
Exodus 7:8-25
7:8-13 | This is the first time we read of the Lord speaking to both brothers. When the Lord defied the gods of Egypt and the power of Pharaoh, it was a message to Egypt’s ruler and to the Hebrew people that the Egyptian gods were incomparable to Him.
NOTE: A pharoah’s principal governing function was to ensure stability. The 10 plagues – which would each include natural phenomena out of natural order – would destroy the emotional and economic stability of Egypt and devastate the land, ultimately pointing to Israels God as the true Sustainer and Lord of creation. The plagues were marked by (1) exquisite timing – they were subject to the word of Yahweh and the acts of Moses; (2) overwhelming intensity; and (3) occasional selectivity (the Egyptians would experience trouble while Israel would not).
7:15-25 | Pharaoh would go to the river’s bank (8:20), not to drink but to pay homage, for the Nile River was worshiped as a god. So it is no coincidence that the first plague on the Egyptians was directed against the false god of the Nile.