And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.
Exodus 4:21, ESV
Beginning with the above verse, the Bible speaks of Pharaoh’s hardened heart eighteen times in the next ten chapters. Five instances refer to the condition of Pharaoh’s heart (hardened) and four instances assign the action of hardening to Pharaoh. The remaining nine identify God as the One who hardened Pharaoh’s heart. In addition, God also promises to harden the hearts of the Egyptians (14:17), which He does.
Does God really harden people’s hearts against Him? If we take God at His word, we see that He does, and not just in Pharaoh’s case. He hardened Sihon, the king of Heshbon (Deut. 2:30) and He hardened the peoples that dwelt in the Promised Land (Josh. 11:20). Why would God do such a thing? We are not left completely without answers:
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your grandson how I have dealt harshly with the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord.”
Exodus 10:2, ESV
But Sihon the king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day.
Deuteronomy 3:20, ESV
For it was the Lord’s doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be devoted to destruction and should receive no mercy but be destroyed, just as the Lord commanded Moses.
Joshua 11:20, ESV
God hardens according to His will, to bring destruction upon those who oppose Him and to glorify Himself and make His name known. In Exodus 9:16, God tells Pharaoh
for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.
Exodus 9:16, ESV
The God who hardened Pharaoh’s heart is the same God who raised him up to the position of Pharaoh, and not because he was worthy, but so that God, through Pharaoh, might make His name known. Though Moses’ original request was to travel into the wilderness to worship God, God used Pharaoh’s hardened heart to accomplish much more: He delivered the Israelites from the yoke of slavery in Egypt, He allowed them to plunder the decimated nation as they left, and He annihilated the entire Egyptian army in the Red Sea.
Still, it may seem unfair, unkind, or unjust for God to harden a person, or a nation, and then punish them for being stubborn or stiff-necked toward Him. Lest God be made a purveyor of evil, it must also be acknowledged that Pharaoh himself hardened his heart. He is culpable for his rebellion against God. Both God’s sovereignty over all His creation and man’s responsibility must be affirmed, for they are both in view here. We cannot fully understand how the two work together, but to deny one or the other is to deny Scripture. Paul anticipated the cry of protest against God’s exercise of His sovereignty, and addressed it in his epistle to the Romans:
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who are you, O man, to answer back to God?
Romans 9:17-19, ESV
May we never forget that the God who hardens is the same God that shows mercy. He is God, and acts rightly in both roles.
