“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Say to Aaron, “Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt.”’ And they did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats in all the land of Egypt. The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So, there were gnats on man and beast. Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, ‘This is the finger of God.’” [1]
The futility of those who inhabit this darkened world to stand against the might of God is witnessed in the phrase that constitutes the title of the message to be delivered this day: “But they could not.” That futility of opposing the Living God is witnessed throughout the Word of God. As an illustration of the futility of the denizens of this world to oppose God, recall an account from the fifth chapter of the Book of Daniel. “King Belshazzar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand.”
No doubt you remember the account recorded in the Book. The monarch threw a party. While the wine was flowing freely and everyone was feeling good, the king decided to bring in the vessels taken from the Temple in Jerusalem. “Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them.”
So, these sacred vessels were brought in; all the partiers grabbed a goblet, filled it with wine and began to drink. As they drank, they praised the gods which their hands had created. We read, “Then they brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.”
However, as they were drinking, partying, dishonouring the LORD God, something weird happened. It was something inexplicable, something so fantastic that it had to be seen to believe. “Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lampstand.”
That got everyone’s attention! “And the king saw the hand as it wrote. Then the king’s color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together. The king called loudly to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers. The king declared to the wise men of Babylon, ‘Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.’”
Here is the point I am making in this message: “Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation. Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, and his color changed, and his lords were perplexed.” Did you catch that? “But they could not!” The most brilliant cryptologists money could buy were brought in; they saw the strange marks and they collectively shrugged their shoulders and uttered the familiar words the world seems always to say, “I dunno!”
No wonder the king was alarmed. No wonder his colour changed. No wonder his lords were perplexed. The most learned men in the kingdom were unable to understand what they saw; they couldn’t interpret what was right there before their eyes. The wall was left with the strange marks glaring at those present that night. Those strange marks seemed to taunt and condemn everyone present; and there was no one able to tell the king what those marks meant!
There were, within the kingdom, a few people who recalled Belshazzar’s grandfather, and especially the way in which he had been humbled before the Lord. One of those was the queen mother, the wife of Nabonidus and mother of Belshazzar. She does not appear to have been present at the party, but she had likely heard about it, perhaps from her servants. Thus, we read, “The queen, because of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banqueting hall, and the queen declared, ‘O king, live forever! Let not your thoughts alarm you or your color change. There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him, and King Nebuchadnezzar, your father—your father the king—made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.’”
“Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king answered and said to Daniel, ‘You are that Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah, whom the king my father brought from Judah. I have heard of you that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. Now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not show the interpretation of the matter. But I have heard that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom’” [DANIEL 5:1-16].
Do not doubt that the wise men of Babylon had a measure of power and even insight. Their magical arts and psychological terpsichore were capable of producing awe-inspiring acts that would astonish the most jaded individual. However, there are limits beyond which neither mortals nor demonic powers can go. God, through Moses, declared, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God” [DEUTERONOMY 29:29a]. If God performs a miracle, it is to encourage His people and to enable them to fulfil His will. This is the reason Moses continued that verse, writing, “The things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” [DEUTERONOMY 29:29b].
God’s power is demonstrated throughout history. Even in this day, we witness His power displayed repeatedly. However, we have permitted ourselves to be blinded to the might of the Living God. We imagine that we are more sophisticated than those benighted souls who lived in past millennia. We believe that we have mastered the secrets of the psyche, the mysteries of the body, and that power and might now lie within our grasp. Our brilliant scientists and the scholars we so adulate, treating them as modern shamans, make us feel good about ourselves, providing us with answers to the secrets of the universe, until they cannot. We are awed by the brilliant insight provided by a Stephen Hawking, who challenges the mind of the Lord, until he cannot. We are utterly dependent on the skill of the physician and the surgeon to push back against the darkness of death, until she cannot. At last, we look to God, who can and who does.
GOD’S POWER DISPLAYED — “The LORD said to Moses, ‘Say to Aaron, “Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, so that it may become gnats in all the land of Egypt.”’ And they did so. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff and struck the dust of the earth, and there were gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became gnats in all the land of Egypt” [EXODUS 8:16-17].
It was a battle pitting the Living God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, against the gods of Egypt. The LORD God’s representative was the most unlikely individual possible, a man described as “very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth” [NUMBERS 12:3]. The LORD’s champion was an eighty-year-old man—his best years were behind him if you were to listen to people today. However, God was just getting started with that old man.
I love reading Peter’s sermon delivered on the Day of Pentecost. Peter testified to those who heard him that day, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:
“‘In the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.’”
