Deuteronomy 18:9 "Thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch. 11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. 12 For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
[Patriarchs And Prophets pp. 263>264] "Moses and Aaron entered the lordly halls of the king of Egypt. The king demanded a miracle, in evidence of their divine commission. Moses and Aaron had been directed how to act in case such a demand should be made, and Aaron now took the rod and cast it down before Pharaoh. It became a serpent. The monarch sent for his “wise men and the sorcerers,” who “cast down every man his rod and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.” Then the king, more determined than before, declared his magicians equal in power with Moses and Aaron; he denounced the servants of the Lord as impostors, and felt himself secure in resisting their demands. Yet while he despised their message, he was restrained by divine power from doing them harm.
It was the hand of God, and no human influence or power possessed by Moses and Aaron, that wrought the miracles which they showed before Pharaoh. Those signs and wonders were designed to convince Pharaoh that the great “I AM” had sent Moses, and that it was the duty of the king to let Israel go, that they might serve the living God. The magicians also showed signs and wonders; for they wrought not by their own skill alone, but by the power of their god, Satan, who assisted them in counterfeiting the work of Jehovah.
The magicians did not really cause their rods to become serpents; but by magic, aided by the great deceiver, they were able to produce this appearance. It was beyond the power of Satan to change the rods to living serpents. The prince of evil, though possessing all the wisdom and might of an angel fallen, has not power to create, or to give life; this is the prerogative of God alone. But all that was in Satan's power to do, he did; he produced a counterfeit. To human sight the rods were changed to serpents. 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. Though the Lord caused the real serpent to swallow up the spurious ones, yet even this was regarded by Pharaoh, not as a work of God's power, but as the result of a kind of magic superior to that of his servants.
The question to be forever settled in our minds concerning the foregoing issue, is whether or not the same living counterfeit of serpents can be reproduced in human form of counterfeit human beings by the adversary of souls. Our answer to this question will determine if we will be deceived when the miracle working power of satan is displayed across the land, right here in America. It is of critical importance for us now not to walk by sight, but rather by faith, for any supernatural display which appeals to our five senses, must of necessity pass the scrutiny of scripture, and if they speak not according to God's written word, it is because there is no light in them. The morning blog for today will more thoroughly address the issue of phantom human beings made to appear real, when indeed they are not, but like the work of pharaoh's magicians, are the deceptive productions of the devil.
We therefore end with a caution given from God to us on these issues, and it is His will that we be rooted and grounded in the truths of His word, so that we be not carried away by the so- called evidences of the senses. Let's read:
Revelation 16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. 15 "Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
May God add His blessing to the study of His word. "Good night" and God bless!