Chapter # 9 Paragraph # 3 Study # 3
February 11, 2018
Humble, Texas
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1769 Translation:
17 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.
18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will [have mercy], and whom he will he hardeneth.
1901 ASV Translation:
17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, For this very purpose did I raise thee up, that I might show in thee my power, and that my name might be published abroad in all the earth.
18 So then he hath mercy on whom he will, and whom he will be hardeneth.
- I. For The Scripture Says...
- A. The appeal to "Scripture" is, simply, an appeal to the inspired text of the Word of God, written, in this case, by Moses in Exodus 9:16.
- B. The "says" is a use of the particular verb in Greek that indicates doctrinal certainty and accuracy when it is used of God's "saying" to men.
- II. To Pharaoh...
- A. Technically, the Scriptures did not say anything "to" Pharaoh; it was Moses who carried the vocal "Word of God" to him.
- B. The "to" is a translation of a form of the definite article that can communicate several things, one of which is an "indirect object". This is the choice of the translators. However, it makes more sense to say "in regard to" Pharaoh, or "in the place where God spoke through Moses to" Pharaoh.
- III. The Scriptural Statement.
- A. "Unto this very thing...".
- 1. The translators opt for "purpose", but, technically, there is no word "purpose" in the statement. It is supplied because the rest of the statement clearly does state God's "purpose" for what He was doing/had done.
- 2. The "very" is emphatic.
- B. "I raised you out of (everyone else)...".
- 1. God is declaring His activity in His governance of His creation as Daniel declared to the king of Babylon, "...He removeth kings and setteth up kings..." (Daniel 2:21). This is a critical truth for every "ruler" to understand. Pharaoh was only "the Pharaoh" because God had put him in that position. The automatic extension of this reality is the king's obligation to serve God with his position and its power. Note God's declaration of this reality to David in 2 Samuel 7:8. The only business David had in being "king" was to serve God's purposes with his position and its power
- 2. The context is important: Moses told Pharaoh in the very next statement that he had refused to accept his obligation to the One Who had placed him in his position.
- C. "That I might demonstrate in you My power...".
- 1. God's purpose was two-fold: to demonstrate His power; and to "publish abroad" His name in all the earth.
- 2. This was significantly "merciful" because both the "power" and "name" were for one purpose: to give the inhabitants of the earth clarity on the identity of the One True God, a clarity that makes "salvation" possible. The downside, of course, is that if, in the face of the "clarity", any inhabitant decides to reject the evidence, "all hell" awaits.
- D. The context is crucial: Exodus 9:16 says that this quote came on the heels of the declaration that Egypt would have been totally destroyed if God had not restrained Himself, so God "raised up" (in the sense of sustaining) Pharaoh in order to keep Egypt from being erased from the earth. This is "mercy-showing", not "judgment establishment".
- 1. Paul's conclusion, "Therefore upon whom He wills, He shows mercy..." is exactly on target. The point is that God is "the Mercy-Showing God" with "hardening" as the alternative for those who reject mercy.
- 2. "Hardening" is not "preemptive" to keep people from responding to "mercy"; it is "consequential" upon those who resist "mercy".