A Thought For The Week Of December 5, 2016

"Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts ..." (Exodus 7:11) I thought I would continue on to another part of the exodus story this week. Moses and Aaron are now in front of Pharaoh. According to the story, in a first attempt to convince Pharaoh of the power of God, Aaron threw his staff on the ground, and it turned into a snake. Well, there are a lot of false prophets. They're in the world today - and they were in Egypt long ago. And, as we all know - because we've see it happen - they have the ability to lead many people astray; to draw them away from God. And the reason (or at least one reason) that they can lead so many people astray is because - quite honestly - false prophets can sometimes seem to do amazing things, even as false as they are. We see an example of that in Exodus 7:8-13. The magicians of Egypt were able to make their staffs turn into snakes, just as Aaron's staff had done. There are, indeed, a lot of deceptive false prophets out there. A lot of miracles; a lot of signs and wonders. And I don't dismiss that there are miracles and signs and wonders in the world around us. Some of them are from God? Others? Well ... some would argue I guess that if it looks good and impresses people then it must be of God. I'm not so sure. Pharaoh was impressed by his magicians. So impressed that he wouldn't even consider the possibility of letting the Hebrews go. Why should he - when his magicians were every bit as impressive as Aaron and his God. Even the elect can be deceived, the New Testament tells us. How much easier to deceive Pharaoh? In the end the power of Aaron's God was shown by the fact that his "snake" ate up the other "snakes." Still, Pharaoh wouldn't be budged. So taken was he by his magicians - his false prophets - that even the one God couldn't get his attention. This story is a call to discernment. Amazing things in and of themselves don't point to the presence of God. The results of those amazing things are what matters. Pharaoh's magicians did tricks; Ultimately, Aaron's God would set the people free. Does anything productive come from the signs and wonders that false prophets today love to point to? People can be easily led astray - as even Jesus acknowledged. Sometimes the results are tragic. So we have to be cautious and act always with discernment. God's way is the way of truth, freedom and love which all are invited to share. Anything else is a word from a false prophet.