Hardening?
But when Pharaoh saw that there was a respite, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the LORD had said. Exodus 8:15
But the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he did not listen to them, as the LORD had spoken to Moses. Exodus 9:12
What should we make of God hardening Pharaoh’s heart? For some, this seems like an injustice—God judges Pharaoh for a condition God creates. For others, this is proof of God’s sovereign election—God selects Israel for salvation and Pharaoh for condemnation regardless of the good or evil they have done.
How is hardening used in other places in the Tanakh?
For it was the LORD’s doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be devoted to destruction and should receive no mercy but be destroyed, just as the LORD commanded Moses. Joshua 11:20
Blessed is the one who fears the LORD always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity. Proverbs 28:14
O LORD, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not? Isaiah 63:17
God’s hardening of a person’s or nation’s heart in these instances is a judgement. But how can hardening be a judgement? Perhaps an illustration will help.
In this illustration:
God is, well … God.
The shaded box is God’s presence, or perhaps the area in which God’s blessings and protection are present. Darker shading indicates greater presence; the closer you get to God himself, the closer to get to eternal life with God.
Eternal death is eternal existence without God (hell).
for God is where a person definitely decides to follow God.
against God is where they have definitely decided not to follow God.
The natural tendency of an individual or culture is to get as close as possible to God to receive the benefit of his blessings.
Those who have not decided for or against God want to get as close to the left side of the for God point without committing themselves to God.
Those who have definitely decided against God would like to get as close to the left side of the against God point. They would like to enjoy God’s blessings while continuing to hate God as a person, railing against his purpose and design for the universe. This is the group God hardens in judgment. God hardens them so they have the strength fully rebel.
Why would God harden someone in their rebellion? God tells Pharoah:
But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. Exodus 9:16
God has raised Pharoah up, or enabled him to stand strong in his rebellion, to show his power. God is using Pharoah’s rebellion to create, and strengthen, something new: Israel.
Paul describes the hardening of Pharoah’s heart in just this way in Romans 9:17–21, arguing God is using the rebellion of Israel in Paul’s day like God did the Pharoah of Moses’ day—to raise up a new thing, the church.
This does not mean God is finished with Israel, or has cursed the Jews—as Paul says, “May it never be!” Rather, what it does tell us is that God can use people and cultures who are past the point of no return at a single point in time—who will not return to God no matter what miracle God works in their midst—to separate out and create new things. Separations between God and Israel are always temporary (see the entire book of Hosea, which makes the very point), and there is always a remnant of Israel God blesses.
One final thought—or question to ponder.
We often think God will not abandon the church. We say things like: “The church has the Holy Spirit, for God to abandon the church is for God to abandon himself.” Was all Israel, Israel? Is all the church, the church? Are we so willing believe: “baptism is enough to guarantee a place in the kingdom,” like so many Jews who believed: “circumcision is enough to guarantee a place in the kingdom?”
If God used Egypt’s stubbornness to create Israel, and Israel’s unfaithfulness to create the church, could he also use the church’s unfaithfulness to bring Israel out of the world again?
There is no certainty—but it is certainly a compelling question to ponder.