna give ourselves to him. We wanna remain the Lord of our lives.

And so let's just figure out our own solution when God is really trying to get their attention. Anything else about these verses? Yes.

Yes. I find it, interesting that the magicians could replicate this, but they did not turn it around, you know, cure the water.

That's right. That's a great observation. If they really had so much power, why couldn't they reverse it? Because they don't have that power. They don't have that power.

Yes. I have a question.

If, like, they entered all the worms, but how did the magicians turn it into?

How did the magicians turn it into? Oh, you're saying okay. If they did it prior, how did they do it after? There must have been a different source of water for them to do it. Doesn't tell us how, but they must have found something to show pharaoh that they were able to do it.

Yes. I know, like, according to Egypt, the Egyptians, that pharaoh is kind of the ultimate, like, source of their power. Like, I think

he was one of the

highest gods of Israel. So I think it's really interesting that even after seeing his people kind of trouble them, there's they're in this catastrophe. He simply goes into this

Yeah. He is careless. He's really he's hardened. And we're gonna find out something once again about man throughout these 10 plagues, and it is this, that procrastination is dangerous. Procrastination is dangerous concerning if you are not a follower of Jesus Christ and you are procrastinating on your decision to follow him.

There is an element of, Yes, let me count the cost before I do it, but don't count too long because you do not know when everything will turn around against you. It's true. I'll quote this preacher because it's a powerful statement that procrastination is the recruiting sergeant of hell. You procrastinate long enough until you slip into eternity. And he does this.

His heart is hardened, yes, and we can get into that debate as well, but he's hardening his heart more and more to the point where he crosses the line. He crosses the line. And it's amazing. Exodus begins in a sense where Pharaoh throws all these babies into the water. But when they leave Egypt, how does it end for Pharaoh?

He himself ends up in the bottom of the water, does he not? Right? Does not the Red Sea come over Pharaoh and his minions? And so we're about to find out some amazing discoveries through the rest of these plagues. And there's a lesson for us, as Sarah even mentioned, that really shows how wicked we really are.

We kind of have this idea that we're not too bad. But if we have the opportunity, if we have the freedom, as one philosophical question goes about if you've ever taken a philosophy class, what would you do for a week if you were invisible and nobody knew that you could enter into a room or you could do this or do that? What would you do? And it's amazing the answers that came out of it. If there was no accountability to my actions and people began to share, I would do this and I would do that and people would laugh.

But really, it's just a reflection of how wicked we really are. And we're about to find out how we really want to hold on to our lives. And so I speak to those that I've never maybe seen here before. Have you fully surrendered your life to Jesus? Have you really given yourself over to him, or are you procrastinating?

Are you waiting for another plague in your life? Are you waiting for another disaster in your life? Are you waiting for another cat are you waiting for another near death experience in a car accident? Do you really want to gamble your eternity? Do you have the blessed assurance that Jesus Christ is your Lord?

Do you really know in your heart that you are a child of God? Well how do I know? You will know. You'll know. And the Bible testifies what a child of God is.

Do you hunger for this word? Do you hunger for God? Do you have a testimony? Are you like pharaoh and you say, I don't know who the Lord is. Well, this is how you're gonna know.

And Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins, and he bids you to come to him. He wants you to know him, and he does it through his grace, and he does it through Bible study, and he does it through Sunday morning services. He does it with urgency so that you would come to him now and you don't have to wait for a catastrophe. Even if God does provide a catastrophe in your life, it is an act of grace because better to go through a catastrophe now than to experience it for eternity in hell. Read chapter eight, chapter nine, chapter 10, chapter 11.

Go to verse chapter chapter 12. Go all the way through the rest of them. Try to read as much as you can by next week because we're gonna cover some plagues. But with that, let's pray.