Today I gave a good deal of thought to the lessons we might learn from Pharaoh's hardened heart. Here is the question that was put to me by my seminary professor, Dr. Daniel Hawk: "During the contest between
Moses and Pharaoh, we are informed at some points that the Lord
"hardened Pharaoh's heart" (4:21; 9:12; 10:1, 20; 11:10; 14:4, 8, 27)
but at others that "Pharaoh hardened his heart" (7:14, 22; 8:15, 19,
32, 34; 9:7, 35). We may assume that the biblical writer set this
tension before us for a reason. What is it? What theological message
might be conveyed by these opposing declarations?" The following is my answer.
There are multiple theological messages that might be conveyed by the opposing declarations of the LORD hardening Pharaoh’s heart on the one hand against Pharaoh hardening his heart on the other. I’d like to briefly address four possible theological conclusions.
First, we might conclude: “Be careful what you wish for.” A careful reading of the text demonstrates a timeline order of events that show that Pharaoh’s first hardened his own heart and then, later, the LORD strengthened Pharaoh’s resolve by hardening his heart for him. Exodus 4:21, the first reference to Pharaoh’s hardened heart does indicate that it is the LORD who will harden Pharaoh’s heart. But this exegete believes it is important to note the verb tense in this verse. “But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.” In other words, in this first reference the Lord is giving Moses a look into the future at what the Lord will do in regards to Pharaoh’s heart.
The next seven references all refer to Pharaoh hardening his own heart. He was determined not to let the Israelites go, at almost any cost. In almost every one of these cases of Pharaoh hardening his own heart, we are made to see this in the midst of God’s reprieve and mercy. After the first plague, when the magicians were able to duplicate the plague of the Nile turning to blood, we are told that Pharaoh’s heart remained hardened (7:22). After the second plague, Pharaoh again hardened his own heart “when he saw that there was a respite” (8:15). Pharaoh hardened his heart after the fourth plague of flies only after the Lord “removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh” (8:31). After the seventh plague Pharaoh hardened his heart again AFTER Moses “stretched out his hands to the LORD, and the thunder and the hail ceased, and the rain no longer poured upon the earth” (9:33). Over and over we see the pattern of Pharaoh hardening his own heart after the demonstration of God’s power followed by the demonstration of God’s mercy.
So when do we see God hardening Pharaoh’s heart for the first time? “The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh” (9:12) after the sixth plague of boils, when it became evident that even his magicians were not immune to the power and authority of God. We are told that “the boils came upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians” (9:11). The reader may read into the context of these two verses that for the first time Pharaoh may be wavering before the awesomeness of God’s authority and power. The intent of his mind up until this point was to defy the God of Moses and the Israelites. But no human can ever successfully confront God.
Theological conclusion number two could be summarized this way: no matter how great or mighty any man may be, he is never anything but a powerless, quivering puddle of fear before the true and mighty Lord of all creation.
So how could Pharaoh continue to do what he really wished to do – maintain a hard heart against Moses and Moses’ God – and yet could not humanly do on his own? “The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh” (9:12). This pattern continued after the eighth plague of locusts (10:20), after the ninth plague of darkness (10:27), and after the tenth plague of death to the firstborn (14:8). In each case the reader is given the impression that Pharaoh, if left to himself, is no match for the power and greatness of Yahweh and indeed, only through the power and greatness of Yahweh, could Pharaoh be able to recover his defiance against Moses and Moses’ God. One might conclude, “Be careful what you wish for; God may just grant your wish,” and “No man can confront the true God of the universe.”
Of course these first two conclusions only postpone the inevitable question: Why? Why would a good, gracious, loving, merciful God, who delights in the repentance of men, make a man’s heart hard so that he will not and cannot turn from his hardened ways? The reader is left to draw two further theological conclusions.
Conclusion Number Three: “True repentance comes from a heart of repentance and not a heart of the vanquished.” At the very root of man’s relationship with God (and this is a mystery that flies in the face of the sovereignty of God and his power and might) is the freedom of man to turn to God of his own volition. God will not force a man to love him or to surrender to him. This is a profound mystery for in man’s relationship with man, only the vanquished can surrender. But not so with God. His relationship model is based upon love, which in turn is based upon choice. If a man’s heart is determined not to turn, not to love, not to surrender, God will grant the wish of the heart and actually strengthen the man’s heart to harden against God.
What proof in the text do we have of conclusion #3? What verse reference can this exeget give? The conclusion of the story itself provides the reference. If Pharaoh had submitted to God only in defeat and in the face of the insurmountable power of God’s glory, then we would be forced to conclude that God can and does enforce His will and His heart upon man, despite the resistance of the man against it. In Pharaoh’s case, we conclude just the opposite. While God could easily have taken advantage of Pharaoh’s weakness (compared to and in the face of God’s strength), God did not do so.
Conclusion Number Four is this: “God will demonstrate his glory and God will be glorified by even the rebellious decisions of men.” Once more we come to the very root of man’s relationship with God. (And once more we find an uncomfortable truth that flies in the face of the freedom of mankind to choose and to love from their volition.) God will be glorified in His sovereignty! The text leaves no doubt to the reader as multiple times the narrator of the story intrudes into the story to make certain the reader understands exactly why God acts in the way he does.
Exodus 9:12 explains why the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart: “as the Lord had spoken to Moses,” a reference back to 4:21. What God says in His sovereign will is bound to happen. Exodus 10:1-2 explains that the purpose of God’s hardening Pharaoh’s heart is that God might demonstrate these signs and that the future generations of Israelites “may know that I am the LORD.” God explains in Exodus 11:9 that Pharaoh’s heart is hardened by the LORD so “that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” Exodus 14:4 clearly explains why God hardens Pharaoh’s heart: so that God “will get the glory over Pharaoh and all his host,” and so that even the Egyptians will know “that I am the LORD.” The most famous and conclusive verse of the Exodus narrator (and also of the Apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Romans) showing the theological rationale of God’s ultimate and sovereign glory is given to the reader in 9:16: “But for this purpose I have raised you [Pharaoh] up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.”
In this Exodus story we are given multiple theological conclusions, layered together in a complex and compelling manner. We should be careful what we wish for. God will strengthen our resolve – even against Him. God will not force a man to choose Him against his will. Yet God’s purpose will be accomplished.
