Pharoah's Preparation: The Hardening of Pharoah's Heart

Open your Bibles, please, to the book of Exodus, chapter 9. We will begin to look at that portion of the book of Exodus which deals with the bringing of the plagues on Pharaoh in order that God's people might be permitted to leave the land of Egypt. That section begins about chapter 7 and continues through chapter 14. I do not believe that we will be able to understand what is contained in chapters 7-14 if we do not interpret them in the light of the paragraph which begins with verse 13 of chapter 9:

EXODUS 9

We want to look at the preparation of Pharaoh for the deliverance of the children of Israel from the land of Egypt, and I want you to see what God said about why He wanted to prepare Pharaoh.

God could have delivered the children of Israel by the mere lifting of His finger. He did not have to take several months to deliver them, as these chapters indicate He did. He did not have to wait until one man told them to go. He could have delivered them without all of that, but He had a purpose. His purpose was that the Egyptians, the Israelites and the whole world would know that He was God. Keep that in mind, because that will explain why some of the things that happen to you, happen even if you are in the will of God. It will explain why God does not do some of the things that you expect Him to do and some of the things you think surely God could do.

God's glory is at stake. God has a purpose. The reason God permits us sometimes to lie on beds of affliction is not necessarily that He is angry with us, and not that He could not raise us up in answer to prayer, but that God's glory may be manifested. Sometimes the reason God lets every human effort and every human power be completely exhausted is that men may be thrown completely upon God, and God will be able to manifest His glory to the whole of man, and the whole of man will be able to praise the Lord.

One of the mystifying things that I think we had better deal with in these seven chapters is Pharaoh. I say he is mystifying because God says that He hardened Pharaoh's heart and made him do what he did. People who do not willingly accept the truth of God's Word, and who are consistently looking for something at which they can poke their finger, delight to take this thing up and say, "How could God be just and yet harden the heart of Pharaoh? What kind of a God is it who would make a man do a thing like that?"

But in these very same verses of Scripture we are told that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. Immediately someone comes along and says, "That's the Bible for you; it's full of contradictions. One minute it says one thing and the next minute it says something else." How can we resolve these various statements about Pharaoh and the hardness of his heart? That is the first thing I would like for us to deal with.

So the first thing I would like for us to do is to notice those passages of Scripture where we are very definitely told that God hardened the heart of Pharaoh. Even after I have made the statement that I have just made, there will be some people who will say, "Well, I don't care what the Bible says; I still don't believe that God would harden a man's heart." We must care what the Word of God says, so we had better be sure that it says it to begin with. I suggest that we start in the book of Exodus with the first reference to the hardness of Pharaoh's heart and go from one Scripture to another to establish beyond all doubt that God did harden the heart of Pharaoh. Turn, please, to chapter 4, verse 21:

EXODUS 4

Notice that statement; there can be no doubt about it. God said, "I will harden his heart that he shall not let My people go." Now turn to chapter 7, verse 13. This is a paragraph which tells how Moses cast down his rod and it became a serpent. The magicians of Pharaoh cast down theirs, and even their rods became serpents. Aaron's serpent swallowed up all the other serpents. In verse 13 we read:

EXODUS 7

The Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart. Now turn to chapter 9, verse 12:

EXODUS 9

There it is again: The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh. Then glance over at chapter 10, verse 1, where we read:

Exodus 10

Then verse 20 of this same chapter:

EXODUS 10

Then verse 27 of this same chapter:

Then chapter 11, verse 10:

EXODUS 11

Then in chapter 14, after the children of Israel had departed from the land of Egypt and were on their way into the wilderness, Pharaoh repented that he had let them go, and he decided to pursue them. In chapter 14, verse 4, God said:

EXODUS 14

In verse 8 of that same chapter:

We are told in a very definite way ten times that God hardened Pharaoh's heart. Let us settle something in our thinking. Whether or not we can understand it, God hardened Pharaoh's heart. Whether or not it is consistent with some particular doctrine that is precious to your own heart and something that perhaps you have always believed, even though these statements at which we have looked may contradict that particular doctrine, let us accept the Word of God for what it says. God hardened Pharaoh's heart.

If the Word of God is true, there is no one who can say anything other than that God hardened Pharaoh's heart. But if we learn to compare Scripture with Scripture, if we learn to search the Word of God, many of the questions that arise in connection with such a truth as this can be resolved; many of the problems can be solved.

Notice with me from the Word of God that God based His act of hardening Pharaoh's heart upon six different things. If you will recognize these six different things, you will find no contradiction in the Word of God, and you will not find this something hard to believe. As a matter of fact, you will be doing just what God said would be the net result: You will praise the Lord.

