This question, and the differing answers, has led to doctrines that leave the Church divided. The division is sad and damaging to our witness as Christians, and one that is contrary to Jesus’ prayer in John 17, that “we may all be one”.
John 17, 20-23 NKJV reads,
20 I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;
21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:
23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
So I start first with the prayer that you, reader, will not take offense at my words should you disagree, but that you maintain an open mind in your reading to see if we can indeed move toward agreement. And even in disagreement, that we choose to be one as our Lord prayed.
Let’s dive right in, shall we?
The question “Does God harden men’s hearts?” has an easy answer and it is most definitely “yes.” God has indeed hardened men’s hearts and He has said so.
He did so with Pharaoh multiple times, and told Moses that He would do so in Exodus 4:21 NKJV “…But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, so that he will not let the people go.”
God, through Moses, tells Pharaoh to “Let My people go.” It is God’s will that the children of Israel would be let go, yet God hardens Pharaoh’s heart to the contrary. Let that sink in.
But God says to Pharaoh through Moses in Exodus 9:16 NKJV, “But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.”
So we know that God’s intent is that the children of Israel would be let go and He would show His power through Pharaoh and have His name declared in all the earth.
If God has hardened Pharaoh’s heart so he couldn’t let the people go, the plagues and the death of the firstborn may seem unfair. But God is indeed sovereign so can we say there is unfairness in Him? Not at all.
But let’s not be hasty in drawing a conclusion yet. Drawing conclusions made from this limited context is dangerous. Context matters.
Historical context
Let’s look in context at the condition of Pharaoh and the Egyptian people prior to the point where God says He will harden Pharaoh’s heart.
During the time of Joseph described at the end of the book of Genesis, Pharaoh had made Joseph second in charge over all Egypt. Pharaoh knew that Joseph knew God and that God had blessed Egypt through him, helping Egypt survive a great (seven year) famine. He chose to bless Joseph, his father Jacob and all his family and gave them the best of the land giving them land in Goshen to live in. Pharaoh also provided Jacob one of the most grand funerals ever out of respect for him.
Forgetfulness and fear
As we enter Exodus, many years have passed, and a new Pharaoh came into power that did not know of Joseph and all he did for Egypt. He and the Egyptians feared the children of Israel due to their quantity and might and decided to enslave them, and in that treating them badly. To prevent their numbers from multiplying, Pharaoh commanded that every male Hebrew baby be killed at birth. All of this behavior is excessively evil and went on for many years.
The children of Israel, as slaves, were a powerful workforce and numbered more than the Egyptians. Although the Egyptians feared the children of Israel, they were seen as valuable for the work they could perform.
Ripe for judgement
Yet another Pharaoh came into power (after the Pharaoh who was the grandfather to Moses by adoption). He carried on as the previous Pharaoh had, and the Egyptians also had not changed their ways.
Arriving then at the point where God was ready to free the children of Israel, the Egyptians were ripe for judgement and that is precisely what was happening.
How do we know it’s for judgement? He tells Abraham over 400 years earlier in Genesis 15:13-14.
Genesis 15:13-14 NKJV reads,
13 Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years.
14 And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
The heart hardening
It is true that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, but it was only after Pharaoh hardened his own heart through the first five plagues (water turned to blood, frogs, lice, flies, boils). God harden Pharaoh’s heart after the sixth plague (boils). And Pharaoh once again hardened his heart after the seventh plague (hail mixed with fire).
Now before the seventh plague, God tells Pharaoh in Exodus 9:15-17 NKJV,
15 Now if I had stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, then you would have been cut off from the earth.
16 But indeed for this purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.
17 As yet you exalt yourself against My people in that you will not let them go.
God has told Pharaoh that He could have wiped them out if He chose to do so, but that He has raised up Pharaoh for this very purpose to show His power in him, that His name will be declared in all the earth.
So Pharaoh, with his heart still hard (hardened by God in Exodus 9:12 after the sixth plague), and after hearing the words of God, watches this plague as Egypt is destroyed. We know this plague destroyed Egypt from Exodus 10:7, where Pharaoh’s servants say to him “… Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?”.
With Egypt destroyed, Pharaoh for the last time hardened his own heart. From this point onward God hardened Pharaoh’s heart—all the remaining plagues through the loss of his army and chariots in the Red Sea.
What is in a word?
We’ve come this far and not looked into just what hardening is. What is it? It is making firm/fixed that is already formed. Pharaoh already had a hard heart—one that was already shaped, and so God was making it even more hard, perhaps that Pharaoh would not relent.
Conclusion
Pharaoh was as evil as the Pharaoh before him and then some. Slavery, hard labor, mistreatment, and murder of the innocents. The people were similarly evil.
Egypt was ripe for judgement and it was judged—from the first plague to the last. Every judgement was righteous.
A day comes when every man will be judged.
Hebrews 9:27 NKJV reads, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, …”
God always has the prerogative to judge. God simply hardened Pharaoh’s heart to lock in the details of the judgement. And even in this God only destroyed the land, and killed every firstborn and others. The majority survived in mercy, knowing that God is Lord over all and there is no other like Him.
Version History
1.00 – November 27, 2018
1.01 – September 2, 2019
Walking with God in The Way 