EXODUS LESSON 13

     We will begin this lesson in Exodus 7:13 "And he hardened
Pharaoh's heart, that he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had
said."

     Exodus 7:14  "And the LORD said unto Moses, Pharaoh's heart [is]
hardened, he refuseth to let the people go."

     Here we see, even though Moses' serpent had swallowed up all the
other serpents, Pharaoh did not really take notice of this being a
special miracle, He saw that his magicians had turned their rods into
serpents, not even realizing that the miracle shown, was that God can
easily overcome the devil and his crowd. God was more powerful than
all the magicians in Egypt.

     Exodus 7:15 "Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth
out unto the water; and thou shalt stand by the river's brink against
he come; and the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in
thine hand."

     We should understand, that in Egypt, the water of the Nile was
god to these people. It seems as though, this was some sort of
ceremonial thing that the Pharaoh did every morning, or at least at
some specified time. He could have been there just to bathe, but I
believe this Scripture implied some ceremony took place. God was
aware of just when he (Pharaoh) would be there, and God saw to it that
that would be the very time Moses would be there, as well.

     Exodus 7:16 "And thou shalt say unto him, The LORD God of the
Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, Let my people go, that they
may serve me in the wilderness: and, behold, hitherto thou wouldest
not hear."

     Moses had to approach the Pharaoh, again. This time it appeaeds that
Moses had cooled his fears of Pharaoh, and was just willing to please
God. God told him (Moses) to walk right up to Pharaoh and say "you
didn't listen last time, but you must listen now. Let my people go."

     Exodus 7:17 "Thus saith the LORD, In this thou shalt know that I
[am] the LORD: behold, I will smite with the rod that [is] in mine
hand upon the waters which [are] in the river, and they shall be
turned to blood."

     You see, the blood defeats the enemy. The shed blood of Jesus
defeats the enemy every time. this was a battle between Egypt's god and
the true God. The true God applied the blood to discredit the false
god of the Nile. We see here, in the physical, the putred Nile. This was
real blood, it was not just discolored, but was undrinkable; and as we
see in the next Scripture, actually killed the fish. Since fish from
the Nile were one of the main items of the Egyptian's diet, this
brought a double curse. Remember, this was the hand of God bringing
this curse.

     Exodus 7:18 "And the fish that [is] in the river shall die, and
the river shall stink; and the Egyptians shall loathe to drink of the
water of the river."

     We will read in V-24, that the water was so bad, they could not
drink it. This was not just red, muddy water; this was BLOOD.

     Exodus 7:19  "And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Take
thy rod, and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon
their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all
their pools of water, that they may become blood; and [that] there may
be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in [vessels of] wood,
and in [vessels of] stone."

     This miracle of God was so vast. I do not believe that Moses or
Aaron went and stretched the rod over each of these things mentioned.
I believe the miracle occurred, when Moses handed Aaron his rod, and
the rod was stretched over the Nile River.

     The legalistic always try to figure out some way where all of
this could have happened in the physical, by there being a flood and
spreading the Nile's water to all of the tributaries and even spread
to the ponds. they have no explanation, however, of how the water in
the vessels in the homes turned to blood. An act of God cannot be
explained away. They need to stop trying to figure it out, and just
declare that it was a miracle. It was certainly appropriate that this
first judgement would be against the Nile, since the Hebrew boys were
thrown into the nile to die. We see God's punishment was terrible. There
would be no water at all to drink, until this terrible punishment had
ended. This punishment not only touched the Pharaoh but all of his
people. We see from this Nile being turned to blood, that the real God
had struck out at this false god, and Jehovah (The existing
everlasting One) had overcome.

     Exodus 7:20 "And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded;
and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that [were] in the
river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and
all the waters that [were] in the river were turned to blood."

     It did not just look like blood, it was blood. We see that there
was no argument from Moses and Aaron. they did just as God had
commanded them. This was Moses' rod that God had given him in the
wilderness. This was a special rod of God as we saw in V-17. Verse 15
told us that this was the same rod God had turned into a serpent.
This was the rod God said would do great and marvelous things. It was
very important that they did this in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he
would know where this was coming from. It was, also, important that
Pharaoh was not the only one present, so that Pharaoh could not deny
this was the hand of God. There were witnesses, so Pharaoh could not
say this blood was from any other cause. Just as God had said, it
turned to blood.

     Exodus 7:21 "And the fish that [was] in the river died; and the
river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the
river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt."

     This was just saying that exactly what God had said would happen,
did happen.

     Exodus 7:22 "And the magicians of Egypt did so with their
enchantments: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, neither did he hearken
unto them; as the LORD had said."

     We see here, that the lying, deceit of Satan was even at work
here. there was no way these magicians could do what God had already
done, because all the water was already blood. The only possibility was
that some of the water we read about in V-24 was turned into something
appearing to be blood. The Pharaoh did not want to believe in the
true God, so he turned his back on this miracle, as well.

     Exodus 7:23 "And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither
did he set his heart to this also."

     He was as stubborn as a mule, and even this water being turned
into blood, did not change his heart and mind. He believed this was
some kind of trick, and he wouldn't fall for it. A person who had
sinned over and over would have a hardened heart, not capable of
receiving the things of God. This was the case of Pharaoh, here.

     Exodus 7:24 "And all the Egyptians digged round about the river
for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the
river."

     We see here, how they lived. From the look of this Scripture
above, there was no supply of water for anything, except drinking
water. They just had to do without water for other uses. We do not see
the Hebrews mentioned. It appears, they had clear water to drink.

     Exodus 7:25 "And seven days were fulfilled, after that the LORD
had smitten the river."

     We see here "seven" which means spiritually complete. This blood,
instead of water, lasted seven days. Had this lasted longer than seven
days, everything and everyone would have died. Notice here, also, that
this curse, or plaque, or whatever you would care to call it, came from
God, Himself.












                          Exodus 13 Questions

1.  What was spoken of the condition of Pharaoh's heart?
2.  Would he let the Hebrews go?
3.  The miracle of Moses' serpent swallowing the magicians' serpents
    showed what?
4.  Had it affected Pharaoh's thinking?
5.  Where were Moses and Aaron to see Pharaoh?
6.  What were Moses and Aaron to take with them?
7.  Why was Pharaoh at the water?
8.  Who were Moses and Aaron to tell Pharaoh had sent them?
9.  What were they to say to Pharaoh?
10. In what shall Pharaoh know that "He is God"?
11. What did God say would happen, when the rod was extended over the
    river?
12. Who was this battle between?
13. What makes us know this was real blood?
14. What was one of the main foods of Egypt affected by this plague?
15. What would happen to the fish in this water?
16. What would the water be like?
17. What was Moses and Aaron to do to cause this to happen?
18. Where did this rod come from?
19. What were two of the most unusual places the blood would be?
20. What specific place was the rod stretched out?
21. What did the literal teachers try to say about the blood in the
    river, and ponds. etc.
22. What cannot be explained away by man?
23. Why did you suppose the Nile was where the first plague was carried
    out?
24. Who does this blood in the water affect?
25. Who was this miracle plague done in front of?
26. Who did Pharaoh call to do the same miracle?
27. Was Pharaoh impressed by this plague?
28. Where did Pharaoh go?
29. What will repeated sin do to your heart?
30. Where did the Egyptians get water to drink?
31. How many days did the plague last?
32. Who sent the plague?