Exodus chapter 7 verses 14 to 25. Let's listen to the word of the Lord. Then the Lord said to Moses, Pharaoh's heart is hardened. He refuses to let the people go. 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. 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. But 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. The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile. 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. 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. 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. 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. Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart. All the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile. Seven full days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile. The word of the Lord for us this evening. Let's pray and ask for his blessing. God we give you thanks for this word. We pray that you would Put into us a holy fear of who you are and of the necessity of coming to you and confessing sin and believing the testimony that we have in the scriptures of your power and of your glory and finally in the coming of your son Jesus as our peace. Lord grant that we would repent and come to you and that these things taught to us in the scriptures would become things that we hear and believe. We give you thanks and pray to you in the name of Christ Jesus. Amen. Pharaoh had met Moses before and had not been impressed by the things that Moses had done, had not been impressed by the commands that Moses gave to him. Moses had appeared to him a few days, a few weeks, we're not sure from the text before, and said to him that God had a message for him, let my people go. And Pharaoh said, who is the Lord? I mean, why should I listen to you? Why should I listen to him? Pharaoh was not speaking simply Well actually he was speaking out of a simple human pride but it was a pride magnified and corrupted even more by the sense of deity that he had of himself. This confrontation between Moses and Pharaoh was not simply two political leaders going at it. This confrontation was between a man who knew that he was not God and had been humbled by God and a man who believed he was God himself and was accountable to no man. The words of the Lord to Pharaoh through Moses had no effect earlier and the wonder, the miracle of Aaron's staff becoming a snake, a serpent and devouring the staffs of the Egyptian magicians also had no effect upon Pharaoh. He was convinced in his heart that he was who he was and who could say who to him. who could scare him, who could frighten him, who could command him. God, in hearing all this, knowing all of this, calls to Moses and in verses 14 to 20 of Exodus 7, we see the judgment of Yahweh commanded against Pharaoh. In verse 14, Pharaoh's heart is described as hardened against God and is shown by his ongoing disobedience. Again, no surprise to God. Some would like us to believe that salvation is a matter of our choice, that we have sort of a neutral heart and that we simply need to be encouraged by the right kind of preaching or the right kind of worship, the right kind of presentation of the gospel to kind of like direct and influence our heart in the right way to go. And that's simply not true. Pharaoh is an extreme example of a hardened heart. But his heart is not that much different from any other unbeliever. He lives in unbelief of God, lives in hatred of God. It's magnified because of his political power and because of the exalted view he has of himself. But how many unbelievers do we know who in the end think that they can do all that needs to be done? How much pride and arrogance lives in the heart of an unbeliever? I mean, how much pride and arrogance lives in our own hearts? Knowing what we know and having been taught what we've been taught. Yet we still find ourselves falling into this Pharaoh trap at times. Challenging and questioning the command of God. In God's mercy, judgment is removed from us because we are in Christ. But the reality of judgment should humble us and should consider us once again to humble ourselves before God and to seek him out. Pharaoh's heart is hardened, says God to Moses. He refuses to let the people go. This word for hardened can also be translated as heavy and it's an interesting thought that one of the commentators makes on all of this. That in Egyptian theology at the time that the exodus was happening, there was the concept of heavy. in Egyptian theology. And this heaviness was related to the idea of one's heart being judged in the balance scales. If an Egyptian died, his heart would be measured against a feather in a balance. And if the heart was heavier than the feather, the individual would be cast into judgment. It's an impossible test when you think of it like that. The heaviness of the heart being determined by the sins and by the unrighteousness of the individual. But it's interesting that the same language that was current in Egyptian theology is used by Moses to describe what Pharaoh's heart is like. It's almost as if there's a double judgment. Even against the standards of Egyptian theology and belief, Pharaoh was an evil and wicked and stubborn man. And even by his own standards he would be judged. how much more so than by the standards of God's righteousness and God's commands. Pharaoh's heart was heavy and hardened against God and the judgment that he was about to embark on, the judgment that he and his people were about to receive ought to be a warning to us to soften our hearts while God calls, while God speaks to us. Moses and Aaron were called by God to meet with Pharaoh in verse 15. The place of meeting wasn't haphazardly chosen. It would be by the Nile. By the Nile, where judgment would first be apparent. It's by this Nile that Pharaoh appeared, not just to wash himself. Granted, we're not told in the scripture why he was there. But given the deification of the Nile by the Egyptians, the way that they actually believed it