Exodus 9:16
And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth. And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.
God spared Pharaoh's life and kept him on the throne when his crimes had forfeited mercy and could have been cut off with pestilence, placing him there at the appointed time of deliverance so his resistance would give occasion for wonders, not bringing him into existence in order to make him rebel. He spoke to rebuke Pharaoh for still exalting himself by refusing to let Israel go, to compel one who delighted to display his own power to learn by sad experience that there is none like God in all the earth and that divine authority is supreme. Amid the threatened grievous hail and the other plagues announced beforehand with merciful warning to show they were not accidents, each rejected punishment brought chastisement closer and more severe until his proud heart was humbled to confess the Maker of heaven and earth as the living and all-powerful God. In those judgments He displayed a strength mightier than the strongest, exposing the futility of Egypt's gods and the feebleness of its mighty men and punishing idolatry, cruelty, and oppression. He did this in distinguished mercy to settle Israel and their posterity in worship of Him alone and turn them fully from idolatry, while overruling stubborn rebellion to spread His renown to Egypt, to other nations, and to later generations, carrying forward the covenant promise to Abraham that all families of the earth would be blessed through him and his seed.
Meaning and Immediate Setting
God kept Pharaoh alive and kept him on the throne when He could have stretched out His hand with pestilence and cut him and his people off from the earth. Though Pharaoh's crimes had forfeited mercy, providence placed him on the throne at the appointed time of Israel's deliverance and preserved him so that his stubborn resistance would provide the occasion for God's wonders and the display of divine power. It does not mean that God brought Pharaoh into existence or originally gave him life in order to make him rebel.
The word was spoken to make Pharaoh know that there is none like God in all the earth and to rebuke him for still exalting himself against Israel by refusing to let them go. Pharaoh delighted to display his own power over those he controlled and would not otherwise be convinced, so God would compel him by sad experience to yield and acknowledge divine authority as supreme ruler. Continued opposition hardened him, so that after the plague was stayed his whole being rose in rebellion and he still refused to let Israel go.
The immediate setting is the threatened and then sent very grievous hail such as had not been in Egypt, joined with merciful warning to gather cattle and all that was in the field beforehand. The plagues were announced beforehand to show they were not accidents and that the earth and its storms are under God's command. Those who feared the word of the Lord made their servants and cattle flee into the houses, while those hardened like Pharaoh disregarded it and left them in the field. The display humbled Pharaoh for the moment to confess that he had sinned and that the Lord was righteous. Each plague gave Pharaoh a chance to yield, with every rejected punishment making the next chastisement closer and more severe until his proud heart was humbled to acknowledge the Maker of heaven and earth as the living and all-powerful God, ending finally in the destruction of the Egyptian host at the Red Sea.
Power Shown Through Judgment
For this cause God displayed His power in Pharaoh and in judgments on Egypt so that His name would be declared throughout all the earth. He preserved Pharaoh alive and kept him in power through repeated opportunities to resist, so that Pharaoh's defiance and stubborn resistance would provide the occasion for God to show His wonders in the plagues. By providence Pharaoh was placed on the throne at the appointed time of deliverance and kept from immediate destruction when his crimes had forfeited mercy, not brought into existence in order to rebel. Through Moses He then brought Israel out of long servitude in a signal manner by almighty power, with a high hand and an outstretched arm, showing His strength mightier than the strongest. The plagues were announced beforehand to show they were not accidents but acts of One who has the earth and its storms under His command, and every punishment Pharaoh rejected made the next chastisement closer and more severe until his proud heart was humbled to confess sin and acknowledge the Maker of heaven and earth as the living and all-powerful God.
The judgments exposed the futility of Egypt's supposed powers and the feeble wisdom of its mighty men. God gave Egypt opportunity for this exhibition, arraying the power of its gods in opposition to the God of heaven to show by Moses that the Maker of heaven and earth is above all gods. Because Pharaoh delighted to display his own power and would not otherwise be convinced, God compelled him by sad experience to learn that divine power is superior to all others. In this He gave to Egypt and to other nations clear exemplary and demonstrative proof of His superior divine power and justice, with distinction made between Egypt and Israel. His renown would thus spread worldwide, so that other nations might hear of His power and tremble at His mighty acts.
Through Pharaoh God punished Egyptian idolatry and proud boasting in mercies ascribed to senseless gods. He overruled Pharaoh's stubborn rebellion to multiply evidences of divine power, to compel the Egyptians to acknowledge that the God of the Hebrews is above all gods, and to manifest that He hates idolatry and will punish cruelty and oppression wherever they exist. A more merciful king would not have dared persist in rebellion under such displays of mighty power, and then God's purposes would not have been accomplished.
Mercy to Israel and Nations
The displays of power in Pharaoh were an act of distinguished mercy to Israel before all the Egyptians, meant to strengthen the faith of God's people then so that they and their posterity would steadfastly worship Him alone who had wrought such merciful wonders for them. By witnessing His miraculous works they were to be undeceived about the sinfulness and evil of Egyptian idolatry and to turn fully from idolatry to pure worship. By long servitude under and deliverance from Egypt they were also to experience the hard-hearted cruelty that idolatrous Egyptians practice, and thereby to learn that God hates idolatry and will punish cruelty and oppression wherever they exist.
God overruled Pharaoh's stubborn rebellion and delight in his own power so that his resistance became the occasion for multiplying evidences of divine power for the good of His people. In this way His name and power were brought to the Egyptians themselves, to glorify His name before them, and at the same time His renown was spread worldwide as exemplary and demonstrative proof to all nations of His divine power and justice. That declaring of His name throughout the earth reached to those who should afterward live and to later generations, so that other nations might hear of His power and tremble at His mighty acts.
Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage by almighty power carried forward the covenant promise to Abraham that all families and nations of the earth would be blessed through him and his seed. Israel itself was to be a blessing to the nations, and if obedient to God would be set far ahead of other peoples in wisdom and understanding. That favored place was given only so that through them God could carry out His purpose for all nations, not for Israel's own advantage.