A Hardened Unyielding Heart-Exodus 7

Exodus, Old Testament, Sermons

  • If your heart is hard toward God or a person, is it God’s fault, the other person’s fault, or your fault (Exo 7:13-14,22-23; 8:15,19,32; 9:7,12,34,35; 11:10; 14:8)?
  • Is freedom an end in itself, or for worshipping and serving God (Exo 7:16; 3:12; 4:23; 8:1,20; 9:1,13; 10:3,7-8,11,24-26; 12:31; 20:5; 23:24-25,33; 24:1; 34:14)?

Hardening Pharaoh‘s Heart: It’s meaning and purpose. A common misunderstanding is the idea that God deliberately hardens Pharaoh’s heart so that He might keep punishing him for his obstinacy. Who would ever follow such a cruel and capricious deity? To correct this erroneous understanding, look at the meaning of the words. 3 separate verbs describe what’s done to Pharaoh’s heart:

  1. chazaq (12x): to be strong, to strengthen, to encourage.
  2. kaved (6x): to be heavy, to make weighty.
  3. qashah (1x; Exo 7:3): to be dense, to toughen, to harden.

In none of their primary meanings do these verbs mean “to make stubborn” or “to make obstinate.” Even when translated as “hardening” Pharaoh’s heart, the hardness does not mean callous, or cruel or pitiless, or heartless.

Also, lev, translaved “heart” is understood in Hebrew to be the seat of mind, spirit and will. Thus to be strong of heart means not despairing, or remaining as strong as possible in mind, spirit and will, or being bold and resolute. To strengthen someone’s heart is to en-courage him.

  1. 9x, God says He will strengthen/harden Pharaoh’s heart in the story of the plagues.
  2. 3x, Pharaoh is said to strengthen/harden his own heart.
  3. 6x, it says Pharaoh’s heart remained strong/hard, without stating who, if anyone, was responsible for making it so.

These different formulations suggest that

  • sometimes Pharaoh will not be able to encourage himself,
  • sometimes he will need divine assistance to remain strong when he would otherwise yield to despair.

But whatever or whoever is responsible for providing encouragement, the result is the same: Pharaoh is enabled to remain fully Pharaoh, resolutely himself to the very end. He is always strong enough to say and do what he, in his heart of hearts, is disposed to say and do.

Pharaoh riding out the first 9 plagues makes it possible for justice to be done.

  • He severely oppressed the Israelites.
  • His predecessor decreed that their infant sons be drowned.
  • Between them they ordered their own people to practice infanticide–and many were no doubt willing.

Only if Pharaoh persists to the end will the full and deserved punishment be delivered for the enslavement of the Israelites and the killing of their babies. The judgment is NOT for his obduracy and stubbornness.] For those crimes, retribution and judgment was in order

  • partly to punish the guilty,
  • partly to demonstrate that right can defeat might, and
  • partly to prove to the world that there is a moral law and a Judge who enforces it.

God is supremely powerful. By pushing the context with Pharaoh to the limit, the Lord makes clear to everyone in the story and to every reader of the story that

  • He is mightier that all other [Egyptian] “gods” and
  • mightier than human masters and their magicians.
  • He can defeat the strongest opponent competing at their best.
  • He is true to His word and keeps His promises.
  • He can triump over evil.
  • He is a moral judge Who dispenses justice, and whose idea of justice, happily, accords roughly with our own.

Y-H-V-H vs. Pharaoh. The contest takes place on several planes at once:

  • power and might,
  • justice and retribution and
  • knowledge of nature and the Lord.

For the contest to be unambiguously conclusive,

  • Pharaoh must compete until the very end,
  • in full possession of his powers and
  • wholly devoted to victory.
  • His heart [mind and will] must remain strong, weighty and firm, so that
  • he can remain maximally himself, steadfastly and confidently devoted to
  • thinking, being, and doing what he always wants to think, be and do.

