Introduction: the real question to ask yourself
Last week, the question running through the text was: "Who can stand against Pharaoh?" This powerful, hostile king who blocks the people and doubles their workload. Facing him, you feel small. You tell yourself there's no way out. It's discouraging.
But in Exodus 7 and 8, a shift happens. The right question isn't "Who can stand against Pharaoh?" It's "Who can stand against the LORD our God?" Until you answer that question, you won't understand your life, your stuck situations, or the meaning of history.
What we know of God shapes our life, our values, our choices, and our destiny. The persistence of human rebellion against God comes from a refusal to truly know him. And our lack of trust in God, our ambiguity in our choices, our fear of talking about him around us, all of it comes from the same place: we don't know well enough the God to whom we belong. Before wanting to run around doing things for God, you have to ask: who is the LORD?
Outline of the text
1. The LORD is the Sovereign Master of History (Exodus 7:1-13)
2. The LORD is the Creator who carries out his judgments (Exodus 7:14 - 8:15)
1. The LORD is the Sovereign Master of History (Exodus 7:1-13)
Look at the beginning of chapter 7. Before the first sign even takes place, God writes the whole script. "You shall speak all that I command you, and Aaron your brother shall speak to Pharaoh, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh will not listen to you. I will lay my hand on Egypt, and bring my armies, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD."
God announces ahead of time what is going to happen. Pharaoh's refusal, the signs, the judgments, the people's exodus. He doesn't just react to events, he writes them. That's not a small thing when you think about who's on the other side. The pharaohs of Egypt were the kings who wrote history. On the inscriptions in their temples, they had carved: "All lands tremble before my power. I am the perfect king chosen by the god Ra to govern all lands." On an inscription at the temple of Karnak: "These victories were carved in stone so their memory would last forever." Who remembers the name Thutmose III today? No one. What was supposed to last forever didn't last. What God does, does.
Pharaoh believed himself master of history. In reality, he was under the sovereign control of the God of history. Watch how the text repeats, like a refrain: "Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he didn't listen to them, as the LORD had spoken" (7:13; 7:22; 8:11; 8:15). The script God announced comes true, word for word. The showdown isn't between Moses and Pharaoh. It's between the living and true God on one side, and a rebellious king on the other. And the outcome is already written.
Then comes the first sign. God tells Aaron to throw down his staff before Pharaoh. The staff becomes a reptile. The word used here is different from the "serpent" of chapter 3. It's another word, used to designate the great primeval occult powers in the cultures of the ancient Near East. The serpent was the underground power you had to appease to win over to your side. It's no accident that Pharaoh wore the sign of the serpent on his headdress. Moses is playing away, on Pharaoh's home turf. Pharaoh is the one playing at home.
And yet, on that very ground, God shows his mastery. Egypt's magicians reproduce the miracle: their staffs also become reptiles. This detail should stop you in your tracks. They're not faking it. The powers at work in this world are truly powerful. They have real influence, they produce real phenomena. Our post-Christian Western culture tends to file away the supernatural, demons, the devil, under "that doesn't exist." That lie keeps us from seeing clearly what shapes hearts and the world.
But read the end of verse 12 carefully: "Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods." The same verb will come back later to describe Pharaoh's armies swallowed up by the sea. It's a spoiler. We already know who wins. The outcome of history is already announced in this first sign. The Lord holds all of history in his hand, from the ancient serpent who tempted humanity to the final victory when that serpent will be crushed.
Facing the grand claims of the powerful of this world, facing ideologies that see themselves as the final word for humanity, facing political powers flexing their muscles, remember this verse. "But Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods." History converges irresistibly, not toward the glory of a Pharaoh, a president, or an empire. It converges toward the glory of the living and true God. The LORD is his name.
2. The LORD is the Creator who carries out his judgments (Exodus 7:14 - 8:15)
After this first sign come the judgments. In the structure of the text, we have one sign followed by nine judgments, in three cycles of three. These are often called "the ten plagues of Egypt." We should really call them "the ten judgments." It's God, the Creator, carrying out his justice on what has rebelled against him.
The Nile turned to blood (7:14-25). God first strikes the Nile. That's no random choice. The Nile was worshiped as a god in Egypt. It was the source of all life, the source of all fertility. They worshiped it as a god. When Aaron lifts his staff and strikes the water, the whole Nile turns to blood. The fish die. The Egyptians can no longer drink. The deified source of life is humiliated by the true Master of life.
But why blood? Remember what happened at the beginning of the book. It was into the Nile that the previous pharaoh had ordered the Hebrew babies thrown to die. That's where blood flowed as an injustice against the Jewish people. And that's where God now brings blood back up, like a cry demanding justice. This blood of the Nile is also the blood of the God who demands justice for all the blood shed and all the injustice in the world. He is the Creator who judges. We should tremble hearing that.
Here again, the magicians do the same. Look closely: they're able to reproduce the miracle. But they're unable to reverse it. They make the problem worse by adding blood to blood. Their power is real, but limited. It can never turn back.
