Moses’ Second Encounter with Pharaoh and the First Plague – The Nile River Turned into Blood
Exodus 7

Lesson 8

background notes

doctrinal points

1. Satanic power is directed against God’s program.
2. Satan’s power is limited under God’s authority.

practical application

Don’t think you’re over the hill when you’re eighty!

questions

1. How did the plagues of judgment upon Egypt bring glory to God?
2. What sign did Moses and Aaron show when they confronted Pharaoh the second time?
3. What was the first plague God sent upon Egypt?
4. How were the sorcerers of Egypt able to turn their staffs into snakes and containers of water into blood?
5. How does 2 Timothy 3:8-9 relate to this passage?
6. What event in Pharaoh’s court showed God’s supremacy over the gods of Egypt?

answers

1. They showed God’s supremacy and victory over the gods of Egypt.
2. Aaron threw down his staff and it became a snake.
3. The Nile and its tributaries and reservoirs of water were all turned to blood.
4. The Egyptian magicians used their “enchantments,” actually demonic powers, to do these miracles.
5. It compares the Egyptian magicians of Moses’ day to the false teachers of Timothy’s day who opposed the truth.
6. When the Egyptian sorcerers’ rods became serpents, Aaron’s rod swallowed them up.

discuss consider

1. Discuss God’s program and Satan’s opposition to it. God’s program was to preserve the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, through whose line the Redeemer would come. Relate this to Genesis 3:15 and 12:3.
2. Praise the Lord that Satan cannot operate with unlimited power. Satanic power is certainly real, but it is under God’s authority. How could this truth be freeing to you as a believer? Refer to 1 John 5:18 and James 4:7.

challenge

God used Moses and Aaron to accomplish incredible achievements for the Israelites when they were in their eighties. Is your age preventing you from serving the Lord? Don’t let it – God can use you at any age.

memorize

• “And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them.” Exodus 7:5
• “For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.” Exodus 7:12
• “And all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood.” Exodus 7:20