Through Moses, God had told Pharaoh, “Let My people go.” Pharaoh refused, so God spoke further: “I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you.” Does that mean Pharaoh was merely a puppet in God’s playhouse, doomed to destruction? No. That further statement from the Lord only came after numerous willful rejections by Pharaoh—and after the king’s own advisors testified of divine power (Ex. 9:16; cf. 8:19). God could have struck Pharaoh down at his first word of defiance, when he said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice?” (5:2). God’s forbearance shows that His appeals to Pharaoh were genuine.

Notice, too, that Pharaoh had been raised up as a platform for the display of God’s power and name—but this did not require Pharaoh’s destruction. If the mighty ruler had acknowledged God’s sovereignty, that would indeed magnify His power and His name! Pharaoh had every opportunity to submit to Jehovah’s divine rights, but his stubborn disobedience led God to display His glory through plagues and destruction instead. Responsibility for that judgment rests on Pharaoh, not God.

If anyone might ask, “Who has resisted His will?” (Rom. 9:19), the answer is that people have been resisting God’s will for centuries! In Romans 9, Esau and Pharaoh are merely two examples of the human condition. If God had never chosen to show mercy, we would all be content to live without Him. Even God’s desire to justify believers today through “the righteousness of faith” (v. 30) is a matter of His own choice. The Scriptures always present His choices in the context of blessing; not once does the Bible say that some are chosen to be cursed. God’s sovereignty has never forced anyone to be lost.