was a god, Then we can be pretty certain that Pharaoh was involved in an act of worship as Moses and Aaron met with him and pronounced the word of God to him. This is a confrontation of Pharaoh in the midst of his idolatry. He was being confronted again with the lordship of God, with the power of the covenant God of Israel, the maker of all things, as he worshipped false gods. they met him with the sign of power that God had given to Moses the staff that Moses had first had in the wilderness that first became a snake when God told Moses to throw it down and then became a staff when Moses just frightenedly grabbed it by the tail and picked it up again the reminder to Pharaoh that there was a consistency in God's dealings with him and that God was going to accomplish his purposes Invisible ways that couldn't and wouldn't be denied. Pharaoh is confronted with this sin in verse 16. When God acts with us and upon us, he reminds us of who we are, of who he is, and what his standards of judgment are. God tells Moses to say to him, the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to you saying, let my people go, that you may serve me in the wilderness, but so far you have not obeyed. There is the law for Pharaoh. The commandment of God was given to him. Let my people go that they might worship me. And it was not an unreasonable command. There are records of other Egyptian pharaohs letting their captive peoples go for a time to engage in worship. But Pharaoh would have none of this. And because of his disobedience to the clear command of God, he would be judged. It didn't come upon him unawares. There wasn't an ambush. God is speaking to Pharaoh and is speaking to the Egyptians and speaking to all of us and calling us to account for our sin is fair and honest and open about this. None of us can say, I didn't know. I wasn't told. The question comes up that young Christians like to ask or argumentative non-Christians, well, what about all those people who died without having heard of Jesus? Well, what about them? They have the law of God written in their heart and they suppress the truth of unrighteousness. What could be known about God was known to them and they refused even that. No one will stand before God at the end of days and say, I didn't know, I wasn't told, you're unfair to do this. Won't stand a chance. at making a case for themselves. How much more of those who have heard the gospel of Christ preached and presented time and time again and have refused. And if we've not refused to believe, if we have taken it to heart, have we taken it to heart? Or have we simply gone along with the crowd, gone along with family expectations, gone along with the easy way to get through life? Have we searched ourselves out and ask, do I believe these things? I don't mean to inculcate endless introspection in people because there's not much point in that. The heart is desperately wicked. Who can know it, says Jeremiah. And seeking out your own state of salvation endlessly is pretty much a way to admire yourself in hopelessness. But we are called to give an account for ourselves. We are called to examine ourselves when we come to the table of the Lord. To see if we truly are in Him. There's a way in which we do this, that we go before God and ask Him to search us out and try us out. And to make known to us the wicked ways that we need to leave behind. Asking Him to purify us. It comes to hearing the word. It comes to hearing the law. It comes to hearing the commands of God. And our obedience, our submission to them being made clear to us by His Spirit. And by, again, being humble before God. And saying, yes I am guilty. Yes, I have failed. Yeah, I fail every day. God have mercy on me. Pharaoh, of course, wouldn't do that. Because of Pharaoh's unbelief, God would act in power, not just against Pharaoh, but against all of Pharaoh's land. And he would strike Pharaoh where it hurt the most. and his theology and his conception of God. Not just this plague but all the plagues can be argued were a battle against the false gods of Egypt. Egypt had many gods and there wasn't necessarily a real logic or consistent break between one god's power and responsibilities and another god's power and responsibilities. They all just kind of blended together according to local custom and what the traditions would dictate. This first one though that God pronounces is a great one, because it strikes at the Nile. God says in verse 17, 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. The fish in the Nile shall die. The Nile will stink. The Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile. God declares Himself. His power is going to be revealed in judgment. His power is going to be revealed as he judges Pharaoh and his people by striking at the most important thing that they have. God's power is revealed even through the activity of someone else. It is God who will act through Moses as Moses uses the staff as God commands and strikes the Nile and the water turns to blood. God is so great he can act through human means and make his judgment clear or he can act without human means and make his judgment clear. Psalm 115 reminds us who can stay in the arm of the Lord, who can prevent him from accomplishing his will. Moses and Aaron in their pride had tried in different ways to accomplish the work of God and failed. Not because they could block the will of God but because God was humbling them. Now they are dedicated to serving God and God will act through them and make his message clear. This is a hard thing for them to do. Well, maybe not. Maybe they were so angry at the Egyptian treatment of their brothers and of their families and of their wives and sisters and mothers and cousins. that they didn't feel a lot of compassion for the Egyptians and certainly not for Pharaoh. But it's a thought, isn't it, to keep in mind as they do this that they are going to experience as onlookers the suffering that one man's unbelief brings upon a people and