In Rom. 9:17, God says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” In Exod. 4:21; 7:3, we read that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. If God raised up Pharaoh and hardened his heart to accomplish His divine purposes, how can Pharaoh be responsible for his actions?
– Allen, India
DR. GEORGY’S RESPONSE:
God is omniscient, He foreknew Pharaoh’s response, and He used it to accomplish His purposes. In Exod. 3:19, God told Moses, “I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand.” Pharaoh rejected the request of Moses, and he let the Israelites go only after the ten plagues. God used the free will and stubbornness of Pharaoh so as to deliver the Israelites from Egypt.
We should note that it was Pharaoh who hardened his own heart. When Moses and Aaron approached Pharaoh to release the Israelites, Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go” (Exod. 5:2). The passage that Paul quotes in Rom. 9:17 is Exod. 9:16, which refers to the plague of the boils, the sixth plague. Pharaoh had hardened his heart even before God made this statement. Pharaoh’s hardening of his heart first (Exod. 8:15, 32; 9:34) caused God to let it be so (Exod. 10:1; 11:10). God ‘respects’ the decisions of Pharaoh and uses him for His purposes, and to display His greatness and glory. The sovereign God uses the shortcomings of humans to show His glory. Even if God raised up Pharaoh, Pharaoh is still responsible for his actions.
