If God is a God of love, what happened with Pharaoh?

Question

In answering another's question, I realised I needed to ask this myself. Christians reading this - please understand, I've struggled with this for so many years now- if anyone can answer my problem, I can't tell you how happy that'd make me.

I think I believe in a more powerful being- but I'm not sure I like him. I'm a questioning agnostic, I guess. My particular problem with the Christian God is inconsistency and favourtism. This is well illustrated with the story of Moses.

God 'hardened Pharaoh's heart' so he wouldn't let the Hebrews go. If this is true, then not only does God meddle with this man's free will and as such is just as culpable for the sin, but it is because of Pharaoh's unwillingness to let the Hebrews go that God kills every first-born Egyptian. All those innocent lives sacrificed for the sins of one man- one man who was being controlled like a puppet.

How do you square this in your mind?

(Exodus chapters 8 - 12, especially Ex 10:1-2)

I initially wrote over 1,000 words to clarify my question- sorry if I can’t address your point! Thank you all for such well thought out and considered answers.

I totally accept the idea that pharaoh didn't want to free the slaves. However, I don't like the idea that we can't change our minds. I can be stubborn at times, but at least humans who love me are willing to accept my apologies when I realise this- God didn't appear to let pharaoh. Repeatedly pharaoh said 'you're getting on my nerves, you can have what you want' to which Moses just upped his demands- from 'I want to worship my god' to 'I want everyone to worship my god. Oh, and our freedom. And a pony. Or I'll kill your sons.' That method of negotiation is called 'over a barrel' - of course the pharaoh would've given him what he wanted.

If God is just, *why* does he exercise his right to dabble? If he reserves the right to say
'ip dip sky blue, I'll choose to save you', what motivation is that to love him

"Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?" - Not if he expects all of those creations to love him equally. A potter might create 'best' china and the day-to-day plate, but these roles are programmed into their creation. What if my role here on earth is to serve as an example to others? Have I been created purely to be damned?

I have a problem with people being used as an example to others. Even if every firstborn killed got a free ticket to heaven, what about Pharaoh himself, and his armies who drowned in the Red Sea? Those who died because of the famine caused by the plagues? If all of them got fast-passes as well, what was the point of all of this?

I've found a good article asking these same questions:
http://www.slate.com/id/2143176/entry/2143482/

Answer 1

Yahweh underwent an extreme makeover with the New Testament writers.

The Old Testament god was never a god of love. He was a god of war and vengeance and political authority who cursed unborn generations of those who angered him. He also sanctioned the slaughter of children, the rape of women, incest and numerous other crimes. He tormented those who believed in him, instructed them to murder their own children, and he even - inexplicably - considered killing Moses.

A thinking person who believes in a higher power can believe either that the bible is all true and Yahweh functions as a manic-depressive, malicious entity who has limited powers and limited knowledge, OR he can consider the likelihood that the bible doesn't always accurately describe God as God really is.

Answer 2

Sir, you have every right to question your faith. Finding what you truely believe in is very important. As for you question, Pharoah's heart was hardened through the other plagues that were on Egypt prior to all the first borns being killed off. I don't think God's intentions were to murder the children, but I'm not God nor is every thought that God had in the Bible. But what was clear was that God got the Hebrews out of Egypt. Sorry I can't answer this question more throughly.

An even harder question to ask yourself, would be if you believe in predetermination, and if so, how can a God of love not save everyone?

Answer 3

God is indeed love, but He's not only love He is also Justice.

What happened to pharaoh?

First we have to realize that the Hebrews were being oppresed in the land of Egypt as said in Exo. 3:7,9 and during this time, God haven't hardened the heart of the pharaoh, therefore, God had nothing to do with what the Egyptians were doing to the Hebrews.

In Exo. 5:1-18, Moses told the pharaoh what God wants him to say and show but the pharaoh did not listen, instead, he mocked them by ordering the hebrews to make bricks without straw. During this time, God, still, haven't hardened the heart of the pharaoh, thus, he had nothing to do with pharaoh's refusal and sarcasm.

So, why did God hardened the heart of the pharaoh? There were two reasons.

One of this is that God gives us what we want. If you want to be good, He will give you the opportunity to be good, if you want to be bad He will let you alone so that satan can govern you and you'll become bad. (eg. Roman 1:24,26,28) God knew the heart of the pharaoh. Being the ruler of a very strong empire, he is proud and will never heed the order of anyone. So God gave MORE him pride.

Another one is that God wanted to prove to Israelites and to Moses that their God is a God that never break a covenant (Exo. 6:1-4) , to pharaoh that the power of God cannot be compared with the power of the pharaoh (he, as the believed son of god, Ra) nor with the magic and knowledge of Egypt. it will be shame for him to be defeated by the God of the peasants because of his pride; and to entire Egypt that the God of Moses is God.

