The God Who Fights Idols: The First Plague
Introduction: A Declaration of War on the Gods of Egypt
We come now to the beginning of the great unraveling of Egypt. This is not a series of unfortunate natural disasters. This is a sequence of carefully aimed, divinely orchestrated, covenantal lawsuits. This is God Almighty declaring war, not just on a stubborn tyrant, but on the entire religious and cosmic worldview that propped him up. The ten plagues are a systematic dismantling of the Egyptian pantheon. Each plague is a direct assault on a specific set of Egyptian deities, demonstrating with terrifying clarity that Yahweh, the God of Hebrew slaves, is the sovereign Lord of all creation, and that the gods of Egypt are nothing but impotent frauds.
Modern man, in his sophisticated secularism, tends to read this account and see a power struggle between Moses and Pharaoh, a political negotiation backed by supernatural muscle. But that is to miss the point entirely. The central conflict is not between two men; it is between God and the gods. Pharaoh is simply the high priest and chief representative of his nation's idolatry. His hard heart is the focal point of a national rebellion against the Creator. And God is about to show the world what happens when a creature, whether a man or a nation, puffs out his chest and defies the living God.
The first plague, turning the Nile to blood, is the opening salvo in this divine war. It strikes at the very heart of Egyptian life, religion, and identity. The Nile was not just a river to the Egyptians; it was the source of all life, the foundation of their economy, the center of their civilization. They worshiped it. Deities like Hapi, the god of the annual flood, Isis, the goddess of the Nile, and Khnum, the guardian of the Nile's source, were all central to their worship. By turning their source of life into a river of death, God was not just inconveniencing them. He was executing judgment on their gods and demonstrating His absolute authority over the realms they supposedly controlled. This is a polemic from start to finish. God is mocking their idols before He breaks them.
And we must not think this is just ancient history. Every culture, including our own, has its Niles. Every culture has its cherished idols, the sources of life and security that it trusts in instead of the living God. It might be the economy, or technology, or political power, or sexual autonomy. But whatever it is, God will eventually confront it. He will demonstrate that He alone is the source of life, and that all other ground is sinking sand. The story of the plagues is a perennial warning: you cannot fight God and win. Your idols cannot save you.
The Text
Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is hard with firmness; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he is going out to the water, and station yourself to meet him on the bank of the Nile; and you shall take in your hand the staff that was turned into a serpent. And you shall say to him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness. But behold, you have not listened until now.” Thus says Yahweh, “By this you shall know that I am Yahweh: behold, I am about to strike the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and it will be turned to blood. And the fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will become foul, and the Egyptians will be weary of drinking water from the Nile.” ’ ” Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools and over all their reservoirs of water, that they may become blood; and there will be blood throughout all theland of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’ ” So Moses and Aaron did thus, as Yahweh had commanded. And he raised up the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants, and all the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood. And the fish that were in the Nile died, and the Nile became foul, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. And the blood was through all the land of Egypt. Yet the magicians of Egypt did the same with their secret arts; and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened with strength, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken. Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not set his heart even on this. So all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink of the water of the Nile. And seven full days passed after Yahweh had struck the Nile.
(Exodus 7:14-25 LSB)
The Stubborn Heart and the Divine Confrontation (vv. 14-18)
The scene is set with God's diagnosis of the problem.
"Then Yahweh said to Moses, 'Pharaoh’s heart is hard with firmness; he refuses to let the people go.'" (Exodus 7:14)
The Hebrew word for "hard" here is 'kabed', which means heavy or dull. It’s the same root used for glory. Pharaoh’s heart is weighed down, not with glory, but with a thick, self-important stubbornness. He is spiritually obtuse. He has seen the power of God in the serpent-staff, and it has made no impression. This is the nature of a hard heart. It is not a lack of evidence that is the problem; it is a resolute refusal to submit to the evidence. God states the problem plainly: Pharaoh refuses. This is not a matter of inability, but of willful defiance.
So God orchestrates a direct confrontation. Moses is to meet Pharaoh at the water's edge, at the very source of his pride and power. Pharaoh likely went to the Nile in the morning for a ritual act of worship, to pay homage to the river that sustained his kingdom. God commands Moses to interrupt this idolatrous ceremony. This is a holy ambush. God is taking the fight to the enemy's turf, to his place of worship. He tells Moses to bring the staff, the instrument of God's power that had already humiliated Pharaoh's magicians. This is a reminder of the authority by which Moses speaks.
The message is a covenant lawsuit in miniature. First, the identification of the prosecutor: "Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews." Second, the history of the case: "sent me to you, saying, 'Let My people go, that they may serve Me...'" Third, the charge against the defendant: "But behold, you have not listened." And fourth, the sentence: "By this you shall know that I am Yahweh... it will be turned to blood." The purpose of the plague is explicitly stated: "By this you shall know that I am Yahweh." This is a lesson in theology, taught by means of judgment. God is revealing His character, His name, His absolute sovereignty, to a world that has suppressed the truth in unrighteousness.
