I want to reiterate here that there are false healers , just as there are false teachers , false prophets , false signs , false wonders and false believers . Much like Moses ’ encounter with Pharaoh ’ s sorcerers , the false is unleashed on the world to compete with the real , authentic power of God . This is a demonic military strategy to confuse people , dilute the truth and resist God ’ s purposes in people ’ s lives .
One thing is for sure , however . The thief ’ s power is limited , as demonstrated by the fact that Moses and Aaron displayed ten miracles to force Pharaoh to let God ’ s people go , whereas the sorcerers were only able to duplicate three of them ( generating snakes from their staffs , turning water to blood and causing frogs to cover the land ). It seems funny to me that the magicians were intensifying the plagues to demonstrate to their boss that they could do miracles , too . Dumb and dumber , I ’ d say ! I love this part of the story :
Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff , and struck the dust of the earth , and there were gnats on man and beast . All the dust of the earth became gnats through all the land of Egypt . The magicians tried with their secret arts to bring forth gnats , but they could not ; so there were gnats on man and beast . Then the magicians said to Pharaoh , “ This is the finger of God .” Exodus 8:17 – 19
The way forward is deeper in ! We cannot withdraw in the midst of the battle . We have to be like Moses and Aaron , and turn it up another notch . Jesus proclaimed , “ I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions , and over all the power of the enemy , and nothing will injure you ” ( Luke 10:19 ). I like the descriptive names Jesus gives to the demonic spirits — serpents and scorpions . It reveals their divisive nature , their illusive style and their poisonous posture . The question is , Does the thief have power ? The answer is yes , but believers have more power , and they have all authority over every demonic enemy , meaning Satan has no authority .
Thankfully , we live in the New Covenant , so we no longer need to punish the pharaohs of the world with plagues . But Jesus clearly articulated the fact that we still need power , as Moses and Aaron did , to fulfill our divine mission . He instructed His disciples “ not to leave Jerusalem ,” but to wait because “ you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you ; and you shall be My witnesses ” ( Acts 1:4 , 8 ). We need the Holy Spirit , just as they did .
Of course , it ’ s true that learning to live in the Spirit and be led by the Spirit can be messy . Spiritual intelligence comes at a cost , and we will make many mistakes as we learn and grow in the Lord — that ’ s for sure . Yet , personally , I would rather take the risk of living out God ’ s power instead of reducing my experience in the Spirit down to something I can control .
Again , the way out of this demonic mess is deeper in . If Moses and Aaron had quit after demonstrating a couple of miracles to the most powerful king of the earth of their time , they would have reduced history to hundreds of more years of Israelite bondage .
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