Ex. 9:13-21,27-35; 10:1-4, Heart-Hardening (5)

There are some additional thoughts to consider about the hardening.

·        9:14: This plague (hail) would go to your very heart.  This would not simply be a terrible irritation; it would involve loss of life.  The others were what we might call “one-and-done” but this would have lasting results.

·        9:16: Moses makes it clear to Pharaoh the nature of this challenge.  This not a battle of equals or even nearly equals.  The God of Israel is using Pharaoh, god of Egypt.  If Pharaoh was humble he might respond to this.  But he is proud; it just hardens his heart more.

·        9:15-16: Perhaps Pharaoh had thought to himself, “at least no one has died yet.”  A king’s glory is his population, his people (Prov. 14:28).

·        9:19-21: This announcement of the plague of hail comes with an escape.  And it is interesting: some people took Moses up on this, even among Pharaoh’s servants. 

·        9:31-32: When the plague was over there was still the potential of food to eat as some of the crops (wheat, spelt) came up later.  This would give the proud the tiny glimmer of hope, so to speak, that would lead him to harden his heart. 

·        9:27-28: This tells us Pharaoh knew what to say; he knew the “right” words to say to the God of Israel.  But when the hail quit suddenly it was not so bad (v34; cf. 10:16-17).  Again, the accumulation of one plague after another plus the refusal to lose the benefit of slaves multiplied by the sinner’s pride (the heart of Pharaoh was hard, v35) brings the same result: neither would he let the children of Israel go.

In the opening verses of Ex. 10 (v1-4) God again makes His plan known.  He is doing something that will be good for Israel.  They will be able to use this experience to encourage their faith from generation to generation.  He also makes sure that Pharaoh knows the plan.  This will continue until there is some sort of humility on his part: not just the right words but the right choice.  Even today that kind of preaching, where there is a warning of judgment to come, has the same two options for response.  Hear the word of God in Philippians 1:27-28:

Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ … that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition (destruction), but to you of salvation, and that from God.

We believe what happened with Pharaoh as well as with Moses happens today.  The gospel with its warnings for those who reject it and encouragement for those who receive it by faith is what was happening in Exodus.  As Moses grew stronger in faith and boldly stood before Pharaoh, that in itself was a powerful rebuke to the king.  So today, when the gospel is lived and preached before the world it provides the necessary opportunity for people to make a choice, one of pride or humility.