Pharaoh Had a Hard Heart

Pharaoh Had a Hard Heart

ROMANS 9:16–18

Romans 9:17-18 (NASB)  

17 “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND

THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE

WHOLE EARTH.” 

18                       So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.”

    Several days ago we considered briefly God’s sovereign control of history, and we mentioned the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. Today we want to consider this in more depth.

We see in verse 18 that the reverse side of God’s mercy is His “hardening” of people in sin. This verse can be rather shocking. At first glance, it seems to say that God hardens the hearts of some people and then punishes them for the sins that flow out of their hardened hearts.

Such an idea is repugnant to everything the Bible teaches about God’s character and righteousness. God is not capable of committing an unjust act. There is no “darker side” of God’s personality.

Active Versus Passive Hardening

To understand this, we have to distinguish between active hardening and passive hardening.

What we have in this verse is an example of God’s punitive judgment against a wicked man. Pharaoh was already wicked. Pharaoh already had an evil heart, out of which came evil continually. Pharaoh delighted in doing evil. If Pharaoh ever did anything good at all, it was as a result of the constraining and restraining work of God’s common grace.

One of the ways God punishes evil is to allow men to do what they really want, which is to

become even more evil. As Paul puts it in Romans 1:24, 26, and 28, God “gave them over” to the evil they want to do. God does this by withdrawing His restraint, which has the result of allowing men’s hearts to harden against Him. Thus, God does not cause men to sin, nor does He make them bad. Rather, He simply lets them harden themselves, as a punishment for their wickedness.

CORAM DEO (Before the face of God)

    God’s restraint on the wickedness of non-believers is what makes it possible for us to live in some semblance of peace and lawful order in our nation. Today, pray for your country. Pray for the conversion of its leaders, and pray that God will continue, by His common grace, to keep your leaders from becoming hardhearted against the truth.

For further study: Exodus 9:13–19, 27–35; 2 Chronicles 7:11–15; Hosea 11:1–11; 1 Peter 2:13–17.