Commentary - Exodus 7:8-13

Bird's-eye view

In this passage, we come to the first great confrontation between the power of Yahweh and the pretended power of Pharaoh. This is not merely a political negotiation with some street magic thrown in for effect. This is a clash of deities, a spiritual war. God is not simply trying to persuade Pharaoh; He is preparing to dismantle Pharaoh's entire worldview, which was inextricably bound up with the pantheon of Egyptian gods. The central issue is authority. Who is the true God? Who has the ultimate power? The sign of the staff becoming a serpent is the opening salvo in a campaign designed to demonstrate Yahweh's absolute sovereignty over creation, over magic, and over the hard hearts of men.

The contest is set up by God Himself. He anticipates Pharaoh's demand for a sign and provides Moses and Aaron with the exact wonder to perform. When the Egyptian magicians replicate the sign, it is not a setback for God's plan but rather a part of it. Their limited, derivative power serves only to magnify the ultimate power of God when Aaron's staff swallows theirs. This is a picture of how God's kingdom operates. It does not just coexist with other powers; it consumes them. The scene concludes with the central theme of this entire section of Exodus: the hardening of Pharaoh's heart. This is not an unexpected frustration for God, but rather the very thing He had spoken. God is sovereign over the miracle, the counterfeit, the victory, and the unbelief that follows.

Outline

Context In Exodus

This passage immediately follows God's commissioning of Moses and Aaron in chapter 6 and the reiteration of His plan in the opening verses of chapter 7. God has already told Moses that He will harden Pharaoh's heart so that He might multiply His signs and wonders in Egypt (Exod 7:3). Therefore, this first encounter is not a test to see if Pharaoh will be reasonable. It is the beginning of the divine demonstration of judgment and power that God has already ordained. This event sets the stage for the ten plagues. It establishes the pattern: God will act, the world's power will attempt a cheap imitation, God's power will prove supreme, and the unregenerate heart will nevertheless refuse to bow, all according to God's sovereign decree.

This is not an isolated miracle. It is the formal challenge to the gods of Egypt. The serpent was a significant symbol in Egypt, representing both royalty (the Uraeus on Pharaoh's crown) and various deities. By having Aaron's staff become a serpent that then devours the Egyptian serpents, Yahweh is making a direct polemical statement against the entire religious and political structure of Egypt. He is showing from the outset that Pharaoh's authority, and the demonic powers behind it, are nothing before Him.

Key Issues

Commentary

8 And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

The action begins, as all true spiritual action must, with the Word of God. Yahweh is the initiator. Moses and Aaron are not strategizing on their own, trying to figure out the best way to impress a pagan king. They are ambassadors under orders. God speaks, and they are to act. This is the fundamental pattern of all faithful ministry. We do not invent the message or the methods; we receive them from the one who sent us. The authority rests not in the messengers, but in the King who speaks through them.

9 “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Work a miraculous wonder,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’ ”

Here we see the foreknowledge and sovereignty of God on full display. God tells them what Pharaoh is going to say before he says it. The demand for a sign is not going to catch God off guard. He is orchestrating the entire encounter. Pharaoh thinks he is setting the terms of the debate, demanding that these Hebrews prove themselves. In reality, he is walking right into the script that God has already written. The word for serpent here is tanniyn, which can mean a great sea monster or dragon. This is not a garden snake. This is a display of raw, primordial power. God is not doing a parlor trick; He is demonstrating His lordship over creation itself.

10 So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and thus they did just as Yahweh had commanded; and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent.

Simple obedience. They did "just as Yahweh had commanded." Faith does not require creative embellishment. It requires fidelity. Aaron, the man who would later falter with a golden calf, here acts in faith. He throws down his dead piece of wood, and in the presence of the most powerful man on earth, it becomes a living, fearsome creature. This takes place before Pharaoh and his servants. The challenge is public. God's power is not demonstrated in a corner but in the center of the world's power structure. The miracle is undeniable. A dead thing has become alive. A symbol of authority has become a display of raw power.

11 Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts.

Pharaoh is unimpressed. He has seen this kind of thing before. He has his own spiritual experts on retainer. He calls for his wise men and sorcerers. Notice the assumption: spiritual power is a technology that can be controlled and replicated. The magicians of Egypt, using their "secret arts", a clear reference to demonic or occultic power, are able to produce a similar result. This should be a sobering reminder for us. The devil is a counterfeiter. He can produce signs and wonders. The existence of a miracle is not, in itself, proof of divine origin. The question is not "Is it supernatural?" but rather "Whose power is behind it?" The Egyptians could make dead wood look like a serpent, but their power was derivative, limited, and ultimately subservient.

12 And each one threw down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.

For a moment, it looks like a stalemate. A serpent for a serpent. Pharaoh likely felt vindicated. 'See? My gods can do what your God can do.' But then the true nature of God's power is revealed. It is not just one power among many; it is the supreme power. Aaron's staff-serpent did not fight with the other serpents. It did not debate them. It swallowed them. This is a picture of total victory, of absorption. The power of Egypt is consumed by the power of Yahweh. It is not a negotiated settlement. It is an absolute conquest. And notice the detail: Aaron's staff swallowed their staffs. The text emphasizes that the instrument of God's power consumed the instruments of their power, showing the superiority of the source itself.

13 Yet Pharaoh’s heart was hardened with strength, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.

Here is the crux of the matter. After a clear, undeniable demonstration of God's superior power, what is the result? Repentance? Awe? Submission? No. Pharaoh's heart was hardened. The Hebrew word is chazak, meaning it was made strong, firm, stubborn. A display of God's glory does not automatically produce faith in a fallen heart. The same sun that melts the wax hardens the clay. Pharaoh saw the power of God consume the power of his magicians, and his response was to double down in his rebellion. And this was no surprise to God. It happened "as Yahweh had spoken." God's predictive word is fulfilled in Pharaoh's stubborn rebellion. God is sovereign not only over the staff and the serpent, but also over the obstinate heart of the king. This is the doctrine of judicial hardening. God gives rebels over to the rebellion they have chosen, strengthening them in it for His own ultimate purposes of judgment and glory.

Application

This scene is a foundational lesson in spiritual warfare. We are not engaged in a battle of wits or a contest of persuasion. We are in a power encounter. The world, like Pharaoh, has its magicians, its sorcerers, its ideologies and systems that can produce counterfeit signs of life and power. They can make things look impressive for a time. But the power of the gospel is of a different order entirely. It doesn't just compete with the world's power; it swallows it whole. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the ultimate staff of God that has swallowed up the power of sin and death.

We must also take to heart the lesson of Pharaoh's hardened heart. We cannot assume that a clear presentation of the truth or a demonstration of God's power will be sufficient to convert anyone. The natural man is at enmity with God, and his heart is hard. Unless the Holy Spirit performs a work of regeneration, the sinner will see the glory of God and only grow more stubborn in his resistance. This should not lead us to despair, but rather to depend utterly on God in our evangelism and ministry. We are called to be faithful like Moses and Aaron, to cast down the staff as God has commanded. But the results, whether a heart is softened or hardened, are in His sovereign hands. Our job is obedience. The swallowing, and the hardening, belong to the Lord.