What Do the Signs of God Tell Us?

This passage is the first of eleven signs from God in order to establish his power and sovereignty. This morning, we will just look at this first sign in order to have a better understanding of the signs that will follow in the coming chapters. 

God’s signs prove who His power is within

The command here is for Aaron to prove that the power of the Lord is at work within Him and Aaron by putting forth one of the three signs that were given to Moses in chapter 4. The first sign that was given was the transformation of the staff of Moses turning into a serpent. It should be clear that this was truly miraculous. Something that could not happen without a work of God. 

I want to make clear that this is not just an athlete or celebrity giving glory to God when they win a game or award. What I’m talking about is regularly testifying of the work of God in our lives. We have an opportunity to regularly “prove” to the world that God is in control in our lives. This happens in a variety of ways. 

It happens when we react in a different way to difficult situations than most would and the power of God is apparent. When the economy takes a turn and the rest of the world panics, the person who has the power of God in their life understands that there is one who is greater who is in control. 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, when good things in happen life we attribute them to the Lord. A significant job promotion or a new child is welcomed into the Lord, God gets the glory and it is proven to those looking on that. We see this happen all the time in the gospels when Jesus heals someone. There are moments when he instructs the person who has been healed not to tell anyone yet that’s the very first thing they do. 

There are so many other situations where God gives us an opportunity to prove His power to those that are around us. Just as he does with Moses and Aaron with His staff, so he also does with us, His covenant people today. 

If this was to happen today, everyone around would assume that something was off or wrong. Which brings us to the second point. 

God’s signs are not an illusion

We are told that Pharaoh summons wise men and sorcerers who then mimic this sign of God. However, we can come to the conclusion that what they did was not legitimate. It was some sort of an illusion to make those that witnessed believe that they were doing the same exact sign. 

The most relevant comparison I can come up with are those with healing ministries. I don’t want to say that all of it is not legitimate but if some of these people have the divine power of healing like they claim, they would be roaming through hospitals healing people left and right. 

There are many that say that the things of God are not real but when they happen, there is no denying their legitimacy. In this case, it is the serpent of Aaron that devours the staffs of the wise men and sorcerers proving which of them was the real thing. 

Which reminds us, finally, that 

God’s signs will not be outdone

Do you believe that God is omnipotent? We often talk about the power of God in terms of the fact that there is nothing that He cannot do but I want to remind all of us that His power is unmatched. There is none other that can create out of nothing in the way that He has. There is no other that can heal in the way that He can. There is no other that can deliver the way that He can. And there is no other that can save the way that He can. 

There have been some who have claimed to be the Messiah after Jesus. Yet, we can clearly see that none of them have stood up to the test the way that Jesus has. 

In the same way that this sign of the staff being turned into the serpent, the power of God has overcome the power of all others in every situation. 

The goal of this sign and all the rest of the signs was to persuade Pharaoh of His existence and let the people of Israel go. Yet, His heart was only hardened. 

The most important thing I can ask this morning is whether or not you have believed. Do you doubt?