Bible Question: Why did God harden the heart of the Pharoh when Moses went to request the freedom of his people? God hardened Pharoh's heart, and then punished him for having a stone heart... |
Bible Answer: Dear Fefala: Pharoah's heart was hardened after nine out of the ten plagues (7:22, 8:15, 8:19, 8:32, 9:7, 9:12, 9:34-35, 10:20, 10:27). However, it is interesting to note that as the plagues progressed, events happened that cannot be merely summed up as "Pharoah's heart was hardened." First, he resorted to his palace and did not give the matter another thought (7:23). Second, he made a false promise to let the people worship if the frogs left (8:8). Next, he ignored the words of his magicians when they acknowledged the presence of God in the plagues (8:19). Then, he asked Moses to pray for him while he allowed the Israelites some freedom to go into the desert and worship (8:28). Pharoah also investigated the dead livestock (9:7). He twice acknowledged his sin to Moses and promised to let the people go (9:27-28, 10:16-17). He angrily commanded the Moses to never return to his presence (10:28). And finally, as a broken man he submissively released the Israelites into freedom (12:31-32). Why do I mention all that? Why was his heart so hard? There are two main reasons, I believe. The first is the display of the power of God, and the second is the reliquishing of Pharoah over to his sinful desires. First, in Exodus 6:1, 7:5, 8:22-23, 9:14-16, 10:1-2, and 11:9, you can readily get a good grasp on the whole purpose of God in the exodus of his people. He sent the plagues to "perform these miraculous signs of mine among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren." This type of event parallels God's command to keep his laws that he would give to his people in their promised land (Deut. 6). God was setting a precedent, he was manipulating events that would serve as a constant reminder to the Israelites that he was the Almighty Lord. Thus, the hardening of Pharoah's hard was part of the plan. Also check out 1 Samuel 16:14, where God sends an evil spirit to torment Saul so that His ultimate purpose might be accomplished. Second, Pharaoh was perpetually resisting God. He ignored God, he confessed his sins but never repent of them, he allowed only the men to leave, and he made promises to set God's people free that he renigged on at the last minute. As background info, Egypt was a land full of various types of gods (Pharoah himself was even considered a god). With such a plethora of paganism, Pharaoh probably gave little credit to the power of God due to the fact that such a God was the Lord of Hebrew slaves. Pharoah was stubbornly disobedient and willing to partially compromise (8:15, 8:25). What is one alternative that God has with someone who has utterly rejected Him? To let him has his way, as Paul says, "hand him over to Satan" (1 Cor. 5:5). Pharoah's constant rejection of God coupled with God's desire to carry out his perfect plan meant that Pharoah's heart would be completely unyielding. God did not merely hardened Pharoah's heart and punish him unjustly. He used a sinful man's heart to orchestrate the single greatest event of the Old Testament. Sandman |