The Sign Of The Serpent

Exodus chapter 7. Exodus chapter 7. So this is setting up for us to come to the plagues that the Lord will bring upon Pharaoh and Egypt. But just before that, just before the plagues begin, Moses and Aaron are commanded by the Lord to show a sign unto Pharaoh. He tells them, Pharaoh's going to ask you for a sign, and you're to show him this sign. So verse 8 and 9, Exodus 7, 8 and 9, and the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, 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.

Now, this is the first sign. If you remember, when the Lord was sending Moses into Egypt, he gave him three signs. to take to the people of Israel and show them these signs. And the first sign was to convince them, to show them that God had sent Moses, that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had sent Moses. And they were to then hear the message, that it would help them hear the message that Moses was declaring to them. that God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the covenant God, Jehovah, had looked upon them, had visited them, had seen their affliction, had heard their sighing and their crying, and that he was bringing deliverance to them. He promised that he would deliver them from their bondage in Egypt. And so the people saw the first two signs. The people of Israel, they saw the first two signs and they believed those signs.

And because they believed those first two signs, it never got to the third sign. The third sign was for the unbeliever. The third sign was for unbelievers. Now, I want to review that first sign with you. I want us to look at that first sign to remember what that first sign pictured because it relates to the gospel. The first sign relates to the gospel.

So, the practical lesson, well, if you remember, the first sign was that Moses was to take his rod, to cast it down on the ground, and it would become a serpent. That was the sign. He was to cast his rod down and it would become a serpent. And then he would take it up again, and it would become a rod again. It was clearly that it was a rod turned into a serpent and back to a rod, and it was a miracle. It was a miracle of God, something that man can't do, only God can do.

And the practical lesson of this, well, one lesson, because there's many lessons, but one lesson in this is that our God is all our stay and all our comfort. The true and living God is the comfort of God's people. The true and living God is the one who provides and sustains God's people.

That was the lesson there. And so David, in speaking of this thing, in speaking of this, said, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff. They comfort me. That's the rod and the staff of the shepherd, the great shepherd of the sheep. He's the one who keeps the sheep. He's the one who directs the sheep. He's the one who provides for the sheep and leads the sheep as their shepherd. And so that rod is the stay and comfort of God's people.

Aaron was going to be instructed to cast this rod down. And there's many typical pictures. There's many pictures of the gospel in this rod being cast down that we may glean from this rod. We may glean from this rod being cast down to the ground and it becoming a serpent.

For one, for the believer. who trusts the Lord for all his comfort and all his day. For the believer, we dare not cast away our care, our comfort in Christ. We dare not cast away our confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because we're no match for the enemy. We're no match for the serpent. We're no match for him who is the enemy of our souls. Adam, who had never sinned, he was no match. He fell. He sold himself into bondage for nothing before the serpent. And so we're no match for him.

We need the Lord. We need the Savior whom God has sent. Secondly, it pictures the accomplished work of the Savior. What we see there in that rod being cast down to the earth and it turning into a serpent, it pictures our Savior who came to this earth in the flesh by the appointment of the Father to destroy the works of the devil, to destroy the works of the serpent, to destroy what he had done in the garden in deceiving Eve and bringing Adam to cast himself into sin and perdition. And so our Lord came for that very purpose, to destroy the works of the devil, because we can't destroy them.

We can't undo them. We can't make them right. And so our Lord, when he came, he cast out the accuser of the brethren before the throne of God so that his voice, which was always accusing us, is silenced. He has no place before the throne of God anymore. He's cast out by the Lord. He's defeated by our Lord Jesus Christ. And then this symbol of the serpent, it pictures our Savior, what He did when He went to the cross and was made a curse for His people to deliver us from the curse of the law. It wondrously pictures our Lord.

In fact, our Lord Jesus Christ said in John 3, verse 14, that as Moses had lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of God be lifted up. And what he's talking about there is in the book of Numbers, which is later, that the people were being bit by serpents in the wilderness because they were complaining and moaning and groaning about things. And the Lord sent serpents, fiery serpents that bit them and poisoned them, and they would die. And so they cried out. for help, for mercy. And the Lord told Moses, you make a serpent and you put it on a stick and you lift that up so that when they look, when the people look to that serpent, they'll be healed.

