Secret Arts לְהָטִים / לָט

We have recently looked at the word אוֹת sign and the word פָּלָא wonders. And yesterday we looked at the word מוֹפֵת miracle. Our word for today is closely related to these words as we are in chapter seven of Exodus. Let’s look. Our word for today is actually two words that are closely related לְהָטִים secrecy, mysteries, enchantments, secret arts, sorcery, incantations. It is used just the one time in the Old Testament in our chapter for today. And the word לָט secrecy, mystery, occult skills, magic, secret arts, sorcery. It is used 7 times in the Old Testament. We find our word used in the sense of secrecy not openly. Judges 4:21 But Jael, Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went בַּלָּ֔אט quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died. 1 Samuel 24:4 David crept up בַּלָּֽט unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. Our word is also used in the sense of magic with a focus on the secret and mysterious aspects of those arts. Exodus 8:6-7 So Aaron stretched out his hand...and the frogs came up and covered the land. But the magicians did the same things by their בְּלָטֵיהֶ֑ם secret arts. This is the same way both of our words are used in our chapter today. Exodus 7:10-12 Aaron cast down his staff...and it became a serpent...The wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their בְּלַהֲטֵיהֶ֖ם secret arts. Exodus 7:20-22 He lifted up the staff and...all the water in the Nile turned into blood...But the magicians of Egypt did the same by their בְּלָטֵיהֶ֑ם secret arts. People tend to believe that magic is just a trick and deny or down play the supernatural. Others would say that magic is definitely real and point out examples of supernatural events that have no explanation. The Bible identifies that both of these do happen. A good example of this is the conversion of Simon the Sorcerer. Acts 8:9-13, 18-19 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery...Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw…When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money. From this we can safely infer that Simon was using tricks to make people think that he could do miraculous things but when he heard the good news of Christ and saw the miracles the apostles were doing he knew it was real. In the case of the Apostles the miracles were to verify that what was being said was from God. But throughout the Bible God warns that we need to know him and not be deceived by people who may be tricking us with false miracles or even real ones. Notice the warning in Deuteronomy 13:1-3 If a prophet...announces to you a sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. Did you catch that that God sometimes allows people to preform real miracles to test his people. So we need to know God and stay close to him. The good news is that if we do this God is more powerful than those who would try to lead us away from him. We see this with the staffs that become serpents in our chapter. Exodus 7:12 For each man cast down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. Notice even though they were able to duplicate the miracle God’s staff or serpent was greater than the sorcerers staff serpents. God is more powerful than anything anyone else can produce even if it mimics God’s power. I’ll close with this great reminder. 1 John 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.