Jim:
Exodus 7:25-8:19
Previously in Exodus 4:21 we were told that God would harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he would not respond to Moses. Here in 8:15, though, we read that “…when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his (own) heart….” And later in 8:19 we are told that, “Pharaoh’s heart was hardened…” reminding us, I think, that Pharaoh had previously made a decision to disregard God’s work and God’s word. So while God certainly has the power to hardened hearts and to guide human affairs, sinfulness is such that we are also quite capable of hardening our own hearts and turning our backs against God’s will. The ambivalence concerning who hardened Pharaoh’s heart is a good reminder of the importance of remaining alert to God’s word in our own lives. Comedian Flip Wilson used to play a character named Geraldine who’s catch phrase was “the devil made me do it!” But while God can effect the human will, to blame the devil for our own misdeeds is to ignore our own fault in the matter. However we look at it, Pharaoh was most guilty in his actions because he was acting out of a desire to control events which placed him in opposition to God’s will.
2 Corinthians 3:7-18
There is an interesting connection to the Exodus passage in 2 Corinthians. “But their minds were hardened,” writes Paul in verse 14. I take this to mean that the people themselves had hardened their minds, had decided to ignore God’s activity, the new thing God was doing in Jesus Christ. For Paul growth in the faith can only come when the veil, the stubbornness, the obstinacy is removed as it is in Jesus Christ. This may be one effort to explain why some people express faith in God though Jesus while other people, given the same information and the same opportunity, choose not to express that faith.
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