WHO HARDENED THE HEART OF PHARAOH?

And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go. (Exodus 4:21)

In the account of the exodus of Israel from Egypt, we read of how the heart of Pharoah was hardened. Besides this verse, this heart “hardening” was mentioned another 18 times. (Exodus 7:3,13,14, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 12, 34, 35; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8, 17)

Some of them are similar in expression to Exodus 4:21 (verses in bold).

Some may wonder: who hardens hearts? Does God control our thoughts? Was Pharoah and his servants victimised?

First of all, let us understand the concept of "God wills".

As we read in the book of Job, God is in control of everything. Satan had to be authorised by God to strike disaster upon Job (c.f. Job 1:12; 2:6)

In James 4:15, we are reminded that only when God wills, can things take place.

If we apply this concept to the Pharoah, we see that "God wills" for his and his servants' hearts to be hardened. God authorised the possibility of their hearts being hardened.

Second, did Pharoah have a choice? YES! 10 times over! Even after the death of the firstborn, he did not repent of his actions, resulting in the demise of his army.

How do we know that? Examine the passages in Exodus 9:27, 34; 10:16. It was obvious that he sinned. The process that led him to sin is clearly outlined in James 1:13-15. Pharoah could blame no one but himself to allow his own pride to lead him into sinning against God.

Third, God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked (c.f. Ezekiel 33:11), but that all will come to repentance (Ezekiel 33:11; Matthew 9:13; 2 Peter 3:9).

God is gracious to both good and evil (Matthew 5:45)! God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11). Everyone has the opportunity and free will to respond positively to God’s commands.

Thus, God authorised the possibility of Pharoah and his servants to turn a blind eye to the facts. God gave him 10 chances, but he CHOSE to blow each one of them.

To give a loose analogy: The government ALLOWS drivers to exceed the speed limit. In what way you say? Well, the fact that cars are made to go above the speed limit. If the government would not ALLOW, it could render all cars to not go above the specified speed limits. The fact is the government does not do so. Would we then say that the government CAUSED us to speed because it allows our cars to go above the speed limit? Obviously not! We speed because we CHOOSE to. And when caught or when an accident happens as result of the bad choice, we pay the consequences.

What if Pharoah had done the right thing by letting the Israelites go? Bearing in mind Exodus 7:5, etc., the purpose was to show the supremacy of God to the Egyptians.

In that case of course, the people would have been convinced without suffering the plagues! Or perhaps to still have the "wow" effect (for the sake of neighbouring countries, c.f. Joshua 2:9), it could have been a non-invasive or even productive form (remember the 7 plenteous years in Joseph's time). God being omniscient, knew that Pharoah would not let the Israelites go. He merely used the choice of Pharoah to show He was LORD. A contrasting example would be that of Cyrus, the king of Persia, who chose to allow his spirit to be “raised” by rendering his obedience to God. He was thus blessed with a great empire and was the one who authorised and facilitated the return of the Jews to Jerusalem, and the rebuilding of the temple (Ezra 1:1-8).

God's plan will be fulfilled regardless! BUT man must bear the consequences of his own actions.

The application here is this: God DOES NOT control our free will. Although God allows us to be tested (c.f. Job, Jesus, etc.), we need to make the right choices and not fall into the trap of sin. If we allow sin to rule in our lives, if we, like Pharoah, turn a nonchalant eye to sin, whenever we seemingly “get away” from it, our hearts will eventually be hardened (Hebrews 3:13).

How do we know the right choices to make? Study the Word of God! Put it into practice (c.f. Matthew 7:24,25; Philippians 4:9)! Make sure it dwells in our very fibre of being such that it becomes “second nature” (c.f. Colossians 3:16).

God help us all that we continually keep our hearts tender and receptive to the admonishment of God. Never allow it to be hardened as did Pharoah, lest we too be overthrown in the sea of the final Judgment. 

Ask Yourself:

1. How did God “harden” Pharoah’s heart?

2. Was Pharoah “victimised” since God had intended to show the Egyptians, He was LORD (c.f. Exodus 7:5)? Why not?

3. How can the “deceitfulness of sin” harden our hearts? (Hebrews 3:13)

   
   

Suggested Answers:

1. God “hardened” the heart of Pharoah in the sense that He allowed that possibility to happen. 

2. No. It was Pharoah’s choice to disobey God in spite of there being miracle after miracle. God made use of his disobedience to demonstrate His supremacy.

3. If we habitually think we “got away” from sin, we will be deceived into thinking that it does not matter. Eventually it will harden our hearts to be insensitive to sin.