Moses and Aaron Before Pharaoh With Serpent and Frogsby CNSDA
7:12Exodus 7:12
For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.
Before Pharaoh Aaron's rod truly became a living serpent and swallowed the magicians' rods to prove the great I AM had sent Moses and Aaron to demand Israel's release and to display His supremacy over Egypt's serpent idols. The magicians' rods only appeared to become serpents through magic and counterfeit power, though those who held they did become serpents taught it was by Satan's power through enchantment and not mere trick, while others taught real serpents were brought in because Satan cannot create life which belongs to God alone. Satan aided the magicians to harden Pharaoh against God's power, keep him from obeying, stagger the faith of Moses and Aaron, and keep Israel from being released to serve God. Aaron's rod swallowing the others proved God's true work superior to Satan's counterfeit and gave Moses and Aaron the victory, and the very existence of the counterfeit confirms the reality it imitates so God's people will not be left without the true gifts of His Spirit. As most of Moses' signs were imitated, so just before the final deliverance God will work powerfully for His people and modern magicians by Satan's power will be permitted to imitate His work with great manifestations designed to deceive and overthrow them.
Words and Setting
Aaron's rod truly became a living serpent, while the magicians' rods only appeared to become serpents through magic and counterfeit power aided by Satan, and did not truly perform the work God did through Aaron. Their counterfeit serpents looked indistinguishable from the real one to Pharaoh and his court, yet they were spurious and not living serpents, and the Lord's living serpent swallowed the pretended serpents to show God's true work more powerful than the counterfeit signs. In the opposite account, the magicians' rods did become serpents by Satan's power through enchantment, working not by their own science alone but by the power of their god the devil in ingenious deception, and these were genuine supernatural wonders and not mere tricks or sleight of hand. Those who held this taught that Moses wrought by the power of God and not by any human power in himself, while the magicians genuinely counterfeited the miracle, and that Aaron's rod swallowing theirs still proved God's work superior.
The magicians brought real serpents to make it look as if their rods had changed, and to human eyes the transformation appeared real, because Satan cannot create life or give life, a power belonging to God alone. The serpent produced by Moses and Aaron was real, produced by the Lord, and God caused it to swallow the pretended serpents, showing the superiority of the genuine work of God over the spurious. The counterfeit was meant to make the Egyptians doubt the value of God's message and gave Pharaoh an excuse to disregard the miracle and God's command, and Pharaoh mistook the swallowing of the counterfeits for superior magic rather than God's power, which emboldened him to resist conviction.
The sign was performed before Pharaoh as a miracle and first display to prove that the great I AM had sent Moses and Aaron, to demand that Pharaoh let Israel go to serve the living God. It authenticated their mission and challenged the authority of Egypt's ruler, and Pharaoh's stubborn refusal and resistance brought judgment on his kingdom while his counselors and mighty men tried to explain God's judgments as natural events. Pharaoh resisted the sign and reasoned away the miracles, with his heart remaining hardened against God.
It was the first rejected miracle in the opening contest before the plagues, and its first display did not immediately deliver Israel. God used the events to reveal Pharaoh's tyrannical spirit, to show His power to Egyptians and Israelites, and to make the Israelites eager to leave Egypt and serve God. Pharaoh's refusal to accept this sign began a course of growing doubt and hardened resistance in which later miracles did not persuade him until the death of the firstborn. By swallowing the magicians' rods, Aaron's rod displayed the true God's supremacy over Egypt's serpent idols, showing they could neither help the people nor save themselves.
God's Superior Power
Aaron's rod truly became a living serpent, while the magicians' rods only appeared to become serpents through magic aided by Satan, counterfeiting rather than truly matching what God did through Aaron. Those who held that the magicians' rods did become serpents taught that they did so not by human science alone but by the power of their god the devil working in ingenious deception. Aaron's rod swallowing their rods showed that God's true work was superior to Satan's counterfeit, and by the Lord's power Moses and Aaron gained the victory over the enemy. The Lord's living serpent swallowed the pretended serpents, displaying the superiority of the genuine work of God over the spurious, though Pharaoh seized on the apparent imitation as an excuse to resist God and hardened his heart. The miracles before Pharaoh were produced by the power of God and not by any human power in Moses, designed to convince Pharaoh that the great I AM had sent him to demand that Israel be let go to serve the living God.
