Question

I’m curious about Exodus 7:10-11, and really this whole part of the Exodus story, where pharaoh’s magicians were repeatedly able to duplicate the miracles Moses and Aaron performed. How were they able to do this, and does this mean that there’s more to the idea of magic than we think?

Answer

The power of Pharaoh’s magicians was probably satanic. It could be slight of hand, in the way that we talk about magic today. It’s all diversion tactics. Now when a stick turns into a snake, it may not be slight of hand. So, we can safely lean toward these men being satanic. There’s a bigger reason going on here as to whether or not these magicians performed magical satanic tricks. At the beginning, Moses didn’t want to go to Pharaoh, he was afraid. The big picture question of Exodus is, ‘Is Pharaoh God or is Yahweh Elohim, God?’ 

Every plague God sent was against the false gods of Egypt. It was His way of telling Pharaoh that only God is God. The culmination of the lesson God was teaching Pharaoh came when He killed all the firstborn sons of Egypt. God knew his heart was hard, and by His just hand, He said, ‘You think you’re god. You killed my son (Israel). I will show you that I am God. If you don’t repent and come to Me, you will pay the price.’ We see the greater Son killed when Jesus was crucified, but God raised Him up. Fundamentally, if a sign or wonder occurs and it is not of God, it has to be satanic. 

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