God sometimes hardens hearts for his greater purposes. In Romans 11, Paul writes that a partial hardening has come upon the hearts of Israel in order for the fullness of the gentiles to come to Christ. Here in Exodus 7 we see God hardening Pharaoh’s heart so that God may multiply His wonders. Do you have a son or daughter or mother or father or loved one who refuses to come to acknowledge God as sovereign and Christ as Lord? I don’t know if they are a pharaoh or not but perhaps God has hardened their heart for a purpose far greater than you are able to understand or see right now. Perhaps it is so that He can multiply his wonders in their lives.
In the game of Chess, the winner is the one who is able to think several moves in advance. Each move is not a move unto itself, but a preparation for a future move, the chess master uses strategy to conquer his opponent. That is what God is doing here. The end goal is not a hard heart for pharaoh. The hard heart is a move on God’s part that is preparing for a future move; namely to display his miracles and wonders, which is also a set up for a future move; so that the Egyptians will know He is the Lord God. We see God’s moves often in singularity and it confuses us because we do not know the mind of God. The best thing we can remember is that we can trust the mind of God even if we cannot know it. God delights to put his power and glory on display before the proud and stubborn hearts of men, but this takes time and tactic. And as we know just from looking at creation God has a method and it complex at it’s core.
The very same signs which generated faith in Israel create a strong heart in Pharaoh who refuses to heed God’s voice or the witnesses of God’s power. God is hardening Pharoah’s heart for a future move. Had Pharaoh surrendered and believed after the staff turned into a serpent God would have no more opportunity to fully stretch out his hand, to fully extend his arm and reveal his power over Egypt, over kings, over the earth before all the people. Only in Pharoah’s defiance is God justified in multiplying his miracles, wonders and eventual judgments in the land of Egypt. This will have its perfect result and accomplish God’s perfect purposes, The Egyptians will know He, not Ramses, is the Lord God.
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