This first plague seems to symbolise all the plagues together. The Egyptians threw the Hebrew babies into the Nile and the fish ate the Hebrew babies this appears to be a redress of the situation whereas the Nile turns to blood then all the fish in the river die. Water has no identity, but blood has an identity. We drink water but we don’t drink blood. Blood outside of the body is a symbol of death. For Christians, this is related to Christ changing water into wine at the wedding at Cana. He knows that changing water into wine will lead to the death of the firstborn (Himself).  The first plague hints at the final plague which will be the death of all the firstborn of Egypt.

Aaron struck the water of the Nile with his staff, and it turned to blood. The water was undrinkable, the river stank, and all the fish died. All the water in Egypt turned to blood, including the water in the drinking vessels, stone jars, and in the ponds.  But the Egyptian sorcerers were able to recreate a similar trick with their secret arts, so Pharaoh’s heart remained hard. The admit they can ruin their own water supply as well! Demonic powers can make more snakes, more blood and frogs. They multiply the problem but do nothing to improve the problem.

You can’t distinguish the revenge of nature from the tyranny of the King. Some “natural” disasters happen because of corruption or taking shortcuts. Do you build a dam for a one in a century storm or for a one in a millennium storm? The tyrannical leader can build pyramids to last thousands of years but what happened in New Orleans was corruption on a major scale.

The Nile is perhaps the closest symbol you can get to Egypt as it is the water of Egypt’s life given much of the country is otherwise a desert. The water of life has now been corrupted. It will remind them of the Hebrew babies that were drowned there – it is a bloody river.  This plague will be against the River God of Egypt.

The rod is the symbol of authority that goes vertically from heaven to earth. Aaron strikes the water with the “magic rod”. It is an external symbol of your authority. The symbol is a prop as God doesn’t need it but uses it as a symbol. Moses will be associated with water throughout his life. He is a Master of Water.

This will be freedom from Pharaoh, but true freedom is service to what is highest. Moving from the wrong kind of worship to the  right kind of worship. Freedom is not chaos. When you can do anything, you want then that is not true freedom. Like playing a game of chess – you must abide by the rules of the game.

Seven days passed after God turned the Nile to blood. There are seven days of creation, and it is being unravelled here. New order can reemerge. It is only God who can put back order from this chaos.

Categories: Exodus

Tags: bible, Exodus, god, moses, pharaoh