Romans 9:14-18 // God Hardened Pharaoh's Heart

What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. 15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. 17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. 18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. (Romans 9:14-18)

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us- ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

This part of Romans is where it starts getting really troubling for me, because I used to believe and to teach that this means God chooses some to be saved and some to be lost. That is still the way it seems to read for me, but it cannot mean this because the scripture cannot be broken and 2 Peter 3:9 makes it clear that God's will is to save everybody. So what is Paul talking about?

Verse 16 seems to summarise the point of this passage. God's will is supreme. But what does he mean when he says he has mercy on who he decides to and hardens who he decides to?

This whole chapter is about the fact that the Jews are not God's people any more. The fact that they are descended from Abraham does not make them the subjects of the promises made to him, because the Arabs are also his descendants but not subjects of the promises. The Jews like to think that they are God's special people, so do the Muslims, so do Christians, does God allow every religion that claim it to be his genuine true people on Earth? Of course not! Only one group can represent God perfectly.

God can choose his own criteria for the people he will call his own. He is not bound by genetic descent, or the desire of religious leaders, or apostolic succession; that means he can show mercy to gentiles or Jews, which is the point of this book. On the other hand, just as God can decide who can be his representative, he can also decide who can be the Devil's representative.

Pharaoh is a good example, people wax verbose in criticism of God for "hardening Pharaoh's heart" as is mentioned in this passage. But let me ask you: Did Pharaoh initially want to let them go, or initially refuse?

And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. 2 And Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. (Exodus 5:1-2)

Pharaoh refused for the reason that he did not acknowledge Jehovah (or his existence we may say?) as a god to be obeyed. It was not until much later that God hardened Pharaoh, strengthening his resolve, so that God would be able to show the Egyptians how powerful he was, helping them to be saved as well.

God chose to harden one who did not believe, God chooses to have mercy on those who do believe. Paul and Peter do not disagree, God does not force anyone to be lost, he is doing his best to save those who will let him. But believe me, you don't want to be like Pharaoh.