Know the Lord. When he finally yields, Pharaoh–exposed as merely king of Egypt [not a god]–will become the most distinguished witness to the existence and superiority of Y-H-V-H God of Israel. When Pharaoh finally knows the Lord [in his death], so too will the Israelites, Moses and Aaron, all of Egypt, and–through word of mouth–all other nations of the world. So too will we, the readers.

In Exodus 7-12 [God’s dramatic intervention to liberate the Israelites from bondage to Pharaoh and slavery in Egypt], God accomplishes 2 main objectives [through the plagues and the eventual exit from Egypt in the crossing of the sea]: God is:

  1. the Creator of all things and
  2. the redeemer of his people.
  1. “Let my people go so that they might worship me.” This refrain [+ variations] runs through Exodus 4-12 (Exo 4:23; 5:1,8,17; 7:16; 8:1,20; 9:1,13; 10:3,7-8,11,24,26; 12:31). The shortened form, “Let my people go” [+ variations] occurs another 28x. The centrality of this theme of release from servitude under a tyrant in order to worship [or “serve‘] the Lord is emphatic. The trajectory of Exodus 1-12 leads to the worship and service to God in a new way of living (Exodus 10-23) and to gathering a new community around a new place of worship (Exodus 24-31; 35-40).
  2. “…so that you may know that I am the Lord.” In this 2nd theme in the plague cycles, God has in mind the whole earth. The purpose of the plagues is “that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth” (Exo 9:16b).

God is not simply an awesome Creator, but a personal force of deliverance, who seeks an exclusive and intimate relationship with the people of Israel in history. There are 3 parts to the basic macro structure of the plague narrative:

  1. Plagues 1-3 [Aaron stretching out his hand] (7:14-8:19):
    1. blood (7:14-24)
    2. frogs (8:1-15)
    3. gnats (8:6-19)
  2. Plagues 4-6 [God acting without the use of any staff] (8:20-9:12):
    1. flies (8:20-32)
    2. livestock (9:1-7)
    3. boils (9:8-12)
  3. Plagues 7-9 [Moses’ hand/staff] (9:13-10:29):
    1. hail (9:13-35)
    2. locusts (10:1-20)
    3. darkness (10:21-29)

Each set of 3 begins with Moses confronting Pharaoh “in the morning” (Exo 7:15; 8:20; 9:13). The death of the firstborn stands alone, set apart by instructions for the Passover. In general, the plagues become more intense and destructive:

  • They begin as serious nuisances with water becoming blood, and frogs, gnats and flies everywhere [plagues 1-4].
  • They escalate with the destruction of property and animal life and culminate in the taking of human life.

Outline (Exodus 7):

  1. God repeats His commands and warns Moses and Aaron that it will be a long road (1-7).
  2. The 1st miracle before Pharaoh: Aaron’s staff becomes a snake and eats their priests snakes (8-13).
  3. The 1st plague: Nile and the rest of the water supply becomes blood (14-21).
  4. The Egyptian magicians perform a similar feat and Pharaoh rejects Moses’ plea to let the Jews go (22-24).

Questions:

  1. How would God make Moses like a god to Pharaoh and how would Aaron be his prophet (Exo 7:1-2)?
  2. Why would God harden Pharaoh’s heart (Exo 7:3)? Does God still harden people’s hearts today? Does this nullify personal responsibility?
  3. Why does God tell Moses and Aaron ahead of time what would happen (Exo 7:4-5)? How can Christians be prepared for challenges that lie ahead (Rom 1:16; 2 Tim 3:12; Ac 9:16; Isa 6:9-10)?

Reference:

  1. Leon R. Kass. Founding God’s Nation. Reading Exodus. 2021.
  2. James K. Bruckner. Exodus. New International Bible Commentary. 2008.
  3. John Goldingay. Exodus & Leviticus for Everyone. 2010.
  4. Robert Alter. The Hebrew Bible. A translation with commentary. The Five Books of Moses. 2019.
  5. Dennis Prager. Exodus. God, Slavery, and Freedom. The Rational Bible. 2018.
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