Christ in the Old Testament

Exodus 7:17

This is what the Lord says: By this you will know that I am the Lord: With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood. (NIV)

Today’s Reading: Exodus 7:14-24 and John 2:1-12

I hate to skip through Exodus because it is so rich and so eventful. But we are moving along so we can focus on the passages that point to Jesus. However, if you have time, pick up where we left off yesterday and read through today’s passage. A few points to consider along the way.

Remember our definition of holy from earlier this week? Anything that is directly connected to God and to the service of God is holy. In a way, God is taking the Israelites out of Egypt to become holy. In their current status, they are in service to Pharaoh. God is wanting to bring them out of Egypt, out of slavery, out of unholiness and into the wilderness to serve and worship Him and to become holy.

There’s also another underlying concept happening between Pharaoh and the Israelites and that is the concept of the Sabbath which God will introduce to the Israelites very soon. In Genesis, God created for six days and on the seventh day he rested. He “blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested.” (Gen 2:3) The Israelites are being given no rest from their work. This is an unholy practice to God. So while this parallel isn’t fully explained in this section of Exodus, understand that the concept of resting from our work one day a week is a holy practice. And Pharaoh is denying the Israelites this rest.

And lastly before we get to today’s passage, God says to Moses in Exodus 6:3, “I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.” We discovered this at the burning bush when God for the first time told Moses that He is to be called YHWH, I AM or the LORD. God is about to make himself fully known to the Israelites and to us through the events of Exodus. And also understand that the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart is what is going to allow God to reveal himself more fully to us. It’s through the suffering that we will see God more clearly.

The first plague is the Plague of Blood. Pharaoh would not let the Israelites go so Moses and Aaron confront Pharaoh on the bank of the Nile. Aaron raises his staff and strikes the Nile turning all the water in the land to blood. This killed all the fish and created an horrendous stench. Blood was everywhere. Again, this was the first plague that would eventually lead to the death of Pharaoh’s son. The parallel of this plague is to the first miracle of Jesus when he turned water into wine. The symbology is so rich! Let’s work through this first miracle of Jesus in John chapter 2.

Take note of the following verses in John 2:

• “On the third day a wedding took place” (verse 1)
• “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.” (verse 4)
• “Nearby stood six stone water jars” (verse 6)
• The master of the banquet “called the bridegroom aside” (verse 9)

The supply of wine at a wedding was the responsibility of the bridegroom. That’s why the master of the ceremony called the bridegroom aside when he complimented him on the wine after Jesus’ miracle. The bridegroom of this particular wedding had failed at his responsibility and the wine had run out. Mary evidently had some relationship to the bridegroom because she directed the servants to listen to Jesus as if she was in charge. So Mary comes to Jesus and tells him, “They have no more wine.” Jesus’ response seems odd because he says to her, “My hour has not yet come.”

This seems to me a direct parallel to the plague of blood in that this is going to be Jesus first miracle similar in that it was also the first plague of Moses. Jesus is going to show us that he is a superior Moses. Wine is often used as a symbol for blood. Moses’ plague brings death while Jesus’ miracle brings life. Under the law of Moses, we stand condemned as lawbreakers before God. However, under the grace of Christ, He has “redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13).

When Mary comes to Jesus, she is essentially asking Jesus to take the place of the bridegroom. Thus Jesus responds with “my hour has not yet come.” The hour he is referring to is his crucifixion where he will assume the role of the bridegroom of blood. Jesus will call himself the bridegroom many times throughout his ministry and often refer to his relationship with his followers as a marriage. This is also a parallel to the wedding of the Lamb when the church will be the bride of Christ at the end of Revelation.

Lastly there’s the symbology of the six stone water jars. The number seven in the Bible typically signifies completion or perfection. The number six is one short of that so it signifies imperfection. It’s also a number that is often used in relation to man or human weakness. The water in the six jars were used for ceremonial washing. This was an imperfect cleanliness. The jars could only clean our body temporarily. Jesus’ death cleans us completely. The fact that he took six jars is a subtle message that Jesus can take the imperfect and make them perfect.

The water that was used for temporary cleanliness will be turned into wine that represents an eternal perfect life for us all. And we would be reminded of this every time we drink the wine of Communion. “Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Matt 26:27-29)

Today’s Prayer: Thank you Jesus for becoming the bridegroom that saves us from our sin. I can’t wait for the day when I can drink that sweet wine with you in our Father’s kingdom!