Since Pharaoh’s heart was unyielding at the words of Moses and Aaron, the Lord carried out the first plague of judgment against Egypt. Moses stretched out the staff that represented the Lord’s authority and all the water in the Nile turned to blood.

The Nile River was the source of life for Egypt. Besides making it difficult for the people to obtain water, the blood served as a reminder of Egypt’s guilt in killing the Hebrew children. The clear message was that Pharaoh should repent and let the Israelites go. But Pharaoh had his own magicians imitate the miracle, and he continued to harden his heart, even though his own people were suffering (22-24).

God calls people to repent by showing them how they are guilty of sin. The blood of Jesus shows us both the result of our own sin as well as God’s powerful grace that makes atonement. We may not be able to change water into blood to make people repent, but we can do something even better—we can show them Jesus.
Application: Father, thank you for showing us the guilt of our sin, because we need to understand it. Thank you most of all for the power of Jesus’ blood to wash away sin. Help us not to harden our hearts.
One Word: Sin brings blood-guilt