The First Plague (Exodus 7:14-25)

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh's heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. [God is highly involved in Pharaoh’s stubbornness and Moses must not be surprised.] 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning, as he is going out to the water [probably to bathe]. Stand on the bank of the Nile [which the Egyptians understood to be a god] to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that turned into a serpent. [The staff represents God and his power and becomes more important throughout the story of the Exodus, even ending up in the Ark of the Covenant.] 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. [God’s plan is to teach Pharaoh who he is, meaning his greatness and exclusive power. He needs to understand that Moses is merely a spokesman.] 17 Thus says the Lord, “By this you shall know that I am the Lord [the first announcement to a Gentile of the name of God, foreshadowing the gospel going to the Gentiles]: 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. [In Hebrew blood is both a color and a substance. The blood has no theological significance. The pollution of the water is the plague.] 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.’” [The plague is instantaneous and comprehensive.]

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. [The first plague turns the nation’s water source and source of life into an odious source of death, demonstrating the sovereign power of the God of Israel and subordinate impotence of the Nile god. However, it is only the fish that die. Humans and animals do not die from this plague.] There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. [No Egyptians could escape this plague. God’s mighty acts were no longer confined to a private audience.] 22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. [They must have added something to a container of water to turn it red. However, they were unable to undo what had been done.] So Pharaoh's heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. [Those predisposed to doubt God will always be attracted to another explanation, especially to “natural” explanations for all of the Bible’s supernatural phenomena, from creation ex nihilo to the resurrection of Jesus.] 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. [Subsurface water was not affected.]

25 Seven full days passed [long plague; complete number] after the Lord had struck the Nile [13th mention]. [This is the only account of time passing given between the plagues. It probably can be assumed it continued this way with the other plagues. Additionally, this verse reminds us that the actions of Moses and Aaron are symbolic and that the one who actually struck the Nile was God.]