Read Exodus 7:14-25 at Bible Gateway.
Hebrew paragraph divisions
Exo 7:14-18 {s} Warning: the river will become blood
Exo 7:19-25 {p} The river becomes blood + magicians did also
Exo 7:14-18 {s} chiastic structure
What stood out to me this morning is that the Scripture equates not hearing the instruction spoken, with hardness of heart. Of course, Pharaoh heard the instruction with his physical ears, but since he did not act on what he had heard, then the Scriptures say that he heard, hearkened not. The Hebrew root word is shama, which we have seen before; in the Hebraic worldview, hearing also implies doing as you have heard.
Speaking strictly as a parent (realizing the case of YHVH hardening a ruler’s heart specifically to judge a nation is different), if you have a child who hears you with their physical ears, but has “not hearkened,” then the deeper root problem is hardness of heart. We saw that the cure for a hard heart is not more hardness on our part! The hard heart needs gentleness to bring it back into a state of softness, so that it can receive the Word spoken again, to act on it.
Exo 7:19-25 {p} chiastic structure
The structure brings out that Aaron struck the river, which is equated with YHVH striking the river. Of course, YHVH can strike the river Himself and does not need Aaron or Moses to act as intermediaries. Howver, we can see that Torah teaches us that God had regardless chosen to use His people as intermediaries in the earth, and for this purpose has poured out His Spirit on us, with the gifts of signs and wonders following (Mar 16:17018, 1 Cor 12:4-6).
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