they're going to be crucially, critically involved in seeing that judgment come about. Can we thank God that we get to preach the gospel of Christ? and offer forgiveness and grace in the place of judgment? I mean, we do speak judgment to people. We do remind people what the will of God will be for them if they refuse Christ, if they turn against Him. But how hard would it be to only pronounce doom and destruction to those that are condemned to die? Rejoice that we can preach the gospel of mercy and of compassion. I need to think that even Moses and Aaron knew this to a point as well because they would see over time that many of the Egyptians would side with the Israelites, would have their fill of their leaders obstinacy and unbelief and would leave with the Israelites when the time came. And I'm certain that they rejoiced in that. But how hard would it be to get that message and to see the judgments of God come about. It's not a problem in terms of our being faithful to God. We know that He acts as judged and He does what is right in all the earth. And we're not being disloyal to Him by recognizing the cost of sin and unbelief when God brings it to bear. Not to remind us then to be glad for what we've been delivered from as well. The mercy that we have in Jesus. Why strike at the Nile? Why should the Nile become this? As I said before, it was economically important to Egypt. I mean, it was what their life depended upon. That was where their power, that was where their wealth came from. The annual floods of the Nile replenishing the farmlands, the flow of water was vital for them. The fish, that they were able to eat and fish out of the Nile, the marshes that would develop up alongside the banks of the Nile, that would provide haven for birds and for animal life, that the Egyptians could hunt and eat. I mean, without the Nile, there wouldn't have been an Egypt. But more important than striking at the economy of it all, is God striking a blow to the false god. And there's a hymn that was sung to the Nile, and it's quoted in one of the commentaries. Hail to your countenance Hoppy, Hoppy was seen as the god of the Nile, god of fertility, connected with the Nile. Hail to your countenance Hoppy, who goes up from the land, who comes to deliver Egypt, who brings food, who is abundant of provisions, who creates every sort of his good things, who is enduring of customs, who returns at his due season, who fills upper and lower Egypt. Everything that has come into being is through his power. There is no district of living men without him. This is the kind of worship that was being offered up. Was this an affront to God? Absolutely. How could God be accepting of this? Praise of a false God, where all the magic and all the power and all the works of God are ascribed to what at best might be an imagined deity in somebody's mind. At worst might have been some demon masquerading as God himself. Why shouldn't God strike the Nile? Why shouldn't God tear down the idols that the Egyptians had built? Why shouldn't God tear our idols down? Why shouldn't he challenge us on the comfort that we have, that we trust in too much? Why shouldn't he put our nation at peril at different times, so that we learn to trust not in our military or economic might, but that we might learn to trust in Christ again? as individuals who relive in churches, but even as a nation that's called to serve God and submit to Christ, to kiss the sun, lest we perish in His wrath. Why should God, why shouldn't He strike the false idols that we hold and make Himself known? The curse that will come upon the river is that it will turn to blood. And some argue for a naturalistic explanation And, well, I have my notes here that it's possible but at best unnecessary, at worst it's a denial of God's power. I'm actually being too kind to that idea. I think to argue that the Nile became anything other than full of blood is just a sign of unbelief. I mean, there are things that happen to the Nile that resemble something like this happening, but why argue for that? What is wrong with God doing a miracle of this magnitude? Why couldn't he do it? In fact, why wouldn't he do it to show his power? Why would he simply mimic something that happens naturally and expect Pharaoh to fall down in confession and belief when he sees this happening? But God performed a miracle through Moses. It did turn to blood. And it happened instantaneously. And it would happen to the Nile and all the surrounding waters, the streams, the pools. everything would be turned to blood and in fact in the end of verse 19 there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone there is a thought that some have that the word vessels is not in the Hebrew literally even wood and stone or even in wood and stone and I think there is something to this thought because idols are usually made of wood and stone And when wood and stone are used together like this, it usually refers to something that a man has made to bow down to, to worship, as a substitute that man has made for God. And the idea would be here that even the idols of wood and stone that the Egyptians had made would be covered with blood, that they would wash the idols every morning. Interesting, you have to wash your God to make him presentable. What kind of God is this? but the priest would perform this daily ablation and the picture you have here is that they're in the middle of cleansing their idol and all of a sudden while they're pouring water the water turns to blood and they're smearing blood all over their idol all over their God what would the effect of that be on somebody to see it happen like that in one of their highest religious duties It's not just that they were drawing water and it turned to blood, as they were drawing water for their morning meal. It was that throughout the land of Egypt, when Moses did this work, when God performed this miraculous judgment, that it would be clear to all that Pharaoh was wrong and that Yahweh was to be seen