What are these six basic things upon which God based His act of hardening Pharaoh's heart? The first thing is found in chapter 3 of the book of Exodus, and I will call it God's foreknowledge. God's hardening of Pharaoh's heart was based upon His foreknowledge. It was based upon what He already knew about Pharaoh. In verse 19, after God told Moses to go into the land of Egypt and present His message to the Israelites and then to Pharaoh, He said:

EXODUS 3

Remember, before ever Moses made his appearance before Pharaoh, God said to Moses, "I know what is going to happen before it happens. The first thing that will happen is that Pharaoh will refuse because of a hardened heart to let you go. But after I am finished, and after I have accomplished all my work and all my purpose, he will let you go." So the first thing we need to keep in mind is that God's hardening of the heart of Pharaoh was based upon his foreknowledge. He knew--get this--the kind of man with whom He would be dealing; and on the basis of His foreknowledge, He made this decision about Pharaoh. If you will keep in mind that many of the things that are difficult for our finite minds to comprehend are based upon the foreknowledge of God, you will be able to accept in faith what you cannot understand.

Remember that the Lord Jesus Christ said to Philip one day, "What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter" (John 13:7). Why did He say that? "You don't have all the information right now, but by and by you will have all the information, and then you will see that the thing I have done was the wise thing to do." Since we do not have God's foreknowledge, there are some things that we will have to accept by faith until we can see as God can see.

God knew the kind of man that Pharaoh was; and because he was that kind of man, he provided fertile ground for God's activity. This is indicated by the attitude of Pharaoh toward God. You will find it expressed in chapter 5 of the book of Exodus.

EXODUS 5

That was the attitude of Pharaoh. He said, "Who is Jehovah, that I should pay any attention to Him? I don't know Him." Pharaoh's "I don't know Him" did not indicate that he had never heard of God; it simply meant, "I will not recognize His authority. I will do as I want to do whether He likes it or not." This is a dangerous position; and the very moment an individual takes that position, that individual sets in motion a process within his own being that will result in the hardening of his heart. Remember that. Really, there is nothing mystifying about the statement that God hardened the heart of Pharaoh. Pharaoh set in motion the process that resulted in the hardening of his own heart.

In chapter 1 of Romans is enunciated the second principle upon which God's hardening of Pharaoh's heart was based, and the principle upon which the same process even in our day is based:

ROMANS 1

No man has the right to say that he does not know about God. No man has the right to say, "I don't know Jehovah," as did Pharaoh. The reason no man has a right to say that is that the truth concerning God is very plainly revealed in the heavens; and if men say that they do not know God, it is because they deliberately decide so. Notice verse 21:

ROMANS 1

This was Pharaoh: "Who is God that I should obey Him? I'll not do as He says. I'll do as I please." The moment he took that attitude, God gave him over to a reprobate mind, to do the things which were not convenient, all of which resulted in the hardening of his own heart.

Go back with me, please, to the book of Exodus as I remind you that there are six things upon which God based the hardening of Pharaoh's heart. One was His foreknowledge. Another was Pharaoh's own attitude of heart, which set in motion a process which resulted in the hardening of his heart. That process is the third thing upon which God based the hardening of Pharaoh's heart. Let us notice in the Scriptures the definite statements that Pharaoh hardened his heart. Turn with me, please, to chapter 8 of the book of Exodus, verse 15:

EXODUS 8

Here is a very plan statement that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. Look at verse 32 of this same chapter:

EXODUS 8

Then notice in chapter 9, verse 7:

EXODUS 9

Here, in conjunction one with the other, we are told that the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, that the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and that Pharaoh hardened his own heart.

Look in that same chapter at verse 34:

EXODUS 9

So ten times we are told God hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and four times that Pharaoh hardened his own heart.

Notice the fourth thing that must be remembered when we consider the principle of God's hardening the heart of Pharaoh--that God dealt with Pharaoh in such a way that He caused his heart to be hardened. We find a third thing related to this word "hardened." Not only did God harden Pharaoh's heart, not only did Pharaoh harden his own heart, but the very activity that surrounded him acted as a catalyst to harden his heart. Let us see what it was that God brought to pass in his life as a process, a natural law, that caused the hardening of his heart.

Turn, please, to chapter 7 of the book of Exodus, verse 22:

EXODUS 7

The verses surrounding this verse explain that Moses had turned the waters of Egypt into blood, and the magicians in the land of Egypt did exactly the same thing. Pharaoh looked upon the whole thing and what he saw hardened his heart. Verse 22 does not say that God hardened Pharaoh's heart. It does not say that he hardened his own heart. It says that the very thing that he saw with his own eyes hardened his heart. He saw truth opposed to lie, and accepted the lie instead of the truth, as a natural result of the attitude of his heart.

