Some mistakenly believe that God, in order to
prove a point, directly hardened the heart of an Egyptian Pharaoh. The result, therefore,
was eternal punishment in order that Jehovah could make a statement unto the nations (Ex.
10:2). It should be pointed out that the Biblical text states that God hardened Pharaoh's
heart. Paul also stated that He "hardens" whom He desires (Rom. 9:18). But the
question to ask is how did He do it, because the Bible also states that Pharaoh hardened
his own heart (Ex. 8:15). The laws of interpretation do not allow us to ask
"which" did the hardening [as in, one or the other], for such a question pits
scripture against scripture. Rather, let us ask "how" were Pharaoh and God both
responsible for the hardening?
There are two possible ways which God
could have hardened Pharaoh's heart; directly or indirectly. It is difficult to see how we
could choose to believe the direct method and still believe that Pharaoh had anything to
do with it. Given the choice, why would we choose to believe that God directly hardened
the heart of a man? Are there so few hard-hearted people in the world that God had to
harden one, or could He not pick a more suitable time when He could accomplish the same
thing without robbing one man of his free will? Could God accomplish His purpose of
magnifying his name unto the nations only by making a man disobey Him?
There is a more desirable method of
interpreting God's part in the hardening process. First, let us realize that God's
omniscient ability to foresee and then select the perfect time for Israel's deliverance
allowed him to look across the landscape of human history and select Pharaoh as a proper
candidate. Along this line, let us not forget two facts; [1] God told Abraham 430 years
earlier that his descendants could not have their land because "the iniquity of the
Amorites was not yet full" (Gen. 15:16). The point I wish to make is that God worked
his plan into a time when men were most sinful and deserving of punishment. God did not
have to make the Amorites any more sinful, He did not speed up their downfall. Likewise,
the sinfulness of Pharaoh was full the day Moses commanded him to free Israel. [2] When
Moses was first commissioned to be God's spokesman, God knew what kind of man Pharaoh was.
"But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go, except under
compulsion." (Ex. 3:19). The significant point to be made is that God knew the man,
God did not make the man.
Second, by His choosing a plan of escape
and salvation that would prove onerous to so powerful a man, He did make it unlikely that
only the most god-fearing and humble man would submit. God sent two old men (Moses was
eighty) — without the aid of army forces — before Pharaoh with a simple message
to "let my people go" (Ex. 5:1). God set the stage, and Pharaoh's pride and
arrogance made him a willing actor. Yes, through this indirect method, God hardened the
heart of Pharaoh, and Pharaoh hardened his own heart.
In our day, God hardens the hearts of
the "wise." He says there is salvation through the cross, and it is a foolish
message to some (1 Cor. 1:18-23). When we preach Jesus Christ, we preach what amounts to a
"stumbling block" to Jews. Because Jesus said difficult things to his disciples,
some withdrew (John 6:58-68). Paul's countrymen stumbled over the "A stone of
stumbling and a rock of offense" (1 Pet. 2:8). Did God have to make it so hard for
them to believe in their Messiah? Yes. But it is not hard for those who love God and seek
truth. For those who are open and honest, there is salvation. God's plan, in Moses day and
in ours, has always left free will and the power to choose intact. God never hardens the
heart of someone who is seeking the truth. But those who are too wise and smart to
believe, He will give them over to a "depraved mind" and He will send upon them
a "deluding influence" so as to believe what is false (Rom. 1:28; 2 Thess.
2:11). B.W. Johnson wrote:
"[H]e did it by a law of the universe that whoever
turns from the light shall become blind, and whoever steels his heart against the truth
shall find his heart hardened, then they were morally responsible if they had turned from
the light and hardened their hearts. It is a physical as well as a moral law that he who
turns from the light and seeks to abide in darkness will become blinded until he will
"believe a lie and be damned."
If God hardened a good and sincere
heart, He would be unjust and unfit to judge the world.
Instead of sending His Son, God could
have come to this earth with 20 billion angels and His awesome appearance would have
melted the most belligerent and obstinate heart. He didn't, so He indirectly hardens those
who reject His Son, and He has mercy on those who believe.