Answer 4

Simon- this is one of the most powerful and brilliant questions I have ever read here on "answers" regarding the Bible. I applaud you for asking this bold question. I think that your logic is correct, and it never occurred to me before that God did indeed play a vital part in controlling Pharoah's actions.

I am a strong Christian man, but even I have times of relentless doubt. I wish I could help you in your quest to observe the truth about these matters. Indeed, God did interfere with Pharoah's free will and volition, by "hardening his heart". I don't know what precisely this means, but nonetheless, it does disturb me. Whatever the precise meaning is, it does indicate clearly that God did change the Egyptian King's mind about letting the Hebrews have emancipation. As a result, how could Pharoah even be held accountable for what were percieved, on the outside looking in, as his own actions? Puzzling!

Also, you make an excellent point about all the Egyptian babies who were slaughtered. I don't care what anyone says- a baby is innocent (as innocent as a human being can possibly be).

Your question has really put its claws into my brain. I am thinking on a deeper and more poignant level than before. I appreciate your efforts- very much so.

I don't want to further confuse you, my friend- I want to help you! But words fail me. I wish I were a wiser man.

May I share something that bothers me? The Book of Job. For many reasons, that book really makes me upset. Please allow me to explicate the reasons.

First of all, God allowed Satan- his ENEMY- into heaven. Why? Why did God then make a bet with Satan that Job would not turn his back on him? Why did God even CARE what satan thought? This is, after all, his Arch-enemy! Did God allow Job to suffer the tortures of the damned just to prove a point to the devil? Why?

Questions unanswered remain. Burning ones.

I fail to understand why God would have dealings with his greatest enemy- the devil. Why would God, a loving and righteous and holy God- have anything whatsoever to do with the prince of darkness? Moreover, why did Satan have access to heaven???? (I know satan no longer had access to heaven after Jesus was crucified- but still, he should not have had access to heaven at all in the first place!)

I know God is beyond our human understanding- but we have to understand the world in order to survive. We have to establish order from chaos. We must comprehend the universe to prosper here. If things are not arranged in such a way as to be comprehensible, then our very sanity is threatened- as well as our fragile survival.

Maybe the book of Job is not a story about a real person- but rather, a parable. If it is a moral play or story that was just made up, then I find a little bit of peace about the whole situation. However, if the book is a true story, I am gravely disturbed by God's actions! I cannot grasp it. There are far too many deep questions- questions that beg and implore to be addressed!

I also held close to me the belief that God could not (or at least WOULD not) interfere with man's free will. Now, I question that. I am not sure anymore, and that lack of assuredness bothers me to the root of my soul.

I honestly appreciate your question, Simon- you sound very intelligent and creative. Moreover, you are conversant to the things that you point out- you have clearly read the Bible. I really commend you for that.

Keep watching the skies. I do hope and pray that both you and I may discover the truth. The sad part is that the truth is not always beautiful. The good book says that the truth will set us free- but I think that some truths are so ugly that they will imprison us.

I am sincerely sorry to sound so stridently pessimistic! It doesn't befit me. I cannot honestly say that I am not pessimistic by nature, but I wish that things were different.

Despite all these things- all these troubling questions- I believe God is good. I just don't want seeking diligently the real answers to result in a despair of truth.

I realize that there is peril in wanting to know the true nature of the beast. And yet, I can't stop this journey I have undertaken. Life is a strange thing. We will have to leave the world without knowing all the answers. I just hope that I can have an opportunity- in this life or the next one- to find out what the reality is behind all the lies.

I wonder, for example, if our own government (America) was behind or at least partially responsible for the "terrorist" attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. I wonder if President Bush is evil- or if he is a real Christian, as he claims to be. I wonder what the meaning of life is. I wonder if history has been whitewashed. I wonder if spontaneous human combustion is real, or just a myth.

Even though it may hurt to know the truth, I would rather know it.

Answer 5

Hey Simon,

It is an honest question asked in an honest manner, so I will take the time to give you an answer. Now remember, it is very easy to think the worst of a situation without knowing the facts behind it. For example, the Allies in WWII knew that the Nazis were going to bomb an innocent city to oblivion. A city with absolutely no military strategic importance. Churchill mourned over that city, but why didn't he do anything about it? It was later revealed that the Allies got ahold of one of the Enigma decoders. The Nazis suspected that they might have it, so they sent a decoded message of the bombing. If they had the machine, they would warn the occupants. If they didn't warn them, they knew they did not have it. On the surface, it looked like the Allies were evil. But there was a greater good in ending the war. It was a painful decision. So not all that we see on the surface is not always the whole story.

So let us now examine the events in Exodus. Step back a few chapters and see that it was the will of Pharaoh to kill all the first born Hebrew child in Goshen. Now, remember, there is a spiritual law that you reap what you sow. A sort of spiritual "Newton's Law" of "for every action there is always opposed an equal reaction". There are many examples of this, one being Jacob cheating his brother out of his birthright, then being cheated himself by Laban. There are many others.