And that poison, that venom of that poisonous snake will have no power over them. Well, so it is that God's people who look to Christ who trust Christ for all his righteousness, that venom of the serpent, that dominion of sin and death that rules over the carnal man, has no power over you that are in Christ. It has no power over you that trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, because Christ was made a curse for us to redeem us from the curse of the law, to take out that sting of the serpent, to take out that sting of death, so that when we die, and go to the grave, we don't remain there, but we are raised again and live forever with the Lord.

We go to be forever with the Lord in glory in eternal life. And so this sign, it pictured the authority and the power of God over all the natural world, over all that we see. He's sovereign over all things, and it pictures Him triumphing over evil, triumphing over the grave, triumphing over death, triumphing over bondage, to deliver us. according to his word of promise, which was all leading to and rumbling towards the Lord Jesus Christ. This is all just laying the groundwork, giving us an example of God's deliverance of his people, of God triumphing over evil, God who is good triumphing over evil. It's all leading to that and bringing us to see this very truth here.

The children of Israel, when they saw this sign, this first sign, they received it. They believed it. And because they believed it, Moses went on to show them the second sign, which was Moses putting his hand into his bosom and then taking it out. And that hand became leprous as snow, meaning white with leprosy. And then he put his hand back into his bosom and took it out.

And the scriptures say that it was made the same as the other flesh, meaning without leprosy. The appearance of leprosy was gone. and leprosy in the scriptures pictures sin. The leper who's corrupt and defiled and rotting and stinking from head to toe is a picture of us by nature, who are sinners by nature. It pictures our corruption, the evil of our heart, the stink of our flesh, the stink of our sin, the death that is us by nature. That's what leprosy pictures.

And the stunning thing about that is it wasn't that his hand made his heart leprous, it's that his heart made his hand leprous. You see, the world teaches that what you do with your hands, that's what makes you a sinner. Oh, because you pick up a cigarette, you're a sinner.

No, no, no, no, no. We do sinful things. We do things that hurt us. We pick up greasy hamburgers, and we murder people, and we do horrible things, much worse than smoking cigarettes and eating bad hamburgers and things bad for us. We do wickedly because our heart is corrupt. That's what makes us lepers. Our heart is evil. That's why we sin. We're not sinners because we do bad. We do bad because we're sinners by nature. We're dead in trespasses and sins.

That's what the Lord is teaching us there. And so the second sign pictures what Christ does for his people. in bringing light, life, liberty, driving away the enmity that's in us by nature, the hatred of God, it puts that away and it stamps in its place a new creature, one that loves God, one that trusts God, one that hungers and thirsts for the righteousness of God, one that believes his son and trusts him and follows him and stays upon him. That's what Christ does, he brings that salvation to his people. He heals his people. He teaches his people. He leads them as it pleases him. He does these things.

And so, that was the second sign. And God gave them a third sign also, which was only to be shown if they didn't believe. Because those first two signs picture the good news of the gospel. They picture Christ. They picture what Christ does for us. They picture his salvation for us.

But the third sign is for those who don't believe. Because the third sign is the turning of the water into blood, which will be the first plague. We're not going to see that today, but that's the first plague that God brings on the unbelievers who don't believe Christ.

Because in reality, you that don't believe Christ, you that don't trust Christ to wash away your sins, there's nothing left but the wrath of God. There's nothing left but His plagues and His curses raining down upon you. If you don't believe Christ, there's no blessing. There's nothing there. But the blessing of God is to give you faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, to believe Him. And those that don't believe Him, there's nothing but the wrath of God for them. pain, suffering, and agony.

Romans 2.5, Paul warned, saying this, but after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Outside of Christ, there is no mercy. Outside of Christ, there is no blessing. Outside of Christ, there is no forgiveness. Outside of Christ, there's no righteousness. There's only death and darkness and casting out. That's all that remains.

So God sends Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh. Now, and this is their second time coming to him, the first time they only spoke to him, saying, the Lord our God, the Lord God of the Hebrews sent us to tell you, let my people go, that they may worship me. And he didn't hear it, so now they go. And they're told, you're going to perform the first sign when Pharaoh asks for a sign. He's going to ask it, and you're going to perform that first sign. So let's look at verses 10 through 13 in Exodus 7.

