God's purpose in judgement

“For by now I could have stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth. But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you My power and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Exodus 9:15-16
Here in Exodus 9 we come across a very interesting verse. If you think about it, it does beg the question: why did God bother sending ten plagues upon Egypt, when He knew all along that it would not change Pharaoh’s heart? Why didn’t He just wipe them all out straightaway?
We can extend this kind of questioning to the events of the Great Tribulation. Why bother with all the seals, the trumpets, the bowls; all the plagues upon the earth – why not just say, ‘That’s all, folks!’ and be done with it?
Because God’s purpose in bringing these judgements is not just about judging. Even in the midst of the plagues of Egypt, and also in the midst of the Great Tribulation, there will be some who are not a lost cause. They just need a little prodding to come to God, by seeing His power. Pharaoh had hardened his heart, but there were some Egyptians who heeded the words of Moses and Aaron (see Ex. 9:20-21). It is for these people that God has mercy in not destroying them completely, so that they might be saved. God does not delight in the death of the wicked (Ezek. 18:23, 33:11). Judgement is called His ‘strange work’ and His ‘alien task’ (Isa. 28:21). Judgement is His last resort, and even in it He is showing mercy so that people might come to Him and be saved.