The Divine Mentor – When Counterfeits Reach Their Limit – By Margaret Thomas

Today’s Reading: Exodus 6,7,8; Luke 23

Exodus 8:18 (NASB) – But when the magicians tried to produce gnats by their secret arts, they could not.

In this story, Moses had been asking Pharoah to release the enslaved Israelites.  Over and over, Pharaoh had hardened his heart and refused to let them go.  So, God began sending multiple plagues on Egypt.  At first, the Egyptian magicians and sorcerers were able to replicate each phenomenon. They used their secret “arts” to change their staffs into snakes (Exodus 7:11-12), water into blood (Exodus 7:22) and to make frogs appear (Exodus 8:7).  However, when God sent the plague of gnats (and during each additional plague) their “magic” didn’t work.  They could no longer continue to counterfeit what God was doing.

My first professional job after graduating college was as a Loan Officer and Assistant Branch Manager at a bank.  In the beginning, I spent many hours training not only in the classroom but in each bank department and outlying branch.  During those early days, they took me on a tour of the downtown headquarters which included a stop at the main vault. On any given day, this vault would hold hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash.  I remember feeling stunned as I stepped through that massive vault door and saw countless stacks of bundled bills and boxes of rolled coins.  I had never seen so much money in my entire life! As part of that tour, we were given the opportunity to count through a bundle of dollar bills. We were also given several counterfeit dollar bills to use as a comparison. To my untrained eye, the counterfeit bills looked real, felt real and if I hadn’t known better, I would have thought they were real.  They were very good counterfeits. Once I began counting, handling, and looking at the real dollar bills however, the differences became very obvious. As I held both in my hands, it was easy to recognize which one was real and which one was not.

The world is full of counterfeits. There are false religions and religious books, teachings that distort God’s word, and many other things that can seem “true”. But, when these “truths” are placed against the real truth of God’s word, the differences become obvious.  Just like when Pharoah’s sorcerers could no longer replicate the plagues, each doctrine or belief that does not line up with the Word of God will ultimately be shown for what it is: a counterfeit.  There are things only God can do.  The precious gift of salvation through Jesus Christ and His powerful sacrifice on the cross will never be surpassed. Only through faith in Him and Him alone can we truly be reconciled to God. The same is true of God’s Word.  No matter how many books tout their version of the truth, there is only one book that has the power to change lives and holds the real truth: the Word of God - nothing the world offers can compare. Every false “truth” that is held up against His Word will be shown for what it is: a counterfeit.