In our daily Bible reading we are presently reading about the events that led up to Pharaoh’s release of Israel from Egypt. In this section we see over and again the statements: “the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart” and “Pharaoh hardened his heart”. It does lead us to wonder if the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart was simply and sovereign act of God upon the Pharaoh or if it was a consequence of Pharaoh’s stubbornness.
It would seem to me that both ideas are in view here, while at the very core is the issue of responsibility. I would explain it this way, Pharaoh’s stubbornness in permitting the release of Israel led to events that only furthered his rebellion against God. The more Pharaoh experienced the consequences of his choices the more obstinate he became. It is a clear revelation of the condition of his heart and what happens when God brings conviction upon those who in their hearts oppose his will.
In the past I have heard it expressed in these terms, “the same sun that hardens the clay, softens the wax”. You may also express this same idea in these words, “the same events that make some better will make others bitter.” And we find in the story of Pharaoh that while his heart became hard many of the Egyptians by contrast fell in reverence before God and accompanied the Israelites out of Egypt, these are those who are called, “the mixed multitude”.
This truth should lead us to exercise great caution and even fear when we are tempted to ignore the rumblings of our conscience. We are warned in the New Testament Scriptures regarding the threat of hardened hearts:
Hebrews 3:8-13 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.
Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.
So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)
Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
We need to listen quietly and responsively to the gentle or even harsh arousal of our consciences as we read the Scriptures or listen to the preaching of the Word.
