# I think I'm starting to understand Exodus 7:10-12.



## FedByRavens (Dec 23, 2011)

Exo 7:10 _So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent._ 
Exo 7:11 _Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. _
Exo 7:12 _ For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs._ (ESV)

I've always been highly intrigued by these verses. It's a series of scripture that I'll read, go deep into wonder, and then forget about.
Quite recently I was watching _The Ten Commandments _ on tv, and that particular scene came on. Biblical movies 9 times out of 10 will always portray it as the sorcerers used slide of hand, but the one I was watching showed their staff transforming into actual snakes.
So, I went to see what the scripture said, and the most reasonable way to read it is that the sorcerers actually were tapping into some kind of supernatural power.
So I tucked it away in my mind, and I asked God to grant me understanding. A few days later I was reading a commentator, and he presented the idea of satan being the source of the sorcerers power. All kinds of ideas began to swim around in my brain, such as Job 1:12-16

Job 1:12 _ And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand." So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. _
Job 1:13 _Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, _
Job 1:14 _and there came a messenger to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, _
Job 1:15 _and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you." _
Job 1:16 _ While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you." 
_
In this text, we see God permitting Satan to attack Job's life, and the very next thing we see is something that could only be explained as "_The fire of God_". I believe that it is evident that God doesn't only exercise power, but he endows it in others. By endow, I mean "Give or bequeath an income or property to (a person or institution)". I just taught sunday school a few weeks ago, and it was dealing with Moses being disobediant and hitting the rock rather than speaking to it, and the water came anyway. The staff was endowed with power. Near the beginning of Exodus , Scripture says:

Exo 4:21 _And the LORD said to Moses, "When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. 
_
So, with that in mind, I believe that the Egyptians(while participating in paganism) tapped into satanic power. That would explain why they did the same miracle that God did, because Satan is God's biggest mimicker. 
I believe God was not trying to express the fact that he had power, but that he had soverign power. The fact that the miracle was mimicked further reveals Satan's character.


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## Tim (Dec 23, 2011)

I am hesitant to watch Biblical movies for that reason - the story has a way of staying with you, even if it is not true to scripture.


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## FedByRavens (Dec 23, 2011)

Your right Tim. Since there is no way of being able to see the mood, demeanor, or personality of any particular biblical figure was in when they spoke something in the bible, the movie can sway your entire perspective on a certain text in negative ways. Has there EVER been a biblical movie that stayed true to scripture? It's gotten to the point that when I watch them, I can't enjoy them because I'm consciously looking for the error.


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