Meditations

Question from moodyradio listener on openline on November 23, 2019:

My question is based in Exodus, it’s more of a general, not a specific passage necessarily. I wonder if you could explain when God told pharaoh, when God hardened pharaoh’s heart? I always want to understand more about that, hoping that you could explain it for me.

Answer from Dr Michael Rydelnik:

Well, when you look at the story of pharaoh, when Moses goes to see him, it’s kind of interesting because … it says in Exodus 7:13, pharaoh’s heart hardened and he didn’t listen to them. It says in 7:22, pharaoh’s heart hardened and then it says in 8:15, he hardened his heart. Then in 8:32, pharaoh hardened his heart this time also and then in 9 verse 7, pharaoh’s heart was hardened. Up to now, pharaoh’s heart hardened, pharaoh hardened his heart and then it says the Lord hardened pharaoh’s heart in 9:12. And then when pharaoh saw the rain, this is in 9:34 and the hail and the thunder, he sinned again and hardened his heart. Here’s what I noticed, there’s three way it’s described and then in 10:20, the Lord hardens pharaoh’s heart, and then in 10:27, the Lord hardens pharaoh’s heart. I think you are getting the point, at some places, it says his heart hardened and then it says he hardened his own heart and then it says the Lord hardened his heart. I think what we have is the more we harden ourselves against God, he responds by hardening us further, it is an interaction and interplay between what the human being does, pharaoh with the hard heart, his hardened heart, he hardened it and hardened it and God says ok, this is what you want, I am going to harden this for you. And so this is the interplay that we see. One of the caution is we have to be careful not to harden ourselves against God. By the way, most of us is pretty hard, by grace God in His mercy allows us to be softened. Nevertheless, we have to be careful not to harden ourselves because the response is unbelief is the hardening and then we become more and more unbelieving, God further hardens our heart.

Exodus 7

¹³ And Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said. -nkjv

²² Then the magicians of Egypt did so with their ^[a]enchantments; and Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the Lord had said. -nkjv

Exodus 8

³² But Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also; neither would he let the people go. -nkjv

Exodus 9

⁷ Then Pharaoh sent, and indeed, not even one of the livestock of the Israelites was dead. But the heart of Pharaoh became hard, and he did not let the people go. -nkjv

¹² But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh; and he did not heed them, just as the Lord had spoken to Moses. -nkjv

³⁴ And when Pharaoh saw that the rain, the hail, and the thunder had ceased, he sinned yet more; and he hardened his heart, he and his servants. -nkjv

Exodus 10

²⁰ But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not let the children of Israel go. -nkjv

²⁷ But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go. -nkjv