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Our text for tonight's message is taken from Exodus 7:14-25. In 1980, in Singapore, there was an infamous incident involving Singapore Airlines. At that time, Singapore Airlines and the Singapore Pilots Association were entangled in an issue regarding the pilots' salaries. The airline claimed that the profit was at an all-time low, and the pilots' association demanded a 30 percent increase in their basic salaries and better working conditions. Three Singapore pilots and a flight engineer, who were flying from London to Dubai, had a stopover in Zurich. They protested and refused to work until their demands were met.

It was very significant because Singapore relied heavily on tourism, even to this day. Any disruption to Singapore Airlines could affect tourism and the whole country's economy. In other words, it could potentially bring the whole country down. Therefore, when the pilots threatened to strike, they knew they were threatening the very source of Singapore's livelihood. It was so serious that it prompted the late Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, to step in. He gave the pilots two choices: either get back to work and then the government could have a discussion over their demands, or if they continued to protest, he and the people of Singapore would teach them a lesson they would never forget. Everyone knew that if they were to choose the second option, it would bring the whole nation down.

Then Mr. Lee made this famous speech: “I am prepared to start all over again or stop it. And let there be no mistakes about it: whoever governs Singapore must have that iron in him.” The reason why I gave this example is to show how dependent a country can be on something that is the very basic source of its economy.

That gives us an idea of what the Egyptians faced when their river turned to blood. The Nile now meant everything to the Egyptians; it was their mode of transport, their source of water, their source of nourishment for the entire nation, including the animals and plants. It was even their object of worship. Therefore, there was no better way for the God of Israel to show that He was also the God of Egypt than by turning the Nile into blood.

So it is very significant that for the first plague, it begins at the Nile. Remember, when God strikes, He does not beat around the bush; He strikes at the very heart.

The title of our message is "The First Plague: The River of Blood." By the way, at times the Bible uses the word "plague," and other times it uses the phrase "signs and wonders." The word "plague" means a blow or a wound. To Pharaoh and others who hardened their hearts, it was a plague, a blow, an affliction. To the Israelites and others who had the spiritual eyes to see, it was a miraculous sign and wonder performed by none other than the Almighty God. So although they were referring to the same thing, the words were used depending on who the recipients were.

Let us begin with verse 14. "And the Lord said unto Moses, 'Pharaoh's heart is hardened; he refuses to let the people go. Get thee unto Pharaoh in the morning; lo, he goeth out unto the water, and thou shalt stand by the river's brink against he come. And the rod which was turned to a serpent shalt thou take in thine hand.'"

Verse 16: "And thou shalt say unto him, 'The Lord God of the Hebrews hath sent me unto thee, saying, 'Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness.' And behold, thou wouldest not hear.'"

Which means, until now, you have not listened.

Our first point is the message: God's demands had not changed. He wanted Pharaoh to let His people go. That was the first same message God had given to Moses at the burning bush: to go to Pharaoh and demand that he let His people go. That was the same message the elders of Israel were told to say to Pharaoh. It was the same message Moses and Aaron said to Pharaoh when Aaron's rod swallowed the snakes. We learned that in our previous message. God would continue to repeat the same message until it was finally granted. His message was non-negotiable, and His terms would not change. As the psalmist says in Psalm 33:11, "The counsel of the Lord standeth forever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations."

Dear friends, what can we learn from here? God's Word, His message, His commandments, His promises, His terms, and His purposes will never change, and they are non-negotiable. When the people during the Apostle's time asked, "What must we do to be saved?" the message was, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house" (Acts 16:31). Today, sinners are still required to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. The message remains the same.

The same goes with His commandments. When God says, "Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers," His commandment remains the same. The same goes with His promises. When Jesus says, "Behold, I come quickly," He will come quickly. His promise remains the same; they will never change.

The purpose of demanding Pharaoh to let His people go was that they might worship God. The word "worship" was the same word for "to serve." You see, the Israelites were not created to serve Pharaoh; they were created to serve the one living and true God. Since God deserves all the glory, He will not demand anything less.

We all used to memorize the answers to the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Most of us would memorize question number one: "The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever." Again, God's purpose would never change; it is always for His glory. But Pharaoh was not interested in giving the glory to God because he wanted it all for himself.

The literal meaning for the word "hardened" in verse 14 was "heavy," which means weighed down with sins and iniquities. You can imagine what were the things that weighed heavily in Pharaoh's heart: pride, jealousy, anger, stubbornness, rebellion, and the worship of all the gods of Egypt. All these things weighed heavily in his heart. Just like when a person hardens his heart and rebels against God, his heart is also heavily weighed down with many sins.

