Exodus 7:22-25

And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; as the Lord had said. And Pharaoh turned and went into his house, neither did he set his heart to this also. And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river. And seven days were fulfilled, after that the Lord had smitten the river.

What a picture this is. The magicians could imitate the plague in some measure, but they could not fix it. Pharaoh saw the misery, saw the river ruined, saw the people digging in desperation for water, and still walked back into his house unmoved. That is how hard the human heart can become. It can look straight at judgment, straight at trouble, straight at the collapse of what once seemed dependable, and still refuse to bow.

For seven full days Egypt sat in that mess. Seven days of stink, death, thirst, and helplessness. The land that had trusted in the Nile was left clawing in the dirt for something to drink. It is hard not to see in that a larger picture. Just as Egypt endured seven days of this bloody misery, the world will one day pass through seven terrible years of Tribulation, when rebellion ripens and judgment falls with terrible force. What happened in Exodus was local and temporary. What is coming in that future day will be global and overwhelming.

There is also a striking contrast here between Moses and Jesus. Moses, the lawgiver, stretches out the rod and the water becomes blood. Jesus, the giver of life, takes water and turns it into wine in John 2:1-11. That contrast says a great deal. The law can expose. The law can confront. The law can show man what he is and where sin leads. But the law cannot give life. It cannot produce joy. It cannot cleanse the heart. It can tell you that the river is polluted, but it cannot make the water sweet again.

That is why Scripture says the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ in Galatians 3:24. It teaches us that our own efforts, our own religion, our own attempts to clean ourselves up cannot save us. Left to ourselves, all we do is dig around a bloody river looking for a little relief. We search here and there, hoping to find something to satisfy, something to soothe, something to wash away the stain. But nothing in that whole land could solve the problem.

Then comes Jesus.

Where the law exposes death, Jesus brings life. Where the law shows us our emptiness, Jesus fills. Where the law leaves man shut up to the fact that he cannot save himself, Jesus says, in effect, “Come unto Me.” He does not merely point out the problem. He rescues us from it. He lifts us out of the pit of sin and despair and gives us something this world never could, real cleansing, real freedom, and real joy.

So the bloody river in Egypt was not only judgment on Pharaoh. It was also a sermon. It showed the bankruptcy of man apart from God. It showed how empty the counterfeit powers of Egypt really were. It showed that hard hearts only make misery last longer. And in the larger sweep of Scripture, it prepares us to appreciate all the more the beauty of Christ, who takes what is empty and fills it with joy.

That is where hope lives. Not in digging harder around the riverbank. Not in trusting magicians who can only worsen the mess. Not in retreating into Pharaoh’s stubbornness. Hope lives in coming to the One who gives life where there was only death before. And when He gives, He does not give sparingly. He gives deeply, richly, and with a joy this world cannot manufacture.