The Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, Aaron your prophet. Speak all I command, Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people go. I will harden Pharaoh’s heart Pharaoh’s heart, though I multiply my signs and wonders Pharaoh won’t listen to you. I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring the children of Israel out through acts of judgment. The Egyptians shall know I am the Lord.” Moses and Aaron did as commanded. Moses was 80 years old, Aaron 83 – when the spoke to Pharaoh. The Lord told them to have Aaron take his staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it would become a serpent when Pharaoh asks for a sign. They did as the Lord commanded. Aaron’s staff swallowed up Pharaoh’s magicians’ staffs. Pharaoh’s heart was still hardened and he wouldn’t listen to them as the Lord said. The Lord told Moses Pharaoh’s heart is hardened, go in the morning when he’s in the water, stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, take the staff that was a serpent and tell 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: with this staff I will strike the Nile and it shall turn to blood. The fish will die, it will stink, and Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.’”All the water will turn to blood when you stretch your hand with his staff over the waters of Egypt. Moses and Aaron obeyed. The water turned to blood, the fish died, it stank, and the water was undrinkable. Pharaoh’s magicians did the same. So Pharaoh’s heart remained hard and he would not listen to them as the Lord said. Pharaoh went into his house and didn’t take even this to heart. All the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, because they couldn’t drink from the Nile. 7 days passed after the Lord struck the Nile.
God is speaking again and again, and He is working to fulfill His promise to bring His people out of Egypt. Moses and Aaron are obedient to God’s Word, but Pharaoh is resistant. God is hardening Pharaoh’s heart. Pharaoh is responsible, but God is sovereign in acting upon the mind and heart of Pharaoh. God is sovereign and man is responsible. Also, notice the motive for God’s redemption of His people, so that “they may serve Him in the wilderness.” God would bring His people out of oppression, and He would bring His people to a place where they could worship God in a manner that He will lay out. Praise God for His covenant promises. Praise God for the hope of redemption. Praise God that injustice against His people and ultimately against Himself will not stand. All the water turning to blood is a picture of God’s holy persistence and divine warnings for the outcome of disobeying His commands – judgment. Praise God that in the face of His just and holy wrath we have a surety, that through His Son we can look forward to redemption from slavery to sin and sorrow, and salvation from the oppression we see and face in this life.