For example, when a man commits the sin of pornography, his heart will be heavily weighed down with lust, sexual immorality, worldliness, covetousness, guilt, shame, and then the list goes on and on.

The Bible does not tell us the reason why Pharaoh would go down to the riverside. Apparently, it was his custom to do that every morning. Perhaps he went there to bathe, just like his daughter, who found the baby Moses in Exodus 2:5. But more likely, he would go there to worship the gods of the river. In any case, it was by the riverside that Moses would confront Pharaoh.

Verse 17: "Thus saith the Lord: 'In this thou shalt know that I am the Lord. Behold, I will smite with the rod that is in my hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall turn to blood.'"

Verse 18: "And the fish that is in the river shall die, and the river shall stink, and the Egyptians shall loathe to drink of the water of the river."

God wanted Pharaoh to know that Moses was His representative. He was speaking in His name; therefore, He used the rod that was in Moses' hand as a symbol of divine authority to pronounce divine judgment. Pharaoh needed to understand that this plague was God's work. God says, "In this thou shalt know that I am the Lord."

Obviously, Pharaoh did not understand. God would often use miraculous works to prove that He is the Lord. Remember when John the Baptist's disciples came to ask for proof if Jesus was the Christ? Jesus said to John's disciples, "Go and show John those things which ye do hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, and the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them" (Matthew 11:4-5).

The miracles that Jesus performed, especially the greatest miracle of all—His resurrection from the dead—were meant to prove that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah. But when God proves His lordship through miraculous works to the believers like you and me, there will be acts of grace and mercy. To the unbelievers, there would be plagues; they would be acts of judgment.

This brings us to our second point: the miracle.

Look at verse 19: "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying unto Aaron, 'Take thy rod and stretch out thine hand upon the waters of Egypt, upon their streams, upon their rivers, and upon their ponds, and upon all their pools of water, that they may become blood, and that there may be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.'"

Verse 20: "And Moses and Aaron did so, as the Lord commanded, and he lifted up the rod and smote 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. And the fish that was in the river died, and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river, and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt."

Remember, God's message would never change, and that includes His judgment as well. When He says, "Let my people go," and "If you do not let my people go, this is what is going to happen," it happens. Divine judgment is not an empty threat. God doesn't play games with the people. God always makes sure that those who disobey His word will get what they deserve.

This is a reminder to all of us: do not play the fool with God. When God says your sins will find you out, or you shall reap what you sow, it is not maybe; it is most certainly. Your sins will find you out, and you shall reap what you sow. Just when you think nobody knows what I'm doing in secret, all of a sudden it will be exposed. Just when you think you have gotten away with it, your sins will find you out. Do not play the fool with God.

To the Egyptians, the river Nile was considered the River of Life, but it had turned into the river of death. There was blood everywhere. When the river was polluted with blood, the fishes died, so the rivers, streams, and ponds were filled with decomposed fishes. You can imagine the horrendous stench throughout the entire land of Egypt. Some modern-day scholars who profess to be Christians have tried to provide some sort of natural explanations for this plague. Why? Because they want to appear to be scientific and biblical at the same time. They want to be accepted by both sides: by the Christians as well as by the scientific world. Some say that the river did not actually turn into blood but merely something that looks like blood, perhaps because of the heavy rain that washed the red soil into the river. Now all the river was covered with red particles like reddish algae. What about the stench? Well, they would say the stench was due to an oxygen imbalance. However, they admit that the plague was nonetheless an act of God. Remember, their purpose was to appear to be scientific and biblical at the same time, but by doing that, they have rejected the truth that this plague was truly a miracle. When God says it is a sign and wonder, it is a miracle; it is a miracle.

There are several difficulties with all these natural explanations. Allow me to just briefly run through with you. Firstly, they cannot explain why there was blood throughout Egypt, not simply in the river Nile. What about the rivers, streams, and ponds? Most importantly, verse 19 says, including the vessels of wood and vessels of stone. So even if they can explain that the rivers, streams, and ponds had turned into something that looks like blood, but it is not blood, how can they explain the vessels of wood and vessels of stone?