The judgment itself is a perfect "eye for an eye" retaliation. Pharaoh had commanded that the male Hebrew infants be cast into the Nile (Exodus 1:22). He turned the river of life into a river of death for God's people. Now, God turns that same river into a river of death for all of Egypt. The water will become blood, the fish will die, and the river will stink. The very thing they worshiped will become a source of corruption and death. This is how God always deals with idols. He makes them a curse to those who trust in them.
The Plague Unleashed (vv. 19-21)
God gives the command to execute the sentence.
"Then Yahweh said to Moses, 'Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt... that they may become blood...’" (Exodus 7:19)
The scope of the judgment is total. It is not just the Nile, but all the waters of Egypt: rivers, streams, pools, reservoirs. Even the water already collected in vessels of wood and stone is to be affected. There is to be no escape. This is not a localized phenomenon. It is a comprehensive, national judgment. God's authority extends to every drop of water in the land. This demonstrates the foolishness of idolatry. The Egyptians had different gods for different bodies of water, but Yahweh is God over all of them. He strikes them all with one blow.
Moses and Aaron obey precisely. Aaron, as the high priest, stretches out the staff, and in the sight of Pharaoh and his court, the judgment falls. "All the water that was in the Nile was turned to blood." The fish died, the river stank, and the water was undrinkable. The lifeblood of Egypt became a putrid horror. Imagine the scene. The source of their cleanliness, their sustenance, their prosperity, is now a stinking, gory mess. Their god has been publicly slain and is now rotting before their eyes. This is a profound theological statement written in the language of cosmic upheaval.
The Hardening and the Helplessness (vv. 22-25)
Pharaoh's response is a masterclass in spiritual blindness.
"Yet the magicians of Egypt did the same with their secret arts; and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened with strength, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken." (Exodus 7:22)
The court magicians manage to replicate the sign on a small scale. How? Through "secret arts," likely a combination of demonic power and sleight of hand. But notice the utter futility of their miracle. Egypt is in the middle of a water crisis, and what do the magicians do? They make more blood. This is not a counter-measure; it is a reinforcement of the judgment. It's like trying to put out a house fire by lighting a match. They demonstrate that their power, such as it is, can only corrupt and destroy. They cannot reverse the plague. They cannot create clean water. They can only make a bad situation worse.
But for Pharaoh, this is enough. He sees their pathetic imitation and uses it as a pretext to harden his heart further. The word for "hardened" here is different; it is 'chazaq', meaning to strengthen or make firm. His resolve is stiffened. He sees a contest of equals, not the overwhelming power of the Creator. He refuses to listen, exactly "as Yahweh had spoken." God is not surprised by this. He is sovereign even over Pharaoh's rebellion. Pharaoh thinks he is asserting his own autonomy, but he is actually fulfilling the script that God has already written.
Pharaoh's contempt is staggering. "Then Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not set his heart even on this." He dismisses the whole affair, turns his back on the national catastrophe, and goes home. Meanwhile, his people, "all the Egyptians," are left scrambling, "digging around the Nile for water to drink." The tyrant in his palace is insulated from the suffering of his people, but the judgment is real. For seven full days, the land of Egypt is under this curse. For a week, their dead god lies stinking at their feet. This is a time for national repentance, but instead of turning to Yahweh, they simply try to dig their way around the problem. They are looking for another source, any source, other than the true God.
The Gospel According to the Nile
This plague is not just a historical account of judgment on Egypt; it is a picture of a deeper reality. It is a picture of the world under the curse of sin, and the only remedy that God provides.
The world, like Egypt, worships its own sources of life. It trusts in its own strength, its own wisdom, its own resources. But sin has poisoned the well. Everything we touch, apart from Christ, is tainted with death. Our wisdom is foolishness, our strength is weakness, our lifeblood is corrupt. The whole creation groans under this curse, this foul stench of death.
And what is God's solution? It is not to dig a new well. It is not to find an alternative source of water. God's solution is to deal with the blood. The plague was blood, a symbol of death and judgment. The remedy for sin is also blood, but it is the blood of a substitute. The Nile was turned to the blood of judgment, bringing death. But on the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ shed the blood of atonement, bringing life.
The water of judgment that flowed from the Nile is a type of the wrath of God that we all deserve. But the water and the blood that flowed from the pierced side of Christ is the fountain of our salvation. He took the curse for us. He drank the cup of God's wrath so that we could drink from the river of the water of life.
Pharaoh hardened his heart at the sight of the blood of judgment. He turned away in contempt. This is the response of the unbelieving world. But the believer looks to the blood of Christ and finds mercy. We see in that blood not a reason to harden our hearts, but every reason to soften them in repentance and gratitude. The magicians of this world can offer no solution. They can only add to the death and corruption. They can offer self-help and political solutions and technological fixes, but they cannot create one drop of living water. Only Christ can. He is the true staff of God, struck once on the cross, and from Him flows life for all who are weary of drinking from the foul rivers of this world.