The victory exposed the limits of the counterfeit, for the magicians could copy only a few of the miracles God wrought through Moses and could go no further when God cut off Satan's channel. When they tried to produce lice and could not, they were forced to confess to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God. Their limited power could not prevent Israel's release from Egyptian bondage, and Satan's failure to defeat God's purpose instead made God's power and sovereignty more evident to Israel and Egypt. Satan had meant by the counterfeit to harden Pharaoh against God's power and to stagger the faith of Moses and Aaron so that his instruments would prevail and Israel would not be released to serve God.
The satanic imitation did not weaken the truth of God's work through Moses before Pharaoh, which was perfect even though Jannes and Jambres were permitted to work miracles by Satan's power that resembled the miracles of Moses. God is unchangeable, and a counterfeit exists only to imitate an existing reality, so the presence of counterfeit miracles proves that God truly works by the power of the Holy Spirit. For that reason He will not leave His people without the gifts and manifestations of His Spirit in an age of deception.
Satan's Counterfeit Purpose
Satan himself aided Pharaoh's magicians, working through them by enchantments and witchcraft, not by human science alone but by the power of their god the devil in ingenious deception. His arts weave a spell about the mind and steel the heart against heavenly influence, an infatuation that resists conviction. The rods of the magicians did become serpents by that satanic power, a genuine supernatural counterfeit of God's true work through Moses and Aaron.
Moses had been chosen by God to break the yoke of bondage from Israel, and he was a type of Christ who was to come to break the reign of sin over the human family and deliver those captive to its power. Satan knew this, and knew that when Christ appeared mighty works and miracles would be wrought by Him so the world might know the Father had sent Him, and he trembled for his power. To destroy the influence of Moses as God's servant he imitated the true work of God through the magicians.
That counterfeit was also sent forth to reach through all ages, in many minds destroying true faith in the mighty miracles to be performed by Christ when He came. Many would be led to believe that all the mighty works Jesus did on earth were accomplished by that same power as the magicians, by rapping and mesmerism and spiritualism. God limited Satan's power and cut off his channel, yet the influence of the imitation endures to undermine faith in Christ's miracles.
For the present moment Satan meant by the counterfeit to resist God's will and keep Pharaoh from acknowledging and obeying Him. He meant to harden Pharaoh against God's power, to stagger the faith of Moses and Aaron so his instruments would prevail, and to keep Israel from being released to serve God. The display gave Pharaoh an excuse to disregard the miracle and God's command and made the Egyptians doubt the value of God's message.
Because Satan's agents were enabled to counterfeit the work of God, their signs were real supernatural wonders and not mere human trickery, sleight of hand, or pretended miracles. Such wonders can deceive people into mistaking their power for God's power and accepting them as the great power of God.
Pharaoh's Hardened Response
Pharaoh and his court looked upon serpents that appeared indistinguishable from the living serpent produced by Aaron's rod, for the magicians' rods only seemed to become serpents through magic aided by a counterfeit power and did not truly change as Aaron's did. The counterfeit display was intended to make the Egyptians doubt the value of the divine message and furnished Pharaoh with an excuse to disregard both the miracle and the command to let Israel go. He seized upon that apparent imitation to resist the sign, reason away the miracles, and harden his heart against conviction rather than acknowledge the hand of God.
Even when Aaron's living serpent swallowed the pretended serpents, Pharaoh regarded the victory not as God's power but as magic superior to that of his own servants. His counselors and mighty men joined him in resisting the sign and labored to explain away the divine judgments as natural events. That misreading left him determined to resist God's command instead of submitting to it.
The counterfeit emboldened Pharaoh to resist conviction and hardened him, beginning with this first rejected miracle a course of growing doubt and hardened resistance. Later miracles did not persuade him, and he persisted in unbelief until the death of the firstborn. The genuine miracle, because the magicians appeared to do the same work, did not soften his hard heart but increased his hatred of the Israelites, as he concluded the works were performed by magic.