II Thessalonians, chapter 2, deals with a period of time yet to come upon the earth known as the Tribulation. The Church will be taken out of the world, the Antichrist will make his appearance, and people who will be living on the earth will be living under the rule and the reign of the Antichrist. They will be living in a difficult time indeed. In verse 8, we read:

II THESSALONIANS 2

Here we are told that there is going to be a group of people living on the earth who will readily believe a lie in place of the truth. God will have sent them a strong delusion so that they will believe that lie; He will have sent them that strong delusion because when they had the opportunity to love the truth, when they had the opportunity to accept the truth, they did not do it.

Pharaoh had the opportunity to receive the truth, but he loved not the truth. Therefore in the course of time God sent him a strong delusion so that he could believe more in the false power of his magicians than in the mighty power of God. His heart was hardened by the very process of his activity.

Turn now to chapter 8 of the book of Exodus and notice verse 18:

EXODUS 8

Let us recognize something. The magicians, ordinary men who had occult power, were able to reproduce three of the plagues that God sent upon Egypt, but only three. There came a time when God said, "That is all. You cannot do more than that." God permitted them to have power like that of his own servants in order that the heart of Pharaoh might be hardened, and then He called a halt to it. The magicians tried to produce a plague of lice, but they could not.

EXODUS 8

"Pharaoh, this is God. We are but men. What you have seen up to this time may have been ordinary, it may have been extraordinary, but this is God." You will notice in verse 19 that Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had said. You will notice that it does not say that God hardened his heart; it does not say that he hardened his own heart; it just says his heart was hardened by virtue of what he saw.

It is possible to become so familiar with spiritual things, and for those spiritual things to become so commonplace, that your heart will be hardened in the midst of them and truth will fall on deaf ears. Old-time evangelists used to have a phrase for it; they used to call it "Gospel-hardened." They would say that people were so Gospel hardened that no one would respond to a simple invitation to receive Jesus Christ. That was what was wrong with Pharaoh; he was miracle hardened. He had seen so much, and had refused to acknowledge God in relation to it, that the very process hardened his heart.

Will you notice verse 35 of the next chapter:

EXODUS 9

Here again, it does not say that God hardened his heart, it does not say that Pharaoh hardened his own heart; it says that his heart was hardened.

If you follow this through to its natural conclusion, at what do you arrive? Pharaoh's heart was hardened because he repented once too often. We will see as we look at the plagues that were visited upon him that when the going got rough, he said, "I'm sorry; go ahead and do what you were going to do, Moses," and as soon as the thing was lifted, he said, "I am not sorry any more." And when the time came that this plague was lifted, his heart was hardened and he refused to let the people go.

The fifth thing upon which God based his action we touched upon at the very beginning of our discussion. God hardened the heart of Pharaoh that His glory might be displayed. Will you look at chapter 10 of the book of Exodus, verses 1 and 2:

EXODUS 10

Why did God harden Pharaoh's heart? That the Israelites might be able to tell their children the story of how God dealt with Pharaoh, and in so doing prove that God was God.

Notice chapter 11, verse 9:

EXODUS 11

God hardened the heart of Pharaoh that His glory and His majesty might be revealed.

For the sixth and last thing upon which God based the hardening of Pharaoh's heart, we will have to go to the book of Romans. We have suggested before that the best commentary on any portion of the Word of God is the commentary of the Holy Spirit as He makes mention of it in some other portion of His Word:

ROMANS 9

Going back in this chapter to verse 17, the Spirit of God said that God was pleased to select, without any permission from anyone, one man who would be an everlasting monument to the power of his wrath. And in the same paragraph we are told that He selects many, many people to be monuments to His matchless, everlasting grace, as he saves them from sin. People who deserve to go to Hell, people who deserve to be destroyed, God chooses as vessels of mercy to show forth His everlasting grace. Why is it that our minds are so arranged that we are troubled about one monument to the wrath of God, yet pass over the numberless monuments to the matchless grace of God?

May I remind you that this thing that troubles so many folk, the hardening of Pharaoh's heart, was based upon six things that should help us understand. First, it was based upon God's foreknowledge; God knew the kind of man Pharaoh would be so he selected him to be the monument of His wrath. Second, this process of hardening was based on Pharaoh's attitude toward God; He did not want to retain God in His knowledge, so the natural laws of operation had to go into effect. Third, God's hardening of Pharaoh's heart was based upon the hardening of Pharaoh's heart by Pharaoh himself. Fourth, the very circumstances and the way in which Pharaoh responded to those circumstances could not do other than harden his heart. Fifth, Pharaoh's heart was hardened that God's glory might be displayed. Last, God hardened the heart of Pharaoh on the basis of His sovereign might as God; and none of us can question that.