While Exodus does not explicitly give a reason, it certainly comes pretty close to doing so. Consider God’s words to Pharaoh in Exodus 9:16, while warning of the plague of hail: “But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” God could have erased all of Egypt in the blink of an eye. He could have rained fire and sulfur upon them until the whole country was nothing but ash and dust, just as He did to Sodom and Gomorrah. However, God had other plans. Repeatedly, God has said that both Israel and Egypt will come to know that He is the LORD, that He is Yahweh. So, God raised up Pharaoh for the purpose of displaying the power and greatness of His name through the defiant king.
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