Exodus 7 - When God multiplies His signs and wonders in the land, does that mean everyone will listen?
Moses and Aaron Before Pharaoh
1 And the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet.
2 You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land.
3 But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,
4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.
5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.”
6 Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them.
7 Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.
8 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’”
10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent.
11 Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts.
12 For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs.
13 Still Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
The First Plague: Water Turned to Blood
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh's heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go.
15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water. Stand on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent.
16 And you shall say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness.” But so far, you have not obeyed.
17 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 turn into blood.
18 The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.”’”
19 And 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, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”
20 Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood.
21 And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.
22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh's heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
23 Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart.
24 And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile.
25 Seven full days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.
Observation Questions
What did the Lord say to Moses in verse 1?
Who would be Moses' prophet? (verse 1)
Who was to tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel to go out of his land? (verse 2)
Who would harden Pharaoh's heart? (verse 3)
Who did God say he would bring out of Egypt? (verse 4)
By what kind of acts would God bring his hosts out of the land of Egypt? (verse 4)
What were the Egyptians to know when He would stretch out his hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them? (verse 5)
Did Moses and Aaron do just as the Lord had commanded them? (verse 6)
How old were Moses and Aaron when they spoke to Pharaoh? (verse 7)
Did the Lord speak to Moses and Aaron? (verse 8)
What direction did God give to Moses and Aaron for when Pharaoh says to them, "Prove yourselves by working a miracle"? (verse 9)
Did Aaron's staff become a serpent when he cast it down before Pharaoh? (verse 10)
Who did Pharaoh summon? (verse 11)
Who's staff swallowed up other staffs? (verse 12)
Was Pharaoh's heart hardened? (verse 13)
Would Pharaoh listen to them? (verse 13)
The First Plague: Water Turned to Blood
When did God say Moses was to meet Pharaoh? (verse 15)
Where did God say he was to meet Pharaoh? (verse 15)
What was Moses to have in his hand? (verse 15)
What was the message that Moses was to give to Pharaoh? (verse 16-18)
Where was Aaron to stretch out his hand? (verse 19)
Did Moses and Aaron do as the Lord commanded them? (verse 20)
Did the fish in the Nile die? (verse 21)
Did the Nile stink? (verse 21)
What was throughout all the land of Egypt when Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded them? (verse 21)
Did the magicians of Egypt do the same by their secret arts? (verse 22)
Did Pharaoh take what had happened to his heart? (verse 23)
Why did the Egyptians dig along the Nile for water to drink? (verse 24)
How many days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile? (verse 25)
Thoughts
"But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,
Pharaoh will not listen to you" - verse 3-4
When God multiplies His signs and wonders in the land, does that mean everyone will listen?
"Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment." - verse 4
צִבְאֹתַ֜י - ṣiḇ·’ō·ṯay
NAS: and bring out My hosts, My people
KJV: and bring forth mine armies, [and] my people
INT: Egypt and bring my hosts my people the sons
1 Occurrence of this word.
"Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh." - verse 7
"Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts.
For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs." - verse 11-12
Concerning Spiritual Gifts
Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?
Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.
And yet I will show you the most excellent way.
1 Corinthians 12
And 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, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’” - verse 19
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