Exodus 7

God’s power through ordinary people

“See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the  Israelites go out of his country.” ~ Exodus 7:1-2

As God’s people, we have the unique and awesome honor to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the world today. When I read this passage, I am reminded that God does not wait until we feel fully ready before He calls us. Moses did not think he was qualified to stand before Pharaoh, yet God gave him the exact words and strength needed, and He placed Aaron beside him for support. God’s power was not limited by Moses’ weakness but displayed through his obedience.

In my own life, I have had times when I felt completely unqualified to do what God asked of me. One memory that stands out is when I first began leading a small group. I questioned whether I had the right words to help and encourage others, the right skills to organize and facilitate, or enough wisdom to lead. But as I stepped forward, I saw God move. People were encouraged, not because of what I had, but because of what God did through me. Through that time, I realized that His calling is always bigger than my own ability.

For you today, this passage can speak to situations where you feel unprepared, overwhelmed, or too small to make a difference. God wants you to know that He chooses ordinary people to carry out His extraordinary plans. He provides the courage, the resources, and the right people to walk beside you. Just like Moses had Aaron, God will place others in your life to strengthen you.

Here are some ways to get started today:

• Spend time in prayer each day asking God to guide your words and actions.
• Be willing to step into opportunities that stretch you even if you feel unqualified.
• Invite someone to pray with you or walk with you as Aaron did with Moses.
• Write down specific ways God has shown His power in your past and keep them as reminders when you doubt.
• Encourage someone else who feels inadequate by sharing this story of Moses.

Today I want to encourage you to trust that God has chosen you for a reason. He does not see your weaknesses as disqualifications but as places where His strength will shine. If He called Moses, who doubted his own voice, then He can call you to do what seems impossible. Step out in faith, speak what He puts in your heart, and believe that His power is working through you.

Today’s scripture reading: Exodus 7

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pay close attention to this. I will make you seem like God to Pharaoh, and your brother, Aaron, will be your prophet. 

2 Tell Aaron everything I command you, and Aaron must command Pharaoh to let the people of Israel leave his country. 

3 But I will make Pharaoh’s heart stubborn so I can multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. 

4 Even then Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you. So I will bring down my fist on Egypt. Then I will rescue my forces—my people, the Israelites—from the land of Egypt with great acts of judgment. 

5 When I raise my powerful hand and bring out the Israelites, the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.”

6 So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded them. 

7 Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron was eighty-three when they made their demands to Pharaoh.

8 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 

9 “Pharaoh will demand, ‘Show me a miracle.’ When he does this, say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down in front of Pharaoh, and it will become a serpent.’”

10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did what the Lord had commanded them. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent! 

11 Then Pharaoh called in his own wise men and sorcerers, and these Egyptian magicians did the same thing with their magic. 

12 They threw down their staffs, which also became serpents! But then Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 

13 Pharaoh’s heart, however, remained hard. He still refused to listen, just as the Lord had predicted.

A Plague of Blood

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn, and he still refuses to let the people go. 

15 So go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes down to the river. Stand on the bank of the Nile and meet him there. Be sure to take along the staff that turned into a snake. 

16 Then announce to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to tell you, “Let my people go, so they can worship me in the wilderness.” Until now, you have refused to listen to him. 

17 So this is what the Lord says: “I will show you that I am the Lord.” Look! I will strike the water of the Nile with this staff in my hand, and the river will turn to blood. 

18 The fish in it will die, and the river will stink. The Egyptians will not be able to drink any water from the Nile.’”

19 Then the Lord said to Moses: “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and raise your hand over the waters of Egypt—all its rivers, canals, ponds, and all the reservoirs. Turn all the water to blood. Everywhere in Egypt the water will turn to blood, even the water stored in wooden bowls and stone pots.’”

20 So Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord commanded them. As Pharaoh and all of his officials watched, Aaron raised his staff and struck the water of the Nile. Suddenly, the whole river turned to blood! 

21 The fish in the river died, and the water became so foul that the Egyptians couldn’t drink it. There was blood everywhere throughout the land of Egypt. 

22 But again the magicians of Egypt used their magic, and they, too, turned water into blood. So Pharaoh’s heart remained hard. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had predicted. 

23 Pharaoh returned to his palace and put the whole thing out of his mind. 

24 Then all the Egyptians dug along the riverbank to find drinking water, for they couldn’t drink the water from the Nile.

25 Seven days passed from the time the Lord struck the Nile.

Journal:

• What is one area of your life right now where you feel unqualified?
• How can you invite God’s strength into that situation?
• Who has God placed in your life to support you like Aaron supported Moses?