I have raised you up

“And in very deed for this cause have I raised thee up, for to show in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth.“ - Exodus 9v16

Surely by the time of the sixth or seventh plague Pharaoh knew that something was going wrong. He was powerless against Moses and his God, the same God of whom he had said, “Who is this Yahweh that I should obey Him?” His economy was in ruins. Moses seemed to be able to call down plagues and stop them at a whim, and all this while he, the “Great Pharaoh” was supposed to be the greatest god of all.

In today’s selection Moses spells it out clearly for Pharaoh. God told Pharaoh, through Moses, that He had raised Pharaoh up as leader of Egypt to do two things. 1) To show the power of Yahweh, and 2) to have His name declared throughout all the earth.

Pharaoh had just been told that he was no more than a puppet is God’s hands and that God would use him to do His own will! What a bow to Pharaoh’s pride.

God does indeed raise up powers to work out His divine purpose. Daniel tells us the “the Most High rules in the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever He will.” Paul write in Romans that the powers that be are ordained of God. We may not always understand all that is going on, but we can be assured that God is always in control, even when governments do and allow terrible things. They are there for an ultimate purpose, that God might show His power and have His name proclaimed!