1 And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. 2 Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land. 3 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. 4 But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. 5 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.
Exodus 7:1-5 / emphasis added
See also: Exodus 4:21; 14:4; 14:17; and Joshua 11:20
I was taught that Yahweh was very double minded in His treatment of Israel and Pharaoh.
He gave the words to Moses to share with Pharaoh so that Pharaoh would agree to send the children of Israel out of his [Pharaoh’s] land. Then He says He will “harden Pharaoh’s heart” so that “Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you.”
What kind of silly game is Yahweh playing? Why is Moses telling Pharaoh to let the Israelites go, when he knows that Yahweh has told him He will prevent Pharaoh from releasing the Jews?
I see three manifest problems with this version of the narrative:
- Yahweh gave us free-will. It would be a contradiction of His nature to ‘possess’ Pharaoh and make him do something Pharaoh did not want to do.
- Yahweh would be a murderer if He killed all the Egyptians’ first-born because He kept Pharaoh from letting the Israelites go.
- Why did Yahweh ‘permit’ Pharaoh to free the Jews, only to ‘possess’ Pharaoh once again to force him to chase after the Israelites?
Maybe the problem is with the conventional way we have been taught this story? Of course, if you have ever read any of my blogs, you know I am suspect of anything that is the “consensus”, whether it be politics, science, or religious teaching, and that I am now going to go off on an unorthodox rant.
The problem with the narrative is that Yahweh tells us several times that He is going to harden Pharaoh’s heart. If we want to believe that He does not contradict himself (“God is not a man, that he should lie – Numbers 23:19; and, also Hebrews 6:18 and Titus 1:2) – and that is pretty high up on the list of attributes one wants to see on the resume for someone wanting to be Yahweh our Elohim – then maybe we should examine what it is that Yahweh is doing when he “hardens” hearts.
Ella Fitzgerald sings about Hard-Hearted Hannah (the Vamp of Savannah), a very cruel woman who teases and crushes men’s spirits.
Elvis informs us that a Hardheaded Woman is a “thorn in the side of man” and then gives us numerous examples of this from the Bible.
Of course, these are modern interpretations (and I threw them in because I like Ella and Elvis) so we should examine how Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance interprets.
First, let us look at what Yahweh is hardening:
Heart: [H3820] (leb/labe) a form of 3824; the heart; also used (figuratively) very widely for the feelings, the will and even the intellect; likewise for the centre of anything:–+ care for, comfortably, consent, X considered, courag(-eous), friend(-ly), ((broken-), (hard-), (merry-), (stiff-), (stout-), double) heart((-ed)), X heed, X I, kindly, midst, mind(-ed), X regard((-ed)), X themselves, X unawares, understanding, X well, willingly, wisdom.
We know it is not the physical organ that Yahweh is acting upon, so we know that He was acting upon Pharaoh’s “feelings, will, and/or intellect”. So, what does it mean to “harden” someone’s feelings, will, and/or intellect?
Exodus 4:21; Exodus 14; Joshua 11:20 – Harden: [H2388] (chazaq/khaw-zak’) a primitive root; to fasten upon; hence, to seize, be strong (figuratively, courageous, causatively strengthen, cure, help, repair, fortify), obstinate; to bind, restrain, conquer:–aid, amend, X calker, catch, cleave, confirm, be constant, constrain, continue, be of good (take) courage(-ous, -ly), encourage (self), be established, fasten, force, fortify, make hard, harden, help, (lay) hold (fast), lean, maintain, play the man, mend, become (wax) mighty, prevail, be recovered, repair, retain, seize, be (wax) sore, strengthen (self), be stout, be (make, shew, wax) strong(-er), be sure, take (hold), be urgent, behave self valiantly, withstand.
Exodus 7:3 – Harden: [H7185] (qashah/kaw-shaw’) a primitive root; properly, to be dense, i.e. tough or severe (in various applications):–be cruel, be fiercer, make grievous, be ((ask a), be in, have, seem, would) hard(-en, (labour), -ly, thing), be sore, (be, make) stiff(-en, (-necked)).
The one used most often is chazaq [H2388] which means to “fortify”, “encourage”, “be of good courage”, and to “make stronger”.
Let us examine the opposite, also. What does it mean to be soft-hearted or faint-hearted? These are generally associated with weakness.