There is another law, and that law is that if you continue to set your free will down a particular path, then God will solidify that decision accordingly.The longer one travels in either direction, the more solidified they will become as time progresses. If you focus your study on finding the true and the living God, God will reveal Himself to you. If you focus your study on finding fault, you will be given enough items of doubt to solidify your position. God will not reveal Himself and will, in many cases, hide His face. With that law understood, let us go back to Exodus.

Now, consider the various plagues that were used to convince Pharaoh to let the Hebrew slaves go free . Several signs and plagues were given to Pharaoh. Watch the progression of hardening that occurred.

7:13 - Pharaoh’s heart grew hard
7:22 - Pharaoh’s heart grew hard
8:15 - Pharaoh hardened his heart
8:19 - Pharaoh’s heart grew hard
8:32 - Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also
9:7 - The heart of Pharaoh became hard
9:12 - The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh
9:34 - Pharaoh hardened his heart, he and his servants
10:1 - [The Lord] hardened [Pharaoh’s] heart and the hearts of his servants

Six different times, Pharaoh’s heart was hardened by his own prideful choice. On the seventh, God gave him over to his own way by sealing his position of unbelief. This hardening then spread to those who surround him and the final hardening included them as well. People given over to their established personal doctrine, will most likely congregate with those who will support their stance. As a result, there grows a community of unbelief and mutual rejection of God’s prompting to repentance.

I hope you could see the progression of what really happened in Exodus. As I said before regarding Churchill and the Allies. In most cases, there is more than what appears on the surface. There is a spiritual warfare that is going on. Much like WWII, there is propaganda, false information, codes, opposition, offensive and defensive maneuvers etc. We only see the physical side of things. If we saw the spiritual, it would blow our minds.

Answer 6

Noone ever said that God is just a God of love, he can hate a perfect hatred, he is a jelous God. He wants us to follow him, and if we follow other things or people that makes him mad. When the first man sinned, he ruined it for all. Things arent always fair, people are killed, and yeah, it happens because God lets it.
God hardened his heart so that the people would see that he is the Only God. They were expecting their idols to save them, but God wanted them to see it couldnt.
It is hard sometimes thinking why some innocent people are hurt and killed everyday, but it happens because the fall of man. It is sin that causes these things to happen. We need to trust in our God, that he knows what he is doing, and he will bring us out of this. Belief in God and the Bible comes from Faith. Our human minds and hearts never will be able to understand why....we need to trust.

Answer 7

The purpose of the deliverance of Israel was for God's name to be declared in all the earth. The Egyptian world power was only one player in the March of the World Powers. All human governments will be destroyed by God's Kingdom shortly. If you do a study of the books of Daniel and Revelation, it lists the events that have occurred in the past and the ones that will occur in the future. Daniel had a dream of an immense image that portrayed this March of the World Powers.

Interestingly, the Bible calls Satan the "god of this system of things" and as such, he can, and does, control political leaders as he did in the past. When he and Jesus were on the mountain after Jesus had fasted, and he tempted him, he offered him "all the Kingdoms of the world" if Jesus would do one act of worship to him. Jesus did not contradict Satan, but also did not take the bait-Jesus knew he would rule in Kingdom power in the future, when his father gave him the throne of the Messianic Kingdom, which will usher in a new world. We pray for that Kingdom when we pray "your Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven."

Answer 8

Pharaoh worshipped other Gods, false Gods, and dared to keep the people that did worship, the one and only true and living, God in bondage. So God being a deliverer and a loving God, to those who worship Him and Him alone, did what He had to do for the people who He loved. And in the same way that God raised up His own adversary, Satan, God raised up the adversary of His people, so that they would overcome Him and take rightful authority. All a part of the masterful plan of God. God Bless.

Answer 9

Your question and lack of a credible, logical explanation is just one of many that led me to become an atheist.

If God is who he (it?) is purported to be, it is the most evil, malevolent force in the universe.

Not only did God allegedly "harden Pharaoh's heart," he used it as an excuse to slaughter every "first born" in Egypt. Which means he murdered babies in their mothers' arms for no good reason other than he could.

Jews and Christians still celebrate that event (Passover/Easter) as if it was a great and wonderful day.

Answer 10

God is love but also just. He doesn't exist to make our lives happy and perfect, rather we exist to bring glory to Him. God hardened Pharaoh's heart to bring glory to Himself. Doesn't sound like a God of love? He loved the oppressed Jews who cried out to Him from slavery. God is just. I don't know all the answers either, but I do know that God is very real and personal if you want to get to know Him. He has done things in my life that can't be explained away. The glory is truly His. I don't comprehend it all either, but I know absolutely that I'm for God even if my life became the worst life imaginable because I know Him personally and I trust Him totally. Pray for God to show you the answer to your question and then hold on, because He will.