I can stop right there to make my point. This is the same man who quailed before a little lass when she questioned him about his relationship with Jesus. This is the same arrogant man who boasted that he would never deny the Lord. Now he stands before a crowd of astonished individuals, some of whom had no doubt brayed for the Carpenter from Nazareth to be crucified. When the Spirit of God empowers the people of God, your sons and daughters have a testimony—they have a good word about Jesus. Your young men will see visions—they will begin to see what God’s power can accomplish through them as they commit themselves to Him. As for an old man such as myself, the old men shall dream dreams—we look back, remembering all that God has done in earlier days now long past. We older saints are thrilled to tell those who follow us that God is able to accomplish great things, because we have witnessed His power and His might.
Peter continued with his citation from the ancient Scriptures as he recalled for those listening as the disciples declared God’s might,
“Even on my male servants and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
And I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
the sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.
And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved.”
[ACTS 2:14-21]
God performed great miracles in the past, and God will continue displaying His might and His power to the praise of His glory until Christ returns.
Before Pharaoh, the LORD displayed His power through Moses. God worked through His servant, and the wicked one worked through his multiple servants. To Moses, God had said, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them” [EXODUS 7:1-5].
Moses ordered Aaron to throw his staff on the ground. When he did so, the staff became a serpent. However, Pharaoh’s sorcerers each one threw down his staff and each became a viper. However, Aaron’s staff swallowed up each of their staffs, leaving them nothing to lean on.
Moses was directed by the Lord to command Aaron to stretch out his staff over the Nile so that all the water of the Nile would be turned to blood. So, we read, “Moses and Aaron did as the LORD commanded. In the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants he lifted up the staff and struck the water in the Nile, and all the water in the Nile turned into blood. And the fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water from the Nile. There was blood throughout all the land of Egypt” [EXODUS 7:20-21].
Again, Pharaoh’s magicians employed their magic arts and accomplished the same thing. For the life of me, I can’t understand why they wanted more bloody water. Wouldn’t you think they would want to remove the bloody water? Instead, they made more bloody water.
I have to love the next act in this drama. God commanded Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your country with frogs. The Nile shall swarm with frogs that shall come up into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls. The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your servants”’” [EXODUS 8:1-4].
Aaron stretched out his hand at Moses’ command, and the land was filled with frogs. One can only imagine the distress Mrs. Pharaoh felt when she tried to get some sugar for her coffee. She lifted the lid on the sugar bowl, and there was a frog staring at her. She screamed, bringing Pharaoh running to see what was going on. As he jumped up from his recliner, he stepped on a frog. Then, slipping and sliding down the hall stepping on multiple frogs, he was utterly disgusted. He called for his magicians, and they were able with their demonic power to bring even more frogs upon the land. However, they could not make the frogs go away! Live with it, Pharaoh! The frogs looked as if they were here to stay!
Pharaoh, no doubt prompted by discomfort in his own family, called Moses and Aaron, “Plead with the LORD to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the LORD” [EXODUS 8:8].
I love this portion of the account of the contest of the gods. After Pharaoh pleaded with Moses to make the frogs go away, Moses said, “Be pleased to command me when I am to plead for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile” [EXODUS 8:9].
Wouldn’t you think that Pharaoh would want to get rid of the frogs immediately? But, no, he responded to Moses, “Tomorrow!” He was willing to spend one more night with the frogs. Maybe he enjoyed spending the night in bed with those slippery, slimy green denizens. Perhaps he was not unlike many people who want God to deliver them from their sin, except they wish to have one more night with their pet sin.
Regardless, Moses responded to Pharaoh’s request, “Be it as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the LORD our God. The frogs shall go away from you and your houses and your servants and your people. They shall be left only in the Nile” [EXODUS 8:10-11].
At Moses command, the LORD did not simply make the frogs go away, “The frogs died out in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields. And they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank” [EXODUS 8:13-14].
To this point in the account, whatever God did through His servants, Moses and Aaron, the magicians and sorcerers of Egypt imitated. The difference was that the servants of Satan could not reverse the troubles that came upon the land, they could only imitate what God had done. And their mirror efforts were clearly inferior to what the LORD performed. These servants of Satan won’t even approximate what the LORD does from this point forward. In fact, with the next judgement on the gods of Egypt which the Lord send at Moses’ command, the servants of Satan surrendered; they quit trying to compete with the Living God.
The wonder workers of the world are always attracted to divine power. They hope to appropriate that power for their own enrichment. As an example of this, consider a man named Bar-Jesus whom Paul and Barnabas met on their first missionary tour. Here is the account as recorded in the Book of Acts. “When [the missionaries] had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they came upon a certain magician, a Jewish false prophet named Bar-Jesus. He was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence, who summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Elymas the magician (for that is the meaning of his name) opposed them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, ‘You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.’ Immediately mist and darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking people to lead him by the hand” [ACTS 13:6-11].
