Fifteen times between Exodus chapter 7 and chapter 14 Moses wrote the heart of the leader of Egypt was hardened. Seven of the fifteen times the Bible says God harden Pharaoh’s heart. By reading this, is one to assume that God acted upon the heart of Pharaoh in such a way that he could not choose what was right against what was wrong? The answer is simply no! Such an assumption would violate God’s law (Gen. 2:16-17). It would also make the Creator of heaven and earth a “respecter of persons” (Rom. 2:11), which would go against His very nature. So then, how did God harden the heart of Pharaoh? 

Pharaoh refused to acknowledge God. When Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh to release the people of God, he responded by saying, “Who is the Lord… I know not the Lord neither will I let Israel go” (Ex. 5:1-2). God’s messengers stood before the leader of Egypt and spoke the commands of God and Pharaoh refused to hear. Our hearts can become harden the same way. The Bible reveals who God is and what His will is for man. But, when a man refuses to hear he allows his heart to become hard. Jesus said, “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad” (Matt. 12:30).

Pharaoh refused the evidence presented by God. When God instructed Moses to have Aaron stretch forth his hand and begin showing Pharaoh and his magicians the power that hung upon every Word spoken of the Lord, the magicians said, “This is the finger of God” (Ex. 8:19). Even at the urging of those who labored in the camp Pharaoh, “hearkened not unto them.” The same warning still reins true today, “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). 

Pharaoh refused to believe in the coming punishment of God. Even after the Lord had shown His hand in the plagues He brought upon the land of Egypt and the people, Pharaoh refused to see what God would do next. Pharaoh saw there was “respite” (pause) in God’s punishment (Ex. 8:15). Perhaps he thought that was all. Today, many think since they are not dealt with as soon as they do something wrong, they have somehow escaped the punishment of God. Not so, “For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Cor. 5:10).

When God dealt with Pharaoh, He spoke the Words so that Pharaoh would acknowledge Who He is and see the evidence of His power, as well as realize the coming punishment for not doing what He said. So, when Pharaoh refused to hear the Words of God his heart was hardened. Someone once said, “The same Sun that melts wax, hardens clay.”