Pharoah's Hard Heart

from Phil Ryken's great commentary on Exodus

The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart is an important theme in the book of
Exodus, and it has much to teach us about the sovereignty of God’s will.
We will encounter this theme again, because Exodus mentions Pharaoh’s
hardness of heart some twenty times, describing it in one of three different
ways. Sometimes the Bible says that Pharaoh hardened his own heart:
“When Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would
not listen to Moses” (Exod. 8:15). Other times the Bible says that Pharaoh’s
heart was hardened, without specifying who did the hardening: “Pharaoh’s
heart became hard and he would not listen” (Exod. 7:13). There are also
instances — like the one here in Exodus 4 — where God identifies himself
as the one who hardens Pharaoh’s heart.
Taken together, what these statements show is that Pharaoh’s heart was
doubly hard. He hardened his own heart; nevertheless, God hardened his
heart for him. Both of these statements are true, and there is no contradiction
between them. Pharaoh’s will was also God’s will. God not only knew
that Pharaoh would refuse to let his people go, but he actually ordained it.
This is the paradox of divine sovereignty and human responsibility, which
is not a puzzle to be solved but a mystery to be adored. As human beings
made in the image of God, we make a real choice to accept or reject God,
but even the choice we make is governed by God’s sovereign and eternal
will. The Old Testament scholar S. R. Driver rightly observed, “The means
by which God hardens a man is not necessarily by any extraordinary intervention
on His part; it may be by the ordinary experiences of life, operating
through the principles and character of human nature, which are of His
appointment.”
The writer of Exodus understood this, which is why he
described the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart as both the will of Pharaoh and
the will of God.
 
From beginning to end, the entire exodus was the result of God’s sovereign
decree. The whole agonizing and then exhilarating experience of slavery
and freedom was part of his perfect will. It was God’s will to bring his
people out of Egypt. It was also his good pleasure to keep them there as
long as he did, which is proved by his hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. Peter
Enns writes, “The deliverance of Israel from Egypt is entirely God’s doing
and under his complete control. The impending Exodus is a play in which
God is author, producer, director, and principal actor.” Even when Pharaoh
took his turn on stage, God received all the applause. Like everything else
that God has ever done, the exodus was all for his glory.