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For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardened. Verses 17-18
Beloved let me say this one more time, the sovereignty of God means that Gid exercises his prerogative to do whatever he pleases with His creation. Because sovereignty and providence go hand and hand, God’s providence is the outworking of His’s eternal plan for mankind and all of his creation. Listen to me beloved God’s providence is the invisible, mysterious hand of God at work in the details of history to bring to pass his sovereign will. God is bring to pass and will bring to pass his eternal purposes for his glory and our eternal good.
So in verse 17 Paul is not satisfied. He wants to demonstrate from the case of Pharaoh, that has experienced God’s wrath and displeasure that there is no unrighteousness and injustice in God. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, Exo_9:16 : To this end have I had thee arise, come forward, appear in history, that I might show in thee My power, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth. That was the reason why the Pharaoh of Scriptures appeared on the stage of history, that he might he an example of the revelation of God’s power, the power which is able to effect the destruction of rebellion sinners. And this design of God having been accomplished, in Exo_9:15-17, so the account of the punishment of Pharaoh and the deliverance of the children of Israel was spread far and wide among the heathen nations and served to establish the judgment and the justice, and the glory of God. So, then, God has mercy upon whom He will, but whom He will He hardens.
R.C Sproul said, there is an Active or Passive Hardening
To understand this, we have to distinguish between active hardening and passive hardening. What we have in this verse is an example of God’s corrective judgment against a wicked man. Pharaoh was already wicked. Pharaoh already had an evil heart, out of which came evil continually. Pharaoh delighted in doing evil. If Pharaoh ever did anything good at all, it was as a result of the constraining andrestraining work of God’s common grace.
One of the ways God punishes evil is to allow men to do what they really want, which is to become even more evil. As Paul puts it in Romans 1:24, 26, and 28, God “gave them over” to the evil they want to do. God does this by withdrawing His restraint, which has the result of allowing men’ hearts to harden against Him. Thus, God does not cause men to sin, nor does He make them bad. Rather, He simply lets them harden themselves, as a punishment for their wickedness.
R.C. Sproul,
So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. Oh, beloved this is a fearful thought— he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
But so it is. So it was with Pharaoh of old. All God’s pleading with him by the message of Moses and Aaron, God spoke by the mighty plagues which He sent on Egypt, it only hardened Pharaoh’s heart. The Lord God spoke to Pharaoh , and His message only pounded Pharaoh’s proud and wicked will
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