Exodus 8:1-15 Exodus 8:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 2 If you refuse to let them go, I will plague your whole country with frogs. 3 The Nile will teem with frogs. They will come up into your palace and your bedroom and onto your bed, into the houses of your officials and on your people, and into your ovens and kneading troughs. 4 The frogs will go up on you and your people and all your officials.'" 5 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron, 'Stretch out your hand with your staff over the streams and canals and ponds, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.'" 6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land. 7 But the magicians did the same things by their secret arts; they also made frogs come up on the land of Egypt. 8 Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, "Pray to the LORD to take the frogs away from me and my people, and I will let your people go to offer sacrifices to the LORD." 9 Moses said to Pharaoh, "I leave to you the honor of setting the time for me to pray for you and your officials and your people that you and your houses may be rid of the frogs, except for those that remain in the Nile." 10 "Tomorrow," Pharaoh said. Moses replied, "It will be as you say, so that you may know there is no one like the LORD our God. 11 The frogs will leave you and your houses, your officials and your people; they will remain only in the Nile." 12 After Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the LORD about the frogs he had brought on Pharaoh. 13 And the LORD did what Moses asked. The frogs died in the houses, in the courtyards and in the fields. 14 They were piled into heaps, and the land reeked of them. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.
So how was it that Pharaoh's magicians were able to duplicate the miracles that Moses preformed? They had sticks that turned into snakes, they were able to turn the Nile red, and they were even able to produce frogs.
My guess is that either they were the David Copperfield kind of magicians, or that they had been granted some level of power from Satan. It might have been that these guys were simply good at slight of hand. They had the ability to use slight of hand to seem like they were doing something miraculous. But really they were just good showman.
The other possibility is that Satan was able to give them the ability to do some miraculous things. I think this is a real possibility. While Satan does not have the kind of power or control that God has, he does have a a lot of power. Satan can't create something out of nothing, he isn't all powerful or all-knowing. But I'm sure he knew how to reproduce these plagues.
It's interesting to note that while the magicians could copy the plague, they couldn't stop it. They couldn't fix the bloody water or the frog storm. Whatever power they had was very limited and nothing compared to the power of God.
Don't ever settle for weak, impotent imitations. There are plenty of other gods that try to get our attention. Never forget that the God we serve is in control.
As we walk through the next few plagues, keep an eye on what is happening to Pharaoh's heart.
Prayer- Praise God for His power and His majesty and His greatness. There is none like Him.
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