
Introduction
What the Lord is getting ready to show Pharaoh, the Egyptians, and this new nation of Israelites He is forming, is that there is no god like YHWY. He alone reigns supreme.
Step Into the Ring
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “When Pharaoh tells you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh. It will become a serpent.’ ” 10 So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a serpent. —Exodus 7:8–10 CSB
If you remember back in chapter 5, Pharaoh posed a challenge to Moses and Aaron…
But Pharaoh responded, “Who is Yahweh that I should obey Him by letting Israel go? I do not know anything about Yahweh, and besides, I will not let Israel go.” —Exodus 5:2 HCSB
Now, as Moses and Aaron return to make their appeal, Pharaoh demands a sign/miracle, to prove their credentials.
This is the same challenge the religious leaders issued to Jesus…
One day some teachers of religious law and Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign to prove your authority.” —Matthew 12:38 NLT
Jesus understood the motives of their heart — just like he understands ours.
He answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. —Matthew 12:39 CSB
In another conversation with some Pharisees, Jesus went as far as saying…
“But he told him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.’ ” —Luke 16:31 CSB
Yet, none of this was new.
Pharaoh will not listen to you, but I will put my hand into Egypt and bring the military divisions of my people the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. —Exodus 7:4 CSB
God was using Pharaoh’s rebellion to prove that God alone had the power to rescue His people.
And this wouldn’t be some kind of chaotic withdrawal from Egypt — the Israelites were coming out by their military divisions!
Why go through all this trouble for a group of slaves? Because God is proving to the Egyptians — and the world — that there is no god like YHWH.
So while Jesus refused to provide the religious leaders with a sign, God decides to oblige Pharaoh with a miracle — a precursor to the coming plagues.
God instructs Moses to have Aaron throw his staff on the ground in front of Pharaoh, so that it can become a serpent.
Prior to this, Moses had wanted to argue every time God told him what to do, but on this occasion he simply did as he was told.
This should be every Christian’s goal: to be so obedient that doing God’s will is our immediate and instinctive response.
As we answer God’s call and live in obedience, He will provide all the gifts and resources we need to serve him.
Sign of the Snake
By turning the staff into a snake and throwing it to the ground, God — through Moses and Aaron — was issuing a direct attack on Pharaoh’s sovereignty.
The more we know about the Egyptians and their snakes, the clearer it becomes that by doing this, God was waging war against Satan.
The Egyptians were fascinated with snakes, partly because they were so afraid of them.
Not only did the Egyptians fear snakes, they were also drawn to worship them.
When Aaron took his staff and threw it down before Pharaoh, he was taking the symbol of the king’s majesty and making it crawl in the dust.
By this one act, God is claiming ultimate authority over all Egypt.
Destroying Our Idols
God often follows the same strategy when He seeks to establish His throne in a sinner’s heart — He makes His attack right at the source of the our strength.
WARNING: Whatever gods we happen to worship, the Holy Spirit will confront them head-on.
God will not share His throne with another.
Magic Show
But then Pharaoh called the wise men and sorcerers—the magicians of Egypt, and they also did the same thing by their occult practices. —Exodus 7:11 CSB
I want you to notice though, that the best these magicians could do was imitate the miracle God already did.
The coming of the lawless one is based on Satan’s working, with all kinds of false miracles, signs, and wonders, —2 Thessalonians 2:9 HCSB
But this “magic show” isn’t over just yet…
Each one threw down his staff, and it became a serpent. But Aaron’s staff swallowed their staffs. —Exodus 7:12 CSB
By Moses and Aaron’s serpent consuming the other serpents, God was claiming that all their power and authority belonged to Him.
Surviving Spiritual Attacks
God’s victory over Pharaoh’s magicians teaches us an important lesson about spiritual warfare: Although Satan’s power is real, it is not absolute.
Today, we we feel so imprisoned by our sins that we fear we are trapped in spiritual bondage, all we need to do is hold ever tighter onto Jesus, who defeated Satan through His cross and empty tomb.
Stone Cold Heart
However, Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said. —Exodus 7:13 CSB
For a heart set on rebellion, even a miracle can be explained away.
Pharaoh’s stone cold heart is a warning to anyone who has witnessed God’s power but refuses to receive His grace.
It also sets the stage for everything that is about to take place.
You see, the real issue isn’t the evidence of God’s power, it’s what a person does with it.
Alternate Outcome
This sign — turning the staff into a snake — is the same sign God told Moses and Aaron to perform before the elders of Israel to prove that God had sent them.
The result? The believed and we would be saved.
When the same miracle is performed in front of Pharaoh, Pharaoh hardens his heart and refuses to believe.
The coming of the lawless one is based on Satan’s working, with all kinds of false miracles, signs, and wonders, 10 and with every unrighteous deception among those who are perishing. They perish because they did not accept the love of the truth in order to be saved. —2 Thessalonians 2:9–10 HCSB
Pharaoh refused to accept the truth, and he and his entire nation will pay a steep price for his insolence.
For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, 19 since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse. 21 For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles. 24 Therefore God delivered them over in the desires of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen. —Romans 1:18–25 CSB