The Waters were turned to Blood

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. And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. Exodus 7:20‭-‬21 KJV

I’ve always wondered why this first miracle was the turning into blood. Blood is essential to living. In the Old testament tradition, Charles Allison qoutes Walter Elwell as reporting that blood stood for death, judgement, sacrifice and substitution or redemption long before the institution of covenants Life with God was made possible by the blood in sacrifice. In Egypt this blood was indicative of Gods judgement about to be released. It was a substitution for the years of sufferings and deaths Israel had suffered. The fact that it affected all their waters was warning enough. Pharaoh was raised in a deep occultic society. He should have known. He was however blinded by his hardness of the heart. His interest was to show Moses that it could be done by his magicians too. When men become callous, God gives them time to repent, but it won’t be forever. Their source of livelihood was polluted by the blood of judgement. Today is like that day. The warning sign has gone forth. Whatever wants to keep you as slave will begin to experience judgement. God is in this for the long haul. Help is on the way.