Exodus 7:1-6

1
Exodus 71-6
So the LORD said to Moses, See I have made you
as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother shall
be your prophet. You shall speak to Pharaoh all
that I command you. And your brother shall speak
to Pharaoh that he must send the children of
Israel out of his land
2
Exodus 71-6
And I will harden Pharaohs heart, and multiply
My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.
But Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may lay
My hand on Egypt and bring My armies and My
people, the children of Israel, out of the land
of Egypt by great judgments
3
Exodus 71-6
And the Egyptians shall know that I am the
LORD, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and
bring out the children of Israel from among
them. Then Moses and Aaron did so just as the
L4ORD commanded them, so they did. (NKJV).
4
The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart
Some say that God made Pharaoh do all that he
did God made Pharaoh wicked that is
from wicked seed Martin Luther, Bondage
of the Will,
Section 83
5
The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart
Some say that God made Pharaoh do all that he
did Speaking of Pharaoh and others who rebelled
against God, claimed that God bends them to
do his judgments, just as if they carried their
orders engraved on their mindsall the counsels
and actions of men must be held to be governed by
his providence, so that he not only exerts power
in the electbut also forces the reprobate to do
him service John Calvin, Institutes of the
Christian
Religion, Bk. I, 18.2)
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The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart
Section One Gods Instructions to Moses
Through the Fifth Plague I will harden
7
The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart

• What God Says
• I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let
  you go (319).
• I will harden his heart so that he will not let
  the people go (421).

FOREKNOWLEDGE Isaiah 4610 Psalm 1394
DETERMINED COUNSEL Acts 223
8
The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart

• Harden (Exodus 421)
• Heb. chatzaq (qzj)
• to be or grow firm, strong, strengthen
• (Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old
  Testament Brown,
  Driver, Briggs, p. 304)
• Can apply to the effect
  someones word has upon another
• Judges 711 I Samuel 2316
  II Samuel 27 Nehemiah 218

9
The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart

• What God Says
• I will harden Pharaohs heart, and multiply My
  signs and wonders in the land (73).

10
The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart

• Harden (Exodus 73)
• Heb. qashah (hvq)
• to be hard, severe, fiercestiff, stubborn
• (Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old
  Testament Brown,
  Driver, Briggs, p. 904)
• Can be used of stubbornness
• Deuteronomy 1016 II Chronicles 3613 Proverbs
  2814 Jeremiah 1915

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The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart

• What God Says
• I will harden Pharaohs heart, and multiply My
  signs and wonders in the land (73).
• Pharaoh will not heed you so that I may lay my
  hand on Egypt (74).
• And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD,
  when I stretch out my hand on Egypt (75).

Whatever this hardening is it is intended to
cause Egypt to know that the LORD is God not to
prevent this knowledge.
DETERMINED COUNSEL
12
The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart

• What God Says
• Pharaohs heart is hard (714a).
• He refuses to let the people go (714b).