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 and before his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers. Now the magicians of Egypt, that they're called magicians, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. They're called enchantments. Something they did there.

For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron's rod swallowed their rods. And he hardened, God hardened Pharaoh's heart, that he hearkened not unto them as the Lord had said. Now let me first say that there's some disagreement about what the Egyptian magicians actually did. Apparently some get really worked up about that and wonder, did they really turn a rod into a serpent? Or did they use some kind of sleight of hand, some magic trick to make it seem like it?

And if you read anything on the Egyptians, or look at their hieroglyphs, you'll see that it's possible that it could have been an actual snake to begin with, and that they had some ability to hypnotize it. and make it appear like a rod that it would only wake up when they cast it on the ground and it would stun it out of its hypnosis and slither around. That may be. There's hieroglyphs that show them with a staff-like thing, a rod-like thing in the serpent's head. So that might be that that's what they did. On the other hand, though, some think, no, they actually had power there to turn a rod into a serpent. And I'll just give you a few reasons for why some believe that.

The Scripture states they were rods. That's what the Scripture says. The Scripture actually says, verse 12, they cast down every man his rod. and they became serpents, but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods, and so their rods became serpents. That's what it says, and Aaron's rod swallowed their rods. And so that's the language of scripture that would suggest that they really did it.

The second reason is that the scriptures do teach us that the devil does, he can do wonders and signs. He can appear as an angel of light. He can do things that make people wonder What's going on? Is this is it what's going on here? In fact second Thessalonians 2 verse 9 says Even him speaking of Antichrist even him who's coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders and so I looked up that word lying wonders now one of the interpretations of that word lying means that it could be deceitfulness. They could be making it look like it is a wonder.

They can just be deceivers in the appearance of it. Things happen like that in our world. We see where people pretend to do something or pull something off and it's just all It's all a lie. It's all fake. So it could be, but it also can mean that it's done to deceive people, to turn people's hearts from the true and living God to idolatry, to a false worship of a false God, to worship God in falsehood and in lies. So it could also be that.

And then the third reason has to do with the fact that it could be that God allowed them to perform this miracle to harden Pharaoh's heart, because that was exactly what the Lord said he was going to do. He was going to harden Pharaoh's heart. He said back in verse three, in Exodus 7-3, he tells Moses, I will harden Pharaoh's heart and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. And then verse 13, That's exactly what God did. He hardened Pharaoh's heart.

Why? Because God intended, he purposed to multiply his signs and wonders. His purpose was to cause Pharaoh's heart to be so hard that it would cause God to just keep on stepping it up and just keep on making it more and more intense and hotter because he intended to A, glorify his name, Because God is God, and he can do that. And he glorified his name as wonderful in the land of Egypt and in the hearts of his people. And he intended to wondrously, magnificently deliver his people from their bondage.

Which, when you think about what our Lord Jesus Christ does for his people, who are dead in trespasses and sins, who are in blindness and surrounded by a world that is full of temptations and allurements that attract our natural lusts, right? The fact that any of us believes on the Lord Jesus Christ is a marvelous miracle. It's a miracle of his grace. It is a miracle. And so it's a wondrous thing that the Lord keeps us and helps us and blesses our heart. It's a wonderful miracle.

And so the Lord intended to do this wonderful thing to magnify his name and to bless his people. and to give them great encouragement that he indeed is the Lord and that there's no God like their God. And all other gods are idols and false gods. And so this was an occasion for Pharaoh, rather, to say, well, my guys did it. I'm not going to believe. And his heart was hardened in it. He was hardened in it. And the Lord hardened his heart. and he wouldn't obey.

And so the thought here, when you read this, you sitting here today, hearing this word, this is an encouragement, right? When you see good in the Lord and you see evil, this is an encouragement and a reminder to us to beg God in your heart, to beg the Lord, Lord, don't harden my heart like you did to Pharaoh.

