READING: Exodus 7:14-9:35
“So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them. As Pharaoh and all of his officials watched, Aaron raised his staff and struck the water of the Nile. Suddenly, the whole river turned to blood!” (Exo 7:20). We often remember the Nile turning to blood, but it was not only the water in the Nile that changed. God had said what would happen – “Everywhere in Egypt the water will turn to blood, even the water stored in wooden bowls and stone pots” (Exo 7:19) – and that is ultimately what happened: “There was blood everywhere throughout the land of Egypt” (Exo 7:21).
Everywhere. Even in the wooden bowls and the stone pots. Everywhere.
The Egyptian magicians duplicated the effort by some means identified as “their magic,” but they apparently had no power to take the more logical step: reverse the plague and turn the blood back into water. They could do only so much—but it was enough to convince Pharaoh. He, in fact, “returned to his palace and put the whole thing out of his mind” (Exo 7:23). He apparently saw no need to consider it at all since his magicians could do at least something similar. To be honest, I’m amazed by how stubborn we can be, and how little it takes to convince us, when we don’t want to believe in the first place.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: How much does it take for you not to believe?
TODAY’S PRAYER: “God, I do believe. Help my unbelief.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Exodus 10:1-12:51