06/14/2022 – Day 107 – Exodus Chapters 9 – 12 // Why did God harden Pharaoh’s heart? (see Exodus 9:12)
Borrowing from Ellicott but also looking at these other comments: God’s hardening is in response to Pharaoh’s willful crushing of his own inclination to yield to God’s sovereignty. No?
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/exodus/9-12.htm
I thought: Why didn’t Pharaoh just kill Moses and Aaron? Here are some clues :
in 8:28, after the plague of flies, one of many repeated lies, he promises to let the people of Israel go with conditions, but adds: “Now pray for me.” (- strange! , knowing inside he was not inclined to obey and fulfill his promise?)
- 10:7: His own officials admonish Pharaoh, you would think at the risk of their own necks: “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the Lord their God. Do you not realize that Egypt is ruined?”
10:29: Moses tells Pharaoh after the plague of darkness that he will never appear before him again, but ends up doing just that.
11:3: Interesting parenthetical note: “The Lord made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Prahaoh’s officials and by the people.” That is amazing, given you have a pagan people, yet they do not personally hold Moses responsible. So do they in fact recognize God’s hand in default?
12:32: Here we go again, even after the killing of the firstborn across all of Egypt, Pharaoh says after letting the people go: “And also bless me.”
Soli Deo Gloria!