The wonders wrought before the Egyptians, including this swallowing of the rods, were afterward mocked by Amalek, whose wise men and magicians boasted that they could perform the same wonders.
Prophecy of Last Days
The plagues poured out on Egypt just before and at the deliverance of Israel from bondage shadow forth the seven last plagues to be poured out on the wicked just before and at the deliverance of the saints. Those plagues sent when God was about to deliver Israel were similar in character to the judgments to fall upon the world just before the final deliverance of God's people, but the coming judgments will be more terrible and extensive. The magicians' deception of Pharaoh and his host by performing most of the miracles Moses performed took place just before that deliverance and foreshadows the work of the last oppressive power numbered 666, which will manifest its power, deception, wonders, miracles, and oppression during its last struggle under the seven last plagues about the time it comes to its end. Just as great a manifestation of the power of the devil will appear just before the glorious deliverance of the saints.
The sign of Aaron's rod swallowing the rods of the Egyptian magicians and the beginning of Pharaoh's hardened response belongs to the Exodus events that rehearse the revelation given to John, including the plagues. Those judgments upon Egypt before Israel's deliverance provide the pattern for the final plagues. The coming judgments will be similar in character but more terrible and extensive, and will fall upon the world just before God's people are delivered.
Just as most of the signs and wonders God wrought through Moses before Pharaoh were imitated by the magicians of Egypt, so just before the final deliverance of the saints God will work powerfully for His people and modern magicians working by Satan's power will be permitted to imitate the work of God. That work comes through rapping and mesmerism and spiritualist rapping, and Satan's power will increase and spread in that time. These modern magicians will claim that all the mighty works Jesus did on earth were accomplished by that same power of rapping and mesmerism, and many will believe it.
That final deception will include great manifestations of the devil's power, with some of his devoted followers given power to work miracles and even to bring down fire from heaven in the sight of men. It will occur during the last struggle of the oppressive power numbered 666 under the seven last plagues. All these great signs and mighty wonders of the devil are designed to deceive God's people and overthrow them.
Parallels in Scripture History
As Pharaoh's magicians withstood Moses and Aaron by imitating their sign, so Elymas the sorcerer withstood the apostles when they sought to teach the deputy Sergius Paulus the truth. Their withstanding was Satan present on hand and working through a servant under his control to thwart God's purpose. By false reports and specious deceptions he sought to turn a man of repute and influence against God's messengers, destroy their influence over him, greatly hinder their work, and prevent him from being instructed in the truth and embracing faith in Christ. The fallen foe ever works in a special manner to prevent persons of influence, who could be of great service to the cause, from embracing the truth of God.
As God upheld the truth when Aaron's rod swallowed the magicians' rods and thus showed His power to surpass theirs, so He upheld the truth when Paul's miracles at Ephesus surpassed the sorcerers' lying wonders. The same image of Aaron's rod swallowing the magicians' rods illustrates how the midnight cry overcame the fanaticism associated with the Advent cause. The signs and plagues including Aaron's rod swallowing the magicians' rods belong to the displays of God's power over Egypt that were recalled when the Philistines recognized that Israel's God was bringing judgment among them after the ark was taken.
Warning and Present Application
The same contest seen when the magicians imitated the sign and Aaron's rod swallowed their rods is active again in the world and among professed churches, and its strength is increasing. Their work is continued today in secret associations and seances through spiritualistic mediums, with the same deceptive disclosures under a different form. Modern spiritualism itself began by the direct work of evil angels.
Those who hold that spiritualism is only human imposture will be ensnared when brought face to face with manifestations they cannot but regard as supernatural, and will accept them as the great power of God. Those who scorn the ancient magicians yet eagerly receive light from modern mediums instead of God's Word are yielding to Satan's triumph.
Unless God's people keep growing in strength, grace, and knowledge of the truth, the powers of darkness will gain the victory and overcome them. They must therefore keep hold of the strong arm of Jehovah and keep their minds stayed upon God. They are to be bold and valiant for the truth instead of fearing what the wicked fear.
