And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. Exodus 7:20
Among the various false gods of the Egyptians was one called Hapi, the so-called god of the Nile River. This fake deity was referred to as the water bearer, and was credited with the annual flooding of the Nile. That flooding was extremely important to the Egyptians because it not only gave valuable water to the semi-desert land, but it also provided valuable fertilization to the soil. The very first of the plagues that God brought on Egypt for refusing to release the Israelites was to turn the water of the Nile into blood. Ugh! It was a terrible ordeal for the Egyptians. But more importantly, it was a huge blow against their god Hapi, and proof that he and the other gods of Egypt were no match for the one true God.
When we examine the ten plagues, we find each of them a direct assault on one of Egypt’s fake deities. Just as the God of the Israelites proved greater than Hapi, so He went on to prove greater than all the others, too. Pharaoh and the Egyptians kept missing the message as the plagues proceeded, and they suffered terribly. But as God was proving His superiority before the Egyptians, He was establishing His superiority and lordship to His own people. As the Israelites exited Egypt and marched to Canaan, they did so led by a God Who had already proved to them His omnipotence. The same God leads us today.
Although they are not billed as idols or deities, the world around 21s century Christians is awash in false gods. Think about the many hours most of those around us spend staring at tiny screens and twiddling their thumbs in response, and know that technology is a powerful time-wasting and mind-bending god. Look at the collapse of morality into rampant sexual sinfulness and know that self gratification is a powerful soul degrading god. As Christians, we have a God Who is greater than these, but we need to allow Him to lead us to freedom and victory over them. -Jim MacIntosh
Here is the link to the video of this message: https://youtu.be/u7d0-3uWp94