In the book of Exodus, we see multiple occasions where God warned Pharaoh through Moses to let the Israelites free so they could worship God.

But, Pharaoh refused to do it. Eventually, it records that Pharaoh hardened his own heart, and finally, it says God hardened his heart.

Exodus 8:32 (NIV)

But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let the people go.

When we look at the entirety of the Historical record in Exodus we can see how God’s sovereignty and human responsibility plays out in the world.

The book records ten times where God hardened Pharoah’s heart (4:21; 7:3; 9:12; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8, 17)  and ten times where Pharaoh hardened His own heart (7:13–14, 22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 34–35; 13:15).

We first need to understand that within the Hebrew language, the “cause and effect timeframes” are not the same as the English language. 

So when the Bible says something like ‘God hardened Pharaoh’s heart,’ it does not necessarily mean that God actively did something to make Pharaoh’s ‘soft’ heart – hard. In Pharoah’s case, God removed His spirit, grace, and influence that kept Pharaoh from fully hardening his heart which eventually led towards his natural disposition. 

It is not as though God made Pharaoh an evil and vindictive person; he already was.

He was a brutal dictator overseeing the terrible abuse and oppression of the Israelites, who likely numbered over 1.5 million people at that time.

God was keeping Pharaoh from completely hardening his heart, and when God stepped back, Pharaoh did what He was naturally inclined to do. 

God does not come into the world and say, “I am going to make this person do an evil thing,” but instead, it is God saying, “I am going to step back and let you do what it is you were naturally going to do anyway; make choices that you would make.”

You may also wonder how Pharaoh could be so foolish to witness God’s miraculous power yet still not listen to Moses. The reason is that Pharaoh had his mind made up long before the plagues began. He could not believe that someone was greater than him. This stubborn unbelief led to a heart so hard that even a major catastrophe could not soften it. In the end, it took the loss of his son to force him to recognize God’s authority. But even then, he wanted God to leave and not rule his country. 

We must not wait for great calamities to drive us to God but must open our hearts and minds to His direction and heading his voice now. 

Hebrews 3:15 (NKJV)

while it is said: “Today if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

The verse above reminds us that if you hear His voice, you should not harden your hearts. The consequence of us rejecting God over and over again leads to the hardening of our own hearts. 

I want to encourage you that if your heart has been hardened in any specific area, you should go to God, and He will gladly soften it.

If you confess your sins to Him, He will soften your heart to live in alignment with Him.