Exodus 7:1-13
August 16, 2024
Moses and Aaron Before Pharaoh
And the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.” Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them. Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.
In the USA, we honor the men, both firefighters and policemen, who ran into the burning Twin Towers to save lives. Is that not what God is asking Moses to go back to his people, who were slaves in Egypt, and bring them to freedom?
Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’” 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. Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. Still, Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
I may be in error in saying this, but I never heard of anyone other than Moses and Aaron that God gave this authority, yet how did the magicians and sorcerers do so? They also were given the authority, but not from God, but the evil one, and he is a created being who has powers to deceive. Now they were able to make their staffs into serpents, but God always has the last say in matters of His authority over all things. So Moses's staff swallowed up their staffs.
What is the Application we find in today's reading? It has not one nothing to do with serpents or staff, it has everything to do with obedience. “Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the Lord commanded them.”
Are you about your Father's business, as I start my morning, that is my prayer, less Jesus be seen in me as I go. Has He not said; “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16) Many who go by the title of Christian, have put that light under a blanket, not on the lampstand were their lives make a different,
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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