“That isn’t a toy!” parents warn a child playing with a knife or a hammer.
Pharaoh thought he could play a game with God and win. He lost.
Your heart is not a toy.
The story of God’s battle with Pharaoh in the book of Exodus is the story of the consequences of a hardened heart. It’s the story of someone who thought they could toy with God and with their heart. We cannot.
In the first five plagues, Pharaoh’s hardens his heart three times and his heart “is hardened” (it’s ambiguous who is doing the hardening) twice. Over the course of the final five plagues, Pharaoh actively hardens his heart once, his heart “is hardened” once, and three times God hardens his heart (see chart below). Pharaoh thinks he is in control of the his circumstances and his heart. He isn’t.
The consequences are disastrous. The result of his hardness of heart is the loss of his son’s life, his own life, and the devastation of his nation. The stakes over the hardness of our own hearts are (spiritually speaking) no less.
We might chalk up Pharaoh’s hardness of heart to his pagan worship. Pharaoh worships false gods, after all. But right beliefs do not prevent us from the dangers of a hardened heart. We can care about religious things but be calloused to God. Our religious convictions can even multiply the hardening of our hearts. When those at the synagogue were trying to catch Jesus healing on the Sabbath “so they might accuse him,” Jesus asked, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?”
Those listening couldn’t get past their religious convictions that the answer was no, even with a man with a withered hand right in front of them. They met Jesus’ question with silence. Jesus “looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart” (Mark 3:5).
I’ve learned that one’s religious beliefs have little bearing in the counseling room. I’ve witnessed hearts as hard as stone with atheists, agnostics, those who are spiritual, and those who are devout Christians. And I’ve met members of all of those groups with soft hearts.
Pharaoh refused to release control. He rejects the voice of God speaking to him through Moses and Aaron. He denies the power of the Almighty on display through the plagues. When his servants cry out, “Do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?” (Ex. 10:7), Pharaoh clings to his pride even in the face of the destruction of his nation. He will not turn to God.
Here is a sobering thought that ought to humble us: God will receive glory either through our soft hearts or our hard hearts. Again and again in the Exodus narrative, God reminds Israel and Egypt that he is sovereign over the events and even Pharaoh’s heart, and it is all for his glory. Before the climactic events where God leads Israel through the Red Sea and destroys the Pharaoh and his armies, God says, “And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen” (Ex. 14:17-18). Paul reiterates this as he reflects on God’s sovereignty in Romans 9. He says, “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very 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” (Rom. 9:17).
God is not playing a game. Every moment is an opportunity to have your heart grow softer or harder. No matter what, God will receive glory through us. I pray that he receives glory through my softened heart.
During the reign of Josiah, the Book of the Law was discovered. Hearing God’s word, Josiah and the people repented. In response, God sent Huldah the prophetess to speak on his behalf, “Regarding the words that you have heard, because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before God when you heard his words against this place and its inhabitants, and you have humbled yourself before me and have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord” (2 Chron. 34:26b-27).
A soft heart is revealed and developed through repentance. My heart grows in Christ-likeness when I hear God’s word and respond like Josiah, not Pharaoh. When I own my sin, not when I minimize and bargain.
Our hearts are not to be toyed with. And neither is our God. May our tender and humble hearts be instruments for his glory.
9 plagues: the story of a hardened heart:
Blood: “remained hardened” 7:22: ambiguous
Frogs: Pharaoh “hardened his heart” (8:15): self
Gnats: Pharaoh’s heart “was hardened” (8:19): ambiguous
Flies: “Pharaoh hardened his heart” (8:32): self
Livestock die: Pharaoh’s heart “was hard” (9:7): ambiguous.
Shift and danger: last five plagues: four of them God hardens Pharaoh’s heart.
Boils: “But the Lord hardened…” (9:12): self
Hail: Pharaoh “hardened his heart” (9:34): self
Locusts: God “hardened the heart of Pharaoh” (10:20): God
Darkness: God “hardened the heart of Pharaoh” (10:27)
Firstborn: 11:9-10: God hardened. Covering of blood.
You may also appreciate: