But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you. God states the outcome in advance: Pharaoh will not listen, and God will multiply the signs. The hardening and the multiplication are causally connected — Pharaoh's resistance is the stage on which the signs will be performed, and the signs accumulate in response to the resistance. Romans 9:17 explains the purpose: so that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. The plagues are not failed negotiations; they are proclamations. Each one names a different attribute of God's power, dismantles a different Egyptian claim, and contributes to the comprehensive demonstration that the Lord is God. The announcement that Pharaoh will not listen is not a reason for despair; it is the disclosure of the curriculum that is about to be taught to Egypt, Israel, and all who hear the story afterward.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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