St. Irenaeus: God Knew Who Wouldn't Believe And Left Them In Darkness

St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book 4, Chap. 29, AD 180: "But, say they, God hardened the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants [Exodus 9:35]. Those, then, who allege such difficulties, do not read in the Gospel that passage where the Lord replied to the disciples, when they asked Him, Why do You speak unto them in parables?— Because it is given unto you to know the mystery of the kingdom of heaven; but to them I speak in parables, that seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not hear, understanding they may not understand; in order that the prophecy of Isaiah regarding them may be fulfilled, saying, Make the heart of this people gross and make their ears dull, and blind their eyes. But blessed are your eyes, which see the things that you see; and your ears, which hear what you hear [Matthew 13:11-16; Isaiah 6:10]. For one and the same God [that blesses others] inflicts blindness upon those who do not believe, but who set Him at naught; just as the sun, which is His creation, [acts with regard] to those who, by reason of weakness of the eyes cannot behold his light; but to those who believe in Him and follow Him, He grants a fuller and greater illumination of mind. In accordance with this word, therefore, does the apostle say, in the Second [Epistle] to the Corinthians: In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of those who believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ should shine unto them. [2 Corinthians 4:4]...
     If, therefore, in the present time also, God, knowing the number of those who will not believe, since He foreknows all things, has given them over to unbelief, and turned away His face from men of this stamp, leaving them in the darkness which they have chosen for themselves, why is it surprising if He also at that time gave over to their unbelief, Pharaoh, who never would have believed, along with those who were with him?”