How does Exodus 7:20 demonstrate God's power over creation and false gods? Setting the scene in Egypt • Exodus 7 opens with Pharaoh defying the command, “Let My people go.” • God responds by targeting Egypt’s most treasured resource—the Nile. • Verse focus: “Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded; in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials, Moses raised the staff and struck the waters of the Nile, and all the water was turned to blood.” (Exodus 7:20) Nile River: Egypt’s lifeline and “deity” • Economically vital: irrigation, transport, drinking water, food supply. • Religiously revered: Egyptians personified the Nile as Hapi, “lord of fishes, birds, and marshes.” • Striking the Nile confronted a national symbol and a divine pretender all at once. The miracle itself • Immediate, total, undeniable—“all the water was turned to blood.” • Not an algae bloom, not a trick: literal blood, confirmed by the death of fish and stench (v. 21). • Accomplished “in the presence of Pharaoh,” leaving no room for myth or exaggeration. Power over creation • Only the Creator can override natural processes (Genesis 1:9-10; Psalm 24:1-2). • The staff—an ordinary shepherd’s tool—becomes the conduit of sovereign authority. • Later Scripture recalls this as a historical fact: Psalm 78:44; 105:29. • Revelation 16:3-4 shows a future echo, underscoring that God still commands the elements. Power over false gods • Exodus 12:12; Numbers 33:4 explain the plagues as “judgments on all the gods of Egypt.” • Hapi was believed to sustain life; God exposes him as powerless. • Magicians imitate on a small scale (7:22) but cannot reverse the plague. Only God both initiates and ends it (8:1). • The confrontation establishes a pattern: every plague dismantles another aspect of Egypt’s idolatry until “there is no one like the LORD our God” (8:10). Foreshadowing greater acts of deliverance • Water-to-blood prefigures the Passover night when blood secures Israel’s freedom (Exodus 12:13). • Points ahead to the cross, where Christ’s blood brings ultimate liberation (Matthew 26:28; Colossians 1:14). • Demonstrates that judgment on rebels and salvation for believers often arrive through the same divine act. Living truths to carry forward • God remains unrivaled in every sphere—nature, nations, and spiritual realms. • He can swiftly overturn what people treat as indispensable or invincible. • Trust in the Lord is well-placed; trust in idols, systems, or self is never secure. • The One who ruled the Nile still rules every river, heart, and circumstance today. |
    |