Mensa Otabil - God's Work Rules
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Exodus chapter 7, verses 12 and 13: For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents, but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. And Moses’s and Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said.
Now it’s getting very interesting. So everybody shows their credentials. Moses shows that he is authorized to operate, and the magicians, sorcerers, and wise men of Pharaoh also show that they are authorized to operate. Each one has produced snakes with their rods, so there will be quite a number of snakes in the palace. But Pharaoh doesn’t seem to be too bothered about it; probably this is something he sees quite often.
The important thing I want you to note is that Pharaoh’s spiritual gurus could not create a different miracle from what Moses had created. They replicated what Moses had done, and that’s very instructive about how the spirits of evil or evil spirits operate. They mimic, they replicate, they don’t originate, they don’t create. They take what God has done and try to mirror it and mimic it. So there’s a mimicry going on here; they produce the same thing that Aaron and Moses had produced, and the scripture simply states that Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. So there’s no rehearsal; I mean, you get the impression it was very quick work.
You know, something quickly happens: the rod produces the snakes, and quickly, yes, they’re swallowed up. There’s no struggle; there’s no fight between the rods. It’s just picking them up one by one and swallowing them. So it’s a quick showdown and a quick victory for Moses. The word «swallow» has these implications: one, it means to overwhelm, which establishes superiority. So immediately, Aaron’s rod shows superiority over that of the magicians. It probably lifted itself up and demonstrated that it’s greater than these guys. The first implication of «swallow» is the overwhelming superiority of what Moses produced.
Secondly, to swallow means to destroy, to break down something that used to stand. These serpents seem to be alive, seem to be working, seem to have validity, and they are swallowed up. They are swallowed up both in their second state and in the original state as rods. This gives us the third implication of «swallow,» which means to eradicate. They didn’t get the rods back; they’re not going to be able to produce these miracles again. I like how the scripture puts it: it didn’t say that it swallowed the serpents, but it says it swallowed the rods. The rod is a sign of authority; they have the validation. Aaron and Moses essentially took away their validation and said, basically, «You don’t have any validity; you don’t have any power.» The rod they would have operated with is swallowed.
This is a complete victory by God over the forces of evil. This is what God demonstrates: that although people can mimic what He does, His power overrules, overwhelms, destroys, and eradicates. Although people may seem to be doing the work of God, in the end, what is true, what is genuine, will overrule and overwhelm and destroy what is fake and mimicking the power of God. We just have to trust God that whatever is of Him stands in the end. That’s one of the things that God does: what is of Him stands. That’s what Gamaliel said, «If it’s of God, it will stand,» and the rod of Moses and Aaron stood on this day.
Let us pray. Say with me: Heavenly Father, let Your power swallow up every evil power at work in my presence. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.