GOD’S HAND AND PHARAOH’S HEART

Exodus 8–12

EXERCISE1. Who was the king of England in 1744? 2. How long are elephants pregnant for?3. Why can't you tickle yourself?

1. Pharaoh is a wicked man who doesn't know or fear God.

EXODUS 5:1-2Later, Moses and Aaron went in and said to Pharaoh, This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel, says: Let My

people go, so that they may hold a festival for Me in the wilderness.

But Pharaoh responded, Who is Yahweh that I should obey Him by letting Israel go? I do not know anything

about Yahweh, and besides, I will not let Israel go.

2. God Knows Pharaoh will not listen to Him.

EXODUS 3:19However, I know that the king of Egypt will not allow

you to go, unless he is forced by a strong hand.

EXODUS 7:14Then the Lord said to Moses, Pharaohs heart is hard: he

refuses to let the people go.

3. God says on three occasions that He will harden

Pharaoh’s heart.

EXODUS 4:21The Lord instructed Moses, When you go back to Egypt, make sure you do all the wonders before

Pharaoh that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart so that he wont let the people go.

EXODUS 7:3-4But I will harden Pharaohs heart and multiply My signs

and wonders in the land of Egypt. Pharaoh will not listen to you, but I will put My hand on Egypt and bring the divisions of My people the Israelites out of the land

of Egypt by great acts of judgment.

EXODUS 14:4I will harden Pharaohs heart so that he will pursue

them. Then I will receive glory by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am

Yahweh. So the Israelites did this.

4. Three times Pharaoh hardened his heart and seven

times his heart hardened.

PHARAOH’S HEART HARDENS

EXODUS 7:13However, Pharaoh’s heart hardened, and he did not

listen to them, as the Lord had said.

EXODUS 7:22-23But the magicians of Egypt did the same thing by their occult practices. So Pharaoh’s heart hardened, and he

would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. Pharaoh turned around, went into his palace, and didn’t even

take this to heart.

EXODUS 8:19This is the finger of God, the magicians said to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart hardened, and he would not listen

to them, as the Lord had said.

EXODUS 9:7Pharaoh sent messengers who saw that not a single

one of the Israelite livestock was dead. But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not let the people go.

EXODUS 9:35So Pharaoh’s heart hardened, and he did not let the

Israelites go, as the Lord had said through Moses.

What does it mean that his heart hardened?

Did God harden? Did Pharaoh harden?

KEY PHRASE:“As the Lord had said”

EXODUS 8:19This is the finger of God, the magicians said to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart hardened, and he would not listen

to them, as the Lord had said.

EXODUS 4:21The Lord instructed Moses, When you go back to Egypt, make sure you do all the wonders before

Pharaoh that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart so that he won’t let the people go.

EXODUS 3:18-19They will listen to what you say. Then you, along with the elders of Israel, must go to the king of Egypt and say to him: Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Now please let us go on a three–day trip into

the wilderness so that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God. However, I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go, unless he is forced by a strong hand.

PHARAOH HARDENS HIS HEART:

EXODUS 8:14-15They piled them in countless heaps, and there was a

terrible odor in the land. But when Pharaoh saw there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not listen to them, as the Lord had said. But when Pharaoh saw there was relief, he hardened his heart and would not

listen to them, as the Lord had said.

EXODUS 8:31-32The Lord did as Moses had said: He removed the

swarms of flies from Pharaoh, his officials, and his people; not one was left. But Pharaoh hardened his

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

let the people go.

EXODUS 8:33-35Moses went out from Pharaoh and the city, and

extended his hands to the Lord. Then the thunder and hail ceased, and rain no longer poured down on the

land. When Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart, he and his officials. So Pharaohs heart hardened, and he

did not let the Israelites go, as the Lord had said through Moses.

5. Six times God actually hardens Pharaoh’s heart.

EXODUS 9:12But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he did not

listen to them, as the Lord had told Moses.

EXODUS 10:1The Eighth Plague: Locusts

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 do these miraculous signs of Mine among them.

EXODUS 10:20But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not

let the Israelites go.

EXODUS 11:10Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh,

but the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let the Israelites go out of his land.

EXODUS 14:4I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will pursue

them. Then I will receive glory by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am

Yahweh. So the Israelites did this.

EXODUS 14:8The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt,

and he pursued the Israelites, who were going out triumphantly.

EXODUS 14:17-19I am going to harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that

they will go in after them.

Hebrew word for heart: leb àinner man, mind, will, heart,

understanding

PROVERBS 28:14How blessed is the man who fears always,

But he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.

KEY: When it says that God hardens his heart it means God makes

Pharaoh resist Him.

How can God hold Pharaoh responsible for what God made

him do?

CONCLUSIONS1. God and Pharaoh both call Pharaoh’s

resistance sin.

EXODUS 9:27Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron. I have sinned this

time, he said to them. Yahweh is the Righteous One, and I and my people are the guilty ones.

EXODUS 9:34When Pharaoh saw that the rain, hail, and thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart, he and

his officials.

CONCLUSIONS1. God and Pharaoh both call Pharaoh’s

resistance sin.2. Before the creation of the world, God

ordained the hardening of Pharaoh.

EXODUS 3:19-20However, I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go, unless he is forced by a strong hand. I will

stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles that I will perform in it. After that, he will let

you go.

EXODUS 4:21The Lord instructed Moses, When you go back to Egypt, make sure you do all the wonders before Pharaoh that I have put within your power. But I will harden his heart

so that he wont let the people go.

EXODUS 7:3-4But I will harden Pharaohs heart and multiply My signs

and wonders in the land of Egypt. Pharaoh will not listen to you, but I will put My hand on Egypt and bring the

divisions of My people the Israelites out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment.

EXODUS 11:9The Lord said to Moses, Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.

ORDAINED: To order or decree by virtue of

a superior authority.

ORDAINED PLAGUES:• God wanted to rescue Israel from Egypt

through the 10 plagues. • Pharaoh is going to resist God to bring about

the plagues.

EXODUS 9:15-16By now I could have stretched out My hand and struck you and your people with a plague, and you would have

been obliterated from the earth. However, I have let you live for this purpose: to show you My power and to

make My name known in all the earth.

EXODUS 14:17-18I am going to harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that

they will go in after them, and I will receive glory by means of Pharaoh, all his army, and his chariots and

horsemen. The Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh when I receive glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and

his horsemen.

EXODUS 14:30-31That day the Lord saved Israel from the power of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the

seashore. 31 When Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, the people feared the

Lord and believed in Him and in His servant Moses.

JOSHUA 2:8-108 Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up

on the roof and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are

melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when

you came out of Egypt,

JOSHUA 2:10-11and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the

Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the

earth below.

JOSHUA 2:12-13“Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that you will

show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign that you will spare

the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will

save us from death.”

Rahab the ProstituteRa = Egyptian sun god

APPLICATIONWe serve a great God.