January 24, 2009 Exodus 7:14-24

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the water. Wait on the bank of the Nile to meet him, and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. Then say to him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship me in the desert. But until now you have not listened. This is what the LORD says: By this you will know that I am the LORD: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.’” 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. Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in the wooden buckets and stone jars.” 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. 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. But the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said. Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart. And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking water, because they could not drink the water of the river.

For the first two weeks of Epiphany we have looked at things outside of Christ to show us that Jesus is the Christ. After Jesus’ birth it is a star and some wise men who come to Bethlehem; they reveal to us that this child who looks like a normal child is anything but a normal child. At Jesus’ baptism His face doesn’t light up and He doesn’t give His Sermon on the Mount; but while Jesus is still in the water we see the Holy Spirit coming down on Him in the form of a dove and the Father’s voice from heaven that show us who Jesus is. In today’s Gospel lesson we find Jesus using water and wine to reveal who He truly is at the wedding in Cana. The miraculous conversion of water to wine attracts His disciples to Him all the more. We also find in our Old Testament text God revealing who He is by turning the water of the Nile into blood. He said to Pharaoh, “By this you will know that I am the LORD.”

The LORD Reveals Himself Through a River of Blood

I. Because blood causes redemption

Notice that God wanted to reveal Himself as the LORD. The word for the LORD is unique; no other gods claimed that name for themselves, and the Egyptians had many different names for their gods. The name has connotations to it. When the LORD spoke to Moses earlier He said to him in Exodus 6,

“Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.” God also said to Moses, “I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.”

The name of the LORD carried with it the reputation of a REDEEMER; One who was willing and able to free His people from slavery. The Israelites had not experienced the LORD in this capacity yet; but now their slavery in Egypt would give the LORD the opportunity to really reveal Himself in a SAVING way.

Compare God’s purpose for us to that of a magnet. A magnet is made in order to attract things to itself. The Garden of Eden was never meant to be Adam and Eve’s own little play place apart from the LORD. But when sin entered into the world the magnetism towards the LORD ceased; humans became navel gazers; they only looked at themselves and they forgot to look up at the LORD for their reason and purpose for living. In doing so they were bound for hell. The LORD had to come walking back into creation in order to point men back to Himself. He had to reveal Who He was and what He would do for humans so that they would once again LOOK UP. In order to do this the LORD had to not only speak but also miraculously ACT in our world. He decided to supernaturally do things within His creation to make humans realize that He was the creator and the ruler of it. That’s what we find the LORD doing in today’s text as He works to rescue His people from slavery in Egypt.

In doing some research on Egyptian religion I found out that the Pharaohs of Egypt thought of themselves as naturally born gods; and even the people thought this way. Imagine the power that this brought with it; imagine the ego trip! But the Pharaohs weren’t the only gods; the Egyptians worshiped many other gods as well; and they were all connected to nature. It is easiest for me just to read some of these things that I found.

• "The Egyptians considered sacred the lion, the ox, the ram, the wolf, the dog, the cat, the ibis, the vulture, the falcon, the hippopotamus, the crocodile, the cobra, the dolphin, different varieties of fish, trees, and small animals including the frog, scarab, locust and other insects. (John Davis, Moses and the Gods of Egypt, p. 95).
• The great god Khnum was the guardian of the Nile River -- he is usually represented as a human being with a ram's head.
• Hapi was the "spirit of the Nile". Epithets for Hapi describe him as being the "lord of the fishes and birds and marshes."

So the LORD decided to reveal Himself to Pharaoh and the Egyptians by killing their gods and rendering them useless; making a direct strike against the Egyptian gods Khnum and Hapi in order to free His people.

The LORD did this in His first plague by turning the Nile River into blood. The Nile was a source of water and food to the Egyptians; it was a chief source of life. But once it was turned to blood it temporarily cut off the life source to Egypt; fish were floating down the river in heaps. It stunk like crazy and the people had nothing to drink. The message to Pharaoh and the Egyptians was plain, “I am more powerful than your gods. I am more powerful than Pharaoh. I am the only true God; the God of the Hebrews. You are holding my people as slaves. I have turned your life to death. Let my people go; or more blood will flow! I am the LORD!”

Some might have preferred that the LORD try a kinder, gentler approach. Imagine if He had turned the Nile to wine as Jesus turned water into wine. He could have gotten the Egyptians drunk and then escorted the Israelites out without a fight. They might have thought, “This Hebrew God is not so bad; He’s kind of fun; He’s a partier. If He’s willing to do that for us I guess we could let His people go.” But God didn’t choose this method. He chose to have Aaron use his staff as a curse on their river and their gods. God chose to reveal Himself as a God of power who can bring death on the Egyptians and their gods; who can turn life into death; a blessing into a curse. He made them smell the stench of death. He came off to them as powerful and deadly; One not to be ignored or trifled with.

