Hardened Hearts

Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the desert.’” Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.” (Exodus 5:1–2, NIV 1984).

My Musings – God did allow Moses to take his brother Aaron with him. For God knew that “he [Aaron] can speak well…You [Moses] shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth.” (Exodus 4:14-16, NIV 1984). Together, Moses and Aaron would “speak to the people” and confront Pharaoh.

When confronted, Pharaoh replied, “I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.” He should have known of Him from the history of his land. For once upon a time, there was a Pharaoh who had heard of the Lord. That Pharaoh said, “to all his officials…’Can we find anyone like [Joseph], one in whom is the spirit of God?’ Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘Since God has made all this [the seven-years of plenty followed by seven-years of famine] known to you, there is no one so discerning and wise as you. You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you.” (Genesis 41:37–40, NIV 1984).

But the years (nearly 400) passed and “a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt.” (Exodus 1:8, NIV 1984). Neither did the next Pharaoh. Not only that, but he did “not know the Lord and [refused to] let Israel go.” At least at first. In fact, it took a many signs, wonders and miracles, to break through the hardened heart of Pharaoh before he let the people go. Just as the Lord had told Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, let my son go, so he may worship me. But you refused to let him go; so, I will kill your firstborn son.'” (Exodus 4:21–23, NIV 1984).

Nine plagues (including locusts, hail, boils, water turned to blood) nearly devastated the land that Pharaoh ruled, but they did not break him. But then, “the Lord had said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here, and when he does, he will drive you out completely.” (Exodus 11:1, NIV 1984).

After all the previous plagues failed, what could possibly break Pharaoh’s hardened heart? “Every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl, who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well. There will be loud wailing throughout Egypt—worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. But among the Israelites not a dog will bark at any man or animal. Then you [Pharaoh] will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.” (Exodus 11:5–7, NIV 1984).

Previously, God had told Moses, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So, I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land.” (Exodus 3:7–8, NIV 1984). Why then, would He later say, “I [God] will harden his [Pharaoh’s] heart so that he will not let the people go?” Does He want His people free or not?

This is a good question. One we cannot fully answer. We do know that “Scripture says [of] Pharaoh: ‘I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’ Therefore, God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.” (Romans 9:17–18, NIV 1984).

The Apostle Paul offers a possible answer. “What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath [Pharaoh and the Egyptians?]—prepared for destruction [because of their rebellion against God]? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy [Abraham’s seed], whom he prepared in advance for glory— even us, whom he also called [believers], not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles?” (Romans 9:22–24, NIV 1984).

Had God not intervened, it is unlikely that Pharaoh would have ever let the Hebrews go and would have continued to subject them to slavery. So, God intervened to free His people and take them to the land that He promised Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would someday come. One plague might have been all that it would have taken. But by hardening Pharaoh’s heart He was also able to “make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy,” while “[making] His power known…[to] the objects of His wrath.”

So, “is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.'” (Romans 9:14–15, NIV 1984). No one deserves mercy or compassion, but some receive it. All deserve judgement and wrath, and some get it. None receive injustice.

My Advice – How does this speak to us today? “See to it, brothers [and sisters], that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” (Hebrews 3:12–13, NIV 1984). How do we “[turn] away from the living God?” We are the ones who harden our hearts, not God. How so? We harden our hearts by continually rejecting the mercy He offers through His Son, Jesus Christ. At some point, the “sinful, unbelieving heart” becomes hardened beyond repair. Don’t let that happen. After all it’s still “Today.”