Whose Heart Was Hard?

God has revealed Himself to us as perfectly righteous in His character and His actions. The Psalmist praises God repeatedly for His righteousness:

Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; ... (Psalm 45:6-7a, NKJV)
Let the heavens declare His righteousness, for God Himself is Judge. (Psalm 50:6, NKJV)
Also Your righteousness, O God, is very high, you who have done great things; O God, who is like You? (Psalm 71:19, NKJV)
He will judge Your people with righteousness, and Your poor with justice. (Psalm 72:2, NKJV)

Yet the dramatic encounter between Moses and Pharaoh in Egypt brings a puzzling look at the righteousness of God. Egypt was judged because Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let the children of Israel go. One has to wonder who really had the hard heart -- was it Pharaoh, who would not let the Hebrew slaves go free, or God, who hardened Pharaoh's heart and inflicted devastating judgments on the land, property, and people of Egypt?

Scripture: Exodus 7:1-11:10

Main Thought: By grace, God reveals His commandments to you. When you refuse His grace, provided by the revelation of His word, you naturally grow cold and defiant in your relationship toward Him. This "hardness" is a consequence of disobedience to God. The outcome of continued disobedience to God's revealed will for your life is devastation in every area of your life -- just as it was in Pharaoh's life.

1 So the LORD said to Moses: "See, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. 2 "You shall speak all that I command you. And Aaron your brother shall speak to Pharaoh, to send the children of Israel out of his land. 3 "And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. 4 "But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay My hand on Egypt and bring My armies and My people, the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. 5 "And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them." 6 Then Moses and Aaron did so; just as the LORD commanded them, so they did. (Exod 7:1-6, NKJ)

Upon reading such a passage, one is rightly concerned about God's righteousness in the hardening of Pharaoh's heart. It appears as though God made Pharaoh sin by hardening his heart so that he would in disobey God. How could God be righteous in this? Can we then trust God to be righteous in His dealings with us?

The best way to determine whether God's dealings with Pharaoh were just is to go through the account chronologically and see what Pharaoh's will and actions were compared to God's will and actions. The response column attempts to gauge the positive responses or actions with a green dot and negative responses or actions with red. Check out the Scripture references and see whether you rating agrees with mine. When you are done, you should have a very clear picture of Pharaoh's heart, his decisions, and the awesome consequences for himself and his nation.

Pharaoh's Will Response God's Will

Pharaoh Already Has a Hard Heart. (3:19) Blanket statement to Moses -- after the wonders were perfomed, God would harden Pharaoh's heart. (4:21)

God commands "Let My people go!" (5:1)

He refuses to listen to God's word. (5:2)

A request to let the Israelites worship God. (5:3)

He punishes God's people. (5:4-9) Blanket statement to Moses -- after the command was given, God would harden Pharaoh's heart. (7:3-5)

God commands "Let My people go!" (7:6)
God provides signs to Pharaoh--the rod turns into a serpent. (7:10)

Engages occultic practices causing his heart to grow hard. (7:11-13) A statement of fact by God -- Pharaoh's heart is hard. (7:14)

God commands "Let My people go!" (7:16) with a warning of impending judgment. (7:17-18)

He refuses to repent. (Inferred)

This is the beginning of the ten plagues on Egypt because its king, Pharaoh, refused to obey God's command.

Pharaoh's Will Response God's Will

Plague #1 -- Water of the Nile turned to blood. (7:19-21)

Engages occultic practices causing his heart to grow hard. (7:22)
He was "not moved" by even a miraculous judgment. (7:23)

God commands "Let My people go!" (8:1) with a warning of impending judgment. (8:2-4)

He refuses to repent. (Inferred).

Plague #2 -- Too many frogs. (8:5-6)

Engages occultic practices causing his heart to grow hard. (8:7)
Deceitfully promises to obey God. (8:8-15)
He hardens his own heart. (8:15) After God relented on the judgment, Pharaoh broke his word to release the Israelites. (8:15)

Plague #3 -- Too many lice. (8:16-17)

Engages unsuccessful occultic practices (8:18) and does not listen to his own magicians -- his heart grows hard. (8:19) This is the first plague that the magicians could not mimic to some degree.

God commands "Let My people go!" (8:20) with a warning of impending judgment. (8:21-23)

He refuses to repent. (Inferred)

At this point, God differentiates between the Egyptians and the children of Israel. The remaining plagues affect the Egyptians but not the Hebrew people.