[H7390] (rak/rak) from 7401; tender (literally or figuratively); by implication, weak:–faint((-hearted), soft, tender ((-hearted), one), weak. see H7401.
[H7401] (rakak/raw-kak’) a primitive root; to soften (intransitively or transitively), used figuratively:–(be) faint((-hearted)), mollify, (be, make) soft(-er), be tender.
Both harden and soften refer to something that is already there, not something that does not exist in the first place.
Pharaoh does not want to let his slave workforce go any more than the Confederates wanted to let their slaves go, and they fought an extremely bloody, four-year war to maintain their “peculiar institution”.
When Yahweh “hardens Pharaoh’s heart”, He is giving him the strength of his convictions. When faced by the numerous plagues (read about the significance of each of the plagues – no, they are not random – at Berean Breadcrumbs Blood in the Water and Fracturing the Faith, Vol 5), one cannot help but be in awe of the power being displayed by the Israelites’ God.
Yahweh predicts that Pharaoh will not hearken unto Moses, but that is not Yahweh controlling Pharaoh. He knows Pharaoh – how he thinks and how he acts based on what He has seen of the Egyptian ruler’s life.
Sports teams spend a lot of time and money studying the way their opponents respond on the field so they can take advantage of and overcome their patterns. Investors do the same thing before investing so they can minimize risk.
Yahweh did not have to possess Pharaoh to know how he would react any more than you would ‘know’ how an unrepentant alcoholic would choose if you put a glass of bourbon and a glass of milk in front of them.
Yes, Pharaoh’s magicians were able to replicate several of the initial plagues, but they were wholly unable to minimize or stop the consequences of any of them.
Yahweh gave Pharaoh the courage to make the decisions he wanted to make in the face of an unseen power greater than what he possessed or that of his gods. I like the visual from the animated film “Prince of Egypt” where Ramses is haunted by his father’s admonition to not be a weak link that could cause the ruin of their empire. He would suffer anything rather than be the “weak link”.
Finally, the actual Pharaoh (not the animated one) had to admit that the economic benefits of maintaining slaves did not outweigh the terrible costs inflicted on Egypt and her people (including Pharaoh’s own family).
Despair over their impotence caused Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. The Egyptians were so urgent for the Jews to leave, that they gave them great wealth of gold, silver, jewels, and clothing from their own homes when the Jews asked to “borrow” ([H7592] (sha’al/shaw-al’) or shael {shaw-ale’}; a primitive root; to inquire; by implication, to request; by extension, to demand – Exodus 12:35-36) the wealth the Jews had created for the Egyptians through their slave labor.
The despair turned to anger, and the transfer of wealth was greatly regretted, so when it appeared that the children of Israel had left Egypt along an indefensible route, Pharaoh quickly (the Word says that Pharaoh, himself, prepared his own chariot – Exodus 14:6) prepared and pursued after the Israelites.
Several times, in Exodus 14, it states that Yahweh hardens Pharaoh’s heart. Pharaoh saw weakness in the people (what do people enslaved for hundreds of years know about warfare?) and the situation (they were trapped by the Red Sea behind them and high hills to either side) and resolved to kill and/or return the people to Egypt as their slaves and to regain the wealth that Israel took with them when they left. Yahweh again gives strength to Pharaoh’s resolve.
Yahweh stops Pharaoh’s advance long enough for Him to part the Red Sea and for the children of Israel to cross over to the other side. The army recognizes the hand of Yahweh in the difficulties they experience while trying to pursue the Israelites and felt a desire to flee from the pursuit (Exodus 14:23-25). Imagine the Egyptians’ shock when they see two walls of water and a dry path between them extending across the Red Sea.
What would it take for you to enter onto that path and charge between the waters that were held back by no visible support? We know how the story ends, so it is easy to say, “that was stupid”, but imagine the point of time before they entered that kill-sac.
A rational person would tell themselves, “I’m not going in there.”
Firefighters are generally considered rational, but they charge into burning buildings when everyone else is running away (think of the hundreds that died on September 11th because they rushed into the twin towers while everyone else was running away). I do not have a close relationship with any firefighters, but I think I can safely say that none of them thinks, “Oh great, I love running into burning buildings”.
They do it because they believe in something bigger than themselves. They have committed themselves and trained themselves to help protect people and property from the destructive effects of fire – God love them.
