“For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.” -Romans 9:17–18
Just as God told Moses that he would have mercy and compassion on whomsoever he wills, God also told Pharaoh that he raised the Egyptian king up for his own purposes: that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth (Cf. Exodus 9:13-16).
Paul concludes by saying that God then shows mercy to whoever he wants and hardens whoever he wants in order to accomplish his good will. It is also important to keep in mind that Paul’s illustration of showing mercy or hardening whomsoever he will has in view the Jews’ failure to accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah.
As he proceeds, he will unpack this further by explaining their rejection of Christ was not a surprise but a part of God’s plan to bring the Gentiles into the kingdom. God’s will, it should be remembered, is always good. And his goodness, his justice, and his mercy far exceeds all that we could ever imagine in our finite minds.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” -Isaiah 55:9
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