Romans 9:17-18 “For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth." (18) Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.”
Other than for the purposes of general governance of the nations, there are instances when God raises up certain heads of state to perform specific functions for Him in the earth. We have already looked at the above passage of scripture to show that God is the one who appoints the heads of state of the various nations in the earth. And so when God places a new head of state in a nation, He does so for a very specific purpose. We have already established that heads of state are in fact God’s ministers, and the reason the Holy Spirit refers to them as such is because He wants us to understand that heads of state actually work for God, even though in most instances they do not even know Him. The question is then asked, if heads of state do not even know God, how does God get them to fulfil His purpose? He does so by influencing their decisions to fall in line with the tasks that He has pre-ordained the individual to perform. In the above passage of scripture God declares that He is the one who raised Pharaoh up to govern Egypt at that time, and God went on to declare the purpose He had for Pharaoh. We all know the account of how God hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that he wouldn’t let the children of Israel leave Egypt. God did that so that He could then bring various judgements on Egypt in response to Pharaoh’s obstinance, thus displaying His power in the earth. And then finally God destroyed Pharaoh and his army by drowning them in the Red Sea.
Michael E.B. Maher
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