James Boice explained that this “battle pitted Jehovah, the true God, who moved Moses and Israel, against all the false gods of the Egyptian pantheon, backed by a host of fallen angels who had turned from God as a part of Lucifer’s original rebellion.”1

This brief episode serves as a preview of the plagues. It introduces nearly all the main themes of the next five chapters of Exodus: the obedience of Moses and Aaron; the counterfeit miracles of Satan and his servants; the superior power of God and his rod; and the perpetual hardening of Pharaoh’s heart.

Despite their fear of snakes, the ancient Egyptians nevertheless were drawn to worship them. This is how Satan generally operates, using fear to gain power. Serpent worship was particularly strong in the Nile Delta, where the Hebrews lived. There the Egyptians built a temple in honor of the snake-goddess Wadjet, who was represented by the hieroglyphic sign of the cobra. Some of the Pharaohs believed that she had brought them to the throne and invested them with her divine powers. Others considered her to be their protector. In an inscription found at Tanis, Pharaoh Taharqa claimed, “I had taken the diadems of Re, and I had assumed the double serpent-crest … as the protection of my limbs.”5 According to another ancient text, “His gods are over him; His uraeus-serpents are over his head.”6

When Pharaoh first ascended the throne of Egypt, he would take the royal crown and say,

O Great One, O Magician, O Fiery Snake!

Let there be terror of me like the terror of thee.

Let there be fear of me like the fear of thee.

Let there be awe of me like the awe of thee.

Let me rule, a leader of the living.

Let me be powerful, a leader of spirits.8

With these words, Pharaoh offered his soul to the devil.