God Commands Moses and Aaron
The LORD answered Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. Exo 4:15-16Psa 82:6Jhn 10:35-36Jer 1:101Ki 17:232Ki 6:32Gen 19:21Ecc 1:10 You are to speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his land. Exo 4:151Ki 22:14Act 20:27Deu 4:2Exo 6:29Ezk 3:10Ezk 3:17Jer 1:17
But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I will multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, Exo 4:21Exo 11:9Act 2:22Act 7:36Jhn 4:48Psa 105:27-36Psa 135:9Psa 78:43-51 Pharaoh will not listen to you. Exo 11:9Exo 6:6Exo 12:51Exo 10:1Exo 3:20Exo 6:26Exo 9:3Ezk 14:21
Then I will lay My hand on Egypt, and by mighty acts of judgment I will bring the divisions of My people the Israelites out of the land of Egypt. And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out My hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them.” Exo 14:18Exo 7:17Exo 8:22Exo 14:4Exo 3:20Exo 8:10Ezk 25:17Ezk 28:22
So Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded them. Exo 7:2Exo 7:10Gen 6:22Exo 12:28Exo 39:43Exo 40:16Gen 22:18Jhn 15:10 Moses was eighty years old and Aaron was eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh. Deu 34:7Act 7:23Act 7:30Deu 31:2Deu 29:5Exo 2:23Gen 41:46Psa 90:10
Aaron’s Staff
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “When Pharaoh tells you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ you are to say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a serpent. 1” Exo 4:2Isa 7:11Jhn 2:18Exo 4:17Jhn 6:30Exo 10:13Exo 4:20Exo 7:10-12
So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD had commanded. Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent. Exo 4:3Amo 9:3Luk 10:19Mrk 16:18
But Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers and magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same things by their magic arts. Exo 7:222Ti 3:8Exo 8:18Exo 8:72Th 2:9Dan 2:2Gen 41:8Dan 5:7 Each one threw down his staff, and it became a serpent. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up the other staffs. 1Jn 4:4Exo 8:18-19Exo 9:11Act 13:8-11Act 19:19-20Act 8:9-13
Still, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, 2 and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said. Exo 4:21Exo 8:15Zec 7:11-12Exo 10:1Exo 10:20Exo 10:27Heb 3:13Heb 3:7-8
The First Plague: Blood
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; 3 he refuses to let the people go. Exo 10:1Exo 10:20Exo 10:27Exo 8:15Exo 10:4Exo 4:23Exo 8:2Exo 9:2 Go to Pharaoh in the morning as you see him walking out to the water. Wait on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. Exo 8:20Exo 2:5Exo 7:10Exo 4:2-4Ezk 29:3 Then say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you: Let My people go, so that they may worship Me in the wilderness. But you have not listened until now. Exo 3:18Exo 9:1Exo 9:13Exo 3:12Exo 5:1-31Sa 4:6-9Act 4:21-23Exo 10:3 This is what the LORD says: By this you will know that I am the LORD. Behold, with the staff in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will turn to blood. Exo 4:9Exo 5:2Exo 7:5Ezk 38:23Ezk 39:28Psa 9:161Ki 20:281Sa 17:46-47 The fish in the Nile will die, the river will stink, and the Egyptians will be unable to drink its water.’” Exo 7:24Exo 7:21Num 11:20Num 21:5
And the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over their rivers and canals and ponds and reservoirs—that they may become blood.’ There will be blood throughout the land of Egypt, even in the vessels of wood and stone.” Exo 14:21Exo 10:12Exo 10:21Exo 14:26Exo 8:16Exo 8:5-6Exo 9:22-23Exo 9:33
Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD had commanded; in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials, Aaron raised the staff 4and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was turned to blood. Psa 105:29Psa 78:44Exo 17:5-6Exo 17:9-12Exo 7:17-18Jhn 2:9-11Num 20:8-12Rev 8:8 The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. And there was blood throughout the land of Egypt. Exo 7:18Rev 8:9
But the magicians of Egypt did the same things by their magic arts. So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said. Exo 7:112Ti 3:8Exo 8:7-8Jer 27:18 Instead, Pharaoh turned around, went into his palace, and did not take any of this to heart. 1Sa 4:20Amo 4:7-12Deu 32:46Exo 9:21Ezk 40:4Hab 1:5Isa 26:11Jer 36:24 So all the Egyptians dug around the Nile for water to drink, because they could not drink the water from the river.
And seven full days passed after the LORD had struck the Nile. 2Sa 24:13Exo 10:23Exo 8:9-10