Exodus — Chapter 9

But for this cause have I raised thee up, that I may shew my power in thee, and my name may be spoken of throughout all the earth. Lapide addresses the predestination of Pharaoh to his reprobate role. Following Augustine and Aquinas, he insists that God did not predestine Pharaoh to sin or to hell, but permitted his freely-chosen hardness to serve as the occasion of God's glory. God's permissive will uses even human malice for His own ends without being the author of that malice. He cites Romans 9:17.

And Moses stretched forth his rod towards heaven, and the Lord sent thunder and hail, and fire ran along upon the ground. The seventh plague—hail of fire—was a compound miracle: burning fire and cold hail coexisted and struck simultaneously, which are naturally contrary elements. Lapide cites Chrysostom: God commands contraries to cooperate in punishment; the same divine omnipotence that united water and fire in the burning bush now unites hail and fire in judgment. Created things are weapons in God's hand.