Exodus 7:20: The first plague falls on the river the whole of Egypt lives by

The river watered the land through its many channels. It was the very sign that Egypt did not need heaven. They worshipped it as a god, and yet could claim it as their own making (Ezekiel 29:3) — two things that always go well together in idolatry. God turned that river into blood, so that they could not drink of it. What supports life becomes the very symbol of death — death by violence, the penalty carried out. This is not just nature rising up against them. It is penalty from the Creator of nature — death from the Life-giver.

Was that a miracle, or was it red colouring matter that at times appeared in the river? It was a miracle. All the water of the river had become blood. The proof of that was abundant. The fish in the Nile died, the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river. The water was pleasant to drink, and in a moment it became disgusting. One important source of food, within reach of the poorest person, was cut off. The fish were clearly plentiful (Numbers 11:5), and they all died at once. Hapi, the Nile god, could not prevent it.

Those who have studied the records of ancient Egypt tell us that the Egyptians worshipped the Nile as one of the chief gods of that land of idols. Remember that when the first plague struck the river, Pharaoh was going in the same direction that morning (Exodus 7:15). It gives us the impression that he was going out to worship the Nile-god, and at that very moment his god was struck.

He dealt this way with Pharaoh because Pharaoh oppressed His people, and because Pharaoh pictured the god of this world. So His conflict was with Pharaoh and with everything Pharaoh trusted in. We therefore read that He executed judgment upon the gods of Egypt (Exodus 12:12; Numbers 33:4). It was the brilliant display of God's victorious power in the stronghold of Satan.

In a small way the magicians did what Moses had done. By their enchantments — that is, by calling on their gods — they turned water into blood wherever they could find it. Their actions say, "By the power of our gods we can turn life into death. We can add to the misery that comes from the judgment of God." But their power stopped there. They could not turn death into life. They could not pass from death into life. God does this work, and God alone.

Here we have a picture of Christ struck for us, by the hand of God, in judgment. The reader will notice the expression, "the staff with which you struck the Nile." Why the Nile? Why mention this particular stroke of the rod? Exodus 7:20 gives the answer... The same rod that turned the water into blood would later strike the Rock — and that Rock was Christ — so that streams of life and refreshment might flow for us.

All this points to a terrible second acting out of these things. The second angel pours out his bowl of the wrath of God on the sea, and it becomes like the blood of a corpse. The third angel pours his bowl on the rivers and the springs of water, and they become blood. Death marked everything — not only the masses of nations and of men, but the springs and outflows of all human things in that day.