In entering upon the history of the case, it is well to note the attitude of Pharaoh’s mind toward the God of Israel in the outset. We have it brought out fully (Ex. 5: 1, 2): “Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh: ‘Thus saith the Lord God of Israel; let mypeople go that they may serve me.’ And Pharaoh said—Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.”——This is plain; he says he does not know this God; he does not recognize his authority or admit his claims. His soul is full of practical unbelief in God—a fact which commonly lies at the bottom of all the hardening of sinners’ hearts in every age.——Pharaoh did not at first contemplate crossing swords and measuring strong arms with the Almighty God. If he had taken this view of the case, he might have paused awhile to consider.——So it usually is with sinners. Unbelief in God conduces to launch them upon this terrible conflict. Once committed, they become more hardened; one sin leads on to more sinning till sin becomes incurable—shall we say it? an uncontrollable madness.
We may now fitly proceed to give attention to each particular case.
The first miracle (Ex. 7: 10–13) that of changing Aaron’s rod to a serpent, was rather a test than a plague. Pharaoh met it by calling in his magicians to try their hand—his thought being, My men can do that! They did seem to do it, and though Aaron’s rod-serpent swallowed up theirs, yet Pharaoh did not love to be convinced and therefore was not. Under this result, which perhaps seemed to him a partial victory, he braced himself against God this time.
Next, in the turning of water into blood we read (Ex. 7: 22) “The magicians did so with their enchantments, and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened.” This seemed to him a complete success for his side. Naturally, therefore, his heart is hardened to withstand God yet.
Under the plague of frogs—not by any means one of the most severe—Pharaoh seemed to yield; he at least begged the prayers of Moses and Aaron; and promised to let the people go (Ex. 8: 8). To make God’s hand the more distinctly visible, Moses said—Set your own time, and I will pray that this plague may cease. Done: “but when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart and hearkened not unto them” (8: 15). Alas, how he abused God’s mercy! God lifted the plague—and up springs the old rebellion of his soulagainst God. Perhaps he flatters himself that this is the last, or he hopes that Moses will pray the rest away as he has this; or, as often happens, the simple sense of respite without any particular reasoning in the case makes him feel strong again to withstand God. Not the least sense of gratitude for the favor—the mercy of removing the plague! O how many of the sinners of our world have done this very thing! Stricken down with sickness, have they not begged for life and besought the prayers of all the good, and promised the Lord that with restoring mercy they would give him their hearts and their lives? But when the respite came their vows were forgotten; their hearts were hardened.
The plague of lice brings out another element of depraved hearts. The magicians try, but make an utter failure, and (what is to Pharaoh more provoking still) they frankly declare to him, “This is the finger of God.” They retire from the contest, and leave Pharaoh to fight it out alone. They can help him no longer. He is apparently vexed and maddened, but not at all subdued. Rather, he rouses himself to greater desperation, for the record puts these points in the closest connection: the frank admission, “This is the finger of God”; and the stiffening of Pharaoh’s rebellious will—“And Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he hearkened not unto them.”
The plague of flies brings out yet another element of human nature which not unfrequently comes into play in the hardening of men’s hearts against God—viz. the habit of bantering—shall we say dickering, driving a bargain and quibbling over the terms and conditions of God’s requirements. The flies are terribly annoying: Pharaoh sees that something must be done; in fact he concludes he must make some concessions: so he calls for Moses and Aaron and says—“Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.” The last words were emphatic—in this land: stay here, and you shall have time to offer your sacrifices. I can not let you go three days journey into the wilderness lest ye never come back.——Moses insists on the original terms; and then Pharaoh concedes yet a little more: “I will let you go that ye may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness, only ye shall not go very far away. Entreat forme”—i. e. entreat the Lord to take away these flies—the same word being used here as in v. 8. Moses entreated: the Lord removed the plague, and according to the record “Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.” Allowing himself to make terms with God and to banter him upon the conditions, coupled with the respite—the temporary relief found in the removal of the plague—are manifestly the causes and modes in this case of his hardening his own heart.
Next is the plague of murrain—a terrible loss of their cattle. In the antecedent threatening of this plague, Moses said to Pharaoh, “The Lord will sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt: there shall nothing die of all that belongs to Israel.” So it was; for we read—“Pharaoh sent [i. e. to inquire] and lo! not one of the cattle of the Israelites was dead. And the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go” (9: 1–7). This discrimination gave a keener edge to the plague; it cut the deeper; but in the result it only maddened him the more. It showed most clearly that God’s hand was in these plagues and that he was on the side of Israel; but Pharaoh was committed to the contest and seemed to have but the one ruling purpose—to fight it out to the bitter end.
The plague of boils was a visitation of physical suffering, perhaps somewhat adapted to make a fretful man irritable. The narrative notes the circumstance that the magicians were completely broken down by this plague: “They could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boil was upon the magicians and upon all the Egyptians” [not upon the Israelites]. As to Pharaoh, all human help fails him; every man among his people seems to quail and give up the contest; yet his proud heart is only the more maddened and the more determined! It is said, “The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh and he hearkened not unto them;” but such mad infatuation is wont to appear in depraved human souls without any miraculous infliction of hardness from the hand of God. There is not the least occasion to assume any other influences than those of a proud, maddened human heart, working out its own obstinate will against God.
The hail with attendant thunder and lightning(next in order) were fearfully appalling. All Egyptian hearts seemed to quiver with terror under this infliction. Pharaoh is brought (shall we say) to his knees: he sends hastily for Moses and Aaron and says to them: “I have sinned this time; the Lord is righteous and I and my people are wicked.” Truly this seems hopeful. For the first time he appears penitent. “Entreat the Lord (for it is enough) that there be no more mighty thunderings and hail; and I will let you go and ye shall stay no longer.”——This seems to be a final victory over the proud heart and the long time inflexible will of Pharaoh. He confesses sin; he begs again for prayer; he promises to yield to God’s entire demand and let the people go. Consequently the plague was removed. “And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder were ceased, he sinned yet more and hardened his heart, he and his servants.”——Alas for man’s perverse and false nature—his proud heart and his lying lips! How readily he relapses back into his old and much-loved sin and becomes more hardened than ever! The judgments of God extort confessions and tears and prayers; but God’s mercies let off this pressure and leave the guilty soul to fly back to its old sins again. So it was with Pharaoh. God’s mercies, abused, worked out his ruin. But it were simply monstrous to say that this showing of mercy is on God’s part a moral wrong and that it throws over upon him the moral responsibility of hardening the sinner’s heart. Yet it was precisely in this way—perhaps more really and potently than in any other—that God hardened the heart of Pharaoh.