God Hardened Pharaoh's Heart

"But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you." - Exodus 7:3 NIV

"Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these signs of mine among them..." - Exodus 10:1 NIV

"God said to Moses: "Go to Pharaoh. I've made him stubborn, him and his servants, so that I can force him to look at these signs...." - Exodus 10:1 The Message

I always used to wonder why we'd look down on Pharaoh for not releasing God's people, when the Bible says over and over that it was God hardening Pharaoh's heart, so that God's power may be displayed before him.

God hardened Pharaoh's heart to force him to see His mighty works, and as a result, hopefully Pharaoh and his people would worship Him as God.  God knew what was in Pharaoh's heart, God was even able to dictate how Pharaoh's heart responded.

"Now the LORD had said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here, and when he does, he will drive you out completely." - Exodus 11:1 NIV
 
You see God knew! He told Moses what was going to happen next!

You may be wondering, well if God can control someone's heart, why doesn't He force people to believe in Him? That's what amazes me, God doesn't want to force people to love Him. He wants us to want to love Him. Isn't that the same with us? I wouldn't want someone being nice to me, loving me and spending time with me because I super naturally twisted their heart to do so, I'd want them to make the decision on their own. God is so merciful and gracious that He's willing to go the distance to prove Himself to us, that we may enthusiastically choose Him, even if that means leading us down a dark road just to see His light!

This story, about Moses and Pharaoh has always fascinated me to some extent.

I take the same principle I learned and apply it wherever I go. Instead of getting upset when we are faced with someone's hardened heart, learn to recognize it, and know that God has the ability to change hearts if He wanted to. Of course I pray, just in case it is the enemy trying to block my way, but after that if someone's heart remains hard, it may just be God's will for it to be so for His glory.