In the book of Exodus, why does it say that God hardened Pharaoh's heart?

Question

And please explain your logic.

Answer 1

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.

So what would have happened if Pharoah went the opposite way and repented? We have just such an event with Jonah and Nineveh. The king of Nineveh ordered everyone in the city to dress in sackcloth in repentance regarding the destruction that was preached by Jonah. For this, God had mercy on Nineveh.

Answer 2

The actions God took caused a reaction in the hearts of those involved. Those of the proper heart condition had their hearts softened; the same actions caused others to harden their hearts.

Just like putting a lump of wax and a lump of clay in the same oven at the same time: One becomes hard; the other one soft.

Answer 3

The record definitely shows that Pharaoh himself “hardened his heart.” (Ex. 8:15, 32, King James Version; “made his heart unresponsive,” NW) He thus exercised his own will and followed his own stubborn inclination, the results of which inclination Jehovah accurately foresaw and predicted. The repeated opportunities given him by Jehovah obliged Pharaoh to make decisions, and in doing so he became hardened in his attitude. (Compare Eccl. 8:11, 12.) As the apostle Paul shows by quoting Exodus 9:16, Jehovah allowed the matter to develop in this way to the full length of ten plagues in order to make manifest his own power and cause his name to be made known earth wide.—Romans 9:17, 18.

God also said: “By now I could have thrust my hand out that I might strike you and your people with pestilence and that you might be effaced from the earth. But, in fact, for this cause I have kept you in existence, for the sake of showing you my power and in order to have my name declared in all the earth.” (Exodus 9:13-16.) Because of what would be done with hardhearted Pharaoh, Jehovah purposed to demonstrate his power in a way that would serve notice on all who defy him. As foretold, Jehovah’s name was declared around the earth. His long-suffering led to preservation for the Israelites and a vast mixed multitude that joined them in worshiping him. (Exodus 9:20, 21; 12:37, 38.)

However, some translations render the Hebrew account to read that Jehovah “let Pharaoh’s heart wax bold” Roth. “let Pharaoh’s heart become obstinate.” (NW) In support of such rendering, the appendix to Rotherham’s Roth. translation shows that in Hebrew the occasion or permission of an event is often presented as if it were the cause of the event, and that “even positive commands are occasionally to be accepted as meaning no more than permission.” Thus at Exodus 1:17 the original Hebrew text literally says that the midwives “caused the male children to live,” whereas in reality they permitted them to live by refraining from putting them to death. After quoting Hebrew scholars M. M. Kalisch, H. F. W. Gesenius, and B. Davies in support, Rotherham states that the Hebrew sense of the texts involving Pharaoh is that “God permitted Pharaoh to harden his own heart—spared him—gave him the opportunity, the occasion, of working out the wickedness that was in him.”—The Emphasised Bible, appendix, p. 919; compare Isaiah 10:5-7.

Since Jehovah does not prevent persons from becoming stubborn, he is spoken of as ‘letting them become obstinate’ or ‘making their hearts hard.’ When he finally does execute vengeance upon the stubborn ones, this results in a demonstration of his great power and causes his name to be declared.—Compare Ex. 4:21; John 12:40; Romans 9:14-18.

Each time that Pharaoh hardened his heart after a certain plague ended, Jehovah used this as an opportunity to demonstrate his great power still further by other miracles. (Ex. 7:3-5, 14–11:10.)

Answer 4

The key is in the Real Book of Knowlege

Exodermos 9:9—His wrath was put upon the land and all were forsaken with knowledge of the worm, scent of the elderberry and those little mites that live in your eyebrows.