NOTES for Exo 9:1-35
Today's reading largely answers the question of why God still could not, or would not, soften Pharaoh's heart. The answer is the mention that God does not permit the Egyptian plagues in order simply to wipe Egypt and Pharaoh himself from the face of the earth and remove him from the road as an annoying obstacle to His plans. If that had been the only goal, it would have cost God nothing to accomplish it much faster (vv. 14-16). But it is important to Him that, in the confrontation with stubborn Pharaoh, God's power become evident to all (v. 16).
It would seem that, if so, the best proof of that power would be the complete disappearance of Egypt and Pharaoh himself from the face of the earth. But apparently God's power is manifested differently. For if, for example, Egypt really had been destroyed by some monstrous natural cataclysm, God's power would have manifested itself merely as an ordinary natural force, and the God of the Bible in that case would not differ very much from any pagan thunder god, except by surpassing any of them in scale. But this is not what God needs. He does not need corpses and ruins, but witnesses. After all, God can have relationships only with living people, and only living people can tell others about their relationships with God.
Apparently, God's ability to crush cities and countries with one blow is not something fundamental for His relationships with us. In any case, when He addresses a person, He does not emphasize this. But recognizing Him as the Lord of the universe is extremely important to Him, and from Pharaoh He expects at least that recognition - the minimum without which any relationship with Him becomes impossible for a person. That is why Pharaoh's voluntary consent is so important to Him.
It would seem that this consent is still not voluntary, since all the Egyptian plagues were, at first glance, precisely a demonstration of power. But this demonstration was, first, selective, so that many natural disasters passed by God's people (we find one example of this in today's reading, vv. 25-26), and second, controlled, ceasing at Moses' request (there is an example of that in today's passage as well, v. 33). All of this was meant to make Pharaoh understand that the God of the Hebrews, whom he despises, although He can do everything, nevertheless does not seek simply to demonstrate His superiority; He wants the establishment of trusting relationships, which are entirely possible if Pharaoh decides to recognize Him as Lord of the world and, accordingly, to do what God requires of him.
First comes the voluntary and free recognition of God's authority, and only then following His will. But if a person's heart continues to persist, such relationships become impossible, and then the person begins to see before him another face of God, one far less favorable to him.