Where are the fish in the plague of blood?

Exodus 7:17-25; 2/1/2026; BCBC/IOUC; Rev. Paul Wang

Introduction

God gave human beings the freedom to choose whether to obey His word.  From Adam until today, that freedom has remained.  God clearly said, “Do not eat from that tree. The day you eat it, you will surely die.”  And today, we are still living with the consequences of what our ancestors chose.  Pharaoh was no different—he too had to face the consequences of his own choices.  Let us look at the first point.

The water turned into blood

The Nile River was Egypt’s lifeline.  When the water turned into blood, Egypt moved from life to death.  First, this was God’s judgment.  When things happen in the world, people look for reasons.  They analyze. They draw conclusions. But few people ask what God’s intention is.  God had already said, “Let My people go, so that they may serve Me in the wilderness.”  Yet Pharaoh still refused to listen.  God spoke once. God spoke twice.  Still, there was no obedience.  Finally, God allowed a small judgment.  So the Egyptians could see this truth:  The Nile, which they depended on for life, was not guaranteed to last forever.  In the same way, our daily food and drink are not guaranteed either.  They do not naturally belong to us.  When a person rebels against God, God’s judgment is often unavoidable.

 

Second, this shows God’s faithfulness.  Our first ancestors thought God was only speaking casually.  So they believed the serpent: “You will not surely die.”  Pharaoh was the same.  He heard God’s word, yet he still refused to obey.  Now, they had to face God’s faithfulness.  What is God’s faithfulness?  God’s faithfulness means this: What God says will surely come to pass.  Those who believe receive life.  Those who do not believe receive eternal death.  In Scripture, the first plague Egypt faced—the plague of blood— was only a warning, a relatively mild judgment: the river was turned into blood.  Clearly, through Moses and Aaron, God was telling Pharaoh,  “Do not take My word lightly.”  God’s faithfulness is also speaking today to everyone in the world who stands against Him: Will you continue to oppose God?

 

Finally, this shows God’s grace.  This is a parallel line of salvation in Exodus.  On one hand, God worked tirelessly to save Israel out of Egypt.  On the other hand, alongside Israel’s salvation, God continually left opportunities of grace for the Egyptians.Moses and Aaron already knew who the LORD was. Right?  So when Scripture says, “You will know that I am the LORD,”  the word “you” refers to the Egyptians.  Do you agree?  God’s heart has never changed. He desires all people to be saved.  He does not want anyone to perish.  But sinners who refuse to repent cannot be pulled back even by ten oxen.  The power of sin works in their hearts.  It produces rejection of God’s grace. And it multiplies sin itself.  Now let us look at the second point:

 

The fish in the river died

What does it matter if the fish in the river die?  No fish—so what?  Why make such a big deal?  First, when the fish die, the heart dies.  “When the fish die and the net is torn,” it describes a heart in despair.  The Nile was what the Egyptians depended on for life.  Now, there were no fish.  Think about it for a moment.  What did this mean?  In the past, they only needed to cast a net, and the whole family would be fed.  Now they realized: the good days were over, and they might never return.  Those who were once comfortable, even wealthy, spending freely, had now lost their former security.  When the source of life is cut off, when work cannot be found, when even delivery jobs are hard to get, all that is left is giving up— despair, a dead heart, no desire to live.  The Egyptians had to ask themselves this question:  Is there anything in this world that we are born with by right, receive naturally, without gratitude, and without asking where it comes from?

Second, it spread throughout the land of Egypt.  God’s curse came in stages.  First, the staff struck the water in the river.  Then, the staff was stretched over all the waters of Egypt.  Now the situation became serious.  Not only the Nile, but every place where there was water in Egypt became a place touched by the staff of the LORD.  Their streams, their rivers, their pools, their ponds— all the water turned into blood. Some wealthy Egyptians may have thought, “It’s okay. The water stored at home should last a while.”  But when they returned home, they discovered this: there was blood everywhere. Some time ago, for reasons no one was quite sure of, Walmart’s shelves were emptied.  When people asked why, they were told, “People are afraid of war, so they started stockpiling.”

