S57P7 – Lessons from captivity: the counterfeits will be revealed
Exo. 7:10-12
So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and did just as the Lord had commanded; Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, these magicians of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts and enchantments. For every man threw down his staff and they turned into serpents; but Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.
On the outside, it looked like she had everything she wanted. She came from a successful family, had a great education, and enjoyed a notable career. She was well-connected and appeared to be on her way up. However, she felt there was something missing. Her search for something more would lead her to a teacher of spiritual enlightenment. At first, she felt like she was getting a lot out of her meditation and the people she met in the group. The leader’s teachings were not necessarily new or different than many others, but she thought she was learning something useful and meaningful. After a time, she came to realize that her new spiritual ideology was no different than the non-spiritual life she had been leading. They both focused on her as the center, but she knew that there was much more to find.
The devil is a liar and a pretender. It can be easy for us to see his influences that clearly go against solid biblical teaching. For example, the teaching of hatred is clearly in opposition to the teaching of love. Likewise, a religion that instructs people to worship themselves obviously opposes Christian instruction to worship God alone. However, the enemy’s deceptions can be much subtler. The world’s current distortion of love is a clear example. Love is defined by God and cannot exist outside him; it is not defined by man’s whims and desires. The enemy will present sin in a way that makes it look like love even though it defies God’s standards. He presents counterfeits with reasoning that makes them look a lot like the real thing, but they are really nothing like it if we look closely enough. These deceptions make people feel as if they are on the right path and doing good things, and that can be a very successful ruse.
Despite these tactics, God is always faithful to reveal the truth. In the midst of all of these counterfeits, He shows us each the real deal. That is when each of us is challenged to decide what we will follow. You can be sure that everyone who watched Aaron’s snake gobble down the magicians’ snakes had a decision to make in their minds at that moment. They saw firsthand the counterfeits in comparison to the real thing. Watching this battle between truth and deception would have stirred them to respond if even quietly and only in their own minds and hearts. That is God’s goodness, that He exposes the lies and shows the truth to everyone so that none would have an excuse. Father, thank You for exposing the counterfeits of this world and showing your truth to all so that they would have the opportunity to know You.