Miracle Counterfeited
623
The statement that they did become serpents, simply means that
they were such in appearance; such they were believed to be by
Pharaoh and his court. There was nothing in their appearance to
distinguish them from the serpent produced by Moses and Aaron; but
while one was real, the others were spurious. And the Lord caused the
living serpent to swallow up the pretended ones.
Pharaoh desired to justify his stubbornness in resisting the divine
command; he was seeking some excuse to disregard the miracle which
God had wrought through Moses. Satan gave him just what he wanted.
By the work which he wrought through the magicians he made it
appear to the Egyptians that Moses and Aaron were only magicians
and sorcerers, and hence that the message which they brought would
not claim respect as coming from a superior being.
Even the swallowing up of the counterfeit serpents was not re-
garded by Pharaoh as the special work of God’s power, but as ac-
complished by a kind of magic superior to that of his servants. Thus
this counterfeit work emboldened him in his rebellion, causing him to
fortify himself against conviction.
[698]
It was by the display of supernatural power, in making the serpent
his medium, that Satan caused the fall of Adam and Eve in Eden.
Before the close of time he will work still greater wonders. So far as
his power extends, he will perform actual miracles. Says the Scripture:
“He ... deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those
miracles which he had power to do,” not merely those which he pre-
tends to do. Something more than mere impostures is brought to view
in this scripture. But there is a limit beyond which Satan cannot go,
and here he calls deception to his aid and counterfeits the work which
he has not power actually to perform. In the last days he will appear
in such a manner as to make men believe him to be Christ come the
second time into the world. He will indeed transform himself into an
angel of light. But while he will bear the appearance of Christ in every
particular, so far as mere appearance goes, it will deceive none but
those who, like Pharaoh, are seeking to resist the truth.
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