7:1 How does God assuage us when we are feeling fearful or insufficient? We finished the last chapter in the spirit of this question. Through Moses' journey, we learn the answer. For God says to Moses: "I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet." God equips His children with power over enemies and secondary support.
7:2 Our most important support, however, is His guidance. God tells Moses to speak all that He tells him to. This command is for Moses' benefit. God knows the words and actions that serve as keys to unlock the doors through which to walk through barriers. He gives us those keys.
Once again God instructs Moses to tell Pharaoh to release the children of Israel out of Egypt.
7:3-4 God reaffirms His plan: Pharaoh will be made to refuse again. This will create massive opportunity for growth in Egypt. The leader of Egypt is corrupt, filled with unjust principles and unjust humans carrying them out. God's plan has these two major motives: free the children of Israel and prod the Egyptians to live more justly.
7:5 Pharaoh's refusal (commandeered by God) will allow God the space and time to display to Egypt the power of justice and compassion as well as the destruction and ill-will of evil. It's important for humans to learn that the energy they put into the world has reverberating effect. Evil does not go unchallenged for it seeks out itself. Likewise, justice makes a compassionate effort to return to its sender.
The Egyptians are convinced that their earthly king is in control and this belief is influencing them to emulate his behavior. Humanity needs to know that compassion reigns... and hopefully they will learn to emulate the products of compassion: love, empathy, joy, forgiveness, hope, advocacy, patience.
God is not a punish-er, he's an instructor. God is not a destroyer, He is a creator. It's important to understand Him from these perspectives. Discipline is done by Him out of love. He does not destroy any good thing; by eliminating evil, He creates space for justice and freedom.
7:6-7 Moses and Aaron, 80 and 83 years old respectively, do as God instructs them to do: They confront Pharaoh in the exact time and manner He commanded.
Even though Moses often doubts his own ability, every time he returns to confront Pharaoh he expresses a deep and powerful faith in God. Can you imagine confronting a powerful, evil leader of a nation with commandments from a God they do not even believe in? It sounds extraordinary... and it is, because it requires and extraordinary amount of faith.
7:8-9 God tells Moses and Aaron: when Pharaoh asks for proof, cast your rod on the ground in front of him and let it become a serpent.
7:10-13 Moses and Aaron do exactly as they are told but Pharaoh is unconvinced; he accuses them of sorcery. It's a common trick done by magicians in the area. It is symbolic of our God as King vs. this man as king. One is fake and the other is the real thing: capable not of amusing people with deception but with truth.
7:14-15 This rod is a symbol of power and will continue to be such as God initiates His plan. God instructs Moses and Aaron to meet Pharaoh in the morning by the river and to bring the rod.
7:16-17 Moses' directive from God is to speak the words God promised to fill him with: "Let My people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness... by this you shall know that I am the Lord." With that, Moses explains to Pharaoh what will happen as proof of the power of the one who delivered that statement: he is about to use the rod to strike the water and turn it blood-red.
7:18 The fish will then die and the river will become foul-smelling. The Egyptians will loathe to drink the water. This is a metaphor given to the Egyptians by God. They are currently sourcing their life from a corrupt king (i.e drinking from a polluted river). Pharaoh's river is a river of death, causing the "fish"/people to die spiritually.
God's intention is to reveal to the Egyptians that living by such a corrupt source is loathsome. Moreover, the lesson here is that our God is our true and pure source, our river of spiritual life.
7:19-21 When Moses finishes informing Pharaoh of the upcoming event, he does it: he strikes the water. Every body of water is turned blood-red and God's word is fulfilled exactly.
7:22-23 Once again, Pharaoh allows the magicians of the land to debunk Moses and Aaron. They too are able to color the water. Pharaoh returns home without any trepidation, he still will not heed God's commandment.
7:24-25 God allows 7 days to pass will the rivers turned red. For God, 7 is the number of completion. This symbol remains in Egypt until God feel it has fulfilled its purpose.
