Exodus 7:8-13

The Miracles in the Presence of Pharaoh

v. 8. And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

v. 9. When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Show a miracle for you, then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent. This miracle, Exodus 4:3-Deuteronomy :, was to substantiate the words of the ambassadors, to give definite proof of their divine commission.

v. 10. And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the Lord had commanded; and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, the shepherd's staff which Moses had brought along and had entrusted to Aaron for that purpose, and before his servants, and it became a serpent, a large,. poisonous snake.

v. 11. Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers, the men versed in occult arts and witchcraft. Now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments, for the devil is also able to perform what seems like miracles, with the sufferance of God.

v. 12. For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents, there being, to all appearances, no difference between the miracles. But Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods, God thus indicating that He was the mightier. Cf 2 Timothy 3:8, where the names of the chief sorcerers of Pharaoh are supplied as having been Jannes and Jambres.

v. 13. And He hardened Pharaoh's heart, that he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said. The fact that his wise men with their witchcraft succeeded in imitating the miracle of Aaron was enough to decide Pharaoh against the Lord, the result being a hardening of his heart. Even so many an unbeliever in our days is confirmed in his opposition to the Gospel by the claims advanced by a false science.