Secondly, they cannot explain how the red particles or reddish algae, which they claimed to be, could suddenly appear the very moment Moses struck the river Nile with his rod. Thirdly, if the plague could be explained naturally, then it would not be supernatural, right? If it was not supernatural, then Pharaoh would not have turned to his magicians. He would simply say to Moses, "Well, that is no big deal. This happens all the time; every time there is heavy rain, the rivers, streams, and ponds turn into blood." But that was not the case. The truth of the matter is that it was a divine miracle, a supernatural demonstration that the God of Israel was also the God of Egypt. So let God be true, and every man a liar.

Our third point is the imitator. Verse 22: "And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments or secret arts, and Pharaoh's heart was hardened; neither did he hearken unto them, as the Lord had said." Once again, Pharaoh's magicians were able to imitate God's miracle. Whether they did it as a magic trick or through demonic powers, the Bible does not tell us. One of the common questions that people would ask is this: if all the rivers, streams, and ponds had turned into blood, where did the magicians get the water to imitate this miracle? Well, the Bible does not tell us how much water; neither does the Bible tell us how they imitated this miracle. It could well be just a glass of water or a jug of water which was stored up somewhere in the palace, or they could get the water from the fountains from beneath the earth. So they might have just turned a glass of water into blood. We do not know. What we do know is that they performed a counterfeit miracle. Remember, Satan is always an imitator; he's never a creator. He can only copy and repeat what God has done if God allows him to do so.

You know what is most interesting? Rather than making the plague better, they made it worse. It would make more sense if they had the power to turn the blood back into water, right? They could never do that. Satan is always an imitator; he is never a creator. However, Pharaoh seemed impressed when he saw that his magicians could repeat God's miracle by their own enchantments or secret arts. He hardened his heart, turned his back, and returned to his palace. Verse 23: "And Pharaoh turned and went into his house; neither did he set his heart to this." In other words, he did not even take it to heart; he wasn't even serious about it. He did not even pay attention to it. This is the same problem with people whose hearts are hardened. When they are able to find other explanations, reasons, meanings, or possible answers other than God, they are no longer interested in listening to the gospel. They are no longer interested in hearing the Word of God. They will not pay attention. They will say to you, "Well, all these things can be explained, or it is just a matter of timing, or it is just coincidence." Then, like Pharaoh, they will not take it to heart; they will not pay attention. They will turn their backs and walk away.

Isn't it true that when we try to share the gospel or the Word of God with such people, they are always seeking other explanations? And when they, in their humanistic minds, are able to cling to some of these ideas, reasons, explanations, or possible answers, they will turn their backs and walk away. But the saddest picture is found in verse 24: "And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river." Here the phrase "all the Egyptians" would include the servants of Pharaoh as well. In other words, everyone in Egypt. So this plague affects everyone in Egypt. When the gods of Egypt failed, the Egyptians were left to their own resources. This is what happens to people who worship false gods. Dear friends, sooner or later their gods will fail. And when that happens, they will be left scrambling to look for other resources. They will be left scrambling to try to find any means by which they can save their lives. And no one can save them—only the Lord Jesus Christ. Only one person could turn this plague around, and that was God.

Look at verse 25: "And seven days were fulfilled after that the Lord had smitten the river," which means after seven days, God reversed the affliction. Take a moment and consider this: if God had not reversed the plague, if this plague had taken much longer than seven days, it would have been fatal. Not only would the whole economy of Egypt have collapsed, all the Egyptians, including the animals and plants, would have died. If God was not gracious, all of them would have perished. Likewise, for the people living in this world, any one of those calamities, including the COVID-19 pandemic—if only God had not been gracious, everyone would have died. But God is good, and His purpose, His message, His promises, His commandments, His terms—everything He said will never change. That is the God we believe in.

We will stop here, and next week, when we come back, we will consider the second plague. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank thee for thy precious Word. Thou hast led us to study through the book of Exodus, not by chance, nor coincidence. We believe that Thou art sovereign and everything happens because Thou hast ordained all things to happen, including this evening when we come to hear this passage. We thank Thee for speaking to us, and we ask of Thee to continue to speak to us each time we read the Bible. The Bible is the Word of God, and through the wonder-working of Thy Spirit, Thou wilt speak to us. We pray that we, who are recipients of Thy grace and mercy, we who have experienced Thy transforming work in our lives, will be Thy miraculous works, Thy supernatural works. Indeed, Thou art so great. Help us, as recipients, that we will also respond in good faith, living our lives always focusing on today to glorify Thee. We were created not to serve the things of this world, not to serve ourselves, but to serve the one living and true God. So help us, this we ask of Thee. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.