Exodus 7:8-13
8 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 9 “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Show a miracle for yourselves,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and let it become a serpent.’ ” 10 So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, just as the Lord commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent.
11 But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. 12 For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods. 13 And Pharaoh's heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said.
11 But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. 12 For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods. 13 And Pharaoh's heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said.
The Lord God knew Pharaoh’s heart and so prepared Moses and Aaron for meeting him with Gods message of obedience and deliverance. He told them that the ruler would make them prove they served God by performing a miracle, something man is incapable of doing. The first one would be what He showed Moses on the holy ground by the burning bush, the rod that turned to a snake when tossed to the ground. Moses and Aaron did just that. Ah, but the sorcerers of Egypt in Pharaoh’s court had a trick to imitate that miracle and did likewise. However, God’s rod of Moses swallowed the others up entirely, and Pharaoh did not respond to the miracle, but with pride and anger to deny their demonstration and demand. This was the further hardening of a heart already turned blindly against God in sin and disbelief just as He foretold (Exodus 4:21). Notice that the second sign of a hand tuning leprous was not used, probably because it would not prove anything to the stone heart of Pharaoh. The consuming rod of God’s judgement would consume the serpent’s work despite Pharaoh rejecting and refusing to submit, even when confronted by the miraculous. The greatest miracle done by Jesus Christ was raising Himself from death to life, and still men’s hardened hearts will refuse Him if God does not open them and make them new (Luke 16:31, Ezekiel 36:26, 2 Corinthians 3:3). But those drawn (Jeremiah 31:3) and called (John 6:36-37, 44, 65) out by grace have ears to hear and eyes to see.
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