Chapter # 9 Paragraph # 3 Study # 3
February 11, 2018
Humble, Texas
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Thesis: The "twist" of Paul's quote of the Scriptures regarding Pharaoh is significantly deceptive.
Introduction: The attempt by many to paint God as some kind of cosmic ogre for exercising His righteousness-based freedom to have the primary say in what will happen in His creation has resulted in a significantly deceptive "twisting" ("spinning") of Romans 9:17. This verse, say these "spinners", clearly declares that God hardens whomever He wishes to exclude from the blessings of eternal life. But nothing could be further from the truth of Exodus 9:15, properly translated and interpreted. The KJV translation puts the verbs into the future ("...now I will...thou shalt be..."), but they are a mix of "perfect" and "imperfect" tenses and moods and the KJV completely misses the point.
So, what is the point?
- I. The Previous Context.
- A. Romans 9:11-12 and 9:16 dismiss God's consideration of performances issues; and this for good reason (Romans 4:15-16, where this dismissal is the only way promises can be sure).
- B. Romans 9:15 is fixated upon the extension of mercy and compassion, not judgment.
- C. Romans 9:16 is focused upon "The Mercy Expressing God".
- II. Paul's Rationale.
- A. His "explanatory conjunction" (gar) means that he is going to produce a reason for his focus upon "The Mercy Expressing God".
- B. His appeal to "the Scripture" in its record regarding God's claim regarding His behavior toward Pharaoh means that he is going to establish his claim that God is "The Mercy Expressing God".
- III. Paul's Quote.
- A. Is in the context of Exodus 9.
- B. Argues that the verse prior to the one he quoted has been mistranslated by the KJV.
- 1. This translation opts for ignoring the straightforward implications of the verb tenses and moods.
- 2. It also sets the stage for the misunderstanding that Paul is emphasizing the display of mercy, not the execution of judgment.
- C. Says that God has acted as He has in Pharaoh's case for a "merciful" reason.
- 1. Exodus 9:14 records God's declaration of what He is about to do so that Pharaoh and his people will know the uniqueness of "Yahweh, God of the Hebrews".
- 2. Exodus 9:16 also records that God's purpose is to establish His reputation throughout all the earth.
- 3. This "establishment" of His identity as the only true God of gods is completely "merciful".
- a. It is of no point for God to "judgmentally" establish His identity in the whole earth.
- b. It is completely "merciful" to make God's identity "indisputable" because the very beginning of salvific wisdom is the "fear" of the only Legitimate God (Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 9:10).
- IV. Paul's Conclusions.
- A. God chooses those toward whom He shows mercy.
- B. God chooses those whom He "hardeneth".
- 1. It is at this point that Paul returns to God's statement in Malachi that He "hated" Esau (a statement made 1,000 years after Esau "settled" his antagonism toward God).
- 2. There are two issues involved in "hardening".
- a. The Ryrie Study Bible points out that the record of Exodus contains seven statements of Pharaoh "hardening" his own heart and seven statements of God "hardening" Pharaoh's heart.
- b. These two issues are not complicated.
- 1) Technically, God does not have to do anything to a person for that person to be "hardened" because that is the natural and reflexive behavior of men toward God Whom they view as an enemy and Whom they hate (Romans 8:7).
- 2) However, the text is pretty clear that God took an extra measure of effort to make sure that the natural process was not overrun by the disasters that were falling upon Pharaoh.
- a) Once God's intention of clearly establishing His identity throughout all the earth was fulfilled, He did allow the severity of the disasters to overrun Pharaoh's self-hardening.
- b) But even this allowance only lasted a brief time and then the natural hatred reasserted itself.
- c. Paul, in Romans 1:21, 24, and 26, clearly revealed that God's "hardening" was "reactive" not "proactive".