and worshipped as Lord. The result of all this of course would be great hardship for the Egyptians and this is what did happen. To not have water, I mean you can imagine. You think of the great things that we depend upon. We complain about the high price of gasoline but we still got it. But imagine what would happen if you turned on your tap and instead of water out came blood. and you went to your friend and said well at least I've got some bottled water and you looked in the fridge and the bottled water had turned to blood as well. What would happen to us in a short period of time? We would know that something had happened and the discomfort that we would feel would be hopefully more than just a little bit. Of course for the Egyptians the fish died The whole land stank from rotting dead fish. It doesn't take long for a fish to start stinking. And when you tie that in with the hot sun beating down on a river of blood, it's just beyond gruesome to think of all of this. And no drinking water for the Egyptians. This is what God promised in judgment upon Pharaoh. Verses 20 and 21, Moses and Aaron carry out this judgment that God had given them. Now, know here that they are actually now doing and saying just as God commanded. There's an argument to be made that the first confrontation of Moses and Aaron with Pharaoh, I think back in chapter 5, ended poorly because they didn't do exactly as God had said. They didn't speak to Pharaoh with the exact words that God had given them. They were humbled by that failure. And Moses went and prayed before God and wondered why this had happened. And although we're not told in scripture what God's answer to Moses was, Moses comes back and does exactly what God tells him to do. The implication being Moses learned something about obedience and about substituting his own words for the word of God. They do just as God commanded and the judgment is delivered and God does just as he says he would do. God keeps his promises of salvation for which we're glad, but he also keeps his promises for judgment. to those who refuse to repent. Said this morning in another context, quoting Isaiah, that the word of God does not return void, but accomplishes all that for which it was sent. And the word of God that was sent to Pharaoh through Moses and through Aaron accomplished that for which it was sent. A sign of judgment. A sign for the idols to fall. A sign for Pharaoh to repent of his own deity. and of his own unbelief and to submit to the God of the Hebrews who was showing himself even then the God of God and the Lord of Lords. But of course, Trevor wouldn't do it. This is a reminder for us, isn't it? That whatever signs, whatever miracles, whatever wonders we see, they don't convince that the heart is locked in darkness. How many people saw Jesus perform miracles? Real miracles of healing and of feeding and of raising from the dead. And yet didn't believe the Pharisees saw this time and time and time again. And they said, well Jesus why are you doing that on the Sabbath? Isn't there another day for you to show mercy to somebody? You can't do it on our Sabbath. So locked up in unbelief and hatred and pride and self-righteousness. So we shouldn't be surprised if Pharaoh doesn't believe. This is a comfort to us in a strange way too. Because we've had these times where we've just prayed and worked and talked and were blue in the face of people answering all the questions that they have about the reality of Christ, about the doctrines that we hold to, the things the Bible teaches. We've gone through the issues of free will and predestination. We've gone through and answered the questions of good and evil. We've gone through and answered the questions about the church's misbehavior through the decades and through the millenniums. And we've spoken truly about all of these things. Man, we have been forgiving and we've been loving and still people have this head of stone that nothing penetrates into and this heart that's just opposed to God and won't surrender and won't give in. And we're thinking, I failed. I didn't have the right arguments. Where I was crossed with Him that time and He's using that now as a reason to not believe. Well, let's say first of all, We probably never do as well as we can witnessing to people and praying for people. Even as Christians, I think all of our works are unrighteous. There's much that we do that is still not up to the measure of God's holiness. But we're covered by the blood of Christ and our sins are forgiven. And if we've done what we can in submission to God, The judgment for unbelief falls upon the person who refuses to believe. We are not responsible for their hard heart. We are not the ones responsible for their unbelief. We have done what we could. We have asked forgiveness where we can. And in Christ we are free of that judgment. We have announced the news of trouble coming. And we have pointed the way to salvation. If someone doesn't believe, it is on their shoulders. It is on their head that this calamity will fall. Why? Because their heart is hard. They refuse to believe. Remember what Moses says to the Pharisees, that even if one were to come from the dead, they still wouldn't believe. Actually what Jesus said to the Pharisees in the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. This is in a way where Pharaoh is right now himself and sadly would remain through the following year of plagues and trouble and turmoil that would come. The magicians obey Pharaoh. He seems to give them a command and they're able to turn what water remains into blood. They're able to affect something. But it's interesting, isn't it? The best they can do is just make the judgment worse. They can't remove it. They can't undo it. It's like as if somehow we think we can improve on God's work for us in some strange way. Or that we can excuse ourselves from God's judgment by doing this or doing that, but all that happens is our lives become worse. Rather than accept the power of