What is the meaning of Exodus 7:20? Did just as the LORD had commanded - The verse opens with simple obedience. Moses and Aaron “did just as the LORD had commanded” (Exodus 7:20). - Obedience was not optional; it was the channel through which God’s power flowed. Compare Genesis 6:22, where Noah “did everything that God had commanded him,” and John 14:15, where Jesus says, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” - Their faith expressed itself in action, trusting that the LORD’s word would accomplish what He promised (Isaiah 55:11). In the presence of Pharaoh and his officials - The act was public, confronting Egypt’s highest authority. God wanted Pharaoh to see firsthand that the God of Israel held power over Egypt’s prized river. - Similar public displays appear in 1 Kings 18, when Elijah called down fire before the prophets of Baal, and in Acts 4:13–14, where Peter and John healed a man before the Sanhedrin. - The confrontation fulfilled God’s earlier word in Exodus 7:4 that He would “lay My hand on Egypt” and compel acknowledgment of His sovereignty. Aaron raised the staff and struck the water - Aaron’s staff symbolized God’s delegated authority (Exodus 4:17). Each use of the staff—turning into a serpent (Exodus 7:10) and now striking the Nile—reinforced that the power belonged to God, not the men. - Striking recalls the later miracle in Exodus 17:6, when Moses struck the rock and water flowed out—again, a tangible sign that God commands nature. - This action dismantled Egypt’s trust in the Nile as a life-source and as a deity (e.g., their god Hapi). Romans 1:23–25 shows how God exposes false worship by confronting idols. All the water was turned to blood - The transformation was total: “all the water of the Nile” (Exodus 7:20). Not symbolism, but a literal miracle. - The judgment mirrored Genesis 4:10, where blood cried out from the ground—here Egypt’s lifeblood river cried out against oppression. - Revelation 16:3–6 echoes this plague in the final judgments, underscoring that God’s justice spans Scripture. - The Nile turning to blood also previewed the Passover, when blood would mean both judgment and deliverance (Exodus 12:13). summary Exodus 7:20 records obedient servants acting publicly under God’s authority to confront a false power, resulting in a miraculous, literal judgment that exposed Egypt’s idolatry and affirmed the LORD’s supremacy. |
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