Before Pharaoh Aaron's rod truly became a living serpent and swallowed the magicians' rods to prove the great I AM had sent Moses and Aaron to demand Israel's release and to display His supremacy over Egypt's serpent idols. The magicians' rods only appeared to become serpents through magic and counterfeit power, though those who held they did become serpents taught it was by Satan's power through enchantment and not mere trick, while others taught real serpents were brought in because Satan cannot create life which belongs to God alone. Satan aided the magicians to harden Pharaoh against God's power, keep him from obeying, stagger the faith of Moses and Aaron, and keep Israel from being released to serve God. Aaron's rod swallowing the others proved God's true work superior to Satan's counterfeit and gave Moses and Aaron the victory, and the very existence of the counterfeit confirms the reality it imitates so God's people will not be left without the true gifts of His Spirit. As most of Moses' signs were imitated, so just before the final deliverance God will work powerfully for His people and modern magicians by Satan's power will be permitted to imitate His work with great manifestations designed to deceive and overthrow them.
Words and Setting
Aaron's rod truly became a living serpent, while the magicians' rods only appeared to become serpents through magic and counterfeit power aided by Satan, and did not truly perform the work God did through Aaron. Their counterfeit serpents looked indistinguishable from the real one to Pharaoh and his court, yet they were spurious and not living serpents, and the Lord's living serpent swallowed the pretended serpents to show God's true work more powerful than the counterfeit signs. In the opposite account, the magicians' rods did become serpents by Satan's power through enchantment, working not by their own science alone but by the power of their god the devil in ingenious deception, and these were genuine supernatural wonders and not mere tricks or sleight of hand. Those who held this taught that Moses wrought by the power of God and not by any human power in himself, while the magicians genuinely counterfeited the miracle, and that Aaron's rod swallowing theirs still proved God's work superior.
The magicians brought real serpents to make it look as if their rods had changed, and to human eyes the transformation appeared real, because Satan cannot create life or give life, a power belonging to God alone. The serpent produced by Moses and Aaron was real, produced by the Lord, and God caused it to swallow the pretended serpents, showing the superiority of the genuine work of God over the spurious. The counterfeit was meant to make the Egyptians doubt the value of God's message and gave Pharaoh an excuse to disregard the miracle and God's command, and Pharaoh mistook the swallowing of the counterfeits for superior magic rather than God's power, which emboldened him to resist conviction.
The sign was performed before Pharaoh as a miracle and first display to prove that the great I AM had sent Moses and Aaron, to demand that Pharaoh let Israel go to serve the living God. It authenticated their mission and challenged the authority of Egypt's ruler, and Pharaoh's stubborn refusal and resistance brought judgment on his kingdom while his counselors and mighty men tried to explain God's judgments as natural events. Pharaoh resisted the sign and reasoned away the miracles, with his heart remaining hardened against God.
It was the first rejected miracle in the opening contest before the plagues, and its first display did not immediately deliver Israel. God used the events to reveal Pharaoh's tyrannical spirit, to show His power to Egyptians and Israelites, and to make the Israelites eager to leave Egypt and serve God. Pharaoh's refusal to accept this sign began a course of growing doubt and hardened resistance in which later miracles did not persuade him until the death of the firstborn. By swallowing the magicians' rods, Aaron's rod displayed the true God's supremacy over Egypt's serpent idols, showing they could neither help the people nor save themselves.
God's Superior Power
Aaron's rod truly became a living serpent, while the magicians' rods only appeared to become serpents through magic aided by Satan, counterfeiting rather than truly matching what God did through Aaron. Those who held that the magicians' rods did become serpents taught that they did so not by human science alone but by the power of their god the devil working in ingenious deception. Aaron's rod swallowing their rods showed that God's true work was superior to Satan's counterfeit, and by the Lord's power Moses and Aaron gained the victory over the enemy. The Lord's living serpent swallowed the pretended serpents, displaying the superiority of the genuine work of God over the spurious, though Pharaoh seized on the apparent imitation as an excuse to resist God and hardened his heart. The miracles before Pharaoh were produced by the power of God and not by any human power in Moses, designed to convince Pharaoh that the great I AM had sent him to demand that Israel be let go to serve the living God.
