Romans Chapter 9 Vs. 17

God's Sovereign Choice

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. Rom 9:17

Even for this... Quoted from Exo. 9:16. Here we have an instance of a wicked king resisting God’s will to the point of destruction. At many points in God’s dealings with Pharaoh the king could have submitted and escaped judgment. But he was too stubborn to do so and therefore God could not do otherwise than punish him for his sins and resistance.

This Old Testament quote proves that God does sovereignly choose who will serve His purposes and how. The “raised thee up”, was often used to describe the rise of leaders and countries to positions of prominence. Pharaoh no doubt thought his position and actions were of his own free choice to accomplish his own purposes, but in reality, he was there to serve God’s purpose.

We know that the 10 plagues that came upon Egypt were for the purpose of discrediting the false gods of Egypt. Egypt represents the world. God shows, through Pharaoh’s rebellion, that the gods of this world are no match for the real God. We see an almost identical Scripture in the Old Testament account of this event.

Exo. 9:16 “And in very deed for this [cause] have I raised thee up, for to show [in] thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.”

1Sam. 2:7-8 “The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.” “He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, [and] lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set [them] among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth [are] the LORD’S, and he hath set the world upon them.”

Look also at Proverbs:

Prov. 16:4 “The LORD hath made all [things] for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.”

This all speaks for itself, we need no more comment here.

It is significant that Paul introduced this quotation with the words, For the Scripture says, for he equated the words of God with the words of Scripture. Paul concluded, God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy (cf. Rom. 9:15) and He hardens whom He wants to harden (“make stubborn”; cf. Exo. 4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:27; 14:4, 14:8; cf. Exo. 14:17). Because of God’s choice, Pharaoh then hardened his own heart (Exo. 7:13-14, 7:22; 8:15, 8:19, 8:32; 9:7, 9:34-35).