The First of the Ten Plagues

Click here to read Exodus 7.

The chapter begins with God giving Moses an outline of His plan.

1. Moses will be as a god to Pharaoh.
2. Aaron will be his prophet.
3. The Lord will tell Moses what to say.
4. Then Moses will tell Aaron what to tell Pharaoh.
5. But Pharaoh will not let the people go because the Lord will harden Pharaoh's heart.
6. Thus the Lord will be able to multiply His signs and wonders.

Remember this all started when Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83.

Moses and Aaron appeared before Pharaoh and Pharaoh requested them to "prove" themselves. They do as God had told them and Aaron casts down his rod and it turned into a snake. Pharaoh did not seem to be impressed. He called for his "wise men" or magicians, Jannes and Jambres (II Tim. 3:8) and they did the same thing by their secret arts, but to prove God's power, Aaron's serpent ate their serpents. But still Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not let the people go.

This brings us to the first of the 10 plagues. The next morning God commanded Moses to go out to the bank of the River Nile to where Pharaoh would be. He was to strike the water of the Nile with his rod and it would turn to blood. It would cause the river to become polluted, the fish would die, and the water would become unusable and unfit for drinking or bathing. This they did, but Pharaoh again called his magicians and they appeared to turn water into blood also, and Pharaoh would not let the people of Israel go. He returned to his house for his heart was hardened.

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