Please, Lord, have mercy on me. Lord, instead of hardening my heart, soften my heart. Help me to hear this thing. Give me understanding, Lord, because I don't understand it. Lord, help my unbelief because I don't believe. Lord, soften my heart. Give me a heart, a hunger, and a thirst for your righteousness, which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Help me to hear these scriptures and to believe your word. Don't let me be like Pharaoh. Save me from that death, Lord. Make me a vessel of your mercy, not a vessel of your wrath.

It's to turn us to God, not to turn us to ourselves and think, well, I'm going to fix this, and I'm going to start doing that, and I'm going to make myself good for God. No, you're not. No, you're not. None of us are going to make ourselves good for God. We're going to stumble and fall and fall flat on our face.

And if God is merciful to us, he's going to make us to know, wow, I can't do anything to save myself. Lord, have mercy on me. That's what he does. That's why he does it. And he does allow us to fall. that we would find our all in him and not think highly of ourselves, because that's not salvation. That's just us deceiving ourselves and telling ourselves lies. And so we need the grace of the Lord. Now, I say this because there's a terrifying thing of note here when Moses showed this sign. If you notice in that passage, the second sign is never shown. He never shows him the second sign. He only shows him that first sign. And he doesn't show him the second sign because the first sign wasn't received.

If you don't believe the power and the authority of God, and if you don't believe that you're a sinner, that you cannot make yourself righteous, Well, you're never going to believe the good news of Jesus Christ and what he does for the sinner. What he did, what he accomplished on the cross, you won't hear it. It means nothing to you because the good news of Jesus Christ, the salvation of Christ, the mercy and compassion and grace of God is only good news to sinners. It's only good news to sinners. To know what God has done to save his people from their sins, only the sinner rejoices in that message.

Because the self-righteous, legalist Pharisee who thinks he's all that and more doesn't need Christ. He doesn't believe Christ. He doesn't need him like that. He thinks he's just another little idol good luck charm that he talks about once in a while. But it means nothing to him, what Christ did, because he can keep the law. He can do it. He can save himself. He can just try harder and do better. And he doesn't hear. Paul said it this way.

If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. Lost? That's terrifying. In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. You that are gathered here this morning, you that are brought here and gathered to hear this word this morning, God is sending forth his glorious good news. He's sending forth the gospel which comforts and aids and heals and blesses the people of God.

But the carnal man, this flesh doesn't receive it, doesn't like it, doesn't care for it, can do without it, will be just as fine as if he never heard it. That's the carnal, natural man. That's every one of us by nature, even believers. It's not in the flesh that we worship God. It's not this flesh that's worshiping God. We are here in the flesh, but it's not the flesh that's worshiping God. It's the new man.

It's God's grace that has brought us here. It's God's grace that opens the ear. It's God's grace that gives us faith. It's God's grace that gave us his spirit and a new heart and made a new creature that does hear and does believe and does confess, Lord, have mercy on me. Save me, Lord. Soften my heart. Save me. That's what the Lord does for his people.

But if a man doesn't believe God, doesn't care for his word, doesn't believe his power and authority, and doesn't believe Christ whom he sent, and he doesn't want to hear what Christ did, it doesn't mean anything to him. It's worthless to him. He might be religious. Pharaoh was a religious man.

A lot of people in the world like religion. I mean, religion's big business. There's a lot of money to be made in big religion. There's a lot of people that are very religious, but religion doesn't save a sinner. Religion might soothe the conscience. Religion might keep you shut up in death and in darkness. But religion never saves a sinner. It doesn't make a man righteous. It doesn't put away a sin. It doesn't make us acceptable unto God.

The only one who saves a sinner and who makes a sinner righteous and accepted with God is the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's what he did on that cross. And so we declare it, knowing that the natural man won't hear it, but we trust that God is able to take that word and put it effectually in the heart of his people, to deliver us from death, to deliver us from darkness, to accomplish his salvation, and to break us out of that death. Just because we're religious, that's not salvation. We need Christ. We need the Lord Jesus Christ.

He that believeth on the Son, Jesus Christ, hath everlasting life. That is the promise of God. God is declaring that very fact, that truth. You that believe Christ have everlasting life. And that means that you'll stay believing on Christ. You'll keep following Christ. You'll keep seeking him and desiring to grow in him. He does it. He works it. He does that. He keeps it going.