Pharaoh's Will Response God's Will

Plague #4 -- Too many flies. (8:24)
This affects only the Egyptians.

Pharaoh tries to bargain to get his own way. (8:25-29)

God relents of this judgment. (8:30-31)

He hardens his own heart. (8:32)

God commands "Let My people go!" (9:1) with a warning of impending judgment. (9:2-5)

He refuses to repent. (Inferred)

Plague #5 -- Diseased Livestock. (9:6)
This affects only the Egyptians.

Pharaoh's heart grows hard. (9:7)

Plague #6 -- Too many boils. (9:8-11) This affects only the Egyptians.
God hardens Pharaoh's heart. (9:12)

God commands "Let My people go!" (9:13) with a warning of impending judgment. (9:14-18) God grants anyone who believes a repreive from the judgment. (9:19-21)

He refuses to repent. (Inferred)

Plague #7 -- Massive hail and fire. (9:22-26)
This affects only the unbelieving Egyptians.

Pharaoh acknowledges he is a sinner (9:27) but deceitfully promises to obey God. (9:28)

God relents of this judgment. (9:29-33)

Pharaoh sins again by breaking his word. (9:34a)
Pharaoh hardens his own heart. (9:34b-35)

God hardens Pharaoh's heart along with his servants. (10:1)

God commands "Let My people go!" (9:13) with a warning of impending judgment. (9:14-18)

He refuses to repent even when his advisors tell him to let the Israelites go. (10:7) Pharaoh again tries to bargain for his own way.

Pharaoh no longer has the support of his self-appointed advisors. They indicate that Egypt is ruined. Nevertheless, Pharaoh continues his course of destruction. As the Proverb says, "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18, NKJV).

Pharaoh's Will Response God's Will

Plague #8 -- Too many locusts. (10:12-15).
This affects only the Egyptians -- inferred. (10:14)

Pharaoh acknowledges his sin and asks for forgiveness and relief. (10:16-17)

God relents of this judgment. (10:18-19)
God hardens Pharaoh's heart. (10:20)

He refuses to let the Israelites go. (10:20)

Plague #9 -- Terrifying darkness. (10:21-23a)
This affects only the Egyptians -- inferred. (10:23b)

Pharaoh bargains for his way again. (10:24-26)

God hardens Pharaoh's heart again. (10:27)

He refuses to let the Israelites go. (10:28-29)

Plague #10 -- Death of firstborn. (11:1-9; 12:29-30)
Blanket statement by God -- after the wonders were perfomed, God hardened Pharaoh's heart. (11:10)

Pharaoh lets the Israelites go (12:31-32) and the Egyptian people give them their treasures (12:33-42) This gets a red mark because unwilling obedience is not what God desires -- He looks at the attitude of the heart.

Pharaoh breaks his word again and chases after the Israelites with his army. (14:5-9) God prophesied that He would harden Pharaoh's heart resulting in this pursuit. (14:1-4) He did and Pharaoh responded. (14:8)

God enables Israel to pass through the Red Sea (14:21-25) and then destroys the entire Egyptian army in judgment. (14:26-31)

Final Statistics: Red indicates a negative response or negative action. Green indicates a positive response or action. God's judgments are green because they are righteous acts of justice intended to clearly portray the consequences of rebellion against God's will.

Certainly God was reaching out to Pharaoh, hoping He would turn to Him by faith. Pharaoh was actively and continually opposed to God. He never willingly obeyed God. As a result, God withdrew His grace and let Pharaoh have the desire of His heart -- that God would leave him alone. This is by far the most devastating judgment.

Reflect on YOUR life: This passage of Scripture reveals the awesome importance of fear and reverence for the LORD God. Will you resist His will for your life as Pharaoh did? The tragic results in Pharaoh's life have been repeated in the lives of many people throughout time who tried to live life on their own. With no place for God's will, you reap only the devastating consequences of disobedience. Jesus said, "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." (Matt 7:13-14, NKJV)

Jesus Christ said that HE is the narrow gate: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6, NKJV) Turn to the LORD Jesus Christ by faith -- confess your sins and trust Him as your Savior believing He died on the cross for your sins and rose from the dead to prove He is the LORD of glory -- and invite Him to be the central focus of your life. Put Him on the throne of your heart and follow Him. If you have previously done this but found that you have let all sorts of things (and excuses) crowd God out of your life -- turn back to Him. You'll find He is waiting to wrap His arms around you like a loving father. Recommit yourself to following Him today!