The First Sunday in Lent (OT)

Throughout this blessed Lenten Season, we will recall the Ten Plagues God sent upon the Land of Egypt.

Exodus 7:14-25

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. ¹⁵ Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent. ¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ Thus says the Lord, “By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood. ¹⁸ The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.” ’ ” ¹⁹ 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 vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’ ” 

²⁰ Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. 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 all the water in the Nile turned into blood. ²¹ And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. ²² 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. ²³ Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. ²⁴ And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile. 

²⁵ Seven full days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile. 

There are many people today that desire for God to reveal himself to them.  I wonder if they have actually listened.  The Lord tells us he is going to reveal himself to Pharaoh.  He starts by turning the Nile into blood.  But Pharaoh’s heart is hardened and he did not take it to heart.

It may be an easy step for most of us.  But the Lord instructs Moses to go before Pharaoh and give him the news.  Moses and Aaron then are instructed to go from river to stream in order to wave the staff over them and turn the water to blood.

It is our blood, which flows through our body and provides our cells with nourishment.  The people of God were instructed not to drink the blood of an animal because it possesses the life of that animal.  The Nile River, which was the source of life for Egypt, was turned into blood and all the fish died.

God has revealed himself to his people in blood.  He has revealed himself to Pharaoh by turning his water into blood.  God continues to reveal himself in the lifeblood of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  His blood provides us with new life and salvation.  You want to see God, there is a pretty good place to look.