Not having received formal theological training, nor having read systematic theology in a diligent manner, I feel inadequate to attempt a bifurcation of the concepts of supra- vice infralapsarianism. My only conclusion, which is based in part on my dismay that a rigorous study of the Word of God has come to necessitate being able to handle a professional jargon such as is required by all academic disciplines, is that the disputed areas concerning when Yahwah Elohim predestined the elect and the reprobate – and that the latter were in fact so predestined – obfuscates and detracts from the greater picture of God’s sovereignty and how He has chosen to display His glory.

Below is my endeavor to reconcile Paul’s teaching on vessels of wrath versus vessels of mercy beginning in Romans 9:19 in conjunction with Exodus 9:16, which reads:

“But for this purpose, I have *established/appointed you (i.e., the Pharaoh of Egypt), for the purpose of ||your demonstrating (Hiphil infinitive construct) My power ~ demonstrating My power through you|| in order to proclaim My Name in all the earth/land.” (my translation of וְאוּלָָם בַעַבוּר זֹאת הֶעֶמַדְתִּיךָ בַעַבוּר הַרְאֹתְךָ אֶֶת־כֹחִי וּלְמַעַן סַפֵּר שִׁמִי בְ־כָל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ ^{Ex. 9:16})

[Comment: *To cause something to stand, cause to exist Koehler & Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the OT attributes this translation for Ex. 9:16. | *To cause to stand per the Analytical Hebrew & Chaldee Lexicon]

For his purposes, as stated above in the title, Paul translates Exodus 9:16 thus:

“For this very thing I *roused/stirred you up so that I might demonstrate in you my power, and so that my name might be declared in all the earth. ^{Rom. 9:17} So, then, He has mercy on whom He wants and hardens whom He wants.” ^{Rom. 9:18}

[Comment: *Εξηγειρα/eksiyira – to rouse/stir up, incite: τινα/teena ~ someone to resistance Rom. 9:17. This definition is taken from Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon, with the commentary that “some explain the words εξηγειρα σε/seh [to mean] ‘I have raised thee up into life, caused thee to exist, or I have raised thee to a public position, set thee up as a king; but the objection to these interpretations lies in the fact that Paul draws from v17 what he says in v18, and therefore εξεγειρειν/ekseyirin must be nearly synonymous with σκληρυνειν/sklirinin (to harden).” This objection taken by some interpreters speaks to their theological view of rejecting the predestination of the reprobate. But this is exactly Paul’s point, which is completely contrary to such an objection!

On the other hand, the Septuagint (LXX) – the @300 B.C. Greek translation of the Old Testament – translated the verb under consideration as *διατηρεω/diatireo ~ to keep continually or carefully (Thayer’s), i.e., to preserve.]

It is clear that there is quite a bit of wiggle room when considering how to translate he’emadtikha/הֶעֶמַדְתִּיךָ, depending, I would suggest, on the translator’s theological perspective regarding the issue of lapsarianism – supra vs infra. The supralapsarian argument, as I understand it, would be that Yahwah Elohim created this particular man to be pharaoh at the time in history when He would call His people to leave Egypt. On the other hand, the infralapsarian would argue that this pharaoh just happened to be in power at the time of the Exodus, at which time God hardened his heart.

The bottom line is that it doesn’t matter. God’s concern was for His people Israel as the elect; the pharaoh was the clay in the hand of the Potter, to be used as a vessel of wrath (σκευη οργης/skevi oryis) κατηρτισμενα εις απωλειαν (katirtismena ees apolian ~ designated for destruction)^{cf. Rom.9:19-22} || Here we could hypothesize that the infralapsarian would see the participle as a middle/reflexive (declared to be reprobate by reason of allowing oneself to succumb to the sin of hardening of the heart), while the supralapsarian would see it as a passive action performed by Yahwah before the world was formed. Thayer’s Greek lexicon puts it this way: “[These vessels of wrath] are men whose souls God has so constituted (to which I would add, ‘predestined from eternity past’) that they cannot escape destruction.”

Although it seems to me that Paul’s argument is supralapsarian, the point is that whether these vessels of wrath, headed for destruction/perdition, are created (pre-Fall) as such or are passed over, i.e., not having received the effectual call of the Holy Spirit (post-Fall), is a moot point. The reprobate are the foil used by God to show His glory through the elect.

