HAS GOD HARDENED YOUR HEART?
The LORD said to Moses, "When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.”
- Exodus 4:21
How does that seem fair? What chance did Pharaoh have? How could he be held responsible for his actions if God hardened his heart?
1. TAKE A LOOK AT THE HARDENING OF PHARAOH’S HEART
Exodus 7:3 - But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and though I multiply my miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt.
Exodus 8:15 - But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said.
Exodus 8:32 - But this time also Pharaoh hardened his heart and would not let the people go.
Exodus 9:34 - When Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he sinned again: He and his officials hardened their hearts.
Exodus 10:1 - Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these miraculous signs of mine among them.”
Notice two types of hardening – 1) God hardening the heart; 2) Pharaoh hardening his own heart.
2. YOU HARDEN YOUR OWN HEART THROUGH SIN
Your pride and arrogance will harden your heart. Example of King Nebuchadnezzar in the Old Testament (Daniel 5:20) – “But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory.”
Deceitfulness of your own sinning hardens your heart (Hebrews 3:13) – “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.”
You harden your heart when you fail to pay attention to the Word of God (Zechariah 7:11-12) - "But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and stopped up their ears. They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets.” In the New Testament (Ephesians 4:18) – “They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.”
If you resist and ignore the Word, each act of rebellion only thickens the hardness of your heart.
3. IT IS A TERRIBLE THING WHEN GOD HARDENS YOUR HEART.
The ministry of Jesus was characterized by God’s hardening (John 12:40) - "He [God] has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn — and I would heal them."
Jesus’ form of teaching produced a hardening in the hearts of some (Luke 8:10) - He said, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that, 'though seeing, they may not see; though hearing, they may not understand.'”
Example – When a police officer sets up a speed trap, his goal is to stop speeders for the safety of all. By hiding the truth of his presence, he is ensuring that those who want to speed will continue to do so. He does not determine the speeders’ desire to speed, he simply hides the truth so as to ensure the speeder will continue to speed.
Another example – Suppose your 4-year-old son was told not to take cookies from the cookie jar. You are in another room out of sight, but you can see your son in the kitchen looking at the cookie jar and looking around to see if anyone is watching. As a parent, you could casually walk into the kitchen before the hand goes into the jar and your son would give up the idea of stealing a cookie. But if you stay hidden and let the theft happen, did you cause it? No, you allowed the action to continue but did not cause it.
It is a terrible thing when God knows you have no respect for the truth and hides from you. If the police car was out in the open and you saw it, you would slow down. If he is hidden, you keep speeding. God hardens your heart when he hides from you and lets you continue to speed into the sin already in your heart.
4. HARDEN YOUR HEART ENOUGH, AND GOD WILL CONTINUE YOUR WORK.
Jesus said at a certain point, those in a hardened state are unable to see, hear, understand, and believe the Word (Matthew 13:14-15) – “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.”
Only the Word of God has the power to cut through a hard heart (Hebrews 4:12) - For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
It is time to stop hardening your own heart, lest his hardening come upon you.
Do you hear his call through the Word?