The victory exposed the limits of the counterfeit, for the magicians could copy only a few of the miracles God wrought through Moses and could go no further when God cut off Satan's channel. When they tried to produce lice and could not, they were forced to confess to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God. Their limited power could not prevent Israel's release from Egyptian bondage, and Satan's failure to defeat God's purpose instead made God's power and sovereignty more evident to Israel and Egypt. Satan had meant by the counterfeit to harden Pharaoh against God's power and to stagger the faith of Moses and Aaron so that his instruments would prevail and Israel would not be released to serve God.
The satanic imitation did not weaken the truth of God's work through Moses before Pharaoh, which was perfect even though Jannes and Jambres were permitted to work miracles by Satan's power that resembled the miracles of Moses. God is unchangeable, and a counterfeit exists only to imitate an existing reality, so the presence of counterfeit miracles proves that God truly works by the power of the Holy Spirit. For that reason He will not leave His people without the gifts and manifestations of His Spirit in an age of deception.
Satan's Counterfeit Purpose
Satan himself aided Pharaoh's magicians, working through them by enchantments and witchcraft, not by human science alone but by the power of their god the devil in ingenious deception. His arts weave a spell about the mind and steel the heart against heavenly influence, an infatuation that resists conviction. The rods of the magicians did become serpents by that satanic power, a genuine supernatural counterfeit of God's true work through Moses and Aaron.
Moses had been chosen by God to break the yoke of bondage from Israel, and he was a type of Christ who was to come to break the reign of sin over the human family and deliver those captive to its power. Satan knew this, and knew that when Christ appeared mighty works and miracles would be wrought by Him so the world might know the Father had sent Him, and he trembled for his power. To destroy the influence of Moses as God's servant he imitated the true work of God through the magicians.
That counterfeit was also sent forth to reach through all ages, in many minds destroying true faith in the mighty miracles to be performed by Christ when He came. Many would be led to believe that all the mighty works Jesus did on earth were accomplished by that same power as the magicians, by rapping and mesmerism and spiritualism. God limited Satan's power and cut off his channel, yet the influence of the imitation endures to undermine faith in Christ's miracles.
For the present moment Satan meant by the counterfeit to resist God's will and keep Pharaoh from acknowledging and obeying Him. He meant to harden Pharaoh against God's power, to stagger the faith of Moses and Aaron so his instruments would prevail, and to keep Israel from being released to serve God. The display gave Pharaoh an excuse to disregard the miracle and God's command and made the Egyptians doubt the value of God's message.
Because Satan's agents were enabled to counterfeit the work of God, their signs were real supernatural wonders and not mere human trickery, sleight of hand, or pretended miracles. Such wonders can deceive people into mistaking their power for God's power and accepting them as the great power of God.
Pharaoh's Hardened Response
Pharaoh and his court looked upon serpents that appeared indistinguishable from the living serpent produced by Aaron's rod, for the magicians' rods only seemed to become serpents through magic aided by a counterfeit power and did not truly change as Aaron's did. The counterfeit display was intended to make the Egyptians doubt the value of the divine message and furnished Pharaoh with an excuse to disregard both the miracle and the command to let Israel go. He seized upon that apparent imitation to resist the sign, reason away the miracles, and harden his heart against conviction rather than acknowledge the hand of God.
Even when Aaron's living serpent swallowed the pretended serpents, Pharaoh regarded the victory not as God's power but as magic superior to that of his own servants. His counselors and mighty men joined him in resisting the sign and labored to explain away the divine judgments as natural events. That misreading left him determined to resist God's command instead of submitting to it.
The counterfeit emboldened Pharaoh to resist conviction and hardened him, beginning with this first rejected miracle a course of growing doubt and hardened resistance. Later miracles did not persuade him, and he persisted in unbelief until the death of the firstborn. The genuine miracle, because the magicians appeared to do the same work, did not soften his hard heart but increased his hatred of the Israelites, as he concluded the works were performed by magic.
