8
¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto
Aaron, saying, 9 When Pharaoh shall
speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron,
Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent.
10 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. 11 Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the
sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their
enchantments. 12 For they cast down
every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their
rods. 13 And he hardened Pharaoh’s
heart, that he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said.
Here is the disconcerting evidence that
heathen worshippers of false gods and devils are permitted their own minor
miracles. Of course, the Lord’s work overcomes anything they have to offer as
it was He who gave permission for their little show of power in the first
place. This was clearly allowed to create the stage for God’s power to be
displayed, even in this small way.
For those lovers of the original languages
I’m going to repeat part of my comments that were said on the passage in Exodus
4:1-9 because they bear repeating. If I make any mistakes please let me know.
“The Holy Spirit, through Moses, uses the
Hebrew word, naw-khawsh, for serpent,
the same word used for the serpent who is Satan in the garden. But, in 7:9
& 10 serpent will be translated
from tan-neem, which also is used in other places for a dragon or even a whale.
But in 7:15 we come back to naw-khawsh again for serpent. As we have seen in Greek from our study of books in the
New Testament it is pointless to look at a Hebrew or a Greek word and state
that this or that is its exact meaning when the context determines meaning and
while one word can be used for different ideas, more than one word can be used
for the same idea. A study of the word, love, in the Greek text of the New
Testament will produce little understanding if one runs off on a rabbit trail
trying to use those words to delineate different kinds of love. The kind of
love the Holy Spirit is explaining will depend on the context, not on the Greek
word.
For instance, in the following passage
different words for love are used and a great many mental gymnastics with the
original Greek will take you off the road of understanding into the mire of the
meaning of Greek words. For instance, several different Greek words are used
for love in the New Testament but they all, in context, mean what we think of
as love, not, though, the erotic or romantic kind.
After the resurrection, in John
21:15-17 Jesus asks Peter three times if Peter loves
Him, which calls into sharp, painful memory that Peter had denied His Lord
three times as Jesus predicted He would. And there are many other great sermons
from that passage, I'm sure.
Here, a person who pretends to be a Greek
expert is about to burst. He excitedly points out that the first and second
time Jesus asks the question He uses the word Agape' for to love someone from
esteem or respect and also used for divine love. Each of those times Peter
responds with Phileo, the love that comes from friendship or brotherly love.
The last time Jesus Himself uses Phileo and once again Peter responds with the same.
The pseudo-scholar will say that this lends much more meaning to the
conversation because Jesus is asking for a different kind of love, a divine
love, which Peter is not capable of and this reflects a fundamental failure in
mankind's capacity or willingness to love God in the right way blah, blah,
blah.
What the person who likes to think he is more
intelligent and knowledgeable than a Christian janitor who can read English has
done is to reveal his own ignorance. Agape' and Phileo are words for love that
are used interchangeably. No extra insight into these verses is gained by
playing ping pong with them. In Matthew 6:5 hypocrites Phileo to pray standing
in the synagogues, in Matthew 19:19 you are told to Agape' your neighbor as
yourself, John 15:19 says the world won't Phileo the disciples, 1 Corinthians
16:22 says that if any man Phileo not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be Anathema
Maranatha, and when we are repeatedly told to love our neighbor as ourselves
with Agape' the Scriptures in no way imply that this is superior to our
brotherly love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. I doubt anyone would
imply that the kind of love Jesus says we are to have for each other, which
distinguishes us as His followers, is inferior to the love we are supposed to
have for a stranger who is in need.
Titus 3:4 doesn't have the love of God our
Saviour toward man as Agape'. Paul's admonition in Titus 3:15 isn't Agape'. 1
Peter 1:22 uses both words for the same thought with Phileo first and then Agape'.
Does knowing this change your understanding of the text? Does it help you know
what you are to do? Is your lack of access or availability of access to the
Greek a determinant of your ability to understand God's words? Finally, in
Revelation 3:19 does it matter to you that Jesus Phileos here?
So, trust your English Bible and don’t be
concerned about unbelieving preachers choking on nuances of meanings, offering
“nuggets” of wisdom from the original languages that simply aren’t there.
Serpent is a serpent whichever Hebrew word
for such a creature serpent comes from.”
In verse 11 we see that wise men, sorcerers, and magicians are all references to the same
type of person in this context.
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