Question: If the Lord gives us free will and wants us to make the choice to follow Him – then why does Exodus state that He hardened Pharaoh’s heart so that he would not listen to Moses? And why would He pass judgment upon Egypt when He made it so that Pharaoh would not listen?  (Exodus 7:3–4)

This question strikes at the heart at one of the most controversial topics that the church is facing today. It is the battle between the sovereignty of God and the free will of man. This is a topic that will not be resolved until heaven because we see a holy tension in scripture between these two ideas. We see that God does elect people, but he also gives man a free will to choose. The debate seems to be which has the greater influence the sovereignty of God or the free will of man. I truly believe that the issue is not which one is greater, but that they both exist together and they must be in balance. I would encourage anyone who is wrestling with this topic to read the book “Chosen but Free” by Norman Geisler, this covers the topic very well and helps embrace the tension between these two biblical truths. Even though that is not your question and I seem to have a chased rabbit here, it is the basis for the question.

When we are looking at a confusing question in scripture we need to take into account the entire scope of what scripture says on this topic. What we have in Exodus is this: God says at the beginning that he will harden Pharaoh's heart (Ex 4:21, 7:4-5). The hardening of Pharaoh's heart is then described in several different ways:

•                Pharaoh's heart became hard (Ex 7:13, 23)

•                Pharaoh hardened his own heart (Ex 8:15, 32)

•                God hardened Pharaoh's heart (Ex 9:7, 10:20)

So it was more than just God hardening pharaoh’s heart, we see that pharaoh also hardened his own heart. So the question becomes how does this all fit together. In interpreting these texts as clearly as possible we need to take into consideration the use of language. In his work on biblical languages and figures of speech E.W. Bullinger listed several ways that the Hebrew and Greek language used active verbs to mean something other than their strict literal usage. One of the ways that active verbs  “were used by the Hebrews to express, not the doing of the thing, but the permission of the thing which the agent is said to do” (p. 823, emp. in orig.). In Hebrew sometimes-active verbs can be used not to express direct action but permission. This can be seen in several other passages. (Jeremiah 4:10-states God deceived his people-translated-God allowed his people to be deceived. Ezekiel 14:9-I have deceived the prophet-translated-I have allowed the prophet to be deceived) This explanation helps clarify the question of God hardening Pharaoh’s heart. When the text says that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, it means that God would permit or allow Pharaoh’s heart to be hardened.

We must also consider God’s foreknowledge. In Romans 8 we discover that God has used his foreknowledge to know who will and wont’ accept him as Lord and Savior. God is in no way bound by time or space so he can see who will say yes to Him and who will say no. So God knew in advance that Pharaoh would not believe and release the children of Israel. This is what he said to Moses in Exodus 3:19.

 “And I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not by a mighty hand.”

So we can see that God knew in advance that pharaoh would not let his people go, long before he mentioned anything to Moses about hardening pharaoh’s heart.

We must also understand God’s purpose in the way that he delivered his people out of Egypt. God said himself in the book of Exodus that several things would happen when he delivered his people. In Exodus 3:20-22 God made his purposes clear.

1. That he would show his mighty works and there would be no question that he was the one and only God. What is amazing if you study the gods of Egypt each one was associated to one of the 10 plagues that were exacted upon the nation of Egypt. In each plague they would pray to their gods in a hope that the plague would be removed. When no answer came and it was only at the word of Moses that the plagues ended they knew that Israel’s God was the one true God.
2. That Israel would leave without lifting a sword. The Egyptians would ask them to leave.
3. That Israel would plunder Egypt. The Egyptians would willing and freely give Israel what they asked for just so the Jews would leave their country.

You see God did all of this to convince the Egyptians that he was the one true God so they could turn from their idol worship and have a chance to believe. That chance came in the last plague when God commanded that the blood of a lamb cover the doorpost of each home that believed in him. The Egyptians had to know at that point that the God of Israel was the one true God. For them to continue to follow their own false Gods was doing exactly what Pharaoh had done hardening their own hearts through disbelief.  Homes that did not believe did not cover their doorposts with blood and as the death angel passed over Egypt those who were not covered by the blood of the lamb were judged and the first born died in that home. This had nothing to do with nationality but belief.

The same model happens today. God’s desire is for none to perish but for all to believe. He became the lamb on the cross that was slain to take away the sin of all mankind. The only way to escape the death penalty on our lives is to put our faith in Jesus the Lamb of God. It is his blood that cleanses us from our sin and when we face death it passes over our lives and we enter into eternity our promised land.