The River Ran With Blood

Exodus (Shemot) 7:1-5 "So Yahuah said to Moses: 'See, I have made you as El to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall tell Pharaoh to send the children of Israel out of his land. And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgements. And the Egyptians shall know that I am Yahuah, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.'"

So... He's summing up what we already know. No problem, review's good!

Shemot 7:6-7 "Then Moses and Aaron did so; just as Yahuah commanded them, so they did. And Moses was eighty-years old and Aaron eighty-three years old when they spoke to Pharaoh."

Gives you a bit of perspective, The Prince of Egypt was a bit off in making Moses and Aaron look 20-ish and 30-ish, respectively... So here's your dose of reality!

Shemot 7:8-10 "Then Yahuah spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 'When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, "Show a miracle for yourselves," then you shall say to Aaron, "Take your rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and let it become a serpent."' So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, just as Yahuah commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent."

Did you read that? It became a serpent. As in, a snake. Moses' staff turned into a snake.

Shemot 7:11-13 "But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods. And Pharaoh's heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as Yahuah had said."

Yeah... Methinks the Egyptian magicians had some smoke and mirrors... But the other snakes were eaten. They're trying to make a point, but Yahuah's work is more powerful than any magician.

Shemot 7:14-18 "So Yahuah said to Moses: 'Pharaoh's heart is hard; he refuses to let the people go. Go to Pharaoh in the morning, when he goes out to the water, and you shall stand by the river's bank to meet him; and the rod which was turned to a serpent you shall take in your hand. And you shall say to him, "Yahuah Elohim of the Hebrews has sent me to you, saying 'Let My people go, that they may serve Me in the wilderness' but indeed, until now you would not hear! Thus says Yahuah: 'By this you shall know that I am Yahuah. Behold, I will strike the waters which are in the river with the rod that is in my hand, and they shall be turned to blood. And the fish that are in the river shall die, the river shall stink, and the Egyptians will loathe to drink the water of the river.'"'"

Just so you know, the Egyptians worshiped the Nile. It was the lifeblood of the country, flooding its banks every year and depositing fertile silt for planting. If you look at a map of Egypt, you'll find that nearly all the greenery and life in the country is within just a few miles of the Nile's banks. Turning the water to blood and killing all the fish would devastate the Egyptians. Actually, it would devastate just about any community living on the banks of a river.

Shemot 7:19-21 "Then Yahuah spoke to Moses, 'Say to Aaron, "Take your rod and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, over their ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they may become blood. And there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in buckets of wood and pitchers of stone."' And Moses and Aaron did so, just as Yahuah commanded. So he lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants. And all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. The fish that were in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river. So their was blood throughout all the land of Egypt."

The average human's life depends on threes. A human can live three minutes without air, three days without water, and I think three weeks without food. Of course, there are naturally variations. For example, singers and swimmers with their large lungs may be able to last longer without air, while those of us who hunch our shoulders forward all the time (scrunching the lungs) might not be able to last the three. A person who knows what sort of food provides water sources (cactus, some fruit/veggies, etc) may be able to last more than three days, while someone who doesn't drink their 8 cups daily is already partly dehydrated. Food varies wildly depending on factors like metabolism, height, weight, average meal, but you can bet that anyone would be pretty hungry/starving after three weeks. If the water in the Nile isn't changed back from blood, the entire nation will die within just a few days. The plants will die, the animals will die, the whole place will be like a ghost-town. Or, more accurately, a ghost-country.

Shemot 7:22-25 "Then the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments; and Pharaoh's heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as Yahuah had said. And Pharaoh turned and went into his house. Neither was his heart moved by this. So all the Egyptians dug all around the river for water to drink, because they could not drink the water of the river. And seven days passed after Yahuah had struck the river."

Naturally, it makes sense to dig a well or try your hand at distilling water when you find the water in the river is ridiculously impure... but honestly? Why in the world would the magicians waste some water by turning it to blood too? That stuff's precious!

Anyway, as far as homework, either the History or the Discovery Channel has some awesome videos about this particular event in history. They try to figure out when this occurred, if it is scientifically possible for ten unique plagues to hit, and especially within the time frame given, and a bunch of other pretty cool details. Check it out and let me know if you find anything interesting!