Exodus 7:19a The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs—and they will turn to blood.’
What strikes me as I read commentary on these verses is the writer’s insistence that these are literal, not symbolic acts, which may or may not have an explanation in the natural world but whose timing was absolutely explained by God alone. We therefore, the writer of this commentary posits, have no need to think of the events of Revelation as symbolic either but rather literal.
Exodus 7:19b Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels of wood and stone.”
It feels to me like the writer wants to remove my ability to think and ponder what’s happening in these verses, to marvel at God’s actions or His use of the natural world. This commentary writer wants to ensure I see things in only the way that he, the writer, interprets them. Why? What can he gain from that? How does God feel about the writer implying by his words that God’s actions are not strong enough to stand on their own?
Exodus 7:20 Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded. He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile, and all the water was changed into blood.
God of the Curious, Thank You that You love when I ponder and question Your word. Thank You for cultivating my curiosity, a curiosity that You planted within me, that You can and will and do use for my good and Your glory. Help me never to fall into the trap of certainty. Help me to draw closer to You with every question of Your word. Amen.
Exodus 7:21 The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt.
Have a blessed day.