God, rather than accept the verdict of God that we're guilty and indebted in sin, we try to create our own version of God's power. Instead we just make it worse for ourselves and don't save anything. and just vindicate God all over again for his judgments. The magician's abilities to do nothing to reverse the plague but merely to intensify it and to turn what little water remained into something that was undrinkable testifies to us of our helplessness in the face of God's judgments. How can we turn him aside? How can we satisfy him? not by our abilities, and not by our righteousness, not by our perfect church attendance, and our good morals, and our proper speech, not by our tithing, and not by our promises to devote ourselves to the Lord's work wherever and whenever He may call us, But only through the righteousness of Christ can we escape the judgment of God for our sin. Only by recognizing that in Christ, in Christ alone, God satisfies His wrath against sin. And that we who are called to believe in God and called to worship Him in Christ can do so only in and through Christ. Through denial of ourselves and of our own righteousness and embracing and clinging to the righteousness of Christ on our behalf. Pharaoh is impressed enough, however, with what he sees in the magicians that it seems to satisfy him and he says, yeah, my guys can do it too. And he walks away in his unbelief and his stubbornness. Meanwhile, as he continues on his unbelief, seeking to protect his own kingdom and his own name, his people suffer. These people suffer. They're digging, but are they finding water? Is it drinkable? It lasts for seven days, this plague does, till God sends relief. To remind you to us that there are covenantal effects of sin. That as the head of a body will act, so is the body affected. Whether it be fathers and mothers who lead their families, whether it be pastors who lead their churches, whether it be leaders of nations who lead their nations, what we do affects those who are under our care. And certainly this is a frightening thought. But if we're frightened because of the effects that our sin might have, can we be comforted by the thought of the comfort that our faithfulness might have for those under us? Can we rejoice in the fact that God protects and honors those under the care of godly people? In some way, I think we can. Pharaoh could have prevented all of this. He could have prevented the suffering to his people. He could have prevented that last and great and awful plague, that death of the firstborn if he simply would have believed, if he would have repented. And Egypt might have known grace and might have known the smile, the presence of God. But he chose not to. Are we going to make that same choice? Or are we going to believe in the gospel? Are we going to concur with the judgments of God against sin and recognize that we are guilty? Are we going to flee in belief and in repentance to God and ask Him for mercy. And so win blessing through Christ for ourselves and for our families and for our churches and for our peoples. The promise is there for us. God does give repentance. God does give relief from judgment when a people or when an individual cries out to Him. He does forgive sin. That river of blood should remind us of how sin is forgiven. Blood spilled is God's judgment on sin. But the blood of God's Son that is spilled is the freedom that we have from sin. Pharaoh had gone down to worship his false gods by the river. Perhaps as he was even standing in the river, it had turned to blood. He found himself covered in blood, but it was the blood of judgment. We come to deal with blood as He does, but not in anger, not in unbelief, not in idolatry. We come to Christ and we recognize that His blood was shed for our sins. And that in His death God is satisfied, has satisfied His wrath against us. And that in the death of Christ and the shedding of His blood, we are forgiven. We take the Lord's Supper. We are reminded that the blood of Christ that is the blood of the new covenant in which we are united to God by faith through Jesus Christ and he will always be our God and we will always be his people. This Nile, this river of blood speaks of judgment but it also speaks of forgiveness for those that will come to the blood that Christ sheds for his people. And our call tonight, the Lord's word to us tonight is to come to Him and to confess sin and to be made new again and to receive the blood of Christ as our salvation, as our forgiveness. And to commit ourselves to walk after Him in newness of life, life that only He gives, a salvation that only He can render. accounted to us by a righteousness that only our Lord has. Let's pray. Lord God we give you thanks and praise for your mercy and for the greatness of your power. We are grateful for the testimony of scripture that we see again and again. showing us who you are, what you are like and how you deal in judgment and wrath but also in mercy and forgiveness with those that you call to yourself. We pray God that as we consider this first judgment upon Egypt that we would not become proud or boastful of our own place but that we would recognize that we like Pharaoh have come to you with hard hearts in fact with our hearts so hard we haven't come to you at all you have drawn yourself to us you have convinced us of our sin you have changed our hearts from hearts of stone to hearts of flesh and because you have done this work we believe you we believe Christ and we take him to be ours Lord God grant us your blessing and grant us your peace. Grant that we will remain with you in Christ through the end of our days and on into eternity. And in the mercy that we have received, Lord God, let us live. And in that mercy in which we live, let us bring others to that same mercy as we speak to them the words of Christ. Grant us, Lord God, that you might be glorified in us and in your churches. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen. Our closing psalm is Psalm 105a.