Yet, these very vessels fashioned for destruction contend that a God Who demands justice and righteousness is incompatible with a God of love and mercy (i.e., an argument for universal salvation); while Arminians put salvation in the hands of the vessel created, which in my opinion gives an inflated view of importance to, as well as an unwarranted burden of, the role in the salvation of those to whom the gospel is presented of the one who preaches or evangelizes from this perspective. In both instances, the prime consideration is human effort, not God’s glory.

I would suggest that Paul is applying the literary device of the ‘foil’ when addressing these vessels fashioned for destruction. His focus is on the elect, whom Paul tells us in Ephesians 1:4, “He chose in [Christ] before the foundation of the world…having predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ (Ιησους Χριστος/Yeshua haMoshiach/ יֵֵשׁוּעַ הַמּשִׁיחַ )” … Who, He Himself “having been foreknown before the foundation of the world.” ^{1 Peter 1:20}

There is a tendency to question the concept of predestination, since it raises questions concerning Yahwah’s justice and mercy, especially in times of cataclysmic catastrophes in which unimaginable numbers of souls are lost, an example of the first order being the utter condemnation of the ancient world during the time of Noah. ^{Cf. specifically Genesis 6:11-13 where God’s reasons for destroying the earth are delineated.} The Apostle Peter uses the case of Noah not only as an example of God’s justice which was required be exacted on wicked and reprobate men, but also of His mercy which He extended to Noah, who had been found to be righteous, and by extension, to his wife, three sons and their wives, or as Peter observes, God “preserved the eighth, Noah, a preacher of righteousness.”[Comment: The Greek is quite intentional that God’s particular care was directed at Noah alone.] On the other hand, God brought a deluge upon the “the impious, ungodly world – ‘those destitute of reverential awe towards God (Thayer’s).’”^{Cf. 2 Peter 2:5}

However, Peter had earlier addressed the days of Noah in his first epistle. But, rather than concentrating on the judgment God had brought upon the world, Peter directs his attention to “the spirits in prison who were formerly disobedient when the longsuffering of God waited patiently in the days of Noah when the ark was being built. [Comment: In the vernacular, the time clause could be read as ‘when God endured the world’s wickedness, while He waited patiently until Noah had built the ark. (my translation) [To them], Christ — Who had been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in spirit |OR| made alive by the Spirit — in spirit/by the Spirit came and preached.” ^{Cf. 1 Peter 3:18-20}

In both of these passages, Peter draws attention to the proclamation/preaching [of God’s word]. In the one instance, it was by Noah, as he lived among the ungodly on a daily basis, and finally, as he performed the arduous task of building the ark as Yahwah (יָהוָה) had commanded him. The other instance is that of the Messiah going and preaching in spirit/by the Spirit to the disobedient *spirits in the prison of Hell. *[Comment: It is important to stipulate just who these spirits, to whom the Messiah preached, were. The Greek word used – ‘pneuma’ (πνευμα) – is the gloss for the Hebrew ‘ruach’ (רוּחַ), which, in combination with the Hebrew word indicating the ‘intellect-endowing breath of life’ that is breathed into man’s nostrils, n^eshahmah (נְשָׁםָ), represents “the rational spirit, the power by which a human being feels, thinks, wills, decides.” (Thayer’s) In other words, these spirits were not lifeless wraiths, floating around in nether-space; rather, they constituted the spiritual essence of who they were in the flesh.]

At this point, it is necessary to take a look at Paul’s sermon to the citizens of Rome, delivered on Mars Hill (Areopagus), near the Acropolis in Athens, in which he had reasoned with them concerning the existence of the One True God and “the necessity to repent because a day has been set when the world will be judged in righteousness by a man to whom it has been appointed — a man whom God raised from the dead.” But leading up to this, the crux of his argument, Paul allows that “God overlooked the times of ignorance, [but now with the coming of the Messiah], He commands all men everywhere to repent.” ^{Cf. Acts 17:22, 30-31}[Comment: Based on this passage, it is certainly within the realm of exegetical interpretation to allow, as does Paul, in my opinion, for the spirits to whom the Messiah preached and who believed on Him to have been released from Hell to dwell in the ‘Bosom of Abraham,’ and to have been among the elect. Here is a surprising and amazing example of God’s exchanging justice for mercy.]

Both the elect, and the Sacrifice whereby they would acquire the righteousness that would make them acceptable to a just and righteous God, were determined before the world was created.

I would ask that you read my post https://the-dragon-is-slain.com/2024/12/03/the-roar-of-war-the-roar-of-death-and-the-roar-of-victory-the-eternal-sons-roar-was-heard-once-and-will-be-heard-once-more-are-you-ready/ which addresses the issue of election.