The frogs (8:1-11). Then come the frogs, by the thousands, coming up out of the Nile and invading everything, the palaces, the bedrooms, the beds, the ovens, the kneading bowls. This isn't just a nuisance. It's a targeted judgment. In Egypt, the goddess of fertility was depicted with a frog's head; her name was Heket. The previous pharaoh had tried to limit the Hebrews' fertility by throwing their babies into the Nile. Here, God flips the symbol: the "goddess of fertility" no longer gives life, she brings death, she invades everything, and she stinks.
Once again, the magicians pile on. They bring up even more frogs onto a land already covered in frogs. What exactly were you going for, Pharaoh? The result is that Pharaoh himself is forced to call Moses to intercede with the LORD and make the plague stop. The powers that rise up against God are truly powerful. But they never improve the state of the world. They make it worse.
The gnats (8:12-15). This third judgment comes without warning. At the end of each cycle of three, there's no more advance notice. Perhaps that's a way of reminding us that God's patience has limits. "Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become lice." There's an echo here. It was from the dust of the ground that God formed humanity, and to dust it returns. And now that same dust, in the hand of the Creator, rises up in judgment.
This time, the magicians fail. They try to reproduce the miracle and they can't. And it's they who say to Pharaoh: "This is the finger of God." That is the only right way to respond to God's judgment: to acknowledge his work. Don't underestimate the powers at work in this world. But underestimate even less the irresistible power of the living God.
How Pharaoh responds: and how you respond, too
Pharaoh hardens his heart. "But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart, and didn't listen to them" (8:11). How often does this same scene play out? You're in a hard situation. You tell God: "If you answer my prayer, then I'll change." God answers, he gives you some relief. And you fall back into it. You fall back into the same patterns. What do you do with the reprieve God gives you, and with the many chances he offers you to come back to him and repent?
One way God judges people who reject him is by giving them over to their rejection. Letting them taste what they've chosen apart from him, so they finally see how horrible it is to set themselves against the living God.
So why this repetition, these ten "small" judgments? Simply because the sovereign God, Creator and judge, is also the patient God. Each plague is one more opportunity to bend the knee.
The good news: Jesus crushed the serpent
This showdown needs to end right now. You cannot win against the LORD. Your heart is too hard, you need a Savior. And that Savior, God has given.
The Lord Jesus, in whom, by whom, and for whom all things were created, is the one who ruled over the elements: he turned water into wine, he healed the sick, he calmed the storm. He proved he has authority over judgment and over salvation. And remember the spoiler of Aaron's staff swallowing up the other staffs. That's the very message of the gospel. Back in the garden of Eden, God had told the serpent: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head" (Genesis 3:15). And at the end of the book, Revelation announces: "The great dragon was thrown down, the old serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world" (Revelation 12:9-10). The Son of God came to free us from his grip and lead us into his kingdom of glory.
Maybe your response to this text isn't something to do, but something to say, to proclaim, to worship. Remember Exodus 14:14: "The LORD will fight for you, and you shall be still." Facing the ten judgments, the people have nothing to do. They watch their God fight for them.
Key takeaways
- The real question isn't "who can stand against the powers oppressing me?" but "who can stand against the LORD our God?"
- God writes the script of history ahead of time. Pharaoh believed he was in control; he was actually under the sovereign control of the God of history.
- The powers at work in this world are real, but limited. They can copy evil, never reverse it. They make things worse instead of better.
- The first sign (Aaron's staff swallowing up the others) is a spoiler of the final victory. The ancient serpent will be crushed.
- The ten judgments aren't just a display of power; they're also God's patience, offering a chance to repent at every step.
Personal application
- Who is the LORD, for you, today? Can you answer that question with more than memorized words?
- What situation makes you feel like you're "playing away," like the powers ahead of you are too big? How does the verse "But Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods" change how you see it?
- Are you underestimating the spiritual powers at work around you, or overestimating their power against God?
- Can you name a "reprieve" God has given you recently? How did you respond: repentance or hardening?
- If you're not a Christian yet, are you willing to open the Bible and let God reveal himself as he is, rather than as you imagine him?
Bible references
FAQ
Why are Egypt's magicians able to reproduce Moses's miracles?
Because occult powers really exist. The text doesn't pretend otherwise: the magicians also turn their staffs into serpents, also turn water into blood, also bring up frogs. Our Western culture tends to file all of that under "that doesn't exist." That's a dangerous lie. But their power has three clear limits in the text: they can copy, never reverse (they add blood to blood, frogs to frogs); they make the situation worse instead of better; and by the third plague, they fail completely and admit, "This is the finger of God."
Why does the text talk about "ten judgments" rather than "ten plagues"?
The word "plague" suggests a natural disaster, a scourge. But the text clearly says in 7:4 that God will bring his people out "by great judgments." This isn't bad luck falling on Egypt. It's the justice of God, the Creator, claiming his right over a world that rebelled against him, and it targets Egypt's idols precisely (the deified Nile, the frog-goddess Heket, the dust from which humanity was formed).
What is the people doing this whole time? Nothing?
Exactly. The people have nothing to do except watch their God fight for them. That's the pattern of Exodus 14:14: "The LORD will fight for you, and you shall be still." Faced with what God accomplishes in history, the first right response isn't to run off and do things for him. It's to fall on your knees, to fear him, to worship him. Recognizing who he is always comes before action.
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