WEDNESDAY 06 October 2021 “Fake Miracles?” Exodus 7:8-24

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Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,

May I ask… have you ever been a participant in one of God’s great miracles? It’s a life changing experience isn’t it my friends? We’re on the journey with Moses in the early stages of a multi-miracles extravaganza called ‘the Exodus’. Join me today as Moses, re-energized by his meeting with God, re-engages with the mission of bringing God’s Words and Miracles to Pharaoh for the ultimate purpose of Pharaoh acknowledging the God of the Hebrews is the one, true, all-powerful God and therefore he, the most powerful man in the world, the Pharaoh, will submit to God and release 1 million Hebrews slaves from bondage in Egypt!

So for a second time, Moses is on route, heading to the palace to request another meeting with the Pharaoh. Have you ever done that… returned for a second attempt at something that failed badly the last time? The record says: “The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, ‘When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle’, then say to Aaron, ‘Throw down your staff before Pharaoh, and it will become a snake.’ (Ex. 7:8) I can see Moses and Aaron walking briskly toward the palace, with staff in hand, fully confident this encounter will be very different from the first one. This time a miracle will astonish Pharaoh and he will surely be open to discussing a plan for the release of the Hebrew slaves, don’t you think that seems logical? So let’s watch what happened…

“So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. Aaron threw down his staff in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake! But Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians did the same things by their secret arts. Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake!” (Ex. 7:10-12) Woah! Wait a minute! What’s happening here? Look around Pharaoh’s royal palace throne room. Snakes, why does it have to be snakes? Gold and opulence everywhere, but on the ornate marble floor snakes, lots of snakes crawling around! A few moments ago these snakes were all wooden staff’s in the hands of men. Now who can explain what’s happening here in this, the most powerful palatial room in the world?

While none of us have probably seen the miracle of a staff becoming a snake, we believe God has the power to do it, right? But what about these magicians and sorcerers? How did they duplicate God’s miracle? Oh my friends we need to understand an important spiritual truth that is not often spoken about. The second strongest power in the universe is an angel known as Lucifer or Satan. Only God is more powerful than Lucifer! It is the evil, dark powers of Satan which turned the magician and sorcerer staffs into snakes. When Jesus was on earth He frequently encountered, confronted and defeated Satan or his demonic forces. These forces are still very much at work in our world today, causing great harm. Modern day sorcerers, palm and tarot card readers, voodoo priests, diviners, spiritists, and practices such as seances, channeling and contact with the dead, are all aspects of occult and demonic activity in our world today. The spiritual battle rages today as strongly as it ever has, even though you may not see snakes in palaces or schools or government office buildings, the evil darkness has penetrated all those places!

So look around at the people in Pharaoh’s royal palace, what expressions do you see on their faces, as they all step back away from the snakes? Fear has given way to the looks of competition as Aaron’s snake turns to attack the other snakes and they retaliate! A snake battle is taking place in the palace, can you imagine it? The Exodus record says: “But Aaron’s staff/snake swallowed up their staff/snakes!” (Ex. 7:12) After a few minutes, there’s only one snake left on the marble floor of Pharaoh’s palace, and I imagine either Moses or Aaron did what Moses had done on the hillside at the burning bush… they reached out and grabbed that snake by the tail and it became a staff again! So look at them… Moses and Aaron standing there with their wooden staffs in their hands, and a room full of magicians and sorcerers standing there empty handed! Now you’d think Pharaoh would say ‘Ok, enough, take your Hebrews and get out of Egypt.’ But not this hard hearted Pharaoh. The record says ‘Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said.”

While the record doesn’t tell us the specifics, it seems clear Pharaoh again told them this meeting was adjourned and they were escorted out, perhaps with a little more urgency than the first time. I wonder if once outside the guards might have said something like this to Moses and Aaron… ‘So what are you guys thinking? You know the Pharaoh has the authority to simply eliminate you, have you executed right on the spot. His temper has a short fuse, and he has no tolerance for feeling anything but superior, in control, in every situation. I’m amazed he’s letting you walk out without at least a beating. Have you guys lost your minds? If you come back and do anything like that again, anything that makes Pharaoh feel less than supreme, don’t be surprised if you are thrown into a dungeon, never to see the light of day again. Now get out of here and stay away…’

But the truth is, and history shows us, this battle was just beginning! It may have been the very next day that God spoke to Moses again and gave him instructions to return and confront Pharaoh for a third time. This time not in the palace, but out by the Nile river. So Moses went and waited, knowing that Pharaoh often went out to look at the great Nile and proudly proclaim it’s mighty flow was the favor of the gods on Egypt because of his great leadership of the country. His officials would cheer in approval of course. But this day as they approached the Nile river bank, they were astonished to see Moses and Aaron standing there waiting for them. Before the Pharaoh’s entourage got to the river, Moses spoke, loudly… “The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: ‘Let My people go, so that they may worship Me in the desert. But until now you have not listened. This is what the LORD says: ‘By this you will know that I am the LORD: with this staff that is in my hand, I will strike the water of the Nile and it will be changed into blood. The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink; and the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.” (Ex. 7:16-18) Can you see the Pharaoh taking in a big, deep breath and then exhaling a long, frustrated sigh, expressing his growing weariness with Moses. While the record doesn’t tell us, I’m sure Pharaoh didn’t just stand there and say or do nothing. I’m sure he and his officials said some derogatory things to Moses and Aaron and probably told them to get out of the way and stop bothering the Pharaoh with their petty claims.

What the record does tell us is what happened next… Aaron did strike the Nile with the staff and the water did turn to blood, and fairly quickly dead fish floated to the top of the river. But the record also says: “But the Egyptian sorcerers did the same thing by their secret arts, and Pharaoh’s heart became hard. He would not listen to Moses and Aaron, and he turned around and walked into his palace and did not even take this to heart.” (Ex. 7:22,23) Can you see the sneers and jeers from Pharaoh’s officials aimed at Moses and Aaron as they turn and walk with the Pharaoh? I imagine Moses and Aaron turned away from the stinking Nile and went somewhere to meet with God. They had questions! Why was God allowing the sorcerers to imitate God’s miracles? Was there something more they should be doing to block the sorcerer powers? But alas, all Moses and Aaron could do was wait for God’s next instructions. This wasn’t about human power, nor a human plan. They were learning to wait for God’s direction and do only and exactly what God instructed them to do, and leave the results entirely in God’s hand. Have we learned that my friends as we walk the paths of our life journeys?

Tomorrow we’ll see it was a full week before God made his next move, so for today, let’s ponder the deceptive, dark work of the devil’s kingdom infiltrating every part of our societies, wherever you live in the world. What do you see are Satan’s tactics, trying to entice and ensnare people, especially young people, into bondage that will suffocate their hopes, dreams and even their common sense? Ponder that today, for societies all around the world are imploding! What about yours?

Today’s Scripture is Exodus 7:8-24.

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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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