1
The LORD said to Moses, “See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet.
2
You shall speak all that I command you, and Aaron your brother shall speak to Pharaoh, that he may let the Israelites go out of his land.
3
But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and I will multiply the signs and wonders that I will do in the land of Egypt.
4
When Pharaoh does not listen to you, then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring out my armies, my people, the Israelites, from the land of Egypt by great judgments.
5
And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.”
6
So Moses and Aaron did; as the LORD commanded them, so they did.
7
Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.
8
And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron:
9
“When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Show a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh.’ It will become a serpent.”
10
Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did as the LORD had commanded; Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent.
11
Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers; and they, the magicians of Egypt, did the same with their enchantments.
12
Each one threw down his staff, and they became serpents; but Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.
13
Yet Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the LORD had said.
14
The LORD said to Moses: “Pharaoh’s heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go.
15
Go to Pharaoh in the morning, when he usually goes out to the river; wait for him by the bank of the Nile, holding in your hand the staff that was turned into a serpent.
16
And say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying: Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness; but until now you have not listened.
17
Therefore 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 be turned into blood,”}
18
and the fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile shall stink; and the Egyptians will be loath to drink water from this Nile.”
19
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, their ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they may become blood; and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and vessels of stone.'”
20
And Moses and Aaron did so, just as the LORD had spoken; he lifted up the staff and struck the water that was in the Nile, in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and all the water in the Nile was turned into blood;
21
the fish in the Nile died, so that the Nile stank, and the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
22
But the magicians of Egypt did the same with their secret arts, so Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had spoken.
23
Pharaoh turned away, went into his palace, and did not take this matter to heart either.
24
But all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, because they could not drink the water of the Nile.
25
Thus seven days passed after the LORD had struck the Nile.
🐍💧👑 Summary of Exodus 7
Exodus 7 is the beginning of the great confrontation between God and Pharaoh, starting with the sign of the staff becoming a serpent and the first plague: water becoming blood. This marks the beginning of the ten plagues of Egypt.
1. God Strengthens Moses and Aaron (verses 1–7)
- God said that Moses would be like “God” to Pharaoh, and Aaron would be Moses’ prophet.
- God declared:
“I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and I will multiply My signs and wonders in Egypt.”
- Moses’ mission was to speak the word of God, even though Pharaoh would not immediately obey.
- Moses and Aaron began their obedience at the ages of 80 and 83.
2. Aaron’s Staff Becomes a Serpent (verses 8–13)
- When they met Pharaoh, Aaron threw down his staff and it became a serpent.
- The Egyptian magicians imitated the wonder, but Aaron’s serpent swallowed their serpents—a sign of the superiority of God’s power.
- However, Pharaoh’s heart remained hard and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron.
3. The First Plague: Water Turned to Blood (verses 14–24)
- The Lord told Moses to meet Pharaoh by the bank of the Nile.
- Moses struck the water with his staff, and all the water in Egypt turned to blood—the river, the lakes, even the water in containers.
- The fish died and Egypt smelled foul, but the Egyptian magicians could also imitate it, so Pharaoh still refused to yield.
- The people of Egypt could not drink the water and dug around the river in search of clean water.
📖 Main Teaching
- The power of the Lord is far greater than human strength or magic.
- The obedience of Moses and Aaron was the key, even when the results were not seen at once.
- A hardened heart can reject the truth even after seeing miracles.
- The Lord sometimes allows a long process to reveal His glory.
- The Lord remains patient, giving warnings through plagues rather than destroying at once.
✨ Spiritual Meaning
- The staff that became a serpent is a sign of the Lord’s power overcoming all the world’s deceit.
- Water turned to blood is not only a physical plague, but a symbol that without the Lord, life turns into death.
- Pharaoh’s hardened heart portrays the condition of the human heart that refuses repentance—even when warned.
- This reminds us that miracles do not automatically change the heart—repentance requires humility.