Pharaoh and his army had no such conviction. As far as Pharaoh was concerned, there was nothing bigger than Pharaoh. There had to be a pause where he questions whether going after the Jews, under these strange and deadly conditions, is really worth it.
A rational person would tell themselves, “I’m not going in there.”
But, Yahweh gives him the courage of his convictions when He hardens Pharaoh’s heart, and they charge onto the path through the Red Sea.
Yahweh did not force Pharaoh to lead his army to their destruction. Pharaoh could have reacted rationally to the situation that faced him, but he sought to use any means available to achieve his goals.
Warriors sometimes take what appears to be suicidal actions to help their unit and their nation achieve its goals. Lieutenant Audie Murphy was one of America’s most decorated soldier in World War II – he held off a German advance, by himself, for over an hour and then led a successful counterattack despite being wounded and having no ammunition left.
The men who stormed the beaches at Normandy knew the site was heavily defended by the Germans. If they did not quite understand the magnitude of the fortifications, they surely recognized that the multitude of dead bodies littering the beaches meant the Germans were very proficient at killing invaders on the very beaches they were storming, and yet they continued in wave after wave.
When I was in the Infantry, we had certain principles we used when preparing a defensive position. It is impossible to defend from an attack from every conceivable route – there is not enough men and equipment to guard everything.
We would try to determine the enemy’s most likely avenue of advance – to figure out where the enemy would want to drive through our defense. We would then try to encourage them to do what they already wanted to do.
We put obstacles up in places they did not want to go and try to funnel them towards the route they wanted to use anyway. This allowed us to concentrate our men and firepower on one area where we believed they wanted to be anyway and that we had also encouraged them to be.
Yahweh did not direct Pharaoh to act in any way that was counter to the way Pharaoh wanted to act. He gave Pharaoh the courage of his convictions when He hardened Pharaoh’s heart and provided proof for Israel that they need never fear Egypt again after they witnessed the destruction of the Egyptian army when the Red Sea collapsed back onto the Egyptians.
When hardening of the heart is used in the New Testament (Hebrews 3:8, 15; 4:6-7), it generally refers back to the phrase, in the Psalm of David, “To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your heart” which is in the context of Israel hardening their hearts (not Yahweh) in the wilderness after they receive the Ten Commandments.
5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. 6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. 7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work. 10 Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: 11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest.
Psalms 95:5-11
The children of Israel had witnessed the miracle of the parting of the Red Sea; physically heard Yahweh speak the Ten Commandments to them (Exodus 20:1); witnessed daily portions of manna and quail for them to eat in the desert (so precise was the manifestation, that they got enough to eat every day for forty years, except on Friday when they got a double portion because none could be found on Saturday [Sabbath]); and twice they were miraculously provided with enough water to meet the needs of millions of people and their livestock in a low desert (Exodus 15:22-26 and 17:1-7), but still they grumbled about their condition and proclaimed they should all go back to Egypt.
Their back-biting and disbelief precluded them from being able to enter into the land that Yahweh promised His people. They stubbornly hardened their heart against the promises of Yahweh.
We have not seen the extraordinary miracles like the ones the Israelites witnessed in Egypt and in the wilderness, but we do witness daily miracles that evidence the existence of an All-mighty creator and benevolent God.
The birth of a child nine months after a sperm and an egg unite; the vast complexity of the human cell and DNA; the ability of cognition, something no other creature possesses and ‘evolution’ cannot account for; and the Word of God that is unique to every other book ever written.
Many wish to dispute the evidence of design and the Designer. They teach and argue that there is no God (“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.”), and lead others away from truth.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 14:1
Do not stubbornly ignore the signs, miracles, and wonders around you, for they speak to you about a God who created a world for you and desires for you to be in the world to come.
To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your heart.
What does acting on faith mean? If you believe that there is a God and you want to show the evidence of your faith, then know how He wants us to live and act accordingly. His guidelines are enumerated in the first five books of the Bible, but if you want ‘Cliff Notes’ guide (Torah for Dummies?) to assist you in deciphering His Will, then I highly recommend GRAFTED: Embracing Torah (not least of all because I wrote it).
I looked for an easy list of do’s and don’ts and when I could not find one, I wrote this one. It is not a substitute for you doing your own work, but it can be a great help in navigating you in the direction you want to go.