Paul responded to the error with pointed remarks that would not win any praise from many contemporary pulpits. However, he pointedly permitted this Jewish magician to experience the power of the Holy One for himself. No contemporary miracle worker wants to discover God’s power in a personal way. When God says to an individual living in this world, “Prepare to meet your God!” nothing good can come from that experience for a mere mortal.
Now, let’s return to the LORD’s confrontation with the gods of Egypt. Is there anything quite so aggravating as gnats? They seem to delight in buzzing around your ears, so you continually swat at your ear to keep them away. They alight and crawl into your hair and tickle the ear. You can’t focus on anything because the gnats buzz around your eyes. Every now and then, one lands near the eye, causing you to squint and shake your head violently. These tiny critters are just bothersome enough to drive anyone to distraction. As bad as they are for people, the poor animals are driven almost mad. You see their tails swishing and their heads shaking and their feet stomping. However, there is no relief when a swarm of gnats has found its way into your vicinity.
THE WORLD’S EFFORTS TO DUPLICATE — “The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not” [EXODUS 8:18a]. Many people attempt to demonstrate the power of God. However, man cannot create life “ex nihilo.” A humorous story is told of a brilliant scientist who challenged God. This brilliant scientist claimed that he would create life in a test tube. God allowed the man to boast, but He nevertheless accepted the man’s challenge. God agreed to meet the scientist, and on the agreed day when they met, the scientist came into the laboratory with some chemicals and a beaker of dirt. “Ah, ah, ah,” said the Lord, wagging his finger. “Make your own dirt.”
I’m fascinated by the fact that God used the simple things of our existence to demonstrate the futility of the world to duplicate His power. God chose to contaminate water. Of course, man can contaminate water, and has done so repeatedly. God chose to unleash frogs on the land to demonstrate His power over the small things of life. Frogs aren’t harmful, but, little children notwithstanding, frogs are disgusting when they enter our clean environments. Then, at last, God chose to bring gnats on the land. One of the smallest of insects, but one of the most distressing, has to be gnats. Only mosquitoes might be more distracting. To this point God is demonstrating His power over the smallest features of the physical world, and the servants of Satan try to duplicate God’s power. However, they only demonstrate their inferiority to the Living God.
Satan has power, but he can never do what God can do. Satan is a liar and a deceiver. Tragically, many people are deceived by him; and many more will be deceived as we near the end of this age. Instructing the Thessalonian Christians concerning the last days, Paul writes, “The mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore, God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” [2 THESSALONIANS 2:7-12].
When the lawless one, known elsewhere as the antichrist, is revealed, the revelation will be “by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing.” The antichrist will astonish the watching world. He will perform miracles so that all will see. We know from the writings of the Revelator that the false prophet, who will promote the antichrist, will demonstrate incredible power.
John gives a prophecy describing the power displayed by these wicked miracle workers. “I saw another beast rising out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast in its presence, and makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, and by the signs that it is allowed to work in the presence of the beast it deceives those who dwell on earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that was wounded by the sword and yet lived. And it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast might even speak and might cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be slain. Also, it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name” [REVELATION 13:11-17]. Though the beast and the antichrist astound the inhabitants of the world, they can only imitate in a pitiful fashion the power of the Lord.
Inhabitants of this fallen world continue attempting to duplicate the power of God. Whether we are looking forward to that day when the Spirit of God will have been withdrawn from the earth or whether we are considering the conduct of those identified with the world now, though the world will endeavour to bring about the same results witnessed through God’s work, at best the efforts of the world provides only a pale imitation of God’s might, of God’s ability. Think this concept through by considering the transformation the presence of Christ brings into an individual’s life; contrasting that change witnessed by all who know the transformed individual with what is seen through human efforts that exclude the Lord from the equation.
Does the Lord save a man, setting that man free from condemnation and adopting him into God’s eternal Family? That man is no longer fearful of standing before the Living God because he has been set free from guilt, he is freed from the threat of judgement, freed from eternal condemnation. The world, through psycho-babel, will attempt to accomplish the same outward expression of freedom. The analysis that the world offers is designed to make an individual feel good about his sinful behaviour, excusing his wicked acts so that he no longer feels guilt or shame. The world cannot actually set an individual at liberty; it can only temporarily remove the stigma associated with the wicked behaviour in which the individual previously engaged. The best efforts of the world cannot really transform the individual, it can only focus on the feelings of an individual.
