Blood-curse and blessing

Then Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded. In the presence of the king and his officers, Aaron raised his stick and struck the surface of the river, and all the water in it was turned into blood. The fish in the river died, and it smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink from it. There was blood everywhere in Egypt.       (verses 20,21)

Read Exodus 7:8-24

Stubbornness can be a dreadful thing. Usually the people around the stubborn person are the ones who suffer most, as they are denied something they need because the person just will not budge.

In Egypt Pharaoh dug his heels in, even though his people were suffering dreadfully. Once his magicians showed that they too could turn water into blood, he would not be moved. Blood, usually a symbol of life, became a curse for the people as rivers, canals and waterholes became stagnant pools of blood.

Jesus shed his blood because he too refused to be diverted from the path he knew he must take. In this case the blood was a blessing, a blessing that gives us life and salvation. Despite Satan’s best efforts to get Jesus to change his mind—through Peter and then in the garden—Jesus, too, would not be budged.

Because Pharaoh was stubborn, the people of Egypt suffered dreadfully. Because of Jesus’ ‘stubbornness’, he suffered dreadfully, and we will never have to know what that was like. Instead, we are God’s children and friends again, made righteous through the shedding of Jesus’ blood. Thank God for the blood of Jesus.

Father, I thank you that Jesus would not be moved from the task he knew he had to do. Amen.

by Robert Turnbull, in ‘Renewed Hope for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2000)

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