LIVING WATER

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

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.

Seven days passed after the Lord struck the Nile.

Exodus 7:14-25

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In the initial thirteen verses of Exodus, chapter seven, we find Moses and Aaron performing the first of what will be several magnificent acts of God intended to convince Pharaoh to allow the Israelites to leave Egypt.

In this first act, you’ll recall that the staff of God was cast down in front of Pharaoh and became a snake. Then, after Pharaoh’s wise men, sorcerers, and magicians through down their staffs which became snakes, the snake from the Lord’s staff swallowed them up, a sign of His superiority over evil, demonic forces. Despite witnessing this, we saw where Pharaoh refused to set Israel free.

And so as we see in today’s passage, the Lord God Almighty ups the ante in a big way. Look again at our passage for today from verses fourteen through twenty-five:

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.

Seven days passed after the Lord struck the Nile.

Here, we read God attacking the water systems of Egypt, turning the Nile and all streams, canals, ponds, reservoirs into blood.

Can you imagine if that would happen in the waterways around where you might live? I mean, last time I checked, water is a basic survival need for living things, right?

And so put yourself back in ancient Egypt for a moment and your sources of water, to include the sacred Nile River, were now filled with blood and there were some clear second and third order effects from this.

First, all the fish died because they needed the water as much as the people did. Further, fish were a food source for the people and so . Water and fish, two life sustaining resources were now gone.

Second, all the dead fish and the blood filled water bodies gave off a terrible stench. The smell must have been horrific, impacting something else important for survival, the air that was breathed.

Well, indeed, death was in the air in Egypt as Pharaoh’s stubbornness had brought great suffering on his people. The blood shed by the Israelites under the oppression and harsh treatment of their slavery was now visible to all the Egyptians, represented in their blood filled waters.

Another important point of consideration here is that the Egyptians worshipped the Nile, treating it as if it was a god. Now, their river god was rendered completely useless by the one true God. What was once a river teeming with life and promise was now full of death and destruction. The same things happens within anyone who decides to worship false idols and gods today. They become spiritually dead inside.

Well, despite the mighty sign that God had sent, we read where the "Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts". I find it interesting that while they could turn water to blood, they couldn’t reverse what God had done. For if they had any legitimate power that might begin to rival God, then they should have been able to turn the blood filled waters back to their original state.

But they couldn’t.

So what was the outcome of this latest display of God’s incredible power?

The scriptures tell us that Pharaoh's heart hardened once again and he "would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said". Instead, he just “went into his palace and did not take even this to heart."

Here’s something else he didn’t take to heart. He didn’t show an ounce of concern for the people he governed. There’s little doubt that he had clean water stashed away for his own care and so his actions show just how self centered he was. For while he enjoyed the luxuries of being the ruler, his people scavenged for any water they could find. Such is the attitude of someone who is hardened.

As we close out this message, do you know someone who might have or has had a hardened heart?

Maybe you might have had one at some time in your life. I know I have. Not proud to say that but we’re all imperfect people and it’s okay to confess mistakes we have made in our past, especially if it can help someone else in the present.

So what’s bad about a hardened heart?

Well, one thing is that it refuses love others. It also can lead a person into having a bad attitude about life in general. Further, a hardened heart can create a selfish spirit inside, one with little or no compassion for the welfare of others. And finally, it can lead someone to refuse to trust in the Lord, the only One who can soften and cure their hardened heart.

Pharaoh’s hardened heart took away the life sustaining water needed by the Egyptian people. A hardened heart today takes away Jesus from life, the Savior who brings life sustaining water that can quench our thirst forever. He told us so Himself as He spoke to a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well in the Gospel of John:

"Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

And the woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water." (4:13-15)

Friends, a person is doomed at death without the living water found in Christ Jesus.

So where do you find yourself today?

Is your heart hardened like Pharaoh’s which led to him having no regard for God or concern for anyone but himself as the waters of his nation were filled with blood?

Or have you found the living water of Jesus Christ, a living water that wells up into eternal life so that you will never thirst again.

If you’re like the Pharaoh of Egypt, come to Jesus and change the way you see and live your life forever. He’s ready to receive you with open arms and give you a heart like His own.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.