What Happened Pharaohs heart grew hard
(713a). he did not heed them (713b). As
the LORD had said (713c).
What God Said Would Happen -- Happened
13
The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart
What Happened The First Plague- Water to
Blood Pharaohs heart grew hard and he did not
heed them as the LORD had said (722). Neither
was his heart moved by this (723).
This is what the Lord said would happen and
what God called hardening Pharaohs heart
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The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart
What Happened The Second Plague- Frogs When
Pharaoh saw there was relief, he hardened his
heart and did not heed them as the LORD had said
(815).
This also is what the Lord said would happen
and what God called hardening Pharaohs heart
This shows that God saying I will harden
Pharaohs heart Pharaoh hardened his
heart
15
The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart
What Happened The Third Plague-
Lice Pharaohs heart grew hard, and did not heed
them just as the LORD had said (819).
This also is what the Lord said would happen
and what God called hardening Pharaohs heart
This shows that God saying I will harden
Pharaohs heart Pharaohs heart grew hard
16
The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart
What Happened The Fourth Plague-
Flies Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time
also, neither would he let the people go (832).
The same thing that happened here is what
happened before which God called hardening
Pharaohs heart
This shows again that Pharaoh hardened his
heart God saying - I will harden Pharaohs
heart
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The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart
What Happened The Fifth Plague- Diseased
Livestock The heart of Pharaoh became hard, and
he did not let the people go (97).
This again is what the Lord said would happen
and what God called hardening Pharaohs heart
18
The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart
What Have We Seen So Far?
The FOREKNOWLEDGE of God
God knew that Pharaoh would not let them go.
The DETERMINED COUNSEL of God
God determined how He would use this situation.
God saying I will harden Pharaohs heart
Pharaoh hardened his heart Pharaohs heart
grew hard
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The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart
Section Two The Sixth Seventh Plagues The
LORD hardened
20
The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart
What Happened The Sixth Plague- Boils The LORD
hardened the heart of Pharaoh and he did not
heed them, just as the LORD had spoken to Moses
(912).
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The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart
Some say to this point God had not yet hardened
Pharaoh Pharaoh was given five chances to
repent (in connection with the first five
plagues) but hardened his own heart, and only
after that did God confirm Pharaohs decision by
hardening Pharaohs heartGod does not harden the
heart of anyone but a confirmed rebel David
Stern, Jewish Commentary
on the New Testament, p. 391
22
The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart
However, the text says I will harden his heart
(421). I will harden Pharaohs heart, and
multiply My signs and wonders in the land
(73). Pharaohs heart grew hardAs the LORD had
said (713). Pharaohs heart is hard
(714). The hardening which God promised is
already in operation.
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The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart

• What God Says
• For this purpose I have raised you up, that I
  may show My power in you (916).
• As yet you exalt yourself against My people in
  that you will not let them go (917).

What Happened The Sixth Plague- Boils The LORD
hardened the heart of Pharaoh and he did not
heed them, just as the LORD had spoken to Moses
(912).
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The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart
God says to Pharaoh
you exalt yourself
God says Pharaoh does this himself.
you will not let them go
If Gods hardening of Pharaohs heart prevents
Pharaoh from being able to let them go, why would
God attribute to Pharaoh what God Himself is
doing?
25
The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart

• What Pharaoh Says
• I have sinned this time (927a).
• The LORD is righteous (927b).
• and my people and I are wicked (927c).

What Happened The Seventh Plague- Hail He who
feared the word of the LORD among the servants of
Pharaoh made his servants and livestock flee to
the houses (920). He who did not regard the
word of the LORD left his servants and his
livestock in the field (921).
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The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart

• What Pharaoh Says
• I have sinned this time (927a).
• The LORD is righteous (927b).
• and my people and I are wicked (927c).

• What Moses Says
• As for you and your servants, I know that you
  will not yet fear the LORD God (930).

Their sin was that they did not fear or regard
Gods word they were hardened by it.
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The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart
The Parable of the Sower The Seed is the word
of God (Luke 811) Now he who received seed
among the thorns is he who hears the word, and
the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of
riches choke the word, and he becomes
unfruitful (Matthew 1322)
The Difference is the condition of the Heart
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The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart
Is Gods Word Ineffectual? So shall My word be
that goes forth from My mouth it shall not
return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I
please, and it shall prosper in the thing for
which I sent it (Isaiah 5511)
Gods word is intended to soften the good and
honest heart and harden those rebellious to it.
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The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart
What Happened And when Pharaoh saw that the
rain the hail and the thunder had ceased, he
sinned yet more and he hardened his heart, he
and his servants (934).
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The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart

• Harden (Exodus 934)
• Heb. kabed (dbk)
• to be heavy, weighty, burdensome, honored
• (Hebrew-English Lexicon of the Old
  Testament Brown,
  Driver, Briggs, p. 457)
• Can apply what one does to themselves
• I Samuel 66
• Why then do you harden your hearts as the
  Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts?

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The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart
What Have We Seen So Far?

• God says Pharaoh exalts himself.
• The Holy Spirit says they did not regard the
  word of God.
• Pharaoh says I have sinned.
• Moses says they do not yet fear God.
• Text says Pharaoh hardened his heart.

Exalting self, refusing to fear regard Gods
word and sinning against God -- is having a
hardened heart is being hardened by God.
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The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart
Section Three The Eighth through
the Tenth Plagues I have hardened
33
The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart

• What God Says
• I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his
  servants (101a).

