I wrote on Romans 9. over eight years ago. I now have some related observations.
So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.
Romans 9:16–18 ESV
Does the Bible tell us about some of the results of God showing his power in Pharaoh and getting his name proclaimed in all the earth?
Yes, it does.
I ask the question, because sometimes people say God hardens sinners “for his own glory” as if that explains anything. I argue in my essay of Romans 9 that Paul says God hardens some in order to bring salvation to the elect, a vast number from all over the world. In other words, though it was just for God to punish Pharaoh, Paul shows that wasn’t his primary motive.
And if we go back an look at the Bible’s description of the results of God hardening Pharaoh, we will see confirmation of Paul’s perspective.
A generation after the Exodus, Rahab the prostitute saves herself and her family by betraying her city Jericho and helping the two Hebrew spies. She became an Israelite and an ancestor to Jesus. When she listed her reasons for siding with the Hebrews she included this detail: “we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt” (Joshua 2:10; see Exodus 14:4). The Gibeonites said the same thing (Joshua 9:9-10). Additionally, a mixed multitude of Egyptians left with the Israelites in the Exodus, many of whom were motivated by the display of the power of God and the destruction of Egypt (Exodus 12:38).
So this provides further evidence that God’s raising of Pharaoh to show his power and proclaim his name in all the earth, is a precedent for Israel to be raised up to show God’s wrath (Romans 9:22) through the crucifixion of Christ, which is proclaimed in the Gospel–the power of God (Romans 1:16)–and published in all the earth (Romans 1:5).