The war for human Hearts

Read Exodus 7.

The purpose of the ten plagues was not only to deliver the people of Israel from slavery but that "The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD..." (v.5 and v.17).  These were demonstrations of how powerful and worthy He is of their worship.  Each of the plagues was directed specifically against the system of false worship the Egyptians had made up.  Later in 12:12 God said, "...on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD."  

The Nile River provided water to the nation for crops and the resulting agricultural prosperity.  Instead of thanking the LORD of heaven for such grace, they invented a god Osiris and envisioned the river as being his bloodstream.  So, the LORD demonstrated their foolishness to them.  It is as if God responded with "You think this is a bloodstream?  Let me show what that would really be like."  The disaster lasted seven days.

Empowered by the devil, the magicians of Egypt were able to duplicate the change of water into blood.  When Pharaoh saw the counterfeit, he discounted the power of God to some trick.  Instead of humbling himself before the LORD, he hardened his heart even more.  This is raw and open spiritual warfare. 

Satan is a counterfeiter.  Jesus called him the father of lies (John 8:44).  Satan endeavors to come up with cheap substitutes for the will and work of God to distract the hearts and minds of humans from the truth.  He is the source of all false religions in order to thwart people from knowing and living for Jesus.  He is the liar behind all temptation to do anything but what God wants a person to be doing.  He is the accuser against God behind the thoughts that question what is clearly stated in the Bible.  His singular goal is to keep as many humans as possible from giving themselves to Jesus Christ for forgiveness and eternal life.  Satan is a defeated foe, faces eternal damnation, and wants to take as many down with him as possible.

A hard heart loses all sensitivity to the difference between good and evil.  The Holy Spirit of God helps us to spiritually appraise the people and happenings around us so we are not fooled by Satan's schemes.  (1 Corinthians 2:9-16).