In Exodus 9:16, the Scripture teaches the
Lord “raised up” Pharaoh for His purposes. What were those purposes? From the
context of Exodus, it was to remove Israel from Egyptian bondage. How it
unfolded was in the contest between the Lord’s will and the will of Egypt’s
Pharaoh (king), who thought of himself as a god.
Interestingly, in 9:12, for the first time
we read the Lord hardened the king’s heart. In 4:21, the Lord promised He would
do this, but in Exodus 9, at the time of the 6th plague, the Lord brought it
about. Up till this time, Pharaoh did his own hardening (cf. 7:14, 22; 8:15,
19, 29; 9:2, 17).
For a good many Bible students, this has
been a troubling matter. If the Lord hardened the king’s heart, how can he be responsible
for what he did, for the Lord caused him to do it? No one can resist the Lord,
right? To say it differently, how can one be responsible for what the Lord
forced him to do? In a court of law, if one points a gun at your head and makes
(forces) you commit a crime, are you guilty?
This is not what happened with regard to
Pharaoh.
What happened? In reading Exodus, the Lord
clearly placed at the foot of Egypt’s king the opportunity to let the children
of Israel go out from bondage into the wilderness to worship. These
opportunities granted to the king could have been accepted and implemented, but
the king refused. Between these two powerful entities, Pharaoh and the Lord, it
was a contest of wills and a contest of authority/power. Stubborn as he was,
Pharaoh was doing what he could to give no ground to the Lord (remember 5:2?).
Because of his stubbornness, in Exodus
9:12, we arrive at a different time in the way the Lord responds to the king.
Notice what the Scripture said about Pharaoh’s response: “Pharaoh’s heart is
stubborn” ( 7:14, NASB), “Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen
to them” (7:22 ), “If you refuse to let them go” (8:2; 9:2), “when Pharaoh saw
that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not listen to them” (8:15,
cf. v. 19) , “Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also” (8:32), “the heart of
Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let them go” (9:7).
Notice the heart’s response Pharaoh gave to
the Lord invitation, demand, and command. He may have buckled a time or two,
but it ultimately resulted in his rejection of the Lord’s will.
Now, the Lord responds in His own way, as
seen in 10:20, 27, and 14:8. Interestingly, notice Moses gave Pharaoh no room
for unaccountability in his response to the Lord’s demand: “Still you exalt
yourself” (9:17), “I have sinned” (9:27, 34; 10:16), Moses said to him, “I know
that you do not yet fear the Lord” (9:30), “How long will you refuse to humble
yourself before me?” (10:3, cf. vv. 10-11), “Beware, do not see my face again,
for in the day you see my face you shall die” (10:28).
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