Exodus · chapter 7 of 40
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Exodus 7 tells how God makes Moses like God to Pharaoh and Aaron his prophet, and announces that he will harden the king's heart so as to multiply his signs. Aaron's staff becomes a serpent and swallows those of the Egyptian magicians. Then Moses and Aaron turn the waters of the Nile into blood, the first of the ten plagues.
After Moses' objection at the end of Exodus 6, God moves ahead with his plan: the direct confrontation with Pharaoh now begins. Exodus 7 opens the series of signs and plagues that will show who the Lord is and who holds power in Egypt. The chapter joins a preparatory sign with the first plague, which strikes the river that gave life to Egypt.
The Lord told Moses he had made him like God to Pharaoh and that Aaron his brother would be his prophet. Moses was to say all that God commanded, and Aaron would say it to Pharaoh. God would harden Pharaoh's heart and multiply his signs and wonders in Egypt, but Pharaoh would not listen to them. Then God would lay his hand on Egypt and bring out his people by great acts of judgment, and the Egyptians would know that he is the Lord. Moses was eighty and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh.
When Pharaoh asked for a sign, Aaron threw down his staff before him and his servants, and it became a serpent. Pharaoh called his wise men and sorcerers, and the magicians of Egypt did the same with their secret arts, but Aaron's staff swallowed theirs. Still, Pharaoh's heart was hardened and he would not listen, as the Lord had said.
The Lord then told Moses to go to Pharaoh in the morning as he went out to the river, to stand on the bank with the staff that had turned into a serpent and tell him that the God of the Hebrews had sent him to say let my people go; since Pharaoh had not obeyed, by this he would know that the Lord is God: Moses would strike the water of the river and it would turn to blood. The fish would die, the river would stink and the Egyptians could not drink from it.
Aaron stretched out his staff over the waters of Egypt, the rivers, canals, ponds and all the reservoirs, and all the water turned to blood, even in wooden and stone vessels. The fish died and the river stank. The magicians of Egypt did the same with their secret arts, and Pharaoh's heart stayed hard. He turned and went into his house, giving no thought to this, and the Egyptians dug along the river for water to drink. Seven days passed after the Lord struck the river.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
God tells Moses he has made him like God to Pharaoh, with Aaron as his prophet. Moses is not a god; he speaks with the authority of one who represents the true God before a king who thinks himself divine.
When God stretches out his hand over Egypt, the Egyptians will know that he is the Lord. The purpose of the plagues is not only to punish but to reveal who God is, to Egypt and to Israel.
Aaron's staff swallows the magicians' staffs. The sorcerers can imitate the sign, but God's power proves superior; the scene anticipates that the magicians will not be able to keep up the contest.
Moses and Aaron do as the Lord commanded, and the waters of the Nile turn to blood before the eyes of Pharaoh and his servants. The river that gave life to Egypt and that some revered comes under the judgment of Israel's God.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Moses would be like God to Pharaoh and Aaron his prophet. — Exodus 7:1
Answer: Moses was eighty and Aaron eighty-three. — Exodus 7:7
Answer: It became a serpent and swallowed up the magicians' staffs. — Exodus 7:10-12
Answer: It was hardened and he would not listen. — Exodus 7:13
Answer: The waters of the Nile and all the waters of Egypt. — Exodus 7:19-20
Answer: They did the same with their secret arts. — Exodus 7:22
Exodus 7 shows that God is not alarmed by imitations of human or spiritual power. The world offers signs and solutions that resemble the truth, but God's power is distinguished by its fruit and its purpose, that the Lord be known. This chapter helps us stay calm in the face of opposition.
It also warns of the danger of hardening the heart. Every sign is an opportunity to turn, and Pharaoh wastes it. In a class or small group you can ask what things are hardening us and how we respond to what God shows us, remembering that his patience is an invitation and not a sign of weakness.
Exodus 7 ends with seven days passed since the Lord struck the river and a Pharaoh who does not give way. In Exodus 8 new plagues will come, the frogs, the gnats and the flies, and the distinction between Egypt and God's people will become ever clearer.
The expression means that Moses will speak to Pharaoh with God's authority, with Aaron as his spokesman. It does not claim that Moses is divine, but that he represents God before a king who thought himself a god.
The text says they did it with their secret arts, without explaining the method. Some readers think of tricks and others of deceptive powers, but what the passage stresses is that Aaron's staff swallows theirs and that their imitations do not stop God's plan.
The passage says both that God hardens Pharaoh's heart and that Pharaoh's heart is hardened. Many understand that God confirms and uses the stubbornness Pharaoh already has, so that the responsibility remains his.