Does the Lord give peace, allowing an individual to serve Him in confidence without fretting about what the future may be? The world offers happy pabulum, urging the individual, “Don’t worry; be happy.” Either we can serve with confidence, knowing that our times are in the hands of God Who is too wise to make a mistake and too good to needlessly hurt His child, or we can be wilfully ignorant of what is coming. Either we can thoughtfully prepare ourselves for the future, seeking God’s direction, or we can pretend that whatever happens is unimportant. We can either be clear-eyed about the dark future of mankind and confident that God still rules over the affairs of nations, or we can cower and whinge in fear because we can do nothing about what will happen in coming days.
God is able to set a woman free from addiction, whether she is addicted to alcohol, addicted to drugs, addicted to sex—whatever her addiction, Christ can set the individual free! Though that woman may be compelled to struggle to honour God through her choices each day, she knows victory through God’s indwelling Spirit! Nevertheless, the world, through “counselling” will attempt to bring about the same results through various programmes. Listen carefully: I am not saying that twelve-step programmes or counselling has no place in dealing with the brokenness of people who have been ensnared by an addiction; I am saying that divorced from the power of the Spirit of God such efforts are ultimately futile and will be proved powerless for changing lives. There must be replacement therapy, and the only replacement that will endure is the presence of the Spirit of the Eternal God living in a redeemed person. If there is to be lasting hope for that formerly addicted woman, God alone can set her free.
How often have I, as a pastor, heard a woman tell how she sought help from a counsellor because her husband had been unfaithful, only to have the counsellor advise her to get revenge by having an affair! The first time a woman told me that this happened, I was shocked, thinking surely, she was wrong; surely, what she experienced must be a one-off. Now, nearly forty years since that first time I heard of such counsel, I hear such advice so frequently that I realise it is standard advice given by counsellors. My question is, “How can wallowing in the slime of sin lessen one’s heartache?” It can only exaggerate and compound the sorrow one is experiencing. Yet, the world has no valid answer to the sin question.
THE WORLD’S COERCED CONFESSION — “The magicians tried by their secret arts to produce gnats, but they could not. So, there were gnats on man and beast. Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, ‘This is the finger of God’” [EXODUS 8:18-19a]. There is but one God. We need to proclaim loudly, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” [EPHESIANS 4:4-6].
Because there is but one God, we should never fear, never concede authority to the gods of this dying world. Risen from the tomb, Jesus proclaimed, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” [MATTHEW 28:18]. Authority and might belong to Christ the Lord. “God has highly exalted [Jesus] and bestowed on him the name that is above every name” [PHILIPPIANS 2:9], was Paul’s testimony.
I can only wonder, why would the magicians want to produce gnats? One would think they would want to rid the land of gnats! Of course, the answer to that query is that if they were able to produce gnats, perhaps they would be able to rid themselves of the misery of being plagued by gnats. However, they could not! The magicians were powerless to control nature. If they couldn’t control one of the smallest creatures in nature, one of the tiniest creatures in the class insecta, how could they ever hope to exercise authority over people? God is not so restricted. Is this not the message of the Psalmist when he writes,
“He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
He who formed the eye, does he not see?
He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke?
He who teaches man knowledge—
the LORD—knows the thoughts of man,
that they are but a breath.”
[PSALM 94:9-11]
Only the One who created all things can rule over His creation. Only the One who gave mankind the grape can turn water into wine. Only He who created the hand can restore a withered hand. Only the Creator of all things can give sight to blinded eyes, restore hearing to deaf ears and set paralyzed tongues at liberty to praise the Creator. With all the brilliant advances in medical science, we reach a point that compels us to confess, “We cannot!”
I was thinking of how frequently we read in the Word of people attempting to defy God and His power or seeking to appropriate divine power without relying on the Holy One. I was fascinated to discover that such efforts were not as rare as one might imagine in Scripture. Though I do not necessarily have time to explore every instance, there are several notable instances that are worthy of our consideration. I do want us to examine these instances.
Jonah had attempted to run away from God. He knew he couldn’t really run away from the LORD, but he did imagine that he could avoid doing what God had appointed him to do. Jonah was not unlike many of us. I remember a man surrendering to preach following a service in the city of San Francisco. He had a sad story of how God had called him when he was young, but he fled from obedience. Now, he stood before the congregation and confessed his sin. He was over sixty-years-of-age, and he would at last answer God’s call. At best, he would have only a few years to serve. He confessed that he had been miserable for all those years, and he knew he had wasted time. Still, he was willing to serve these final years.
