टीका वर्तमान में केवल अंग्रेज़ी में उपलब्ध है। हिन्दी अनुवाद प्रगति पर है।
Exodus 9 — For This Cause Have I Raised Thee Up
Three more plagues — the murrain that kills the cattle of Egypt while Israel's cattle live; the boils that fall on man and beast, even on the magicians; and the great hail mingled with fire. God declares to Pharaoh the purpose of his preservation: to shew in thee my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.
“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.”
— Exodus 9:16
- v.1-7 The murrain on the cattle
- v.8-12 The boils — the magicians cannot stand
- v.13-21 God's declaration to Pharaoh; warning of hail
- v.22-35 The hail of fire; Pharaoh's false confession
The magicians who had imitated the first plagues now cannot even stand. They are themselves struck by the boils. The pretenders have been put on the same side as the people they served.
Every age has its religious imitators who can match the appearance of God's work for a season. They are eventually exposed and become subjects of the judgment they had pretended to manage. Pharaoh's magicians are the archetype.
Romans 9:17 quotes this verse to teach the sovereignty of God in showing His power through hardened vessels. Pharaoh was raised up — for this cause — to be the canvas on which God painted His glory.
A sobering verse. God's purpose with some men is to demonstrate His power over them rather than His mercy to them. Both ends serve His glory. Both magnify His name. Both end with His name declared throughout all the earth.
Even among Pharaoh's servants there were some who feared the word of the Lord. Not all Egyptians were Pharaohs. The plagues created divisions even within the Egyptian household.
The same is true today. The judgments of God on cultures rarely fall on entire populations indiscriminately. Within every Egypt there are some who hear and obey. They will be among those who eventually leave with Israel in the mixed multitude (12:38).
Pharaoh's fullest verbal confession to date. I have sinned. The Lord is righteous. I am wicked. The words sound right. They are repeated by some of the most genuine saints in Scripture.
But the next verse shows the heart. When the rain... was ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart (verse 34). True confession is not in the words but in what follows them. Pharaoh's repentance was a strategy; God knew it for what it was.
When a confession of sin is made by yourself or another, look for what follows it. The words are easy; the follow-through is the test. Pharaoh said all the right things in verse 27 and reneged in verse 34. The genuine repentance of 2 Corinthians 7:10 produces carefulness, clearing of yourselves, indignation, fear, vehement desire, zeal, revenge. Match the words against the fruit.
Christ embodies the final answer to Pharaoh's rebellion. Where Pharaoh hardened himself against the gospel of release, Christ submitted Himself to the will of the Father. Where Pharaoh's confession in Exodus 9:27 was a strategy, Christ's submission in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:39) was the truth. The same words mean different things when spoken from different hearts.
The pattern of separation continues. The same disease, the same region, the same animals — but God exempts His people's herds.
The early plagues fell on all (water, frogs). From the fourth plague onward, the separation becomes explicit. God's judgments increasingly distinguish between the saved and the unsaved as the contest deepens.