This is important for us to understand; for the version of God we are getting from pop Christianity is a kindler, gentler version of the Biblical and true God. He is made out to be a more grandfatherly type; a sweet kind of god who just wants everyone to be happy; that’s all. Sin isn’t good; but it isn’t that bad either. God tolerates it; He learns to live with it; as long as we try to be good people. This ignores the wrath of God over sin; it ignores that the wages of sin is death. Perhaps with the recent earthquake in Haiti we might be tempted to apologize for God; tell people that He really didn’t mean to hurt anyone; that it really wasn’t His doing; that death is just a natural part of life. But if that is so, if God is so kind that He doesn’t even really care about sin; and if death is not a result of sin; then who really needs God? Who really cares what God has to say? Who really cares what God did or does if He doesn’t even care or if He really isn’t in control?

Such a view of God undermines the enemy that He is dealing with and it also takes away from the passion of God; the desire to bring people into His kingdom; His land; His home. First of all, consider the enemy that God is dealing with. The sinful nature is not usually convinced to confess its worthlessness before God with just a glass of wine and some nice amenities. It needs to be crushed and threatened. Sinful people need to see that because of their sins they are born as God’s enemies. They must not dig in their heels against Him. They need to repent. Satan will not let go of his captives with a few “pleases” and “thank you”. He must be conquered and defeated; not just intimidated but completely crushed. “Let my people go!”

Look at it also from the Lord’s point of view. He doesn’t think sin is ok. He doesn’t learn to live with it. He hates it. He cannot put up with it. He must destroy it; conquer it; send it to hell; force it into submission. So who is to be so naïve as to think that the LORD could do anything else with sinful unbelievers like the Egyptians who were standing in the way of God’s plan of salvation; especially the Pharaoh who thought he was a god himself; holding his people captive? What else could the LORD do but to turn the river to blood? “Excuse me, Mr. Pharaoh, would you be so kind as to let my people go?” No, that wouldn’t work. If the LORD was really serious about setting His people free from tyranny as their Redeemer; He had to reveal Himself as a bloody and deadly God; the LORD who was willing to fight and kill for His people; no matter what it took. If it meant killing the Egyptian gods and fish; then let the blood flow.

Isn’t this the kind of God we want? Isn’t this the LORD we adore? Trapped by Satan, under the slavery of sin, enjoying the amenities of life in our modern day Egypt; we had no idea how free we could be; who the LORD truly was. Yet the LORD wasn’t satisfied to leave us rot and die in our slavery to sin. He wasn’t indifferent towards the human race. He didn’t want to massage us into hell. He was deadly serious about setting us free. That’s what we want; a LORD who is passionate about saving us from hell; saving us from death; who shows that He is serious about saving us.

So the LORD chose to reveal Himself. He used Aaron’s staff to turn the river to blood and put the living water of the Nile to death. In a similar way the LORD used another piece of wood to have the blood of God flow from; on it the Author of Life was put to death. Yet through the blood which flowed from that piece of wood and from that death of God’s only Son, God offered life to the world. Through Jesus’ crucifixion God offered a different well from which to drink; the water of life. When the Nile River was turned to blood all of the fish in it died. When dead people are thrown into the blood of Christ through the eternal river of baptism they are brought from death to life. This bloody river streams through time; it flows from the cross of Christ; and every infant and adult that is sprinkled with that water is bathed with the Holy Spirit’s gift of righteousness and forgiveness in Christ and carried into heaven through faith. With the Egyptians God changed water into an undrinkable blood which could have led to the starvation of the Egyptians. Underneath the sweet wine of the Lord's Supper Jesus offers His very blood. If unbelievers partake of it, it leads to their own destruction. But when we drink of it, our minds and hearts are taken back to the cross; and the same blood of Christ that was shed for us comes flowing into our bodies and cleanses our souls. It gives us life instead of putting us to death. Through all of these things; the blood of the cross; the waters of baptism; the wine of the Lord's Supper; the LORD reveals to us who He is; One who is zealous for our salvation; who wants to take us from the slavery of sin, death, and the devil to Himself in heaven. The bloody death on the wood of the cross can’t be ignored; it is a gruesome and deadly picture of God’s wrath over sin; of God’s zeal to pay for our sins and accomplish what needed to be done for our salvation.

II. Because blood is meant to grab our attention

Most people who would be faced with such an awesome and devastating miracle might tend to stand up and take notice of the river turning to blood; no matter how skeptical they were by nature. But notice what Satan did to keep Pharaoh in the dark. He was able to mimic what the LORD did. The Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts. Luther referred to this as “aping” God; the devil acting like God and performing similar looking miracles in order to take the focus off of the one true God. This is how Satan works! He tries to cheapen God’s miracles with his own secret arts. If God turned water to blood, then Satan would as well.

