Wait a Minute … A Snake Battle!?

April 13

Read: Exodus 7:11-13

Wait a Minute! … A Snake Battle?

“For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs.” (v.12)

I wonder how Aaron felt when he Egyptian magicians, wise men, and sorcerers threw down their staffs and performed the same miracle as he did? In the moment, how do you think he responded? Was he angry? Afraid? Perplexed? I can remember when I first read this passage as an adult thinking to myself: “wait a minute!… How can they do the same thing?” I wanted these men - the proverbial “enemies” - in this account to be weak and unable to perform anything miraculous at all. I had a caricature in my mind of Satan and his powers in this world. I had underestimated what our spiritual enemies in this world were capable of using their “secret arts”. (v.11)

Jesus in Luke 8:17 says, “For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.” The “secret arts” of these magicians would soon be revealed.. they were shown as what they truly are: WEAK when put up against the power of God. I don’t know what Aaron felt that first moment when the magicians did their tricks… but I bet he felt pretty good with what happened next. “But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs.” God’s work “swallowed up” the work of the enemy. His one singular snake swallowed up ALL of the snakes that came from the “wise men, sorcerers, and magicians” of Egypt. Chomped them down! Gobbled ‘em up! God’s snake-staff was the only one left standing.

This is the truth. The enemy has limited power in this world. He can even replicate things that SEEM to be “miraculous” and from God… BUT they are NOT. The scriptures tell us that Satan masquerades as an “angel of light”. (2 Cor. 11:14) On the surface, he looks appealing, good, and powerful… but in the end he will be swallowed up! The “world” promises the same… it pretends to produce the same things as God, but in the end those things are weak and will be devoured by God. Anything that is not from the Lord will not last… it will be “eaten up” sooner or later. Period.

Sometimes we pretend that the enemy and his magicians cannot produce a “snake-staff”, when in reality they can… it is just weak and temporary… swallowed up and destroyed by God eventually. One example is the act of sin itself. Think about it: God is the source of true and lasting joy and happiness… powerful happiness and contentment… the kind that endures and is not swallowed up. Now imagine acts of sin that produce a fleeting moment of ecstasy or thrill that is quickly replaced by pain, regret, and emptiness. Sin tries to throw it’s proverbial staff down and have it turn into a snake the same way that God does… but in the end it is weak and eaten up by the Lord… “Aarons staff swallowed up their staffs”.

All of the multiple snakes of the enemy will be swallowed up and devoured by the Lord. All of the metaphorical snakes of our sin were swallowed up and eaten by Christ on the cross! Christ is the “sin eater”… he is the one who drank down the “cup of wrath” that we deserved. (cf. Matt 26:39) The one and only powerful one from God - Jesus Christ - will swallow up and destroy those things done in secret… the “secret magic”… the dark arts of the enemy Satan. We should not be surprised when the “world” tries to replicate God and sometimes can in a weaker and less enduring way. In the end, they will be “eaten”.

Take heart. I would guess if Aaron was shocked and dismayed at first, he was relieved and encourage won God won that battle. This is how the Lord works… it is not that the enemy cannot produce anything, but that God is more powerful than anything the enemy throws at us! The one true God will prevail. The “staff of the Lord will swallow up the weaker staffs of Satan and sin”. Our spiritual enemy in this world does have limited power, but do not be duped! Sin and Satan will claim to be able to produce the same things as God (cf. Jesus’ Temptation, Mark 1, Matt 4, Luke 4) but in the end only the Lord has the powerful, enduring, “reigning supreme” things you long for. Do not fear the “showdown” - the “staff of the Lord” is powerful and strong! Love you guys. -JDP