“But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, Pharaoh will not listen to you.”… 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 7:3-4,; 8:15 (ESV)]
The whole matter of Pharaoh’s hardened heart and how it got so stubborn is confusing and an issue that has been debated at length by Biblical scholars. Based on the verses in Exodus where God says He will make Pharaoh’s heart hard (as He did in 7:3), some say that God deliberately hardened Pharaoh’s heart to demonstrate His power and glory. But, wouldn’t that mean Pharaoh had no free will? If Pharaoh couldn’t submit to Moses’ demands, the plagues hardly seem justified. How could a just God inflict such cruel punishment on all of Egypt when He was the one who made Pharaoh so inflexible?
On the opposite end of the spectrum, citing the verses saying that Pharaoh hardened his own heart (as does 8:15), other commentaries say that Pharaoh freely chose to stubbornly deny Moses and watch his people suffer. Saying that the hard heart was all Pharaoh’s doing, however, seems to contradict other verses and Scripture doesn’t contradict Scripture! The middle of the road explanation admits that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart but adds that Pharaoh already was so arrogant and headstrong that God didn’t change the outcome by further hardening it. The Oxford Jewish Study Bible notes that God “does not stiffen Pharaoh’s heart initially, but only after Pharaoh has done so himself many times.”
After reading several commentaries on Hebrew grammar, I found yet another explanation. Although God-breathed, Scripture was penned by men who used the words, idioms, and metaphors of the day. In ancient Hebrew, verbs could be both causative and permissive. Along with expressing direct action, active verbs also could express permission. This means that God saying He would harden Pharaoh’s heart could mean (1) that He caused the ruler’s heart to harden or (2) He permitted Pharaoh’s heart to harden. Another example of this verb use would be when Jeremiah tells God, “You have utterly deceived this people.” [Jeremiah 4:10] Jeremiah isn’t accusing God of being a liar; he’s saying that God allowed the people to be deceived (two very different things).
Instead of looking to commentaries, I finally looked to Scripture for my answer about Pharaoh’s hardened heart. In James, we find that, while God may test people, He does not tempt them. Temptation comes from Satan and we give into temptation when we’re seduced by our own desires. Pharaoh’s heart was hard because he was an evil, stubborn, and arrogant man—and that wasn’t God’s doing!
In a way, whether causative or permissive, both interpretations of the verb’s use are correct. We could say that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart because He provided the circumstances that backed Pharaoh into a corner. By sending Moses and Aaron to make their demands and providing the miracles confirming their divine origin, God set the stage for Pharaoh to reveal his hard heart. That God brought about the situation and events that caused Pharaoh to show his true colors, however, does not mean that God was the source of Pharaoh’s hardened heart—that was Pharaoh’s (and Satan’s) doing. Although God allowed it, He did not make Pharaoh that way and the responsibility for those plagues falls squarely on the arrogant man’s shoulders. Let us remember, the responsibility for our sins falls squarely on ours, as well.
It is not God that blinds the eyes of men or hardens their hearts. He sends them light to correct their errors, and to lead them in safe paths; it is by the rejection of this light that the eyes are blinded and the heart hardened. … Every rejection of light hardens the heart and darkens the understanding; and thus men find it more and more difficult to distinguish between right and wrong, and they become bolder in resisting the will of God. [Ellen G. White]
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. [James 1:13-15 (ESV)]
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The only two miracles recorded in all four gospels are the resurrection of Jesus and His feeding of the 5,000. Since the gospel writers only told us the number of men at that al fresco meal, Biblical scholars estimate the actual number eating those loaves and fish to be more than double that figure. Perhaps it’s because of the magnitude of that miracle that people often want a logical (meaning earthly) explanation of how Jesus did it and skeptics love to offer their own version of the events.
When reading the narratives of the Old Testament, it’s tempting to think that some of the stories are more legend than history. Take the story of Balaam, the pagan prophet hired by King Balak to curse the Israelites, who ended up blessing the Israel and pronouncing disaster on its enemies. Since this took place around 1407 BC, it’s easy to question the story’s accuracy. Balaam’s existence, however, has extra-biblical non-Israelite confirmation.
Before stepping inside of the Bern Münster Cathedral, you’ll probably stop and stare at the archway above the main entrance. There you’ll see 294 carved sandstone figures in a graphic illustration of God’s final judgment when the wicked are separated from the righteous. To your right are the naked damned souls in the midst of flames while, on your left, the righteous stand clothed in white and marked with the seal of God on their foreheads. Lady Justice with her scales and the Archangel Michael with his sword stand in the center. The entire scene is surrounded by larger statues of various saints and martyrs as well as the five wise virgins and the five foolish ones who weren’t ready for the bridegroom’s return!
While I expected bear sightings when we lived in the mountains of Colorado, I never expected a bear to find its way into our Florida community and scavenge in a neighbor’s trash bin on her driveway! While bears generally prefer natural foods like berries and nuts, as civilization encroaches on their habitat, those foods are becoming less abundant. Driven by their need to eat, bears will go where they can find any food. With a sense of smell that is seven times greater than a bloodhound’s, it’s estimated they can smell a food source from as far away as 20 miles. Opportunistic creatures, they take advantage of whatever is easily available, whether bird seed, pet food, barbecue grills, or garbage.
In the midst of all the tedious and repetitive regulations regarding sacrificial offerings in Leviticus, we find evidence of God’s love and mercy. For several sacrifices, a distinction was made between offering requirements for the wealthy and the poor. Called korban oleh v’yored, there was a sliding scale for sacrifice based on a person’s economic position. In Luke’s gospel, for example, we learn that Mary and Joseph brought two birds as their sacrifice after Jesus’ birth. Had the family been wealthier, they would have brought a one-year-old lamb and a pigeon or dove and, had they been poorer, they would have brought only two quarts of choice flour.
Devotions of the Heart 