The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a snake.”

10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. 11 Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: 12 Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.

I once heard about a lady who became a Christian because of her involvement with spiritism. She recognised that she was coming into contact with a very real power on the dark side of things, and decided there must be also a very real power on the light side.

What we need to always remember is that God’s power is greater. Although the gifts of the Spirit are regularly counterfeited by occult practitioners, ‘Aaron’s staff’ will always swallow up the staffs of the ‘Egyptian magicians’, if you see what I mean.

“But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over these people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world”  (1 John 4:4: ‘New Living Translation’).

However, as important as signs and wonders, miracles, spiritual gifts are, they are no guarantee that everyone who experiences them will bow to God (13).