What Happened And when Pharaoh saw that the
rain the hail and the thunder had ceased, he
sinned yet more and he hardened his heart, he
and his servants (934).
God considers these the same thing
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The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart

• What God Says
• that I may show these signs of Mine before him
  (101b).
• that you may tell in the hearing of your sons
  son the mighty things I have done in Egypt
  (102a)
• that you may know that I am the LORD (102b).

Why Did God Allow This?
35
The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart
What Happened The Eighth Plague- Locusts The
LORD hardened Pharaohs heart, and he did not let
the children of Israel go (1020).

• What God Says
• How long will you refuse to humble yourself
  before Me? Let my people go that they may serve
  me (103).

The Ninth Plague- Darkness The LORD hardened
Pharaohs heart, and he would not let them go
(1027).
If Gods hardening of Pharaohs heart prevents
Pharaoh from being able to let them go
why, again, would God attribute to Pharaoh what
God Himself is doing?
36
The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart
What Happened The LORD hardened Pharaohs
heart, and he did not let the children of Israel
go out of his land (1110). The Tenth Plague-
Death of the Firstborn

• What God Says
• I will bring yet one more plague on Pharaoh and
  on Egypt (111b).
• Afterward he will let you go from here (111b).

DETERMINED COUNSEL
FOREKNOWLEDGE
What God Said Would Happen Happened Israel Left
Egypt
37
The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart
Section Four The Red Sea Crossing I will harden
38
The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart

• What God Says
• I will harden Pharaohs heart, so that he will
  pursue them (144a).
• that the Egyptians may know that I am the LORD
  (144b).
• I indeed will harden the hearts of the
  Egyptians, and they shall follow themthen the
  Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD
  (1417-18).

Whatever this hardening is it is intended to
cause Egypt to know that the LORD is God not to
prevent this knowledge.
Like 73-5 That they may know that I am the
LORD
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The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart
What Have We Seen?

• God allowed Pharaoh to exalt himself.
• He did so to demonstrate His power and show
  Israel and the Egyptians that He is God.
• Pharaoh hardened his heart by failing to
  regard Gods word.
• The effect which Gods word had on Pharaoh is
  what is called God hardening his heart.
• God did not cause Pharaoh to sin, but used
  Pharaohs rebellion for His own purposes.

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The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart
Early Christian Writers Pharaoh and his host and
all the rulers of Egypt, their chariots and their
horsemen, were overwhelmed in the depths of the
Rea Sea, and perished for none other reason but
because their foolish hearts were hardened after
that the signs and the wonders had been wrought
in the land of Egypt by the hand of Moses the
servant of God Clement of Rome (ca. 96 AD),

To the Corinthians, 51
41
The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart
Early Christian Writers God, knowing the number
of those who will not believe, since He foreknows
all things, has given them over to unbelief, and
turned away His face from men of this stamp,
leaving them in the darkness which they have
themselves chosen for themselvesHe did also at
that time give over to their unbelief, Pharaoh,
who never would have believed, along with those
who were with him Irenaeus (c. 130-200 AD),
Against the Heresies, Bk. 4, 29.2
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The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart
Early Christian Writers For if he is hardened by
God, and commits sin in consequence of being
hardened, he is not the cause of sin to himself
and if so, then neither does Pharaoh possess
free-will. And some one will say that, in a
similar way, they who perish have not free-will,
and will not perish of themselves. Origen (ca.
185-254 AD), De Principis, Bk. 3, 1.7
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The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart
Early Christian Writers And as if the sun,
uttering a voice, were to say, I liquefy and dry
up, liquefaction and drying up being opposite
things, he would not speak falsely as regards the
point in question wax being melted and mud being
dried by the same heat
44
The Hardening of Pharaohs Heart
Early Christian Writers so the same operation,
which was performed through the instrumentality
of Moses, proved the hardness of Pharaoh the
result of his wickedness Origen (ca. 185-254
AD), De Principis, Bk. 3, 1.11
45
James 113-14
Let no one say when he is tempted, I am tempted
by God for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor
does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is
tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires
and enticed
46
Habakkuk 113a
You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and
cannot look on wickedness The God whose pure
eyes do not behold evil and who tempts no man
did not, does not and will not harden anyone
directly so as to cause them to sin!
47
Exodus 927
I have sinned the LORD is righteous