The wonders wrought before the Egyptians, including this swallowing of the rods, were afterward mocked by Amalek, whose wise men and magicians boasted that they could perform the same wonders.
Prophecy of Last Days
The plagues poured out on Egypt just before and at the deliverance of Israel from bondage shadow forth the seven last plagues to be poured out on the wicked just before and at the deliverance of the saints. Those plagues sent when God was about to deliver Israel were similar in character to the judgments to fall upon the world just before the final deliverance of God's people, but the coming judgments will be more terrible and extensive. The magicians' deception of Pharaoh and his host by performing most of the miracles Moses performed took place just before that deliverance and foreshadows the work of the last oppressive power numbered 666, which will manifest its power, deception, wonders, miracles, and oppression during its last struggle under the seven last plagues about the time it comes to its end. Just as great a manifestation of the power of the devil will appear just before the glorious deliverance of the saints.
The sign of Aaron's rod swallowing the rods of the Egyptian magicians and the beginning of Pharaoh's hardened response belongs to the Exodus events that rehearse the revelation given to John, including the plagues. Those judgments upon Egypt before Israel's deliverance provide the pattern for the final plagues. The coming judgments will be similar in character but more terrible and extensive, and will fall upon the world just before God's people are delivered.
Just as most of the signs and wonders God wrought through Moses before Pharaoh were imitated by the magicians of Egypt, so just before the final deliverance of the saints God will work powerfully for His people and modern magicians working by Satan's power will be permitted to imitate the work of God. That work comes through rapping and mesmerism and spiritualist rapping, and Satan's power will increase and spread in that time. These modern magicians will claim that all the mighty works Jesus did on earth were accomplished by that same power of rapping and mesmerism, and many will believe it.
That final deception will include great manifestations of the devil's power, with some of his devoted followers given power to work miracles and even to bring down fire from heaven in the sight of men. It will occur during the last struggle of the oppressive power numbered 666 under the seven last plagues. All these great signs and mighty wonders of the devil are designed to deceive God's people and overthrow them.
Parallels in Scripture History
As Pharaoh's magicians withstood Moses and Aaron by imitating their sign, so Elymas the sorcerer withstood the apostles when they sought to teach the deputy Sergius Paulus the truth. Their withstanding was Satan present on hand and working through a servant under his control to thwart God's purpose. By false reports and specious deceptions he sought to turn a man of repute and influence against God's messengers, destroy their influence over him, greatly hinder their work, and prevent him from being instructed in the truth and embracing faith in Christ. The fallen foe ever works in a special manner to prevent persons of influence, who could be of great service to the cause, from embracing the truth of God.
As God upheld the truth when Aaron's rod swallowed the magicians' rods and thus showed His power to surpass theirs, so He upheld the truth when Paul's miracles at Ephesus surpassed the sorcerers' lying wonders. The same image of Aaron's rod swallowing the magicians' rods illustrates how the midnight cry overcame the fanaticism associated with the Advent cause. The signs and plagues including Aaron's rod swallowing the magicians' rods belong to the displays of God's power over Egypt that were recalled when the Philistines recognized that Israel's God was bringing judgment among them after the ark was taken.
Warning and Present Application
The same contest seen when the magicians imitated the sign and Aaron's rod swallowed their rods is active again in the world and among professed churches, and its strength is increasing. Their work is continued today in secret associations and seances through spiritualistic mediums, with the same deceptive disclosures under a different form. Modern spiritualism itself began by the direct work of evil angels.
Those who hold that spiritualism is only human imposture will be ensnared when brought face to face with manifestations they cannot but regard as supernatural, and will accept them as the great power of God. Those who scorn the ancient magicians yet eagerly receive light from modern mediums instead of God's Word are yielding to Satan's triumph.
Unless God's people keep growing in strength, grace, and knowledge of the truth, the powers of darkness will gain the victory and overcome them. They must therefore keep hold of the strong arm of Jehovah and keep their minds stayed upon God. They are to be bold and valiant for the truth instead of fearing what the wicked fear.