Jonah didn’t have the luxury of years on the run. God arrested him in his flight and sent a great storm on the sea. The ship in which Jonah had taken refuge was threatened, and the sailors were compelled to admit that something supernatural was taking place. They could not make headway. At last, when confronted, the runaway prophet confessed, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land” [JONAH 1:9]. Jonah advised them to toss him overboard in order to have peace. Then, these sailors tried to avoid doing what Jonah told them must be done—throw him overboard. The verse on which we must focus, reads, “Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them” [JONAH 1:13]. The sailors could not thwart God’s will. Neither can we thwart God’s will. He rules over all nature, and we cast ourselves on His mercy.
Among the Psalms is one which urges mankind,
“Praise the LORD from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all deeps,
fire and hail, snow and mist,
stormy wind fulfilling his word!”
[PSALM 148:7-8]
Another Psalm speaks of God’s power over wind and wave, testifying,
“When the waters saw you, O God,
when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
indeed, the deep trembled.
The clouds poured out water;
the skies gave forth thunder;
your arrows flashed on every side.
The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
your lightnings lighted up the world;
the earth trembled and shook.
Your way was through the sea,
your path through the great waters;
yet your footprints were unseen.”
[PSALM 77:16-19]
Look to the New Testament next, thinking of a confession concerning Jesus’ own disciples. The Master had been on the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, John and James. There, the Father had sent Moses and Elijah to speak with the Son, and His glory was unveiled. That was undoubtedly a stunning revelation to the three disciples who accompanied Jesus. However, they had to come down to again wander the dusty lanes of Judea. Upon descending, Jesus and the disciples became aware of a crowd. Let’s pick up the account at that point.
“On the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, a great crowd met him. And behold, a man from the crowd cried out, ‘Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only child. And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out. It convulses him so that he foams at the mouth, and shatters him, and will hardly leave him. And I begged your disciples to cast it out, but they could not’” [LUKE 9:37-40]. In this case, it was not unbelievers failing in their efforts to appropriate the power of God—it was His own disciples!
In this particular pericope, we witness followers of the Saviour who are powerless; they are unable to free a tormented child from demonic oppression. Jesus freed the child with one command, with a single word. No wonder we read, “All were astonished at the majesty of God” [LUKE 9:43]. In a parallel passage, we read that later that day, when the disciples were alone with Jesus, they asked why they were incapable of commanding the demons. Jesus told them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer” [MARK 9:29]. Much like modern faith healers, the disciples seem to have relied on a casual association with Jesus, failing to understand that in many instances His power can be displayed only in response to prayer—persistent, pointed prayer! One of the major reasons we don’t see the power of God displayed more prominently in our services is that we don’t pray!
There is another instance that speaks of the power of a witness when that witness has been energised by God’s Spirit. The account of the first martyr after the resurrection of the Master gives us the example. You will recall how Stephan was set apart as a deacon of the Jerusalem congregation [see ACTS 6:5]. A deacon has the heart of a servant, to be sure, but this deacon had the power and courage of an evangelist. Thus, we read that soon after being set apart as a deacon, Stephen came to the attention of one particular synagogue.
The biblical account states, “Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. Then some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called), and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and disputed with Stephen. But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking” [ACTS 6:8-10].
In this account, God’s servant, empowered by the Spirit of God, testified of the Risen Lord. And though those to whom he spoke were enraged and attempted to counter the simple declaration of God’s grace extended to mankind, they were unable to respond with conviction. One individual empowered by the Spirit of God will powerfully refute wickedness and evil. One person speaking boldly in the Spirit’s power is empowered to destroy arguments bringing people to the point of confessing Christ. In his Second Corinthian Letter, the Apostle testified, “The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ” [2 CORINTHIANS 10:4-5].
“They could not,” but we can, through Christ our Lord. “They could not” is said of unbelievers, of saints who fail to rely on the Lord and of those opposed to the Living Saviour. This is not the case for the people of God. With the Apostle, we are enabled to confess, “I can do all things through [Christ] who strengthens me” [PHILIPPIANS 4:13]. This promise is ours because we are followers of the Saviour.
In Christ, we are promised divine power, the ability to accomplish all that God has appointed us to do. Did God appoint us to be His witnesses? He empowers us to fulfil this appointment. Did God appoint us to reveal His glory in the church? He empowers us to fulfil this appointment. Did God appoint us to offer praise and honour to His Name? He empowers us to fulfil His appointment. Whatever He has appointed us to do, He provides the power to fulfil His appointment. Because of His great mercy, let us walk in His power. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
* A PDF file of this message can be accessed at http://newbeginningsbaptist.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Exodus-08.16-19a-But-They-Could-Not.pdf.
