Exodus 4:9

"And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe even these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land."

"Neither hearken unto thy voice ..." Whereas, it was the voice of "the signs" mentioned in Exodus 4:8, it would appear from the mention of Moses' voice in this context that this should be considered as explanatory of what was meant throughout the passage. Despite this, some have written about the "voice of the signs." The changing of the waters of the Nile into blood was, as seen later, the first of the ten plagues visited upon the land of Pharaoh. And, as it conspicuously appears throughout Exodus, we have throughout a prophetic preview of the great ministry of the Son of God himself. Jesus' first miracle at Cana in Galilee bore a startling resemblance to this, yet at the same time being infinitely superior to it. Jesus changed the water into wine, a miracle of benefit and blessing, whereas Moses' first miracle was one of judgment, punishment, and destruction.

This power of Moses to turn the waters of the great Nile into blood should be understood in the light of the status held by that river in Egyptian culture. It was honored as divine, and its waters were held to be the source of all that was good and desirable in Egyptian life. Through Moses, God showed his power and superiority above the pagan gods of Egypt.

Canon Harford alleged a contradiction from which he unhesitatingly postulated "separate sources" for portions of this chapter, based, of all things, upon the rod of Moses mentioned in Exodus 4:2, being called the "rod of God" in Exodus 4:20![11] We cannot imagine a more picayune objection. Moses' rod became the rod of God in the instance of the great miracles that would result from the use of it as God's instrument, the first of which had just occurred, endowing that particular rod with unique status and importance.