But he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. It's that plain and it's that simple. And God is the one who makes us to hear it. Otherwise, he's the one keeping us from hearing it. But we have nothing to excuse ourselves. God is just in what he does. God is able to give life or to kill. He's able to raise up or to keep us in darkness. That's why we beg God. He tells us these things that we beg him and cry out to him for mercy and grace. And you that cry out to him for mercy and grace, It's a testimony of His mercy and grace to you. Otherwise, you wouldn't cry out. You wouldn't feel your need of Him. You wouldn't know that you're a sinner. You wouldn't confess it, and your need of Christ. And so, dead-letter religion doesn't save.

In fact, Paul said it this way. He said, we are the circumcision. We are the ones who worship. God in spirit and in truth, who worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. This flesh is always opposed. My flesh is always opposed to the truth of God. And it's only by the grace and power of God that subdues this flesh and shuts it up and puts it down, that I might serve Christ and serve his people. It's only by his grace and power about doing this in his people.

And finally, it should be noted that Pharaoh, the Pharaohs at this time, they wore a cobra, a serpent-like thing on their headdress. They worshipped, Egypt worshipped serpents. And you can go and look online and you'll see they have these little serpents, you know, King Tut and whatnot. They have these little serpents on the top of their headdress. What it was called, I don't even care. something like the name Uriah. And that's what I think of it. It's just, it's dung, it's garbage, it's nothing profitable.

But they wore it because they thought it gave them power. They thought it gave Pharaoh sovereignty and power to defeat his enemies. But in reality, the God of the Hebrews, who sent Moses and Aaron in there, God of the Hebrews was defeating and shaming Pharaoh. God was demonstrating that he is sovereign. Because remember, when they cast down their rods, what happened? Aaron's rod swallowed their rods. That had to not be lost on Pharaoh and his servants to see that the God of the Hebrews was greater than their God.

The God of the Hebrews was able to exert his will and his power over their will and their power. Because there's only one God. There's only one true living God. That is Jehovah. And he's revealed himself to us through his Son, who reveals the Father to us. He's the one who makes us to know the true and living God, and to worship him in spirit and in truth.

And so it wasn't Pharaoh's enemies being defeated. It was Pharaoh and the Egyptians being defeated and shamed. And so the lesson for us today is, just like Pharaoh, man's going to come up with various excuses and complaints why he doesn't believe God, and he's going to blame God, and he's going to blame you, and he's going to blame everybody else, and he's just the victim. Poor him.

But the reality is, though man comes up with excuses, That's not gonna stand before God. That's not gonna save you before when you stand before God, who is holy and righteous and sees our heart, knows our thoughts, who's sovereign and can do as he pleases, just as he's demonstrating here. Why will you die in your sins? Why will you continue in unbelief? Hear his word. Beg God for grace. Beg God for faith. Beg God to to help you, to save you, to deliver you from death and darkness.

These things are recorded in Scripture for us to show us over and over again that God is sovereign, that he does as he pleases, that he does not fail, that he always brings his word to pass. It's recorded there showing how that he defeats all his enemies, he overcomes all his enemies because, and the Scriptures tell us this, there's nothing new under the sun. So just as you're seeing the Lord defeat his enemies right here and deliver his people, so that is repeated throughout history. being demonstrated to us time and time again, especially the pinnacle being when Christ, the Son of God, came in the flesh, laid down his life on the cross, and rose again. He did that, he accomplished, he overcame triumph over all his enemies. And so there's nothing new, and it testifies that, just as our Lord said, I'm coming again.

You that believe me have life, and I shall deliver you, and bless you, and keep you. There's a great battle shaping up. Here in this book, there's a battle shaping up. The plagues we're going to see, 10 plagues that are going to bring about the deliverance and release of his people, and every time There's a battle between good and evil.

The Lord always wins. He always triumphs. Whose side are you on? Pharaohs and the Egyptians, they were defeated. This world, it's defeated. The devil, he's already defeated. Trust Christ. Look to Christ. He is salvation. He blesses his people. I pray the Lord give us faith and hope and belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, that he soften our hard hearts to believe on him.

The Sign Of The Serpent

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The Sign Of The Serpent

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