Throughout the Scriptures the devil works through these secret sort of enchantments in order to distract people away from the Word and water and bread and wine of the sacraments; usually they are done through a manipulation and usage of objects from the earth; examining a liver; making a sacrificial offering; going off on a barren height (Numbers 22, Ezekiel 21, etc.) Even today the religion of Wiccans involve women who use a variety of earthly elements to try and tap into a spiritual power of the earth in order to make blessings and curses. The Scientologists seem to rely on a type of mind over matter spirituality; where the human is trained to reach within himself in order to free himself from sin’s diseases. Science itself also offers all remedies apart from any God through the discoveries and advancements of science and medicine. Historians try to make Christianity sound like a spin-off religion; they talk about how other religions also offer gods who die and come to life. Even within Christianity some claim that the cross is too bloody; the theology of redemption is too angry; too mean; too loveless to look at and believe. It offers a salvation through self improvement; through less blood and sacrifice. So again we can see how the devil works to steer people away from the actual Creator by cheapening God’s miracles. The devil does this to keep people from repenting before the LORD who is in control of the heavens and the earth; who can put life to death and bring life from death and even through death.

The secret arts were effective on Pharaoh’s heart. The LORD knew how Pharaoh would respond. His heart was consumed with selfishness, pride, and blind unbelief. So what did Pharaoh do? It was inevitable. Pharaoh’s heart became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said. Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart. Imagine the picture in your mind’s eye. Pharaoh sees the bloody river flowing by his back yard. He smells the dead fish on the side of the river. He sees the magicians take their own water and turn it to blood. So he says to himself, “There’s no way I’m going to let go of these two million slaves over this chicanery.” He turns and goes back to his bed and his living room. His lifestyle is unaffected by the message or the miracle. He can get people to dig water for him. He can still sleep in his same bed. He can shut all of this outside of his senses by retiring into his own comfortable home.

This is the way the devil wants us all to live. Forget about Haiti. Forget about the problems your neighbors or family are having. Forget about your own sins that you are trying to deal with; your anger; lust; selfishness. Just go home. Turn the channel. Turn on something less depressing. Open up a beer. Drink a mixed drink. You have nothing to worry about. You still have your bed. You still have your wines and your flavored coffee; your favorite television shows are still playing. You can still escape from your job and your family and your life; you can go to your video games and your web sites and your TV shows; put on your Snuggly and just relax in front of the fire. As long as sinful people can do this; as long as they can shut the pain and problems and suffering and bloody death of the world off; then they can keep living life the way they want. Then they don’t have to let go of your slaves; then their addictions can still continue to serve them. This is the way people will live unless they are directly threatened with their own lives; unless something can break through their barriers. As long as they can return to the luxuries of their homes and close the bloody rivers of sin and death out; they will ignore the warnings from the LORD. They will fail to repent. They will fail to acknowledge the LORD.

The other option Satan likes you to take when you are threatened with disaster is to roll up your sleeves and get working on digging your own cisterns; find different wells to live from and drink from. If God tries to make you feel guilty because of your sin; dig some trenches around your heart; find the approval of friends and people on the internet; do anything but repent. Do anything to tell yourself you’re not that bad; you don’t deserve God’s wrath; do anything but admit your sin and believe that you need the LORD’s forgiveness and mercy.

As you look at this recent disaster in Haiti it is disturbing at best to see the images of so many bodies dying in a few days. It is tempting to close the door; change the channel; try and bury it all behind. Yet one day all of us will be buried in the ground too. The wages of sin is death for all of us. The ceremony may be more glorious and the box may be more expensive; but the destiny is still the same. Put down your shovels. Don’t close the door. Stop looking for alternatives.

There is only One alternative. Don’t get out of His way. Don’t get in His way. Get on His way, or you will be destroyed with an eternal death that will make Haiti look like paradise in comparison. The only way to find hope in the midst of bloody deaths flowing outside of life’s door is to see the most bloody and cruel death ever occur on the cross of Christ. Look closely at Him hanging there. He is bleeding and dying for you. He is paying the full price to God for each and everyone one of your sins. He is offering you a free salvation. From His wounds He pours forth life. You have been put in the river of life. You have been given His righteousness through faith. The boat of salvation in Christ will float into the valley of death; you cannot escape it; but on the other side of death there is an end of sin; there is the hope an eternity in heaven and a resurrection to life. In that we can take comfort; no matter how quickly or slowly or suddenly we die or how we are buried.

The LORD has one main purpose in this world; and that is to bring His people back to Him. Whether it is through a huge disaster where thousands die or a simple last breath in a nursing home in the middle of America; God wants you home. He has revealed to us the pathway of this redemption through the cross of Christ. Like it or not, death is what brings us back to Him. If He was willing to shed His own Son’s blood to redeem us; then He will also be willing to use death to bring more people back to Him. If there were some other way; some gentler way; God would have done it. But death and Satan and sin would not have it. God’s justice would not allow it. The LORD has revealed to us that this is the only way to freedom; through faith in the bloody death and resurrection of Jesus Christ; the only One who was able to destroy death with death. This is God’s revelation to you. Believe it and be saved. Amen.