The Lord had said to Moses: Pharaoh will refuse to listen to you — so that my wonders may be multiplied in Egypt. The retrospective note — the Lord had said — confirms that the entire sequence was known in advance and purposeful. Pharaoh's refusal was not a failure of Moses' mission; it was the occasion for the multiplication of wonders. Romans 11:32 says God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all — the binding and the mercy are two sides of the same sovereign purpose. The wonders were multiplied because Pharaoh refused, and because the wonders were multiplied, the name of God was proclaimed to all the earth. The refusal was the stage; the wonders were the performance; the proclamation is the purpose. Every level of the structure was known and planned before Moses stood at the burning bush.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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