Dig a Little Deeper: Was it Fair for God to Harden Pharaoh's Heart

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

Romans 9:16-17

One of the most debated questions in Christian theology is "Was it fair for God to harden Pharaoh's heart?" 

That question is one that theologians have debated for centuries, and this brief post certainly will not settle it. However, there are a few things that are important for us to keep in mind as we wrestle with this question. 

Divine Justice

The punishment for sin is death. Any breath that we take after we sin is only because of God's grace. 

When the Man and the Woman sinned, God allowed a substitute to die in their place (God sacrificed an animal to provide garments of skin in order to cover their shame; Genesis 3:21). 

However, God gave them fair warning in Genesis 2:17. If they eat the fruit of this tree they die.

"Fair" would be to give them the punishment deserved for their transgression.

Grace

However, in his wisdom, God gives us grace. There is nothing we can do to earn God's grace, and we certainly don't deserve it. In fact, grace cannot be deserved. If we were to somehow earn grace through our works it would be wages, not grace. 

Unfortunately, the wages we earn are death (Romans 6:23). Our only hope is grace. 

If God withholds grace he is not being unfair. He is simply carrying out justice. 

If God gives grace he turns the justice onto a substitute, and it is to our benefit. 

Human Responsibility

God gives us no command that we do not have the ability to carry out. 

“For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it." 

 Deuteronomy 30:11–14.

The command in the garden was simple. Eat freely from every tree in the garden except for this one. If you do eat of it, you will die. 

Not only did they understand the command, but they had the physical ability to obey it. They chose to rebel. 

A Hard Heart

The condition of our hearts are irrelevant. Just because someone has a hard heart does not excuse his or her sin. This is true in both heaven and on earth.

If someone is on trial for a crime, we do not say that it is unfair to punish them because they had a hard heart. Even if we were able to trace their hard-heartedness to previous abuse or trauma--something that was outside of their control--we do not excuse their actions. 

Why, then, do we let Pharaoh off the hook for his hard-heartedness?

Pharaoh: Dishonoring Those Whom God Had Blessed

When wrestling with this question, it is important that we do not forget God's promise to Abraham.

"And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Genesis 12:2-3

What greater dishonor could someone put on Abraham's descendants than to enslave, abuse, and murder them? 

Pharaoh chose to abuse the Hebrew people, ignorant of their history (Exodus 1:8) in which Joseph and the people of Israel helped Egypt through difficult times (Genesis 47:25-26). 

In fact, this wasn't the first Pharaoh to dishonor Abraham and receive God's curse. Going all the way back to Genesis 12, we see that Abram claimed Sarai to be his sister while sojourning in Egypt. Pharaoh took Sarai from Abram and God struck Pharaoh with plagues.

But the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife.

Genesis 12:17

Pharaoh came from a line of wicked kings who mistreated God's people. Although the Pharaoh in the end of Genesis was good to Joseph and his family, the Pharaohs after him soon began mistreating them.

Exodus 1 tells us about forced labor and infanticide. Pharaoh, as we discussed in a previous post, believed he was a god in human form. He wore a serpent on his crown and was deeply involved in false religion.

It did not take much hardening to harden Pharaoh's heart. He was a wicked man that God overthrew to accomplish his purposes. 

Hardening Pharaoh's Heart

In Exodus 7:14, God declares Pharaoh's heart is hardened. This was the state Pharaoh's heart was already in. This was the result of a lifetime of wicked actions and occultic practices (magicians, pantheistic worship, and self-worship). God did not harden Pharaoh's heart at this point--Pharaoh had done that himself. After his magicians imitated the first plagues, Exodus 7:22 says, "Pharaoh's heart remained hardened."

What we see in the following chapters is five accounts of Pharaoh hardening his own heart (Exodus 8:15, 8:19, 8:32, 9:7, and 9:34). 

It is not until after the sixth plague, in Exodus 9:12, that we see God harden Pharaoh's heart. 

Pharaoh hardened his own heart one more time after this (the last verse mentioned previously: 9:34). God then hardens Pharaoh's heart four more times (Exodus 10:1, 10:20, 10:27, and 11:10).

So what we see is a wicked man who started with a hard heart, and hardened his own heart four times before God hardened his heart. 

This shows us a balance between God's sovereignty and human responsibility. Pharaoh was already hard hearted, and hardened his own heart half the time. The other half showed that God was sovereign over Pharaoh (despite believing himself to be a god), and was able to harden Pharaoh's heart. 

Final Thoughts

Well, that was a lot to take in. Let me try to tie all this together in a brief conclusion.

First of all, no one, including Pharaoh, deserves grace. God had no redemption plan for the angels, and he had no obligation to have a redemption plan for us. We sin, we receive justice. There is nothing unfair about this. 

Anyone that is saved is only because of God's grace. Yes, it is available to all, but it is only effective to those who submit to Christ Jesus as Lord. 

Pharaoh did not submit to God. Even after letting the Israeli people go, he pursued them into the Red Sea. Pharaoh never submitted, even after all that he lost. 

Second, we are reminded that God had a covenant with Abraham. Pharaoh dishonored Abraham in Genesis 12:14-17, and another Pharaoh dishonored the nation that came from Abraham in the first chapters of Exodus. In the plagues sent to free Israel, God was keeping his promise to Abraham. 

Finally, we see that Pharaoh was a wicked man with a hard heart. However, that hard heart, both from his own doing and God's doing, did not excuse his behavior. He is still responsible for his sins, even when his heart was hardened.

Like Adam in the Garden, Pharaoh had fair warning of the plagues to come. Not only did Moses request Israel's freedom, but he also showed God's power over Pharaoh through the serpent confrontation in Exodus 7:8-13. Pharaoh continued to rebel, even until he chased the Israelites into the Red Sea. 

God's command was not beyond Pharaoh's physical ability to obey. Even with a hard heart, Pharaoh could simply speak the order and the people released. However, he chose to rebel and faced the consequences.

So was it fair for God to harden Pharaoh's heart? Yes. He is God, and he works for the good of his people by judging his enemies. 

Today, we also have warnings of judgment if we do not repent. We don't deserve his grace, but it is available at the cross. Will we continue hardening our hearts, or will we submit to Jesus as Lord?

There is freedom for those who repent. There is judgment for those who rebel.

The warnings are there, and the cross is available. Whatever choice we make, we will not be able to stand on judgment day and cry, "It's not fair!" God has been fair, and he has even extended grace. Turn to Jesus and receive his grace.

Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.

Hebrews 4:7b