Pharaoh’s Heart
Opening Prayer
Ask God to show you if there are places where your heart has become hardened to him (1 Pet. 5:5b).
Read Exodus 6:28-7:13
[28] Now when the LORD spoke to Moses in Egypt, [29] he said to him, “I am the LORD. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt everything I tell you.” [30] But Moses said to the LORD, “Since I speak with faltering lips, why would Pharaoh listen to me?” [1] Then the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. [2] You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of his country. [3] But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in Egypt, [4] he will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and with mighty acts of judgment I will bring out my divisions, my people the Israelites. [5] And the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.” [6] Moses and Aaron did just as the LORD commanded them. [7] Moses was eighty years old and Aaron eighty-three when they spoke to Pharaoh. [8] The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, [9] “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a snake.” [10] So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. [11] Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: [12] Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. [13] Yet Pharaoh’s heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said. Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What kept the Pharaoh from acceding to Moses' request?Our passage says two different things about Pharaoh’s heart. Verse 13 tells us that “Pharaoh’s heart became hard,” while v. 3 reports God saying, “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart.” Exodus 8:15 and 32 both tell us that Pharaoh “hardened his heart.” Balancing divine sovereignty with human freedom can be difficult: how responsible is Pharaoh for what happens if God has hardened his heart? Pharaoh hardens his own heart on six occasions (13, and after the plagues of blood, frogs, gnats, flies and livestock) before unannounced judgment comes with the plague of boils. When we first read that “the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart” (9:12). From here on, the emphasis is laid upon the Lord’s hardening of Pharaoh’s heart. It seems, as with Paul’s repeated use of “God gave them over” in Romans 1, that prolonged disobedience God yields people up to the consequences of their actions. Pharaoh had many opportunities to turn back, but hasn’t done so. After Exodus 9:12, God determines that Pharaoh will reap what he has sown.
Apply
Pray for your heart to be soft and attentive to his prompting. Is there anyway in which you need to change course?
Closing prayer
Kind Lord, may Your Holy Spirit living within me keep me focused on knowing You and obeying Your ways.
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Discovery is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.