God’s Plan: The Proclaiming of His Glory (Exodus 9:16)

Exodus 9:16

But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.

            Every once-in-a-while it is fun to see something in Scripture that you have known, but which is pointed out with dramatic clarity. For example, I have known for a while that God does the things that he does for the sake of his name, his honor, his glory. Understanding that has been a  major point of strengthening my Christian walk. It has certainly helped me in understanding and even in leading worship. It is also a major factor in my preaching.

            So, when I read the verse above in the cycle of plagues on Egypt in Exodus, I was not surprised. But, it was very neat to see it spelled out in such clarity to Pharaoh himself. What was God’s message, not to Moses and his people but to Pharaoh himself? God tells Pharaoh that he could have wiped the Egyptians off the map long ago. HE still could. But that is not his plan. No, God intends to use the plagues and Pharaoh’s hard heart to demonstrate his power. God intends that Pharaoh’s attempts to thwart God’s plan would lead to the entire world proclaiming God’s glory. And God accomplished his plan.

            Pharaoh did all he could to withstand God. He did it with the might of a nation that God had built through his revelation to Joseph. Yet, when Pharaoh made it appear that he was the supreme, when he allowed himself to be worshipped as a god, the real God demonstrated before the eyes of all Egypt and the watching world that there is one true God over all, and it is not Pharaoh. God showed that he has the power to accomplish his will in any way he pleases.