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Who Hardened Pharaoh’s Heart?
Exodus
7:1-5; Exodus 8:15
Israel’s
deliverance from Egypt is the first major event in the history of that
nation. The significance of this event should never be downplayed.
Therefore, it is with a great deal of care that we will examine the
apparent contradiction found in the text given above. In Ex. 7:3 God
says, “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart…” But, in 8:15 Moses
states, “When Pharaoh saw there was relief, he hardened his
heart.” As Guy N. Woods points out, “Truth, any truth, all truth, being
a part of a harmonious whole, is never in conflict with itself.” So we
ask, “Who hardened Pharaoh’s heart?”
God would
never cause someone to act contrary to His will and then punish them for
such action. For that to be the case here would be a contradiction of
truth plainly revealed. A careful study of Pharaoh’s dealings with
Moses and Israel shows us that it was Pharaoh who hardened his heart and
he did so after Moses made a formal request to lead Israel into
the wilderness for worship and after God showed his disapproval
of Pharaoh’s refusal to comply.
Why then
did God say, “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart”? Often in Scripture God is
said to do that which He permits. This would be similar to saying Bill
Gates made 1,000,000 computers last year. We know that Mr. Gates did
not personally make even one computer last year but his corporation did,
by his authority. As God is our creator and Lord, none of us accomplish
anything which He does not permit. However, He often allows us to do
that which He does not approve.
God sent
Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh with the request for Israel to journey into
the wilderness to hold a feast knowing he would refuse. It was
Pharaoh’s repeated refusals that ultimately provided God the opportunity
to make His supremacy known to Israel and Egypt. Pharaoh hardened his
own heart. God, who knows the hearts of all men, merely set up the
conditions to allow Pharaoh to fully harden his heart against God.
May our hearts
be ever yielding to the will of God.
Love,
Thomas Sneed
Pond Church of Christ
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