Hard hearts and trusting God

But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, he will not listen to you.

- from Exodus 7:3-4

In today’s passage, the LORD told Moses that he would harden Pharaoh’s heart. In just a few verses we’ll read that Pharaoh will harden his own heart (more on this tomorrow). The writers of Exodus had no problem holding both of these ideas at the same time.

Pharaoh’s situation was unique. This was an extraordinary moment in the biblical story: the birth of a nation of people who will be called “his chosen people.” God tends to do extraordinary things in these extraordinary moments. We see this in the Creation Narratives in Genesis 1-2, around the life of Jesus in the Gospels and around the birth of the church in Acts. Each of these are new beginnings—and they require unusual amounts of intervention from God.

That’s what God was doing with Pharaoh in Exodus 7. His intention was to answer the question Pharaoh put forward: “Who is the LORD?”

God revealed his power and justice, his promise-keeping character and loyalty to his people. But this revelation wouldn’t happen if Pharaoh caved at the first sign of God’s power. If Pharaoh had just let the Israelites go, no one would know the Lord. The story that would spread throughout Egypt (and throughout the Israelites) would be a story about Pharaoh’s weakness and Moses’ negotiation skills. The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart created space for God to show himself.

This might prompt two questions: first, can we trust this God who would do something like this and second, can this happen to us or to someone we love?

Know that this was a unique event. Few of us – and perhaps none of us – will ever stand in a historic moment like this.

Know that the Lord has authority over our hearts. The scriptures speak beautifully of the Lord giving us new hearts to replace our hard hearts. This is why we can pray that people we love would turn and return to God. Our hearts are not beyond his reach.

Know that God can be trusted. In Jesus, we see a God who knew the hearts of people around him, loved them and worked to rescue them from their enslavement to evil. We can trust that he will be at work for our good and for our salvation.

Take a moment to worship the God who has power and authority over people’s hearts. Pray for God to soften the heart of someone who currently seems hard-hearted to the good news of Jesus.

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