The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: A Closer Look at the Weird and Wild Parts of the BibleSample

God’s Love and Pharaoh's Heart

Today, we’re going to take a closer look at the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart that takes place during the Exodus. Depending on how you read and interpret these verses, it’s not hard to interpret these events as God hijacking Pharaoh’s free will, which prolongs the Israelites’ enslavement in Egypt and increases the number of plagues and the amount of suffering inflicted upon the people of Egypt. Is that really what’s going on here? Or, like before, is there more to the story?

The first mention of Pharaoh’s heart being hardened shows up in Exodus 4. Shortly after God chooses Moses to be His representative, “The Lord said to Moses, ‘When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go’” (Exodus 4:21).

So, this settles it, right? Before we’ve even gotten into the mix, God tells Moses plain as day that He is going to harden Pharaoh’s heart. Except, it’s not quite that simple.

In Exodus 7, Moses and his brother Aaron have their first showdown with Pharaoh. By the power of God, they perform a miraculous sign. But Pharaoh is unfazed. Verse 13 tells us, “Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the Lord had said.”

Do you notice what’s missing from this verse? We aren’t told who or what hardened Pharaoh’s heart. All we are told is that his heart became hard, just as the Lord had said. By itself, this missing detail doesn’t overturn what we read earlier, but it’s worth noting because of what we’re going to discover as we keep reading.

The next section of Exodus chronicles the Ten Plagues being unleashed upon Egypt. And after every plague, the author makes special mention of the condition of Pharaoh’s heart. After the first plague, we are simply told what we’ve heard before, that his heart “... became hard …” (Exodus 7:22). But then, something changes after the second plague.

But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said. Exodus 8:15 NIV

This time, we’re told clearly that Pharaoh is the one who hardened his own heart. After the third plague, we’re told Pharaoh’s heart was hard. After the fourth, Pharaoh hardened his own heart. Fifth, Pharaoh’s heart was hard. Then, after the sixth plague, the pattern changes. It’s here, for the first time in this whole ordeal, we are told the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart. After the seventh plague, we return to Pharaoh as the one who hardened his own heart. For each of the last three plagues, God is given the credit as the one who hardened Pharaoh’s heart.

Here’s the takeaway: Pharaoh was given six different chances to repent before God hardened his heart.

Pharaoh was hell-bent on rebellion against God. No amount of signs or wonders was going to change his mind or alter his course. He was going to resist until the very end. So, when God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, He was simply giving Pharaoh what he wanted.

Rabbi David Fohrman teaches that God hardening Pharaoh’s heart wasn’t an example of God robbing Pharaoh of his free will but reinforcing it.

We’ll illustrate this with an example. Imagine a parent at the grocery store with their two-year-old. The two-year-old really wants candy, but the parent refuses to give it to them. But then, the two-year-old has a meltdown. The parent stands their ground for a while, but the crying goes on long enough, the child yells loud enough, and the scene becomes embarrassing enough that, eventually, the parent gives in and gives the child what they want, even though the parent doesn’t want to.

In his mind, Pharaoh was the parent. The Israelites were the screaming children. Pharaoh did not want to let the Israelites go. But, over time, as the plagues continued, his willpower started to wear thin. So God, as an act of grace, hardened (the same Hebrew word can also mean “strengthened”) Pharaoh’s heart. Because of this, Pharaoh was able to hold his ground—until, that is, the larger message God wanted to deliver was received by Pharaoh, Egypt, Israel, and the other nations.

In his letter to the Roman Christians, the Apostle Paul writes, “For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden” (Romans 9:17-18 NIV).

The purpose of the Ten Plagues and the reason God hardened Pharaoh’s heart was so that everyone would know He is the one true God. Not Pharaoh, not the gods of Egypt, and not the gods of any other nation.

And as God’s name has been proclaimed across the earth, different people have responded in different ways. Those whose hearts are soft have responded with repentance. Those whose hearts are hard have responded with rebellion.

Which brings us to the real question these Scriptures are inviting us to wrestle with: What is the condition of your heart? How will you respond when God reveals Himself to you?

Or, in the words of Jesus, are you good soil?

“Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.” Mark 4:3-8 NIV

God, soften my heart. I want to be open to what You want to say and responsive to what You ask me to do. In the parts of my life where I have been resistant, help me become repentant. I want all that I am and all that I do to be devoted to You. In Jesus’ name, amen.