Finally, it lasted only seven days.  To those brothers and sisters who stockpiled, I say this:  In a third world war or a nuclear war, survival is very low.  Going to the mountains to escape is possible, because the Bible even tells us to do so.  But what if there are no mountains nearby?  In life-and-death moments, we have no choice but to look to God.  In Exodus 7:25, after the LORD struck the river, it lasted only seven days.

God’s anger is limited in time, and His judgment was limited to Egypt.  Of course, one day will come when all creation will be destroyed,  when everything with form will be gone.  What should we do then?  I say: Be quiet, and wait for the Lord to take us home.  Now, let us look at the third point:

Pharaoh’s heart was hardened

All the water in Egypt turned into blood.  The fish in the river died.  Yet Pharaoh became even more extreme, and his heart grew harder still.  First, open confrontation.  Normally, in a situation like this, Pharaoh should have humbled himself, repented,
confessed, and prayed.  He could have said to Moses and Aaron, “We have truly sinned against the LORD. If you want to leave, then go.”  But Pharaoh’s heart was full of rebellion. He chose to oppose God.  He summoned the Egyptian magicians to stand against God.  Scripture says they did the same thing.  The fish died. The river stank. The Egyptians could not drink the water. Blood was everywhere in the land.  But they did it by sorcery.  Even today, there are many people in the world who seem powerful.  Some even appear to predict the future, read signs, or speak prophecies.  But so what?  Evil spirits using evil powers are not something new. Right?

Second, arrogant foolishness.  Pharaoh’s problem—his foolishness— was that he treated sorcery as his final card.  He ignored the LORD, the Creator of heaven and earth.  He turned and went back into the palace, unmoved, indifferent, and unwilling to take the LORD’s matters to heart.  And you, dear brothers and sisters— are you willing to take the LORD’s matters to heart?  The work of the church requires everyone to share the burden.  The gospel requires all of us to labor together.  Are you willing to become a member of God’s household, to give financially, to serve with your strength, and to offer your life, becoming a wise person in God’s house?  For the eyes of the LORD search the whole earth, looking for those who walk with Him.  Is it you?

Finally, the struggle of a source with no water.  When actions come from the flesh, they inevitably lead to foolishness.  The river had already turned into blood. Even when they dug along both sides of the river, the water they found was still blood. Even today, humanity is still walking this foolish path.  People think that with enough money, they can live in peace. So they keep accumulating wealth.  People think that with love, they can grow old together. Right?  But they do not realize this: if a person does not store up treasure in heaven, everything in the end is empty— like drawing water with a basket.  If a person does not first love Jesus Christ, all other love becomes water without a source, a tree without roots.  The Pharaoh of Egypt worked very hard to seek prosperity for his people, to make Egypt great again, and to restore the glory of ancient Egypt.

Conclusion

Alright, thanks be to the Lord!  The river had already turned into blood.  The fish in the river had died.  Even all the water in the land of Egypt had become blood.  Yet Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened. He refused to repent.  So what should be done?  Should we continue to oppose God, live in arrogant ignorance, remain numb, and labor in vain?  Or should we stand with the antichrist in this empty and rebellious world?

 

Let us pray together……

 

17 Thus says the Lord, “By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, with the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water that is in the Nile, and it shall turn into blood.

18 The fish in the Nile shall die, and the Nile will stink, and the Egyptians will grow weary of drinking water from the Nile.”’”

19 And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, their canals, and their ponds, and all their pools of water, so that they may become blood, and there shall be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, even in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’”

20 Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood.

21 And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

22 But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their secret arts. So Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.

23 Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he did not take even this to heart.

24 And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile for water to drink, for they could not drink the water of the Nile.

25 Seven full days passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.